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stop wanking and play the bass

#41
Great writers don't want you to focus on the writing, they want you to focus on the story and be moved by it. Writing that is too flashy attracts too much attention to itself and takes the reader away from the experience of the story and the expression of the artist.

"Wankers," are athletes at best and egoists at worst. Let them have their 15 minutes of fame. People are listening to Miles Davis today. Are they going to be listening to a single" wanker" in 50 years? Even today, it's quite challenging for the proverbial "wanker," to garner listeners.

All that said, music should be free. Express yourself how you choose and accept the consequences.
 
#42
Joospocks said:
How to make a trolling thread on TalkBass:

1. Post some music that you personally enjoy
2. Add rhetoric implying that some genre is real music and musicians playing some other genre should listen to some real music.

Relevant Post
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If that is trolling, then every sports fan since history began is a troll. It's his opinion, and he is emphatic about it. Nothing wrong with that.

20 years ago I would not have agreed with his choices. 20 years later, I certainly do. There is almost nothing worse then the mindless slapping and bass solos you hear at guitar center, and in some songs that have been recorded. That's my personal opinion, and I hardly think I am alone in that, because the average producer will not dig you if you come into a session and start wanking. They want you to focus on playing a solid, tasteful and supporting bass line for the most part. facts are facts, and the average non-musician audience member could not care less about your bass solo.
 
#44
I'm discovering that sometimes looking "busy" is enough to be accused of being too "busy".

I play a lot of ghost notes. I just replaced a guy that wouldn't know a ghost note if it haunted his dreams.

I think the drummer sees me hitting ghost notes and thinks I'm playing actual notes. So I'm going to make it to where he doesn't see that too much, because I was playing the lines as recorded, almost note for note: and that was too "busy".

I play country bass. There is actually more going on in a lot of country songs than just root five, root four. But I think the trick for me is to not "look" busy.
 
#45
onydag said:
Great writers don't want you to focus on the writing, they want you to focus on the story and be moved by it. Writing that is too flashy attracts too much attention to itself and takes the reader away from the experience of the story and the expression of the artist.

"Wankers," are athletes at best and egoists at worst. Let them have their 15 minutes of fame. People are listening to Miles Davis today. Are they going to be listening to a single" wanker" in 50 years? Even today, it's quite challenging for the proverbial "wanker," to garner listeners.

All that said, music should be free. Express yourself how you choose and accept the consequences.
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Well folks are still listening to Coltrane Hubbard, who often used things you apparently consider wanking.
 
#46
Eublet said:
Well folks are still listening to Coltrane Hubbard, who often used things you apparently consider wanking.
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Coltrane especially. I do like Coltrane and some Parker, but many people would consider it wankery. They call Coltrane's harmonic and melodic way of soloing "Sheets of sound". If that doesn't sound like code-name for "lots and lots of sound", I don't know what does. People still love him though.

Wankery is wankery only if you think it counts as wankery. One person's blazing "inspirational" 300bpm bebop solo is another person's wankery masterclass.
 
#48
Haha - I'm not much on wanking, but in practice, if I ever bust out some wankery (or FX, for that matter), I always get responses ranging from "That's pretty cool, but please, please don't do that at a gig." to "This ain't Seinfeld, dude, it's rock'n'roll!" or some such.

So I throw some slaps and wanky riffs in here and there just to piss em off.

We're doing a bunch of motown songs for a lady's 60th B-Day, one of which is Lady Marmelaide (sp?)....I swear there is something about that riff that begs and screams for wankery. Sometimes you just can't help yourself.
 
#50
lucas vigor said:
If that is trolling, then every sports fan since history began is a troll. It's his opinion, and he is emphatic about it. Nothing wrong with that.

20 years ago I would not have agreed with his choices. 20 years later, I certainly do. There is almost nothing worse then the mindless slapping and bass solos you hear at guitar center, and in some songs that have been recorded. That's my personal opinion, and I hardly think I am alone in that, because the average producer will not dig you if you come into a session and start wanking. They want you to focus on playing a solid, tasteful and supporting bass line for the most part. facts are facts, and the average non-musician audience member could not care less about your bass solo.
Click to expand...

All right, my post was silly. It's just that there seems to be a constant stream of threads implying that music recorded after nineteen seventy-something is bad, or bassists playing a bass with more than 4 strings can't possibly have groove or soul, or other variations of "if you aren't playing a style I deem appropriate, you are not actually playing music".

In retrospect, it's obvious the OP wasn't trying to open a can of worms, and I like the songs that were posted that I've checked out. In particular, it's cool hearing the original versions of songs that I had only heard on the Metallica "Garage" cover album.
 
#51
wade_b said:
I'm discovering that sometimes looking "busy" is enough to be accused of being too "busy".

I play a lot of ghost notes. I just replaced a guy that wouldn't know a ghost note if it haunted his dreams.

I think the drummer sees me hitting ghost notes and thinks I'm playing actual notes. So I'm going to make it to where he doesn't see that too much, because I was playing the lines as recorded, almost note for note: and that was too "busy".

I play country bass. There is actually more going on in a lot of country songs than just root five, root four. But I think the trick for me is to not "look" busy.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the bigger problem is you're playing with people that don't know what a ghost note is. And ghost notes can be busy. They are adding something to the songs. It's not like they are inaudible.
 
#52
Not too long ago we broke out Stranglehold at rehearsal. I play in a band with cats capable of playing this stuff and not having it sound wankish. So when I kicked on some big phase in the psychadelic breakdown, they truly dug it. When I Big Muff and throw in an envelope filter for Low Rider, they dig that too. When I get overly riffy on Drift Away, they overlook it. Why? Because I still hold the pocket down. And a good song, whether its funk, rock, country or blues can be any degree of busy if it holds a solid pocket. Just listen to Come On, Come Over's outtro.
 
#53
It's all a matter of personal preference, artistic expression and exploring music. All styles of bass playing are legitimate and worthwhile.

As long as it's coming from the heart and soul, it's all good.

From a personal perspective and personal taste, I don't particularly enjoy too much soloing and players who slap and snap everything they do. Doesn't appeal to me.

But I'd never think or say that they're wrong for playing which ever way they choose. That's their business, not mine. There's room in the world for what ever style a player wants to explore and play.
 
#54
wade_b said:
I'm discovering that sometimes looking "busy" is enough to be accused of being too "busy".

I play a lot of ghost notes. I just replaced a guy that wouldn't know a ghost note if it haunted his dreams.

I think the drummer sees me hitting ghost notes and thinks I'm playing actual notes. So I'm going to make it to where he doesn't see that too much, because I was playing the lines as recorded, almost note for note: and that was too "busy".

I play country bass. There is actually more going on in a lot of country songs than just root five, root four. But I think the trick for me is to not "look" busy.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the signature wade_b. :D
 

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