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Learning to Play Reggae

#41
Played 3 four hour gigs last week. Its starting to happen, but we still have a long way to go. Luckily we scored a regular gig at the Barking Crab in Boston so it will be 3 gigs a week almost every week until the first week in November. What an awesome opportunity!

The in ear monitors are great. I really like hearing everything at a moderate volume during the gig.

I picked up another big factor. The bass lines have to change and evolve. It seems repetitive at first, but there are a million subtle changes thrown in to keep it organic and interesting. I was just settling into a pattern and trying to make it groove, but without the changes the songs are really dead.

I'll see if I can make some decent recordings at the gigs and post my progress. I can record off of one of the headphone channels so it will be a little unnatural, but should have pretty good sound for picking apart the bass lines.
 
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#48
Listen to lots of it. Not only Bob Marley...

Sly & Robbie, Black Uhuru, Gregory Isaac, Burning Spear, August Pablo... Just to name a few...

I'd be weary of a book, reggae is all about the feeling and moving... And yes, herb may help.

Feel it, dance it. Go see some live reggae and yes! Lay back on the beat, don't rush in, it's a island...
 
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#52
sounds really good, but if you are looking for critique be super disciplined where the vocals are, play a super solid line that stays exactly the same (so the vocalists can match you) , its what I hate about playing reggae, you can do whatever you want in the dub section, but that rock solid bassline is essential. when I was playing with Ras he would stop the practice if
i hit one single harmonic, or transitional note at all. I had to admit when I heard the final product it was worth it. btw, i like the latin groove. If i were you i would go stand right next to that organ during that part and "feed" each other. tons of Potential, I love large bands. pay crappy tho, unless you trick the horns into splitting a share!
 
#53
Your band sounds great, gmarcus, you sound real nice too.

Weird little fingerstyle tip for reggae lines, but it really works:

If you alternate fingers for repetitive lines, always start with the middle finger instead of the index, the lines will sound more even and rhythmic. Excuse me if this is common knowledge already.

I don't agree that lines have to sound exactly the same. Au contraire, as another poster explained, very slight development and variation, that would not even be noticed unless you concentrate on the bass line, keep a song interesting and can have a very powerfully hypnotic effect without inducing boredom.

There is one thing I would like to mention about reggae tone and the way the instrument fits in a mix in classic reggae styles, that you don't hear often enough IMO.

The bass in reggae is way out of proportion to the other instruments as compared to almost any other genre, which actually drives the tonal decisions a reggae bassist makes. Too much clank or top end, not enough punch, too much midrange, for example, will not be listenable in most reggae styles at any decent SPL. The bass is out there on its own, and often doesn't even rely on the kick for punch and attack, and there are no instruments doubling it or masking the higher frequencies, except for occasionally tic tac doubling guitar for note definition, but even this dates to another era where it was necessary before better studio techniques and sound reproduction.

Most JA reggae was designed and recorded for the Sound System, where the sheer power and number of bass enclosures were always as big and sophisticated as budgets permitted. Without instruments giving each other room, and all being part of a sonic puzzle made up of powerful fragments, and where each instrument (vocals included) kept their own time and contributed to the whole rhythmically as well as harmonically and sometimes melodically, it would be a big jumble of noise. Even the biggest ensembles or recordings with horns, pianos, organs and other keys, on top of the rhythm section with one or two guitars, have arrangements that leave the maximum of space for each other, and carve out sonic spaces in the mix that do not interfere with each other overtly. It's quite an amazing feat, actually. The closest thing soundwise outside of reggae (and a big influence on reggae's development) to my ears is James Brown, Stax and Motown soul, and Latin Island genres like Salsa).
 
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#54
One more suggestion I'll make is to study the various styles over the years, as listening to your original clip shows that they do stuff over a wide range where different styles of drumming and bass playing ruled.

If you listen to the foundation riddims from Studio One, and how they originally sounded, then early reggae, the advent of Rockers and Steppers in the '70s, and Dancehall and Dub styles, you will be able to carry it all off with aplomb.

Last thing- when creating lines, leave phrases unfinished or unresolved sometimes, the listener fills them themselves in and it creates interest syncopations and tensions, and prevents your lines from descending into the obvious.
 
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#57
gmarcus said:
Thanks for the complement R&B. I've been working really hard to learn these songs. The band has been together for years so they want to hear the "right" bass line. They are starting to trust me enough to add more of me to the lines and I'm learning what makes them tick. Big spaces between the notes are necessary. Playing through that big PA was an awesome demonstration of just how much space is required when the bass is really huge in the mix.

4000 watts shakes every molecule in your body! It was really kind of shocking. when I hit a note it just pushed all of the other music out of the way. I had to be really selective when I played. Also I now know what people mean when they talk about a lot of watts giving you dynamic range. I could just brush the strings and get kind of a regular volume note, but when I dug in it would just roar. It was much louder. Usually with my set up it gets a little louder and I get a lot more overdrive when I dig in, but not the drastic change in volume.

This was totally different. Kind of like when I was a kid I had a VW GTI that I could drive anywhere with my foot to the floor. Then I drove a friends Mustang with a really big engine. If I floored it while I was on the highway it would burn rubber and spin out if i wasn't careful. The VW was fun......the Mustang required respect.
Click to expand...

I had missed this post, fits in with what I was saying about the levels of bass in the genre.

My favorite players don't play with a super light touch, but with light to medium one where you can shape the notes and get some punch and thump and not just big even chunks of sound. These tend to be the older players that are still emulating somewhat the sound of the DB, and whose original inspiration were the early players who still had this style.

Good modern players with very light touch still control and shape the note but it's just a different approach and one I like somewhat less. Family Man is worth studying in depth for many reasons, from his timing and note placement to his unspeakably huge and clear tone, just an incredible balancing act between punch and sustain, mild OD and clarity, and heft and roundness of the notes he plays. Every note he plays is a standalone work of art, his touch is incredible.

Look for live stuff from the first half of the '70s for some incredible interaction with his brother Carly on drums, the band was on fire then.
 
#58
Bassist4Eris said:
I have the Friedland book. Ed's written some stone classics, but frankly, this isn't one of them...Not terribly useful, IMHO...

...myths aside, once you've learned some lines, you'll realize that most reggae bass lines do play on the one.
Click to expand...

Both true, though not playing on one is certainly a common figure. In fact, not playing at all for a bar or two is also cool!
 
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