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Whaddaabout Roundabout

#25
EASonBass said:
Very cool rhythm thing. The snare rotates through 1-4.
One 2 3 4 - 1
Two 3 4 - 1 2
Three 4 - 1 2 3
Four.
Click to expand...
That is cool...somebody was doing some thinking. ;)
I will listen to this tune a little later.
I re-arranged your count because it could be a '5 over 4' thing going on with the snare.
If you count the snare part in "5" then all the hits fall on Beat 1.
ONE 2 3 4 5
TWO 2 3 4 5
THREE 2 3 4 5
FOUR 2 3 4 5
Etc...
 
#26
The Golden Boy said:
My favorite part is trying to figure out when the snare hits will be!
Click to expand...
I used to play drums to that song all the time as a kid. I feel those beats in my sleep...some 20 years later.

"Those were the days...yes they were, those were the days. Those were the days...miracles everywhere.

Where are they now? They're gone!"









Yep, wrong song.
 
#27
Brad Johnson said:
Sorry but the bass work in "Roundabout" is NASTY:D
Click to expand...
You obviously know what I mean when I say 'Nasty'. Bravo. Bass does many things for me on a visceral level, but Chris Squire's snarly, clavinet-meets bass sound has inspired me to delve into distorted tones, to great effect. I usually like a sensual round bass tone, but when it comes time to get nasty and to tear down the soundscape, I always think of Chris
 
#28
Very cool rhythm thing. The snare rotates through 1-4. One 2 3 4 - 1 Two 3 4 - 1 2 Three 4 - 1 2 3 Four.
Click to expand...
That is cool...somebody was doing some thinking.
I will listen to this tune a little later.
I re-arranged your count because it could be a '5 over 4' thing going on with the snare.
If you count the snare part in "5" then all the hits fall on Beat 1.
ONE 2 3 4 5
TWO 2 3 4 5
THREE 2 3 4 5
FOUR 2 3 4 5
Etc...
Click to expand...
I used to play drums to that song all the time as a kid. I feel those beats in my sleep...some 20 years later.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys, at least I'm not the only one who thinks that's a brilliant element of the song!

I have no doubt that the hits actually make mathematical sense, I just have bad mathematical sense!
 
#31
Ok, I just listened to "roundabout" and it's a cool song and the basslines are pretty good. The bass tone is interesting and fits the song, but not my cup of tea really.

And I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but the song sounds A LOT like "Love Machine" by the Miracles. Did anyone else notice this? Also, good stereo mix.

Sean
 
#32
peteroberts said:
Not a traditional rock approach....what do you think Chris would sound like playing a Chicago blues? :hmm:
Click to expand...
Being from Chicago, I had the opportunity to see Yes on their tour this year. The show was so great it blew away a friend of mine who couldn't ever "get into them".

Later in the show they came out for an acoustic jam and played an extended blues jam. Chris is just as adept at playing Chicago blues as he is playing counterpuntal, polyrythmic lines while singing backup.
 
#33
peteroberts said:
'Nasty' is probably the last way I would describe Chris! ;)

....what do you think Chris would sound like playing a Chicago blues? :hmm:
Click to expand...

Ridiculously it actually happened at the Beacon Theater in NYC in late '99. Yes did a "blues" which went:

"The millenium is coming and it's gonna be alright
The millenium is coming and it's gonna be alright
(can't remember what the lyrics for the final four were)"

It was so bad it was good.
 
#34
CrazySean said:
And I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but the song sounds A LOT like "Love Machine" by the Miracles. Did anyone else notice this?
Click to expand...

Just saw this-
I'm hearing "Love Machine" by The Jacksons in my head; I do hear a similarity.
 
#36
Chris' tone in Roundabout is amazing. It's just a simple minor scale repeated over and over, but it is so bouncy and quirky. No matter how I set my tone, I can't get that sound, and I've tried to for 20 years.
Not one of his best bass lines, but one of his most famous.
I've seen YES about 10 or 12 times and the live versions of the song don't capture the magic of the studio version and Eddie Offord's production. They make it more of a rock tune live, and miss the jazzy bounce of the original. As much as I love Alan White, he doesn't capture Bruford's spark on this one.
 
#38
I remember in the early 70s as a young teenager, I bought the vinyl single, which had Roundabout on the A side and Long Distance Runaround on the B side - both incredible bass lines and bass tone for the times.

Nothing else like it at the time!!

I remember doing some DJ'ing and that single sounded amazing on a big system at a club - the bass line was just so upfront!! :)
 
#39
I bought Fragile in '74 and was hooked. I was into The Beatles at the time but Fragile changed my outlook on music completely. I started buying Yes and Who albums and really getting into bass. I bought my first bass in '76 and since '91 I've played this:
DSC00182.jpg
 
#40
Roundabout... the bassline that sold a million Rickenbackers. ;)

People tend to think of Chris as a pick player, but he does some weird stuff sometimes. In the video for "Don't Kill the Whale" he's playing the bassline by slapping his fingers on the strings up on the fretboard. Kind of a weird way of slapping while looking like he's tapping (and its going through a wah/envelope filter to boot.) What a video though... totally '70s and you can just smell the dense clouds of pot smoke coming through your screen from the band members. ;)

And Sound Chaser is just flippin' insane... that whole song is. I guess that's what Dream Theater would've sounded like if they were around in the '70s. ;)
 

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