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P Bass and the Grammys

#63
KJung said:
I'm not much of a Katy Perry fan
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Ugh. Dont get me started...

Too late. Here's what I detest about Katy Perry...and really, it's not her so much as the material: Every hook has a vaguely interesting melody that has been completely emasculated by being set against a set of ambiguous chord changes that remove any sense of development, direction, or drama. There's no tension/release, no sense of movement or progression, it's just a wall of sound for her to sing against. If some half-drunk third-tier Tin Pan Alley songwriter was given those same melodies to rehearmonize Katy Perry albums would be a template for the new Cole Porter, and 30 years from now students at Berklee would be studying her debut as a textbook example of "standards". But no, they've all been saturated in a sea of harmonic anonimity.

/soapbox
 
#67
All I play is Fender Precision basses and it is because of personal preference, not because everyone else or all the big rock stars play them. I want to believe personal preference is the reason why a lot of artists play P's as well. They are just the classic solid bass. There is only so many kinds and brands of bass, eventually more and more people are going to play the same ones.
 
#71
klejst said:
All I play is Fender Precision basses and it is because of personal preference, not because everyone else or all the big rock stars play them. I want to believe personal preference is the reason why a lot of artists play P's as well. They are just the classic solid bass. There is only so many kinds and brands of bass, eventually more and more people are going to play the same ones.
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+1 I think the point is that music always evolves. Years ago, you saw a TON of 70's J basses when the 'slappy poppy' thing was really in style. Styles change, and at least to some extent, instrument choice does also. The shift from strats to Les Pauls and then back to strats over time (in general), etc. etc. The ton of 'pop jazz' players playing 335's (or similar) back in the day, and now you never see them, etc., etc. The huge number of country players plahing Lakland basses in the 90's. Lots of examples of the music driving the instrument choice IMO.

Minor thing in the bigger picture of making music, but it is interesting how the 'place in the mix' for bass has evolved yet again, and IMO the Grammy Awards show seemed to reflect that.

Trivial but fun discussion:)
 
#73
KJung said:
+1 I think the point is that music always evolves. Years ago, you saw a TON of 70's J basses when the 'slappy poppy' thing was really in style. Styles change, and at least to some extent, instrument choice does also. The shift from strats to Les Pauls and then back to strats over time (in general), etc. etc. The ton of 'pop jazz' players playing 335's (or similar) back in the day, and now you never see them, etc., etc. The huge number of country players plahing Lakland basses in the 90's. Lots of examples of the music driving the instrument choice IMO.

Minor thing in the bigger picture of making music, but it is interesting how the 'place in the mix' for bass has evolved yet again, and IMO the Grammy Awards show seemed to reflect that.

Trivial but fun discussion:)
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I think it's really interesting, as is the way players' and audience members' ears get re-calibrated.

Nothing trivial about the way a whole generation expects to hear an instrument, or overall band mix. I grew up when bass and drums especially were way more forward in the mix, and for a while the bass carried could carry a song in a way you rarely hear nowadays, in spite of the way the role has supposedly widened.

I'm just glad the trend has swung back a bit from super bright and more often than not slapped J tones, they just never did much for me personally and I won't miss it until the revival in 15-20 years from now.
 
#75
strost said:
I am sure I saw a Gibson gold top bass in there somewhere but forget who had it. Does anyone else remember that or am I going crazy?

And yes, Bruno and his band killed it. I am a believer now.
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Shows how well a good old-fashioned band that knows how to put on a show, play their instruments, and that has a repertoire of strong dance tunes can be as popular as ever.

These guys are a direct link to all the great soul bands there ever where, and with a few minor tweaks could have been on stage any time in the last 30-odd years.

Great to see there is a place for them at the top table!
 
#76
lesmarshall said:
True, but there was a diverse amount of genres , yet the P-Bass was played on all--makes me wonder what these bass players know that I don't.
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You've got it backwards, my man, you know what's up but they're missing out :D.

Jazz basses fo' lyfe, son.

tumblr_ksczlyQbeU1qzx4k0o1_500.jpg
 
#78
KJung said:
Even a J Bass lover like me has moved to a P for most gigs at this point. While any good player can play any tune successfully on any bass, the shift of mainstream pop music to soul, neo soul/R&B, hip hop and indie rock has made the P Bass tone pretty much the new standard (again!).
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Sort of like what ever goes around comes around. What P Bass brands and models do you like?
 

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