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where does bass go from here?

#3
Wow, I never thought about that...what IS next?

Um...well I am experimenting more and more with strummed chords on my 6 string mixed in with slap grooves; it actually sounds pretty cool now that I've refined my technique a bit.

Honestly, I think you are on to something. Not in the sense that there is going to be something next, but that maybe, and finally, the electric bass has hit the mark of refinement just as the violin, the trombone, or the piano have. I think though, that the evolution of how the bass is played will heavily and almost solely depend upon changes to and variations of the instrument itself.
 
#9
Somehow, the question "where does bass go from here," reminds me of a story in The Onion about the Amish deciding to "give it up." You know, "well, that's enough of that."

Anyway, we're about five years from being altogether replaced by computer programs.














(or not)
 
#10
oldfclefer said:
We all know about Jaco.
Vic's got us all scratching our heads.
Stanley's miles beyond.
Johnson, Graham, Bootsy....damn.
We know what's up with bass right now.
Where does bass go from here?
Click to expand...

Now that the technical limits on the instrument have expanded, music has to change to accomodate it, just like it changed when the electric bass was first introduced.

What we need is a kickass band with no guitars and at least two bassists with really creative interplay. One Piccolo, the other regular or contrabass.

Also, there's still a lot that can be done with the bass as a solo instrument.

So much for technique. The cutting edge of musical instruments are probably the tapping ones, like the Stick, Warr guitar and Santucci Treblebass. They're just waiting for a repertoire to bring them to the mainstream.

All IMO, of course.
 
#11
Yellow said:
Somehow, the question "where does bass go from here," reminds me of a story in The Onion about the Amish deciding to "give it up." You know, "well, that's enough of that."

Anyway, we're about five years from being altogether replaced by computer programs.
Click to expand...

There's already a style of music where all musicians are replaced by computer programs.






It's called techno.










:D
 
#12
I don't think the tapping guys are going to add more to the technique development, they already did, but I feel that the "rapid-picking" techniques a la Dominique Di Piazza and Matthew Garrison have a lot of potential that is yet to be fully explored.
 
#13
The garrison technique is difficult. maybe it will become a standard way of playing the bass but I doubt it. Most music and I mean most music still relies on the bassist performing a functional role. Again it is all about context. I am currently doing a frrelance gig playing in the band for a school production of Little Shop Of horrors and I just have to play perfectly placed notes in a 9 piece ensemble. Its a challenge not in technicality but just playing the perfect notes and not getting in the way. A very rewarding gig. The future of bass is you, go to it anyway you can.
 
#14
You need to look beyond the TECHNICAL side of the innovative players and consider the MUSICAL side.

Anyone remember Adrian Davison (sic?) the guy who advertised his recordings by stating he was the fastest basist in the world? That's cool to listen to once or twice maybe for the gee whiz factor but where did it take him and who did he influence in today's scene?

Jaco, Stanley, etc. all grabbed ears because of the music they played. Yes, their technique was awesome but it was needed in order to achieve their musical goals. For example, Jaco used false harmonics so he could voice chords that would have been impossible to play otherwise, Larry Graham developed his slapping to compensate for lack of a drummer, etc.

So "what's next" is someone solving a musical problem by developing an innovative technique.
 
#15
I dunno, I don't really think the future of bass--or of any other instrument--is important. All musical instruments are just tools for making music. What's important IMO is how *music* may develop. Bass will evolve however it needs to to play the music that needs to be played, and IMO that's how it should be.

To me, talking about the future of the bass is sorta like the future of, say, the hammer. That is, it doesn't really matter; what matters is what you build with it.
 
#16
brianrost said:
You need to look beyond the TECHNICAL side of the innovative players and consider the MUSICAL side.

Anyone remember Adrian Davison (sic?) the guy who advertised his recordings by stating he was the fastest basist in the world? That's cool to listen to once or twice maybe for the gee whiz factor but where did it take him and who did he influence in today's scene?
Click to expand...

For the record [sic ;)] he didn't promote his record with this claim. In fact this claim wasn't his but the string company's claim, who did that that ad campaign you're referring to.
You ever listened to his music yourself? In fact his music was quite intricate and melodic tapping - more like a stick-player as opposed to Sheehan-like shred-tapping.
 
#17
Richard Lindsey said:
I dunno, I don't really think the future of bass--or of any other instrument--is important. All musical instruments are just tools for making music. What's important IMO is how *music* may develop. Bass will evolve however it needs to to play the music that needs to be played, and IMO that's how it should be.

To me, talking about the future of the bass is sorta like the future of, say, the hammer. That is, it doesn't really matter; what matters is what you build with it.
Click to expand...

Exactly. A great tune, a great groove and melody is what you remember not some technical wizardry unless it contributes to the music.
Rocco is a master at that. His bass lines can be technically difficult to play and busy but they fit.

Miller has explored the limits but remains tasteful.

On Wooten I reserve my judgement, its just so unapproachable for me. I marvel at it and simply say i am not that sort of bass player.

Jeff Berlin- His Bruford period still remains as an amazing legacy. Everyone should own those quirky albums with devasting bass playing and a bit of Bruford weirdness.

As you may have guessed I am not a big slapper, I can hold my own but fingerstyle funk and soloing is where i am at at the moment.

Write your own tunes is my simple advice. They will always be your own little blueprint.
 
#18
Cold hard machinery will take over. Bands like Kraftwerk's music was about machinery taking over and do the music. But the thing is, Kraftwerk didn't really have the technology. Eventually we could have machines do everything, we might not even need to be there to push the buttons. But there would/will be a rebellion against this, no matter what happens, real musicians will/would have a following. But all and all, I'd say bass technique hasn't evolved that much. Nothing Wooten has ever done has struck me as revolutionary. For example, I've had a huge amount of ambient jams that have gone on four an hour, I haven't heard many recordings of this, just bass with live layering but no huge rhythmic ideas... but it's nothing new. I mean, Robert Fripp and Brian Eno have been doing it for years... just not on bass. So eventually, maybe bass will take a keyboard approach, but it already has... tapping out Beethoven for example.

So, music is stupid. The end. Exclaimation Point. Comma.
 
#19
To me bass has a lot of catching up to do in music. Take a listen to the Billboard top 100 of 2004 and then take a listen to the Billboard top 100 of 1964, 1974 or 1984 and you'll see a huge difference in the presence of bass in the music. The music as a whole has suffered, the lush horn and string arrangements that are common to songs of the decades mentioned are now an oddity.
 
#20
I'll tell you what is next:
In 3 to 5 years some of us will be:

Searching for crappy gear from the 80's and swearing that it is the best sounding gear ever made.

.................OR.................

Enjoying the low F# string on our "standard" six strings.
 

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