I got some Phillips noise canceling in-ear type. and I'm actually going to track down some studio monitors this summer. Way overdue.
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Lil' reggae help, gang.
- Thread starter skwee
- Start date
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received about reggae bass and getting a feel for the vibe and note placement was to put on a song you want to learn on an adequate home system, then go into the room next door and close the door, the bass lines will be pretty much all you hear. It helped me a ton!!
^^^ Nice avatar! great minds, etc...
Search for the threads in the Recordings section with reggae recommendations and listen to them on headphones or a good sound system. Reggae bass is as much about the sheer power and vibes of the bass as the riddims and the accents. It's ALL about feel.
Learn the classic riddims from Studio One, etc, they are a treasure trove of different approaches and feels, and are unequalled as a starting point to understanding reggae bass and it's relation to the drums.
Aston Barrett is a genius and his playing is worth a lifetime of study, but his style with Marley is particular to The Wailers material and is not necessarily the right thing for different reggae styles. he himself plays very differently on sessions with other musicians and producers. Listen to Robbie Shakespeare, Flabba Holt, Bagga walker, etc. to see how other bassists nice it up.
You've got to absorb it and feel it instinctively before you can play it, so immerse yourself.
And learn to dance to reggae music, it will help you to understand it better and play it well.
Study this line, it is a great example of changing up the feel from verse to chorus, it's a triumph of melodicity, it anchors the song while creating and releasing tension, it's simple yet evolves subtly, the tone is worth emulating, etc. etc:
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Like learning any genre, copying the masters at first is never a bad thing, IMO
Search for the threads in the Recordings section with reggae recommendations and listen to them on headphones or a good sound system. Reggae bass is as much about the sheer power and vibes of the bass as the riddims and the accents. It's ALL about feel.
Learn the classic riddims from Studio One, etc, they are a treasure trove of different approaches and feels, and are unequalled as a starting point to understanding reggae bass and it's relation to the drums.
Aston Barrett is a genius and his playing is worth a lifetime of study, but his style with Marley is particular to The Wailers material and is not necessarily the right thing for different reggae styles. he himself plays very differently on sessions with other musicians and producers. Listen to Robbie Shakespeare, Flabba Holt, Bagga walker, etc. to see how other bassists nice it up.
You've got to absorb it and feel it instinctively before you can play it, so immerse yourself.
And learn to dance to reggae music, it will help you to understand it better and play it well.
Study this line, it is a great example of changing up the feel from verse to chorus, it's a triumph of melodicity, it anchors the song while creating and releasing tension, it's simple yet evolves subtly, the tone is worth emulating, etc. etc:
Invalid Link Removed
Like learning any genre, copying the masters at first is never a bad thing, IMO
Man you just have to feel your way through the song, That's what I do, There is no hard and fast rule, You do need to be able to feel the music though, and understand the different dialogues between the instruments to really be able to feel your way through effectively. If its not what your aiming to do, then I say go with your guitarist, They are his arrangements after all, play through them, and see if it sounds right!
listen to this, one of personal favourite lines, something that helped me when I first started to play.
listen to this, one of personal favourite lines, something that helped me when I first started to play.
I'd say your guitar-gentleman is on the wrong path...
+1 for melodic basslines
+1 for going next door to hear the bassline (great one)
and a good simple Invalid Link Removed to get into the feeling. With a one-drop beat and guitar shredding the off beats, you are all by yourself on the one. Take some time to get easy with this, p.e. by taking a break and re-entering on the one.
IMO, if everyone starts pushing the offs, it will end up feeling too much - the bass should be the melodic basement, to which everything else gives the bumpy offbeat. Maybe just a question of taste.
good luck & run to da riddim!
+1 for melodic basslines
+1 for going next door to hear the bassline (great one)
and a good simple Invalid Link Removed to get into the feeling. With a one-drop beat and guitar shredding the off beats, you are all by yourself on the one. Take some time to get easy with this, p.e. by taking a break and re-entering on the one.
IMO, if everyone starts pushing the offs, it will end up feeling too much - the bass should be the melodic basement, to which everything else gives the bumpy offbeat. Maybe just a question of taste.
good luck & run to da riddim!
