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To slap or not to slap/why I hate it

To slap or not to slap/why I hate it

  • Total voters
    321
  • Poll closed .
#181
Alright...it was meant generally, but i can find some...

Sometime i miss groove in his playing...Or i find the technique we were talking about technique not for music, but just to be a technique...

Or maybe i dont understand his plaing and his music...sure...

I just think that the world of those great instrumentalists is not some cult of untouchable gods...they are just people like you and me...So they have qualities and they make mistakes too. So if i find something wrong about there playing, why can´t I say it? :) - I might be wrong also.
 
#182
jenich CZ said:
if i find something wrong about there playing, why can´t I say it? :) - I might be wrong also.
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You more than have the right to say what you choose but I just want to know could you be a little more specific in pointing out the mistakes in Dougs approach to the technique(s)that's the subject of this thread.

I remember seeing Doug in concert in the late 70's(during his solo spot that kicked off the start of the concert) doing a lot of the slapping and tapping techniques that in the 90's became somewhat of the standard approach to these techniques.He really was ahead of a lot of players and he always sounded like no one else other than Doug himself.
 
#183
JAUQO III-X said:
You more than have the right to say what you choose but I just want to know could you be a little more specific in pointing out the mistakes in Dougs approach to the technique(s)that's the subject of this thread.

I remember seeing Doug in concert in the late 70's(during his solo spot that kicked off the start of the concert) doing a lot of the slapping and tapping techniques that in the 90's became somewhat of the standard approach to these techniques.He really was ahead of a lot of players and he always sounded like no one else other than Doug himself.
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Like i said before...it was meant generally for all musicians i see playing...so i cant imagine i could be more specific..:)

I completely respect your opinion...

i have never been to his performance...Its about a taste of each musician...

I repeat i respect him as a great player, i think he is a nice person too and his political opinions are very close to mine (HedFake)

Maybe i can be more specific about the technique:

You see, in that technique he uses only two plucks...one with the thumb, one with the index finger...I think that its quite uneconomical opose to doublethumb, where one motion of the wrist means 4 plucks...
 
#184
JAUQO III-X said:
<<Now every dude can double thump>> Not me and I'm not afraid to admit it.
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I can't either. My approach to the string is all wrong for it - I go more underhanded. Perhaps to the point of many of the slap detratctors on this thread, I've not found a good enough reason to learn it.
 
#185
I slap pretty frequently, but I get bored with it pretty easily when listening to it. Too many players use it just to say "look what I can do!", and it pisses me off. If you can slap and make it tasteful and good, then I love it. If you're slapping just for the sake of slapping, just stop it.
As for the whole double thump thing. I don't see what the big deal is. It's just another way to play, but people idolize it like it's the absolute pinnicle of bass-playing. It's not.
 
#188
JAUQO III-X said:
The Bass that David is playing in that video was made by the very talented Pete Skjold who's also a fellow TB member.

http://www.skjolddesign.com/
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Indeed, and why I brought it up. I will be taking delivery of this bass from Pete in the next couple weeks.

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And yes, I intend to slap on it...
 
#189
I only slap when I am on a gig and I have to play a song that has a slap line in it. "Lowdown" by Boz etc.

I have created my own equivalent technique to do a percussive funtion. Most of the music I play doesn't require slapping.


I have seen where "slapping" has become a replacement for musicianship. A player slaps up a storm, and usually over just one chord. I know there are players who slap through changes, but it has become some sort of "right of passage" to the point where musicianship has fallen by the way side. Your good if you slap well.

"I slap, therefore I am good"
I was told by a bass owner once that he slaps everything when he does gigs. I now realize that is all he can do- slap over just one, maybe two chords.

Stan Clarke uses the technique in a very musical way. Think about "Lopsy loo". Like anything, slapping used tastefully is awesome.
 
#191
Garry Goodman said:
I only slap when I am on a gig and I have to play a song that has a slap line in it. "Lowdown" by Boz etc.
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For the record, according to Hungate himself, he didn't slap the main groove on that recording, he played it fingerstyle (though he obviously is popping those fills). And if you ever wondered how the hell he does some of the wierd stuff on that song, he recorded a second bass track with fills which stayed on the final recording.

Note: he said he did slap the song live when they toured, cause he found it easier to play that way.

Sorry, I just spent some time on that song for a new band, and went and researched it a little cause I really dug some of the stuff going on in it.
 
#193
thewanderer24 said:
For the record, according to Hungate himself, he didn't slap the main groove on that recording, he played it fingerstyle (though he obviously is popping those fills). And if you ever wondered how the hell he does some of the wierd stuff on that song, he recorded a second bass track with fills which stayed on the final recording.

Note: he said he did slap the song live when they toured, cause he found it easier to play that way.

Sorry, I just spent some time on that song for a new band, and went and researched it a little cause I really dug some of the stuff going on in it.
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I just mentioned the tune off the top of my head. As long as people hear the signature "lick" then everyone seems happy. Without it, the song is missing something, so i have to play it.
 
#194
Nah, I dont really like it. I prefer fingerstyle.I was told once by my teacher that the spotlight is seldom on you, so don't impose yourself on the rest of the band. If you kept to your job ; in the pocket, I'm sure the everything would sound much better. Exceptions would be songs that are written specifically to rest on a slap line?
 
#195
rylche said:
I was told once by my teacher that the spotlight is seldom on you, so don't impose yourself on the rest of the band. If you kept to your job ; in the pocket, I'm sure the everything would sound much better. Exceptions would be songs that are written specifically to rest on a slap line?
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Sounds like your teacher just wasn't feeling the technique altogether or he was simply just a hater :)
 
#196
I dont know a whole lot, but I learned the other day, that you can slap 10 times better when your volume is cranked.

Ive only been a hobby player, for the last 20 years, playing in my apt, only.

I dont seem to do very good at low volume, recording on headphones.

But the other day, the neighbor was gone, and I let 1000 watts come alive, in my apt.
I was amazed at how really well I could slap. Thought I was Mark King, there for a second :)

Man I sure wish I could find a band to join, that would let me slap all the time. And do it loud :bassist: Man that was fun !

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