Jamerson lines on a Jazz Bass - YouTube Content

[tbassist4]

Hey everyone!
Hope this is an okay spot to post this. I put up my first YouTube video of me playing electric bass last night (first vid but I've been playing for a long time) and I'd like to get comments on anything and everything. I know I'm kind of opening myself up here so please be fair . My main camera was down so I used the iSight camera and a rat shack mic to do the video - but there's more to it than that...


Darling Dear Bassline - Jackson 5 - Performed by Tyler Rusco


The part that I think is pretty cool is the audio - I was away from my Pro Tools rig, so I took the track from the mic which was placed near the cab and within earshot of the computer speakers - so it consists of me playing along to a muffled sounding version of the original track - and put that into Garageband. I then brought in the original Jackson 5 track, and matched the two up timing wise. I then took my track and EQed everything out but my bass playing, and then did the opposite to the Jackson 5 track - I just EQed out Jamerson's bass playing. So the result is the original track with my bass playing superimposed. Still sounds like a jazz, but I was actually surprised at how well it copped that dark, punchy, Motown bass sound. Probably a combination of the flats and the muffly rat shack mic, heh heh. Still no match for Jamerson's playing, but I had a lot of fun with this and hope you enjoy it!!

 

[pbass888]

great job on a great line!!!

 

[DWBass]

Excellent!

 

[chris lykins]

Nice job and it alwys blows me away how busy Jamerson was with one finger!

 

[Kappa]

Awesome job!! What a groovy bassline.

 

[madbassplaya]

Love the facial expression.

 

[tbassist4]

great job on a great line!!!

Excellent!

Awesome job!! What a groovy bassline.

Thanks so much guys!

Nice job and it alwys blows me away how buy Jamerson was with one finger!

I know it's crazy! It takes me two fingers and a lot of practice to even attempt coming close, haha.

Love the facial expression.

Thanks, I really appreciate this. I have a lot of fun playing and I hope that comes through visually.

 

[chadhargis]

I've been working on some tunes out of Standing In the Shadows of Motown and I can tell you've put a LOT of time in learning that song. Jamerson does a lot of playing out of his butt, meaning he never plays the same thing twice. Always some sort of passing tone or something he tosses in there. He was a master!

Fantastic job. Wish I could play Jamerson half that well.

 

[trunkshope6]

dude ive been trying to learn that song for ages and have only gotten in like a minute and a half, im so jealousss

 

[onestring]

I rarely enjoy/make it 15 seconds into "guy sitting in front of a computer play-along" videos, but this was an excellent and sincere performance. Well done!

 

[DTF]

you did great

 

[roadkill2309]

you did great

+1. I loved that.

 

[tbassist4]

I've been working on some tunes out of Standing In the Shadows of Motown and I can tell you've put a LOT of time in learning that song. Jamerson does a lot of playing out of his butt, meaning he never plays the same thing twice. Always some sort of passing tone or something he tosses in there. He was a master!

Fantastic job. Wish I could play Jamerson half that well.

Thanks so much! Yeah that's a great book - it's interesting to see his lines all laid out like that, and also where the transcriber and the player on the recording actually differ, haha. Jamerson's style was incredible - that line that just took me a couple weeks to learn was something he pulled out basically on the spot one night, haha. It's humbling, but it makes me excited that there's that much more stuff to learn out there.

dude ive been trying to learn that song for ages and have only gotten in like a minute and a half, im so jealousss

Well, you've only got another minute left! I plan on doing a section by section breakdown of the song for those who want to learn - I'll let you know when I do. Some of the stuff Jamerson does isn't intuitive or easily audible on those old recordings, and I definitely referred to a combination of my ears and a transcription. I'll probably end up showing the most debated licks in several versions just for completeness.

I rarely enjoy/make it 15 seconds into "guy sitting in front of a computer play-along" videos, but this was an excellent and sincere performance. Well done!

A very big thank you! I totally understand that, and I'm really glad I was able to keep you entertained. This video actually wasn't originally meant to be a playalong YouTube production - just something to put on facebook to show friends and relatives what I'm up to. My uncle, who's an incredible guitarist and studio guru among other things, liked the performance in particular and encouraged me to clean up the audio and put it on YouTube. He helped me through the process and I was really glad to have his encouragement and guidance.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Very good indeed. Jamerson would be pleased.

 

[deste]

Great job! Keep on doin' it, it's a treasure to share for all of us!

 

[prd004]

Well done! And I never doubted how well a Jazz would do on a Mowtown track!

 

[Mirios]

Sounded great, keep up the fine work.

 

[tbassist4]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Well done! And I never doubted how well a Jazz would do on a Mowtown track!

Jazz+flats is a great combo. Keeps a tight low end but smooths out the highs a little bit. It's funny though - I envisioned needing to use my other bass with rounds for all of the rock stuff, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that flats work for pretty much everything - just a different color.

 

[oldrookie]

Great sound.

Can help your iSight camera by not wearing dark colors and sitting in front of a light colored, brightly lit wall. Go with lighter color clothing and getting some light on you rather than the wall. Would turn out okay.

 

[godofthunder59]

Sounds great! Wish I had those kind of chops at your age !