Agree 100% about Familyman and the other players mentioned. Absolutely. If you're trying to get a clear idea of reggae bass (especially if you don't have great speakers) I would highly recommend you check out some Roots Radics recordings (they were one of the premier session bands in the late 70s/early 80s and featured Flabba Holt on bass). Check out, in particular, the work they did with producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes. You'll find that a lot of those recordings are very clear with easy-to-pick-out bass lines (in addition, a lot of the bass lines on those recordings are classics that any reggae bassist worth his salt will be familiar with). Some suggestions:
YouTube - ‪Yellowman - Mr. Chin‬‏
YouTube - ‪Cocoa Tea - Rocking Dolly‬‏
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YouTube - ‪Barrington Levy - Please Jah Jah / Yellowman - Two To Six‬‏
YouTube - ‪Michigan & Smiley ~ Diseases‬‏
YouTube - ‪Eek-A-Mouse - Wa do dem‬‏
You can't hear the bass?
On a Bob Marley record???
skwee said:
Hook your laptop up to your bass amp/cab or combo. Then you'll definitely hear the bass. Plug a 1/8" stereo-to-double mono converter jack into the headphone out of the computer, attached two mono 1/8" cords to the converter, attach 1/8" to 1/4" converters to the ends of the cords, and plug those into two channels of a bass amp for into two separate bass amps or at worst case just one of them into one bass amp. You may need to spend $12 at an electronics store like RadioShack. I listen to music quite often that way.
Like others have said, there is no definite downbeat or upbeat rule to Reggae bass playing, but most often they are melodic for certain with grace notes between the beats.
I think in classic reggae the bass plays downbeats, but often in a phrase that starts on an upbeat and melodically plays through the downbeats. But ONLY upbeats on bass doesn't make any sense- the guitar and keys are covering that. Another big exception- one drop, where you definitely don't play on the one.
If it's just reggae-flavored rock though then anything goes. Check out The Police's famous "Roxanne", where Andy Summers plays the downbeats and Sting's bass line rocks the offbeats, but also note he plays pick-ups to the upbeat so even so he does hit some downbeats.
If it's just reggae-flavored rock though then anything goes. Check out The Police's famous "Roxanne", where Andy Summers plays the downbeats and Sting's bass line rocks the offbeats, but also note he plays pick-ups to the upbeat so even so he does hit some downbeats.
There are plenty of examples out there of reggae that contain one drop drum patterns and have bass lines that emphasise the one.
Hey, thanks to everyone for the advice and all those links. You guys are the best. I worked something out on California Dreaming--it became very easy once the organ was playing. Downbeats fit right in, and I'm putting in a triplet every now and again (think almost Walking on the Moon). I paged through a Bob Marley book at a music store, and found pages and pages of bass downbeats. My colleague hasn't mentioned any issues once we got the keyboard involved.
i haven't played any reggae stuff yet but i'd have to go with Ed! if you play on the off beat there is too much there as the guitar is doing that with the 'skank" rhythm .....playing on the beat holds the fort down!
nice links man! really enjoyed this .....i really have no listening time in on this sort of thing!
Just for fun, and to show how reggae riddims have been used and reused over the years, here is the original vocal track from the late '60s of the Cocoa tea song linked above:
YouTube - ‪Willie Williams - Armagideon Time‬‏
Some versions of the Vanity Riddim (1st Yellowman linked above):
YouTube - ‪Vanity Riddim Mix Pt. 1‬‏
A later Studio One version Sugar Minott version of the earlier Pressure and Slide Studio One riddim (Barrington Levy above):
YouTube - ‪Sugar Minott - Oh Mr Dc (Studio One)‬‏
And a mix of the same Pressure and Slide Riddim, the original vocal track first:
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The great thing about reggae is that when you learn one song, you learn a hundred or a THOUSAND!
Have fun, and be very loud.
YouTube - ‪Willie Williams - Armagideon Time‬‏
Some versions of the Vanity Riddim (1st Yellowman linked above):
YouTube - ‪Vanity Riddim Mix Pt. 1‬‏
A later Studio One version Sugar Minott version of the earlier Pressure and Slide Studio One riddim (Barrington Levy above):
YouTube - ‪Sugar Minott - Oh Mr Dc (Studio One)‬‏
And a mix of the same Pressure and Slide Riddim, the original vocal track first:
Invalid Link Removed
The great thing about reggae is that when you learn one song, you learn a hundred or a THOUSAND!
Have fun, and be very loud.
And, of course, the original "Real Rock" riddim
:One Drop, you're a treasure trove of information on reggae and your input is always valued!
