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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 .
#42
Then again, I play in church. So, a lot of the stuff we play is gospel so the groove begs you to slap it. I don't want to come off sounding like a wanker when I play so sometimes the music leader will specifically ask me to slap more than I do. We have one bass player that slap at any and every opportunity (whether that opportunity legitimately exists or not). It's annoying.

So, just like everything else it's a great technique that can be used to spice up a line or a song but it can be overdone very easily. The cooking analogy was perfect.
 
#46
I like to slap, I'm decent at it but I also realize that regardless of what they say, audiences, musicians (including bandmates), soundguys and bartenders hate it with passion out of the 30 second bass solo at the end of the show.

I play strictly for the song and understand that in most situations, slap is more an annoyance than an enhancement.
 
#49
IMHO Slap has made the bass much more noticeable to the average listener. Slap as a solo has brought an entire new deminsion to the bass. I like slap as a really good groove, but hate the really fast show off type technique. Victor Wooten is a great example. He can lay down the best slap groove I have ever heard, but when he does the really fast thing, I tune out.
 
#50
Churchbassist said:
I recall reading some comments from Anthony Jackson about slap. If I recall correctly he is very anti-slap but he comes across as being too sophisticated for it (although he is a great player, IMO).
Click to expand...

Anthony Jackson WAS a great player, but what a tool. He described the funk brothers as a chamber ensemble. How pretentious is that! Putting on flam suit :)
 
#51
king_biscuit said:
Anthony Jackson WAS a great player, but what a tool. He described the funk brothers as a chamber ensemble. How pretentious is that! Putting on flam suit :)
Click to expand...


Anthony Jackson is great, maybe the greatest electric bassist living. That said, his mouth is no prayer book, anymore than Jeff Berlin, another great and outspoken player.
 
#52
I was a finger player from'78-'02. Mark King, and Claypool, got me hooked on slaping, and I havnt looked back. It has taken a long time and a LOT of practice, to get half way decent. (Im just a hobby player. Dont play in a band) I still have mile's to go, to get as good as the greats.

Its just so much fun though. Locking in with that groove. :hyper:


slap happy
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hi-fi URL: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#55
I hate it when flea does it, i love it when marcus or nathan east do it(or anyone else who does it tastefully).

that is to say; i love it when its done in the right context. just constantly slapping octaves the way flea does gets a bit irritating after a while, especially when he can groove quite well with his fingerstlye.

one example of 'good' slap is the Fourplay song "Flying East". absolutely magnificent.
 
#56
I use it. To me it's just another technique that makes your playing more versatile. Personally, I love the fact that I have a slap technique down and have the ability to slap just about any bass line that I can pluck. By that I mean not adding any extra rhythm, just slapping the exact same line just to make it sound different.

It's just another tool in the toolbox. I don't understand people who say they "hate it". It's kind of like saying I hate screwdrivers, I can get everything done I need to do with this set of pliers. Well, if you never pick up a screwdriver and let your imagination flow you will never know what it can do for you.

Point is, It's just a technique, not a style of music, or a means to show off or stand up front. You don't always have to slap and pop or make it sound like Wooten. Slap has been applied to all kinds of music from funk to metal in the past and I think it should continue without prejudice. If it sounds good it is good.

Just to back that up.
Im sure most of us know the story of Chuck Rainey in the studio when recording Peg with Steely Dan. Fagen or Becker asked him not to slap because "everyone was doing it" IIRC after a couple of takes Rainey had his back turned to the recording booth as he was slapping that bass line and it was the take they were looking for. Fagen/Becker was unaware until Rainey let them know.
 
#57
I voted "I don't use it, but I like it", because there wasn't a "I sort of like it a little category". I don't hate any form of music. If it's not for me it might be great for someone else. Also I don't really need that technique in the music I play. When I hear the greats, Clarke, Graham, Wooten etc... I'm in awe but, after about 30 seconds I'm bored listening to it. I guess that's why I love Victor Wooten with Bela Fleck but My copy of Vic's solo CD got sold after a couple of listens.
 
#58
I have a love/hate relationship with slapping. I love to do it, but I still go overboard sometimes with it and I really hate that lack of control. After all these years, I still have not grasped the concept of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should!" Between the ages of 16 - 24 with me it was all Mark King, Marcus Miller and Alain Caron, then I discovered Nathan East. These days if someone asks me who I think slaps the best, every time I would say Nathan East. While he doesn't throw out a lot of speed chops or blinding triplets, when Nathan slaps it's some of the most tasteful, grooving basslines you'll ever hear. Just check out any Fourplay CD or the countless R&B and Pop tracks he's recorded throughout the years. Nathan uses slapping almost like an instrument unto itself. IMHO Nathan makes slapping a respectable art form. I guarantee you will never hear a bassist or any other musician for that matter say "You Know, Nathan should not have slapped that bassline". Taste goes a lot further than chops, and Nathan East proves that in spades. I just need to practice what I preach sometimes........

Cheers,
Paul Theriault
Bassjones
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#60
in the band, i rarely slap, and when i do, its not be be funky, it's more because i am moving around a lot and sometime i only hit the string with my thumb :)

when i am just screwing around at home, then i slap a bit more...i am practicing grooving slap lines (aka the usable ones ;)) i would like to find a band where i can implement that, but i rarely play the crazy wank stuff :)
 

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