• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

The difference between an average player and monster chops...

Status
Not open for further replies.
#181
BassHappy said:
Yeah, bulgarian wedding band - HA!~

When we signed to Arista we told them our first choice as producer was Ken Scott, mostly due to the incredible job he did on Mahavishnu's "Birds of Fire". Ken loved the band and ended up producing the first two records. We didn't even know about his history with Bowie, Elton John and other mainstreamers, but we loved what he was producing for Stanley Clark, Jeff Beck, Billy Cobham - and the fact that he engineered most of the Beatles "White" album blew us away.
Click to expand...
Not to mention Devo's best album, Duty Now For The Future.

:D
 
#183
It's really not about physical stature in my opinion. All that can be mitigated with proper technique. Also, sloppy playing can be handled with proper practice and technique. There are plenty of tiny handed DB players that can rip it... It's really about comfort/playability/tone/budget. Each player is different. I like 34" 4 string fretted and all fretless 34", 5 string fretted 35", and 6 and 7 strings fretted at 33". Never played anything that felt good under 33" except a Rob Allen Mouse.
 
#185
Hey Max -

Not too shabby for just learning it! BRAVO! Takes a little chops eh?

Your time was all over the place probably because you learned it slow and the normal speed kicked your ass a bit. Too bad you weren't on a medium scale you could have come much closer to nailing it. :D Just joking OF COURSE - sorry, I couldn't resist. REALLY - just kidding you. You also missed quite a few punctuation notes and there were a few wrong notes too along the way but hey hey hey great effort! It is a pretty fun tune to play.

Sorry you like it slower - I like the HTM quick smokin' nature of it myself. Makes me grin.

I wish you could have continued with what I consider to be the more challenging parts - but hey - I will take what I can get.

REALLY appreciate the two or three hours you put in.

THANKS so much, made my day.

Best,

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
 
#186
BassHappy said:
Hey Max -

Not too shabby for just learning it! BRAVO! Takes a little chops eh?

Your time was all over the place probably because you learned it slow and the normal speed kicked your ass a bit. Too bad you weren't on a medium scale you could have come much closer to nailing it. :D Just joking OF COURSE - sorry, I couldn't resist. REALLY - just kidding you. You also missed quite a few punctuation notes and there were a few wrong notes too along the way but hey hey hey great effort! It is a pretty fun tune to play.

Sorry you like it slower - I like the HTM quick smokin' nature of it myself. Makes me grin.

I wish you could have continued with what I consider to be the more challenging parts - but hey - I will take what I can get.

REALLY appreciate the two or three hours you put in.

THANKS so much, made my day.

Best,

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
Click to expand...

Wow, a pretty patronizing "compliment".
 
#187
Showdown said:
Wow, a pretty patronizing "compliment".
Click to expand...

Very much so. Funny thing- Michael Manring's been a forum member for far longer, achieved a far greater amount of fame, and plays far more difficult stuff, yet has never challenged anyone to play anything or has been anything but the most humble person you could meet (both online and in person). Funny that, ey?
 
#188
BassHappy said:
Hey Max -

Not too shabby for just learning it! BRAVO! Takes a little chops eh?

Your time was all over the place probably because you learned it slow and the normal speed kicked your ass a bit. Too bad you weren't on a medium scale you could have come much closer to nailing it. :D Just joking OF COURSE - sorry, I couldn't resist. REALLY - just kidding you. You also missed quite a few punctuation notes and there were a few wrong notes too along the way but hey hey hey great effort! It is a pretty fun tune to play.

Sorry you like it slower - I like the HTM quick smokin' nature of it myself. Makes me grin.

I wish you could have continued with what I consider to be the more challenging parts - but hey - I will take what I can get.

REALLY appreciate the two or three hours you put in.

THANKS so much, made my day.

Best,

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
Click to expand...

Wow. Might be the biggest ***hole "compliment" I've ever seen right there.

