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Too Many Notes?

#123
Big Heavy Bass said:
It all depends on the situation and what the musicians are going for, I believe it takes a real balance, communication and understanding for a band to function properly when it comes to everyones role in the band. In my opinion, Entwistle was able to play the way that he did in the Who because of the solid rhythm playing of Townshend. Entwistle is just as important to the sound of the Who as Cliff Williams is to AC/DC. Try playing like Entwistle in an AC/DC song and it just doesn't work (or doesn't sound like AC/DC anymore) Jack Bruce's playing in Cream is another example of a bass player playing a lot but that was the style they were going for. It all depends on what the band is going for...AC/DC could have had a bass player who played a lot of notes but that was not the sound they were going for.
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I just want to point out that AC/DC rules. Phil Rudd also plays fairly straightforward drumming. A lot of really good rock bands keep a fairly simple approach and it works.
 
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#124
John Entwhistle. Donald "Duck" Dunn. James Jamerson. Paul McCartney. Jerry Jemott. Carol Kaye. They played a lot, not just 1-5, but they played within the song structures and weren't afraid to be simple. Listen to yourself and the band and feel free to back off your right hand a little when it sounds right and let it fly when the time is right. It's what makes us different as players.
 
#127
Being a more audience-centric musician in the cover band format, I think when the average mainstream audience member hears your bass line and thinks, "That doesn't sound right," and they mean it in an unfavorable way, you're on shaky ground.

And for every one audience member who has the guts to say that, there are probably another 20-30 silent audience members who heard it the same way and would agree. It's surprising sometimes how well average people know the bass line to popular songs they've heard many times.

Again, this varies from cover band to cover band, and I play in a cover band that knows our audience and desires to hit them in their comfort zone and not challenge or disorient them.
 
#128
FirewalZ said:
OK, so Im in a "Classic Rock" band that is doing well at the moment. I have on occasion been "accused" of playing too many notes or too busy, this is usually from older guys who came of age in the 60's (I'm 44) so I've always assumed they simply have a different idea of what a "bass" should or should not be doing. Now I dont tap, almost never slap, but I do play more "chord" tones and cross over into counter melody at times. My response is usually something like, "while I 100% agree with and promote the "less is more" approach, I am first of all a musician, I play the whole instrument and am simply playing what comes out". I am certainly am not flying off the handle soloing all night long, however I am always grooving, and in this setting, possibly just a bit more of a dominant player than what some are expecting from "just the bass player". I am not trying to be busy or simple just me. Anyone else have this problem or have heard this as well?
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Forget that "less is more" junk. John Paul Jones, Noel Redding, and John Entwistle did pretty good "classic rock" without just sitting on the root with quarter notes.
Classic rock has a lot of room for good walking bass lines, they are primarily drove the songs of the 60s and 70s.
Old guys are cranks. I don't know how it happens, but suddenly when people turn 60 the world freezes in some mystical time that only exists in their head, where everything was perfect, and anything else sucks.
 
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#130
bherman said:
If my sound isn't right, I don't play as well.
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I'm not tone obsessed but if it doesn't sound right I find myself making more mistakes. This happened to my last Saturday. I was DI'd and didn't have an amp on stage. First set with one band the foldback was nothing but too loud mud. I couldn't hear the notes properly and made numerous mistakes. The second set with a different band, after talking to the sound guy again, it was all tops with no mids or bottom, and still couldn't hear myself properly. It was slightly better and I made less mistakes but more than normal.
 
#131
About Carlos Santana:

From here:
Live at the Fillmore East and West

CS.PNG
 
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#132
I say since it's a classic rock band save some of that for the endings of some songs. You know those big bombastic endings at the end of say, any AC/DC, or Ted Nugent song. That's when i used to pull out chords, fast glisses, and crazy runs.
If you guys write any originals you can get a little inventive perhaps.
 
#133
BAG said:
I'm not tone obsessed but if it doesn't sound right I find myself making more mistakes. This happened to my last Saturday. I was DI'd and didn't have an amp on stage. First set with one band the foldback was nothing but too loud mud. I couldn't hear the notes properly and made numerous mistakes. The second set with a different band, after talking to the sound guy again, it was all tops with no mids or bottom, and still couldn't hear myself properly. It was slightly better and I made less mistakes but more than normal.
Click to expand...

