Who has NOBODY as an influence?

[lunarpollen]

If you believe you have no influences, just think about the stuff that you do play. What type(s) of music is it? Have you invented a new kind of music and are playing the bass in a role you've never heard it used for before?

Even if you can't think of specific bass players you are influenced by, there must certainly be some influence, no matter how casual.

Being influenced by particular bassists doesn't necessarily mean you are trying to imitate them or are even trying to study what they did in their musical roles as bassists.

Perhaps your influences are general styles of music rather than being focused any specific bassists that you are aware of.

 

[knumbskull]

****-taking aside, OP what you seem to be saying is that there are not, say, 3 major influences you could list, but in fact that there are lots and lots?

this is fair enough, no one likes to be pigeonholed. and there is nothing wrong with trying to play in a style not obviously similar to anyone you've heard. but if you start claim I HAVE NO INFLUENCES it's going to **** people off a bit

 

[tycobb73]

It depends on how you define influence. I define it by the person that made me or still makes me want to play and improve as a player, the guy I enjoy listening to. To me, he doesn't exist. I got into music because of James Hetfield after hearing MOP at 13 years old. I was already a trombone player. I tried guitar a little bit but felt at home on bass. Burton didn't influence me. In fact I can't play one note of metallica. I just played a song here and there that I play on the radio.

After a long break I play again because an old cowrker got me interested. Is he my infuence? I don't care how talented a bass player is, the song has to come first. Which is why I don't listen to the most comon idols on this board. IMHO it sounds like musical masterbation. I have some bassists listed on my influences page but just because they are amazing bassits in great bands. I don't know any of thier lines though. I prefer to play music I don't listen to all the time to keep it interesting. But then again everyone says I have a weird take on music and playing and it has kept me from passing a few interviews.

So who is my influence? A coworker and James Hetfeild I guess.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I guess people who say their tone is 90-95-98% in their fingers are egotistical jerks as well?

It`s the same thing, something may be perceived as playing a huge role in the way a player sounds, but at the end of the day it`s still that individual player who`s doing what he`s doing regardless of what gear he`s playing, his possible influences, his tastes in music, etc... I sound nothing like the players I adore and I don`t try to emulate them in any way, shape, or form either. As such I`ll say they are inspirations to play, but they don`t influence my sound or technique (and I think this is where my logic in why they aren`t considered influences comes from).

And at least in my case, how did I go from growing up listening to classical(thanks dad), adult pop/top 40(thanks mom), and 80s pop(thanks bro), and just ended up playing Tool-esq basslines basically from the get-go? The only thing I can answer that with is that I`ve just always played what has felt natural and sounded right to me. If there`s one thing that I can say has been an influence on me I`d say it`s life. It has a much greater impact on the emotion I put into playing and writing than any bassist could possibly attempt. To me, it`s an actual influence.

So if saying nobody is an influence is egotistical then fine - I really don`t care - but I never said nothing is an influence.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

****-taking aside, OP what you seem to be saying is that there are not, say, 3 major influences you could list, but in fact that there are lots and lots?

this is fair enough, no one likes to be pigeonholed. and there is nothing wrong with trying to play in a style not obviously similar to anyone you've heard. but if you start claim I HAVE NO INFLUENCES it's going to **** people off a bit

Heck if that`s an option then I`ll take it if it`ll get the hounds off my back

EVERYONE`S AN INFLUENCE!

 

[afromoose]

If a person claims to have no influences, then he or she is in serious denial, is egotistical, and is not honest with him or herself, and the only one they are fooling are themselves. Unless you can invent an instrument totally different than anything on earth, and come from another planet without ever hearing music before, you have been influenced. There is simply no way around this fact. The mere fact you chose to play the electric bass and post on talkbass says you have been influenced.

This reminds me of that bit in the goonies where the bad guys get the fat kid and say to him 'tell us everything' and he tells them his entire life story.

Some things aren't relevant. Maybe you heard 'best of wings' every day in the car on the way to school for two years. That doesn't mean you have to put Paul McCartney on your list of influences.

The question is usually taken to relate to the deliberate stylistic intent of the artist. Framing it to include every unconscious experience renders the question pointless, since anything can be included and also, the artist would then have no idea of what they'd been influenced by.

If the guy says 'I have no influences but there's lots of bass players I like' what this means is 'I don't try deliberately to copy anyone'. That provides information on how the artist sees themselves, which is a fair enough answer.

 

[somegeezer]

If you weren't influenced, you never would have picked up bass in the first place. Something has to have happened to make you think; "I want to try playing that!"

 

[somegeezer]

If you believe you have no influences, just think about the stuff that you do play. What type(s) of music is it? Have you invented a new kind of music and are playing the bass in a role you've never heard it used for before?

Even if you can't think of specific bass players you are influenced by, there must certainly be some influence, no matter how casual.

Being influenced by particular bassists doesn't necessarily mean you are trying to imitate them or are even trying to study what they did in their musical roles as bassists.

Perhaps your influences are general styles of music rather than being focused any specific bassists that you are aware of.

plus a million

 

[AfroCubanFunkMa]

Ridiculous...What scales do you compose in? If Equal temperament you are already massively influenced by a long musical tradition that will steer your compositions...The fact that you even play bass at all shows you were influenced by previous bassists

..plus the fact that unless you grew up on a deserted island having never interacted with anyone, heard or seen anything made by any other human, you're influenced by all those that came before you.. directly and indirectly..

 

[Mrdak]

I've never heard a sillier question.....

 

[OriginalCrash]

You were influenced, almost certainly. It may not have been by the people you like listening to today. It may not have been by the people you wound up sounding similar to. But if you had EVER listened to bass or music before you picked it up, what you had previously heard had some influence on you. I HIGHLY doubt that when you first started playing, you started with a style and technique that did not incorporate, pay homage to, etc. ANY of what you had EVER heard before AT ALL. If you can't say that EXACTLY, then you have influences.