I personally own a 30" scale Univox coily bass, a mid 80's 32" Fender Precision, a 34" Fender Precision and Jazz, and a custom built 35" 5 string. The 34 and 35 get all the playing time and my chops are the same on any bass I play. I play primarily Jazz (a lot of fusion Weather Report-y stuff, though I'm no Jaco :) ) and I'm also 5'11" with average sized hands. I notice a sizeable difference in tone when I play the 32" precision vs. the 34" precision. 34 just sounds better and I play equally as well on either.
 
#191
BassHappy said:
Hey Max -

Not too shabby for just learning it! BRAVO! Takes a little chops eh?

Your time was all over the place probably because you learned it slow and the normal speed kicked your ass a bit. Too bad you weren't on a medium scale you could have come much closer to nailing it. :D Just joking OF COURSE - sorry, I couldn't resist. REALLY - just kidding you. You also missed quite a few punctuation notes and there were a few wrong notes too along the way but hey hey hey great effort! It is a pretty fun tune to play.

Sorry you like it slower - I like the HTM quick smokin' nature of it myself. Makes me grin.

I wish you could have continued with what I consider to be the more challenging parts - but hey - I will take what I can get.

REALLY appreciate the two or three hours you put in.

THANKS so much, made my day.

Best,

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
Click to expand...

My timing got a little off because the laptop is pretty quiet, and I was hitting it pretty hard. It sounded loud on my phone but it was kind of tinny to me, out there. I could hear I was off when that little pause hit.

I guess I liked it slower because I am doing everything very deliberately these days, and I'm very interested in tone. But I've also learned that slowing it down -- speeds it up. I was able to recover when I couldn't hear the backing track because all of those beats were clear to me down in the lower bpms. I guess I'm trying to illustrate here that it's all about knowing what you plan to do, and I really find that taking my time means I am more effective with it. Five years ago, I would have spent hours getting pissed off trying to catch the difference between the first and second run of your initial riff, which has a really ****ed-up lil' hook in there, my friend. I sussed it only when I got down to about 70% of your recorded speed. Then, suddenly, it was obvious to me. But if I'd just picked it up straight off the track, like I'd originally planned, I would have spent hours going over the same millisecond of recording trying to puzzle out what the **** I was supposed to be doing.

If you are challenging me . . . LOL. You are now guaranteed a second recording, and it will be perfect. I assure you. I will have to spend several days on it, however.

Look here about a week from now. Maybe two. I will play your song note-for-note, exactly in time. Using the method I just outlined. I'm not trying to measure anything here or maybe I am, but telling me "you cain't do it" is very motivating to me. For some reason.

I'll confess to an ulterior motive. I've been cross-examining my playing for about the last year, and I've broken it down to some fundamentals, and I am teaching one of my kids how to play using this "method" I've figured out. So I'm kind of trying to prove a point that some attention to the basics, and simple hard work, are the foundation and anyone can do it. I was NOT naturally inclined to music when I started, and I had to fight like hell to get my chops, and I often resent the implication that I am "talented," because I had no such thing to start with. And I want to encourage others (especially my kids) to understand that getting this kind of ability is there for anyone who WANTS it badly enough. So I tried it out on your stuff, and I'm quite satisfied with what I learned, and how fast I learned it, which is why I emphasized that I only spent 3 hours on it. Imagine me spending a week on it -- or just wait and see what I will show you.

I guess I'm working on a narrative for this technique, and maybe posting lessons on Youtube. And of course, getting my kids to turn their desires into some practical reality.
 
#192
BassHappy said:
Hey Max -

Not too shabby for just learning it! BRAVO! Takes a little chops eh?

Your time was all over the place probably because you learned it slow and the normal speed kicked your ass a bit. Too bad you weren't on a medium scale you could have come much closer to nailing it. :D Just joking OF COURSE - sorry, I couldn't resist. REALLY - just kidding you. You also missed quite a few punctuation notes and there were a few wrong notes too along the way but hey hey hey great effort! It is a pretty fun tune to play.

Sorry you like it slower - I like the HTM quick smokin' nature of it myself. Makes me grin.

