Who do you hear in your playing?

[EdwardofHuncote]

There are some insanely talented people who hang out here. I am not one of them, so I'd be the wrong person to ask. I reckon that I draw a little bit from every single thing I ever heard, and liked. I may try to make those sounds... may even come darn-tootin' close on a good night, but I'll never get anywhere near my heroes. And that's okay... I run Water Treatment Plants for a living, and play bass for fun. Occasionally I get paid too, when there ain't some kinda' plague goin' on.

 

[Killing Floor]

I hear the kindest, most handsome, lion-hearted gentleman. And a little buzz around the 7 that I need to work on this afternoon. Tried a different gauge of strings.

 

[darwin-bass]

Sadly, I hear only me.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Second response, James Dewar from early Ronin Trower is all in my head and my playing. I don’t know if I sound much like him, but his licks are burned into my brain. Same with Dusty Hill of ZZ Top. Another big influence on me, and I do hope some of him comes through when I play, is Tommy Shannon Of Double Trouble / SRV. I’m afraid I don’t sound that good at any time, but I can hope there are moments I do.....

One of the things I notice is that most of my biggest influences are not technical wizards on bass at all. They just play what is needed and not much else. I can duplicate most all of their licks. Maybe that’s why their stuff comes through me, it’s what I can play & little else.....

 

[LBS-bass]

I don't hear anyone but me. I never learned the bass with an ear toward emulating anyone and when I started out I just started by learning the songs we had to play that night. It's what I've always done. I have picked up a few habits, bad and good, that probably make me sound more like myself. But I don't think I sound like anyone else in particular.

 

[Willie5String]

Maybe a little like Dusty Hill. Not by plan, mind you.

 

[Zoffy]

I'm just an average bass player but I like to think that I hear a bit of Phil Lesh in my playing. I tend to play roots on the one and noodle/improvise in between. Sometimes I'll just drift away from the one altogether if I feel that the guitar players know the song well and don't need me as an anchor. I get no complaints from the other members of the band I'm in - in fact, they kind of like it. I also don't really hang out on the 1st through 4th frets; I like to usually sit around the 6th through 10th frets. Part of the reason is my hearing is not the best and I can't hear some of the notes well at the lower register (I'm in my mid-50s and I've led a loud life). Nothing particularly unique or inspiring in my playing, just how I approach the instrument.

Oh, also I have found that if I think the bass is loud enough...it usually isn't. I'll usually dial in my amp 'till I think it's just right - then crank it up a bit more past that. I really do need an amp that goes to 11.

 

[sotua]

Somebody who really needs to practice.

 

[wraub]

I think my playing sounds exactly like every bass part and bass player I have ever heard, combined with a bunch of other instruments too, and mixed up into a slightly sticky jam. Sometimes it's a righteous groove, sometimes it's a mess, and sometimes it's tasty, too. For the curious, there's a link to some of my music at the bottom of this post.

I am always amazed when others compare my playing to people I haven't listened to much, or at all. It happened recently, and I had to go find tracks to listen to the guy. It was very nice of them to say, the guy's creative and fun.

 

[mattj1stc]

Some degree of John Entwistle and Steve Harris in the sense that I tend to gravitate towards a driving style and I always try to find ways to make boring parts more interesting to play, sometimes resulting in my being overly busy at times. A little of John Paul Jones and Jack Bruce - to the degree that I have some kind of a groove, it’s kind of similar to theirs. I don’t hear enough of Geddy’s melodies or the feel and groove of Jamerson and Duck Dunn as I would like to. Maybe it’s because I started in punk and metal bands, but I often hear myself and wonder if I’m unintentionally trying to do the punk/metal cover version bass part of the song in question.

 

[Pops OB]

Man....that’s a great question. I’ve been playing for a very long time through a wide variety of gear setups. I don’t think I’ve ever sounded like anyone. Maybe I just sound like me?

YES! My first thought... “Me, I sound just like me!”

 

[micguy]

If you listen to a lot of isolated bass tracks, then the quote of a FOH guy I heard once makes sense: “Bass guitar sounds like someone trying to make music, plus a guy working on a Buick in the background”

So, for me, I sound like a guy who plays a few too many octave double stops, and a mechanic trying (but failing) to quietly change plugs on a 1950’s Roadmaster.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Who do you hear in your playing?

My mom screaming, "Turn it Down!" and, "Don't you boys any nice songs!"

 

[Valvehead]

What I hear in my playing is I am never satisfied.
But then I hear that in others people playing too.

I am an imperfect perfectionist.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Martin Lickert

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"What do you do? You join the Mothers and you end up working for Zappa! And he makes you be a creep! You could have played the blues with John Mayall, or far-out exciting jazz with Blood, Sweat & Tears." - Martin Licker

 

[Claymore]

If Mike Gordon, Bobby Vega and Phil Lesh somehow had a baby and that baby suffered from a neurological disorder, I think that's what we're dealing with.

 

[Passinwind]

A ham-fisted chimp, but I have a long way to go to actually get there.

 

[Koshchei]

In other words, who do you most naturally sound like when you flip the switch and lean into the groove? I’d like to be indistinguishable from Victor Wooten or Rocco Prestia but after nearly half a century of playing it just ain’t in the cards, the question doesn’t involve who you consider to be your influences but who obviously has really taken hold with what you do when you grab the slab. At the risk of exposing my 70’s Brit bent unquestionably I hear, and have been commonly told by others, Boz Burrell and Gary Thain in myself. Just sort of sitting here with the beginning of a Saturday night whisky buzz wondering what others may say, it beats watching Swamp People.

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If I can rephrase it to be a little less overt: "Do my influences still show in my playing, and who are they?"

My influences have long been digested into my guitar playing, but there are still floating around on bass because I've only been at it for a couple of years:
1) Jonas Hellborg - his approach to harmony is excellent (note choice, duration and resolution) and is prominent in my playing.
2) Steven Wilson - while he's not a bass player, I love his melancholic stepwise chromatic chordal progressions and find myself quoting him a lot.
3) Shawn Lane (RIP) - Shawn was a guitarist and pianist, but his approach to odd and even groupings of notes is awesome. I just wish I could pull off an augmented triad stretch on one string on bass.
4) Yngwie - Because I love Yngwie's playing and Phrygian dominant.
5) Ihsahn - Great, compact, dark music. He inspires me constantly with his creative and ever-evolving work, and I love to throw little nods to Emperor, Peccatum, and his solo work into my improvisation.

 

[maxschrek]

John Wetton

 

[eddododo]

I VERY MUCH feel that I channel some combination of Michael League and Victor Wooten, and have been told as much..

Now when I say Vic, I DON’T mean that I’m slappy-tappy, but more that my finger style playing has a lot of dynamic range, and I do a lot of digging in, the wide variety of percussive tones of the bass being used.

as far as Michael league, it’s all about developing moments, rather than playing riffs.. exact repetition is intentional, not default, and ‘fills’ and runs are functional and melodic, rather than chops parades