slap overdubbed

I'm hearing drum sticks

 

I've heard some slap sound like that on recordings, more of a slap-tap type of thing, it's sort of what I do. And the slap is coordinating with the DB notes pretty correctly.

That said, the right tech person in a studio could probably do anything they wanted to, even back in '59 when tape-splicing was "the way things was done".

 

Care to let us in on how you do "slap-tap"? I've heard that sort of thing on recordings and it always seemed impossible.

 

The way I do it is:

Triplets: (sort of a forward and back wrist-based teeter-totter motion)
Grab strings for the note with the tips of the fingers
Slap the strings with the flat heel of the palm
Tap the fingerboard with the tips of the fingers
repeat

Quads: (more of a round "feel the outer shape of a bowl" motion)
Grab strings for the note with the tips of the fingers
Slap the strings with the little-finger side of the hand
Slap the strings with the heel of the thumb
Tap the fingerboard with the tips of the fingers
repeat

In the tap stroke you can also get multiple taps with the tips of the fingers if you do a "boredom finger tap" against the fingerboard (ie: start with the little finger and roll the fingers one at a time but fast against the fingerboard). This is best done with sufficient amplification that you don't have to beat your individual fingertips to death.

For bluegrass in jamming and for old jazz I usually do these triplet and quad strokes without amplification so the effect is subtle, but it can be very helpful to keep the rhythm and tempo of a jam going. If you really want people to hear a loud tap stroke without killing your fingertips, amplification is needed and the fingerboard pickup has to be at least a little hot. On my bass, the best tone for this is on the free fingerboard just a couple of inches below the end of the neck joint. I have what appears to be a rosewood (actually probably jatoba, Brazilian Cherry) fingerboard.