I wish you could have continued with what I consider to be the more challenging parts - but hey - I will take what I can get.

REALLY appreciate the two or three hours you put in.

THANKS so much, made my day.

Best,

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
Click to expand...

Too bad you have to use a short-scale bass to do it.
 
#193
maxgrant said:
Look here about a week from now. Maybe two. I will play your song note-for-note, exactly in time. Using the method I just outlined. I'm not trying to measure anything here or maybe I am, but telling me "you cain't do it" is very motivating to me. For some reason.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't waste my time if I were you. His motive isn't finding out if anyone can play it, it is to feel superior. You will never beat his ego.
 
#194
The entire premise of this thread is pure B.S.

It's that simple.

I started playing bass in orchestra on upright, bought a 34" scale P-bass, and now have a dozen basses in 34", 32" and 30" scale.

None really affect my playing. What DOES is how much I practice.

That's it, plan and simple. Practice and you get better. Don't and you don't. Practice more and you get better faster, regardless of scale. Scale is absolutely immaterial.
 
#195
scale length on an instrument makes little difference to me,
unlike the number of strings.
Have to practice between the 4/5/6 strings, or it feels funny when I swich.

I don't get paid for playing a bunch of notes fast,
but for the care in placing the ones I do use.
 
#196
maxgrant said:
My timing got a little off because the laptop is pretty quiet, and I was hitting it pretty hard. It sounded loud on my phone but it was kind of tinny to me, out there. I could hear I was off when that little pause hit.

I guess I liked it slower because I am doing everything very deliberately these days, and I'm very interested in tone. But I've also learned that slowing it down -- speeds it up. I was able to recover when I couldn't hear the backing track because all of those beats were clear to me down in the lower bpms. I guess I'm trying to illustrate here that it's all about knowing what you plan to do, and I really find that taking my time means I am more effective with it. Five years ago, I would have spent hours getting pissed off trying to catch the difference between the first and second run of your initial riff, which has a really ****ed-up lil' hook in there, my friend. I sussed it only when I got down to about 70% of your recorded speed. Then, suddenly, it was obvious to me. But if I'd just picked it up straight off the track, like I'd originally planned, I would have spent hours going over the same millisecond of recording trying to puzzle out what the **** I was supposed to be doing.

If you are challenging me . . . LOL. You are now guaranteed a second recording, and it will be perfect. I assure you. I will have to spend several days on it, however.

Look here about a week from now. Maybe two. I will play your song note-for-note, exactly in time. Using the method I just outlined. I'm not trying to measure anything here or maybe I am, but telling me "you cain't do it" is very motivating to me. For some reason.

I'll confess to an ulterior motive. I've been cross-examining my playing for about the last year, and I've broken it down to some fundamentals, and I am teaching one of my kids how to play using this "method" I've figured out. So I'm kind of trying to prove a point that some attention to the basics, and simple hard work, are the foundation and anyone can do it. I was NOT naturally inclined to music when I started, and I had to fight like hell to get my chops, and I often resent the implication that I am "talented," because I had no such thing to start with. And I want to encourage others (especially my kids) to understand that getting this kind of ability is there for anyone who WANTS it badly enough. So I tried it out on your stuff, and I'm quite satisfied with what I learned, and how fast I learned it, which is why I emphasized that I only spent 3 hours on it. Imagine me spending a week on it -- or just wait and see what I will show you.

I guess I'm working on a narrative for this technique, and maybe posting lessons on Youtube. And of course, getting my kids to turn their desires into some practical reality.
Click to expand...

I thought it sounded pretty good. I don't think BassHappy's motive in his "challenge" is to get opinions on short scale vs. long scale basses, but to stroke his ego. If you played it note for note, he'd still find something to be "better than you" at.
 
#197
He edited it out of his "challenge" post, but he said those who attempt it "will certainly give me a chance to laugh a little more as well."

Stay classy, BassHappy :rolleyes:
 
#198
Average player: ImageUploadedByTalkBass1370503699.281076.jpg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back