Is this busy/over-playing? [video]

[Max Bogosity]

If you’re the type to wonder “am I overplaying for the song” you’re probably not the type to overplay.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi @tb-player,

I thought it was a good track too, just enough to spice it up a bit without drawing too much attention to yourself, a joyful noise. You play really well. We must always remember why we play worship music and Who we are playing for.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[longfinger]

When they got to the song '1999', Gouche could have played all over it. But he knew better. He said people (and Prince) wanted those familiar quarter notes that start the song. Any more, and he'd lose the gig.

Funny, we all want to hear those quarter notes, but on the original record, aren't they actually half notes? Well Short QN on 1 and 3, and QN rests on 2 and 4.
Who wants that? Pulse the short quarters 1,2,3,4! :-D

 

[bherman]

I have no experience with P&W music so can only comment from the perspective of "just music". What made your parts work is that you are totally in the pocket and right where the bass needs to be. I only notice when bass players "overplay" when in doing so, they either step out of the pocket or drop the groove even if just for a second. You did neither. Very tasty licks, on top of a rock-solid foundation.

 

[tb-player]

Funny, we all want to hear those quarter notes, but on the original record, aren't they actually half notes? Well Short QN on 1 and 3, and QN rests on 2 and 4.

Here's the clip from the interview I was referencing.

 

[richntiff]

You sounded great - the LS could have said ‘come ON’ about 43 less times. Seriously - very tasty playing. You served the music very well.

 

[tb-player]

You sounded great - the LS could have said ‘come ON’ about 43 less times. Seriously - very tasty playing. You served the music very well.

Haha. Great observation about the "come on" thing. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this style of church music, mostly because of the cheerleading aspect that tends to go along with it. I'm sure his attempts to coerce participation subconsciously had a lot to do with the smaller, distanced, COVID-crowds instead of the normal packed house.

 

[tb-player]

We must always remember why we play worship music and Who we are playing for.

Glad you said that. Considering the setting, it's probably the primary impetus behind my question.

 

[Spectre Gunner]

I thought it kept the energy level up and sounded great!

 

[Winton]

Hi @tb-player,
We must always remember why we play worship music and Who we are playing for.
BassCliff

I second that thought!

I have to admit, however, that I do overplay at my church. But it's mainly because we don't have a guitarist so once in a while I'll use the octave up + reverb + whatever appropriate to play guitar-y lines. Otherwise, I try to play with the advice K.I.S.S. in mind.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

I thought you sounded fine man. The pacing and spaces of this tune reminded me a bit of “ boys of summer” would have been fun on fretless. Without reading too much into it, perhaps they were actually happy to see you back healthy and happy and they were thrying to show you a little more love.

PS. That’s not overplaying, you want to hear overplaying, I’ll show you some overplaying.

 

[spantini]

Just right, man. Everyone else is moving in a straight line, which leaves it up to you give the song it's personality.

 

[TrevorR]

Really liked that and the level and placement of the fills was pretty spot on appropriate for the song in my mind. I think for me was that the vast majority of the part was rhythmically based with little riff-like gracenotes to add interest to the driving 8th notes and the runs and fills were placed in the right spaces away from the vocal and where they made sense in terms of the way in which the song was moving. Maybe you wouldn't want that level of ornamentation on every song in the worship set (because you'd lose the impact of the extra business/energy and the dynamics of the song and the set) but that was an "up" song that can take a bit more energy thrown in like that. Really enjoyed it.

And who doesn't love an octave slide down on the last bar of the verse to add a bit of a space before the song kicks up a gear for the chorus?

 

[DeepHz]

Tasteful!

 

[Geddaric]

I don`t know that song personally, but what you played sounded spot-on and wasn`t distracting to the rest of the song. As far as I`m concerned.....Well Played!

 

[BassBrass]

Actually, this church has done a nice job of not being a super-spreader location. You can't enter the building without a mask and temperature being taken. Rows are taped off and families are seated 6-feet apart. The band wears masks right up to the point when we start playing. The building seats 2000 and is not even at 1/2 capacity for either service. More than half are watching from home.

Yes, I did test positive. I contracted it from one of my employees. I shut my office down and isolated for 14-days. I then waited an additional 2 weeks before I returned to church. I have no desire to be 'patient zero' among the people I care about.

Singing has proved to launch particles many yards. Trumpet and trombone both can use what is called a Velvet-tone mute, it doesn't change tamper but suspends a bucket of gauze above the bell so you sound a little softer. It's very nice. Churches should try masking the choir, I bet it would sound "sacred". It would send the message that the flock are cared for instead of suggesting magical thinking is helpful in an actual, not fictional pandemic. I think that exuberant "rejoycing" and "praising" would work through masks. The velvet tone. (ya need a slogan) If your church has created no cases traced to it, then Kudos. Friend of mine owns a gift and crafts store and she's survived with very strict rules. But I just saw that York Beach Maine has gone from 28 a day average cases to 426 Yesterday, 12/14 Speaking of believers...

 

[JCW308]

Sounds great, fits the song.

 

[troy mcclure]

great playing.. you aren't over playing if it doesn't sound like a bass solo surrounded by a song... lol

 

[tb-player]

And who doesn't love an octave slide down on the last bar of the verse to add a bit of a space before the song kicks up a gear for the chorus?

I’m not a fan of bass slides. I think they’re kind of cheesy. But sometimes, it just feels right.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I don't typically post things like this but I'm genuinely curious...

Yesterday, I played bass at my church. I'm thankful for playing at church because it's been the only consistent gig most of us have had during the shutdowns (even if what we mostly play is some variation of I IV vi V... lol).

Due to a fun little bout with COVID-19, I haven't played in about a month. This Sunday was my first week back.

I noticed, after we were done playing, I got a lot of compliments on my playing... things like "Man! You were going for it!" of "Those runs were tasty!" While I am appreciative, comments like that immediately make me paranoid... like I was overplaying.

I've always had a tendency to lock in at the beginning of a song and save the 'flairs' for the end of the tunes, especially in church songs where the builds/emotions are pretty significant. Granted, I cut my teeth playing gospel, where there's almost no such thing as overplaying. But I still want to be in the pocket.

So here's a song from yesterday. I'm curious to hear from other bass players if you think I'm doing too much??? (Also, you get to hear how good my Fano JM-4 sounds. I love that bass!)

fyi- this is probably a 'headphones-in' mix to hear the bass.

Nicely done. Your part served the material well and was tastefully applied.

On a sidebar, your sound engineer does really nice work.