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Stings Police Arsenal

#46
The doubling of bass lines on the last two albums is a significant part of his tone. You can imagine how thick an upright doubling a bass guitar is, it's a huge sound. As far as amplification, in the Ghost/Synchronicity era he was using a small PA on stage for his bass with bi-ampng, racked pre- amps (I seem to recall Ashly pre- amps, but I could be wrong) and Crown power amps.

Yeah, he's a pretentious snugglemuffin, but God love him he was great iin that band. I just so prefer him as a fake punk over a fake jazzer.
 
#47
corinpills said:
I just so prefer him as a fake punk over a fake jazzer.
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Hmm....well, Sting is no Charles Mingus, that's for sure, but if you ever get the chance to read his autobigraphy "Broken Music", you'll see that a big chunk of his coming up was playing jazz gigs. I mean, he's not a phony or anything, it's just that he's no virtuoso on the upright (or electric). However, I don't think he ever wanted to be. Consider this though: the chord changes to many a Sting tune are more jazz than alot of "contemporary jazz" artists' tunes are.

One of my favorite Sting stories: I know a strings teacher at a middle school in NJ who grew up with Danny Quatrochhi, Sting's tech. She and Danny were having lunch in the city one day and Danny had to stop by Sting's apartment for something, so she went too. Sure enough Sting was there, practicing the Bach Cello Suites....on Cello! And, according to her, he could really play.
I think Sting can do alot more than we're aware of.
 
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#48
musicman5string said:
Hmm....well, Sting is no Charles Mingus, that's for sure, but if you ever get the chance to read his autobigraphy "Broken Music", you'll see that a big chunk of his coming up was playing jazz gigs. I mean, he's not a phony or anything, it's just that he's no virtuoso on the upright (or electric). However, I don't think he ever wanted to be. Consider this though: the chord changes to many a Sting tune are more jazz than alot of "contemporary jazz" artists' tunes are.

One of my favorite Sting stories: I know a strings teacher at a middle school in NJ who grew up with Danny Quatrochhi, Sting's tech. She and Danny were having lunch in the city one day and Danny had to stop by Sting's apartment for something, so she went too. Sure enough Sting was there, practicing the Bach Cello Suites....on Cello! And, according to her, he could really play.
I think Sting can do alot more than we're aware of.
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Which reminds me of another famous quote of Sting.
"I went to see Chick Corea's accoustic band and John Pattituci was playing 32/18 notes on his double bass, really fast stuff. After the gig ended I met him back stage where he went; 'Ah Sting, what an honor to meet you, you were such an influence on my playing with all the space you leave.' I looked at him and said 'Really, I didn't really notice that in your performance.' "
 
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#51
I'm just rewording what has been said, but i think Sting is not interested in being a chops monster on stage. The man knows music and has played in situations that let me know that he has chops. The man just isn't into flashing them, remember, he can sing rather well too. I think his songs mean more to him than anything else.
 
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#52
Dr. Cheese said:
I'm just rewording what has been said, but i think Sting is not interested in being a chops monster on stage. The man knows music and has played in situations that let me know that he has chops. The man just isn't into flashing them, remember, he can sing rather well too. I think his songs mean more to him than anything else.
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From what ive heard, (in the police at least) sting used to pride himself on the catchy simplicity of his bass lines, and it makes sense, if you look back at the police, lots of their songs, although amazing musicaly are also really simple.

Which is good, because i can play them... :smug:
 
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#53
I remember a Sting interview where he said something like, "In rock music there are only about 5 different bass parts." At the time, it really annoyed me because it seemed so cynical, but it got me thinking about crafting lines that just work.
 
#54
I also remember Sting saying that he crafted basslines that could allow him to sing because singing and playing did not come naturally to him. That is a paraphrase from his memoir.

He's talented, but I guess he is not Larry Graham or Mark King when it comes to sing and playing at the same time.
 
#55
Dr. Cheese said:
I also remember Sting saying that he crafted basslines that could allow him to sing because singing and playing did not come naturally to him. That is a paraphrase from his memoir.

He's talented, but I guess he is not Larry Graham or Mark King when it comes to sing and playing at the same time.
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Try singing and playing "Spirits In The Material World" some time.
 
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