 

[OriginalCrash]

The question is usually taken to relate to the deliberate stylistic intent of the artist. Framing it to include every unconscious experience renders the question pointless, since anything can be included and also, the artist would then have no idea of what they'd been influenced by.

Wrong.

I suppose there's really no way to know for sure what people mean when they ask that or what people hear when they're asked (short of a Talkbass poll... that would make it 100% official ), but I would wager that most people don't limit it so much. I know I don't. Tai Anderson (of Third Day) and Will McGinniss (of Audio Adrenaline) were the two bassists that my ears were really zeroing in on when I first wanted to pick up the instrument. Do I sound like them today, or even think of them consciously when playing, practicing, etc.? No. In fact, I haven't thought of either one in quite some time until this thread. But I count them as my influences. Influences are not just those we consciously try to sound like, not sound like, or incorporate parts of their style into our own. I'm not saying we need to go to the extreme and list EVERYONE who could have subconsciously affected us in any way, but well... If you had lived in a vacuum and never listened to music before, would you still sound like you do? Or if you had grown up listening to a completely different set of music and none of the same songs you've heard before, would you sound like you do now? No. At some point, you heard something that you liked, and at some point you tried to incorporate that into your playing. You may not consciously think, "I like this guy. I'm gonna try to play in a way that sounds like him," but unless you're style is 100% new to the musical world to you (in other words, if you'd never heard ANYONE play like that EVER before, you'd think you were the FIRST person to ever play like that), then you've been influenced enough to say you have influences.

 

[namraj]

Yeah I agree with you largely.

My influences aren't other players, my emotions, music I'm liking at the time, and when I say music I don't mean the bass lines, I mean the style and feel.

The only person that I can say has truly influenced the way I play is my old teacher J, but he was good at developing me as a player in my own right.

 

[OriginalCrash]

I sound nothing like the players I adore and I don`t try to emulate them in any way, shape, or form either... they don`t influence my sound or technique.

I doubt this is the case. As has been stated already, you may not consciously try to sound like them, but that's not what an influence is. Remove them from your listening experience completely... You've never heard of them. Do you think you'd sound exactly the same? If not, that makes them an influence. Most people have certain bassists, musicians, artists, etc. where that is the case more strongly than others. Those are who people are asking about when they ask about your influences.

And at least in my case, how did I go from growing up listening to classical(thanks dad), adult pop/top 40(thanks mom), and 80s pop(thanks bro), and just ended up playing Tool-esq basslines basically from the get-go?

I hate to make blanket, general statements as gospel truth and fact when making them about other people... So I won't. But I will say that I suspect that is not the case. You're saying that you had never heard anything A) remotely like Justin Chancellor's style and B) that could have led you to develop a style like his, but that you just happened to develop a style quite similar to his (and while I don't know this for sure, I imagine he would say he did it with influences along the way) and that, to you, it really was a totally new style of bass playing that no one had done before about to be introduced to the world of music? If so, I imagine you and the OP are the only two people on Talkbass (and probably bass playing period) that could/would say that.

 

[Tumeni Notes]

I am confused on why you even posted this question. In reality, you have been influenced by several bass players. Why did you begin to play the bass? Did you learn any cover songs? What kind of bass guitar and amp do you use? Why?

You ask the question as though you are proud to have no influences and everything you do is something you discovered by yourself. Even if it were true, and we all know otherwise, I would recommend keeping it to yourself since you sound very egotistical and nobody will ever want to play with you.

I am very proud to have been influenced by the greats; primarily Geddy Lee and Chris Squire.

 

[stratovani]

Time to weigh in on this...

I would have to say that in my short two years of bass playing my biggest influence has been talkbass.com, and all the good people that post here. I've learned, been inspired by and been influenced more here than anywhere else.

There is no shame in saying you've been influenced by someone or something. It happens in every facet of life, not just bass playing.

 

[tribus]

the only people that has nobody as influenced are non musicians.

 

[afromoose]

I doubt this is the case. As has been stated already, you may not consciously try to sound like them, but that's not what an influence is. Remove them from your listening experience completely... You've never heard of them. Do you think you'd sound exactly the same? If not, that makes them an influence. Most people have certain bassists, musicians, artists, etc. where that is the case more strongly than others. Those are who people are asking about when they ask about your influences.



I hate to make blanket, general statements as gospel truth and fact when making them about other people... So I won't. But I will say that I suspect that is not the case. You're saying that you had never heard anything A) remotely like Justin Chancellor's style and B) that could have led you to develop a style like his, but that you just happened to develop a style quite similar to his (and while I don't know this for sure, I imagine he would say he did it with influences along the way) and that, to you, it really was a totally new style of bass playing that no one had done before about to be introduced to the world of music? If so, I imagine you and the OP are the only two people on Talkbass (and probably bass playing period) that could/would say that.

I disagree with this totally. If you're working on elements in your playing, and you consider this to be the bulk of your creative work, and these elements don't relate to other bass players, I don't see why you have to name other bass players as influences.

 

[Ric5]

Who has NOBODY as an influence?


Uhh ... that would be a short list with just God on it.


The rest of us are influenced by those around us.

 

[jkramer5]

i don't TRY to play like any specific bass player. But to think or even state that I'm not influenced by the players and types of music I've listened to for 45 years is silly.

If you play an electeric bass your influenced by Leo Fender, If you record it, your being influenced by Les Paul. If your recording sounds excellent your being influenced by Eddie Kramer, George Martin, Phil Spector, Tom Dowd... etc. Your influenced by the amp designer, the list goes on and on before you even get to copying the style of a particular player.