Right, but he was actually a drummer, miming to a song that he played (probably those) drums on.
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Double Bass Sting
- Thread starter TroyK
- Start date
Right, but he was actually a drummer, miming to a song that he played (probably those) drums on.
Faking your playing goes back to old movies from the 1930s. Maybe earlier. There were early jukebox music videos back then too.
You are only allowed to criticise that one if you can pull of the bass line for the entire song!
Just for fun:
A double bass only version of that very song
A double bass only version of that very song
Strange.. For 30+ years I knew the db mirrored the kick and the eb played eighth notes.
And you recently just saw this video?
It’s art, it works....
And you recently just saw this video?
It’s art, it works....
Police music videos don't seem to had much planning behind them. There are several examples.
It's like they just met in a random place and shot the videos.
On "Walking on the Moon" they even forgot to bring a bass.
And bringing a drum kit was never a concern to them.
On "De do do do, De da da da" they were clearly hungover and half a sleep. At least they brought a bass. No drums, of course. And no worries in playing the bass part either.
These are just two examples, but almost all their videos are like that. No worries.
I like The Police a lot. Great band with great tunes.
Here he is playing EUB, by the way.
It's like they just met in a random place and shot the videos.
On "Walking on the Moon" they even forgot to bring a bass.
And bringing a drum kit was never a concern to them.
On "De do do do, De da da da" they were clearly hungover and half a sleep. At least they brought a bass. No drums, of course. And no worries in playing the bass part either.
These are just two examples, but almost all their videos are like that. No worries.
I like The Police a lot. Great band with great tunes.
Here he is playing EUB, by the way.
Take it easy, man. Far better than average pop musician does not equal "monster player". Not on this side of TB, at least. I'd Sting understands this as well, so he hires Christian McBride!
I agree. Good player, not virtuoso. The gift he has IMHO is to sing over his lines. The bass lines and vocals are often divergent and for a player of my caliber extremely challenging or not yet possible.
I’m a fan, think he is an above average bassist but I rank him higher for overall musicianship.
It's really hard to ever know for sure. I guess Sting could just make Youtube videos where he wanks away on the bass. Instead, he remains in the pocket but lays down some amazing grooves. Some of what I consider "Monster grooves."
Sting is great and The Police too.
But you can't compare him on the DB to a player like Christian McBride. It's another planet.
And I'm sure McBride couldn't write the tunes Sting writes. There's no harm in that.
I am not trying to get into a big debate about this. However, Stings degrees in music are not just Honorary. He has studied 1000's of hours and earned those degrees. If he wanted to put together some mind blowing Double bass Solo's, He could do it. Just as you or I could. There's no substitute for hard work and people are all too quick to label things as impossible.
I was also accused of lying when I said I learned the bass to all of Zeppelin II at around 11 years old within my first few weeks of playing. I consider John Paul Jones a monster player. Try playing "Gallows Pole" note for note(Especially the ending minute and a half).
I was also accused of lying when I said I learned the bass to all of Zeppelin II at around 11 years old within my first few weeks of playing. I consider John Paul Jones a monster player. Try playing "Gallows Pole" note for note(Especially the ending minute and a half).
Let's not get carried away here.
First of all, just to be clear, my post wasn't an attack on Sting as a musician or bass player. The Police were a very successful 80s band and he is a very good front man for that band. There were some better than average bass lines behind some of their songs and The Police did some interesting rhythmic and harmonic things that stretched beyond what was required of Top 40 bands of that era. I'm sure that he was behind more than 1/2 of that and I admire him for what he is.
Second, our standards may be different and you may be a better double bassist than me, but I don't believe that I have ever or could play a mind-blowing double bass solo. Based on this video alone, I'm quite sure that Sting could not either at this point in time. I realize it's an MTV video and I realize that everyone was pantomiming in videos, but what I see here is someone who lacks beginner level technique that would enable someone to generate a decent sound on an acoustic doublebass, play in-tune even on a simple line, or express themselves musically.
This song came out in 1983, assuming the video did as well, he's had almost 40 years to study and woodshed. He's a full time musician and has had an extended relationship with Christian McBride, among others. So, he may very well be a legitimate doublebassist at this point, I don't follow him closely enough to know, but if that's what he wants to be and he's put his work in, I don't doubt him.
My post was about seeing this video. It's atrocious from a doublebass pedagogy standpoint. I don't believe that he played a doubled line on the studio track of this song on the doublebass based on what I see here. Maybe a studio musician did it for him, maybe he recorded it on a EUB or a fretless BG. What I hear on the isolated tracks is in-tune and clear. That alone is way harder than BG players think it is. I know, because in 1983, that's what I was and that's what I believed.
Again, not bashing Sting there's been some good dialogue here to better ground me with context for what I reacted to initially, but again, let's not get carried away with canonizing him.
Proof that we've all been locked up for too long: a thread on the double bass side where everyone gets worked up about Sting!
'Nice to take a break from all those other guys like PC, Lafario, Meyer, et cetera....
While all of those guys are the master of the notes the DO play, I always though Sting is a master of what notes to NOT play. His use of negative space is what makes him stand out so well.
Personally I find it much more difficult to underplay a song rather than overplay and blow a huge chorus of 16th notes....
'Nice to take a break from all those other guys like PC, Lafario, Meyer, et cetera....
While all of those guys are the master of the notes the DO play, I always though Sting is a master of what notes to NOT play. His use of negative space is what makes him stand out so well.
Personally I find it much more difficult to underplay a song rather than overplay and blow a huge chorus of 16th notes....
With all due respect, I would love to know what you consider your limitation. Strength?, Stamina?, Ear for music?, Theory? At any given time, you can let your fingers fly using whatever theory you have at that moment.
jdthebassman
play to live live to play
Come on you know paul played that slap bass line LOL
This from a gear rundown page on Sting from mixdown.mag.au.
Van Zalinge
You’d have to say the Van Zalinge electric upright bass is categorically the weirdest guitar that Sting has played, but it seemed to work well for him. The Dutch-made instrument was used on the recordings of Synchronicity and perhaps even on Ghost in the Machine earlier. He liked to thicken up his lines by playing them both on an upright and then an electric as well on recordings.
Van Zalinge
You’d have to say the Van Zalinge electric upright bass is categorically the weirdest guitar that Sting has played, but it seemed to work well for him. The Dutch-made instrument was used on the recordings of Synchronicity and perhaps even on Ghost in the Machine earlier. He liked to thicken up his lines by playing them both on an upright and then an electric as well on recordings.
Shockingly, it turns out that unlike this video, Sting is not in black and white in real life! It’s almost as if some of the things we see in films, TV shows and videos aren’t factually true or something.