I feel you. I had, probably all of us have had, problems with sound guys that do not get it. Why isn't the Bass as important as everyone else to them?
 
#134
Winterglo said:
I feel you. I had, probably all of us have had, problems with sound guys that do not get it. Why isn't the Bass as important as everyone else to them?
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I've dealt with this guy before and it's not that he doesn't value the bass, it's partly that he's as deaf as a doorpost and, on this occasion, I think he confused himself as to how he'd set up his foldback. I asked for more in the centre wedges for the first bands set and just got more in the sidefill full of mud. That wasn't good to start off as I was centre. The second band set, if I moved right over near the side fill, I could hear myself but, as stated, it was so toppy it was off-putting. So i move away to be nearer the others players and can't hear hear myself properly. I ended up standing stock still and just concentrating as hard as possible to keep the groove.
 
#135
FirewalZ said:
OK, so Im in a "Classic Rock" band that is doing well at the moment. I have on occasion been "accused" of playing too many notes or too busy, this is usually from older guys who came of age in the 60's (I'm 44) so I've always assumed they simply have a different idea of what a "bass" should or should not be doing. Now I dont tap, almost never slap, but I do play more "chord" tones and cross over into counter melody at times. My response is usually something like, "while I 100% agree with and promote the "less is more" approach, I am first of all a musician, I play the whole instrument and am simply playing what comes out". I am certainly am not flying off the handle soloing all night long, however I am always grooving, and in this setting, possibly just a bit more of a dominant player than what some are expecting from "just the bass player". I am not trying to be busy or simple just me. Anyone else have this problem or have heard this as well?
Click to expand...
Go and find a Jazz Fusion group.Then you can rip,run and fly all over the fingerboard all you like.
 
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#136
Last week, I posted my drum pattern and some "a la rhythm guitar" part (recorded with my:bassist: Jazz Bass). I asked if anybody had any ideas how to approach that (a little bit complicated) drum pattern in order to create some kind of bass-line.
After a few mornings of trying (unsuccessfully :banghead:) various bass-lines - busy/simple/following the drum kick/etc... - I decided to use a different approach.
This morning, I recorded a bass-line which has a sense of slightly "polyrhythmic":cautious: idea and a touch of "a la triplet-ish" :rollno:feel.
Almost all notes are the Root and the 5th with some exceptions at the end - an arpeggiated Cm7 chord:bored:.
(Just one chord - Cm7:thumbsup:.)
 
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#137
Whousedtoplay said:
Last week, I posted my drum pattern and some "a la rhythm guitar" part (recorded with my:bassist: Jazz Bass). I asked if anybody had any ideas how to approach that (a little bit complicated) drum pattern in order to create some kind of bass-line.
After a few mornings of trying (unsuccessfully :banghead:) various bass-lines - busy/simple/following the drum kick/etc... - I decided to use a different approach.
This morning, I recorded a bass-line which has a sense of slightly "polyrhythmic":cautious: idea and a touch of "a la triplet-ish" :rollno:feel.
Almost all notes are the Root and the 5th with some exceptions at the end - an arpeggiated Cm7 chord:bored:.
(Just one chord - Cm7:thumbsup:.)


My two (2) questions:help:.
Is my bass-line "too busy":rollno:?
Is my bass-line acceptable as a bass-line because it DOES NOT follow the drum kick:thumbsdown:?
Click to expand...
IMO it works because it groves and drives the "tune" and just plain works....as to whether or not it's an acceptable bass line or not is up to the critics, the judgmental or in some cases the one whom would be hiring you for a part and has some idea for a bass line already:)
As discussed previously, I did get a lot out of this thread, most of which are things I had learned in the past, but dont we all need reminders sometime.....Im taking the opportunity of the new year to really work on my playing and tone. I've re-achieved much of the technical proficiency lost after a long absence from playing, now I have to re-learn simplicity, space and the subtleties of just the right note choice:)
Zen Guitar - Philip Toshio Sudo
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#139
This is a very interesting post. I'd say it works, but the groove that you're playing with is interesting. Doesn't feel musical enough, and it would be a tune I'd just try to "get through." What you're playing seems to meld with the groove enough.

The problem is, though, this doesn't answer your question if you're too busy with the band you play with. What you played in the track seemed to serve the groove. How do you handle classic rock tunes thrown at you?
 
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