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Your thoughts on repetitive basslines?

A

A Mirror Somewhere

Jun 16, 2014
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#1
You know the ones that either literally or almost literally stay the same throughout most of the song....Do they bore you, playing or listening? Do you think they have their place in a given song/genre?

Frankly, if it's not some over-noisy, rehashed synth line in a techno song or something I can appreciate it as much as any other bassline in a number of senses.

The ultimate has got to be Papa Was a Rolling Stone. Such effectiveness and cool in just 3 notes. I've heard a version with a regular bassline and it's not nearly as powerful.

Others are "Chain of Fools", "If I Needed Someone", and I really like "Body and Soul" (Love & Rockets) where after a mostly steady bassline David J bookends the song with these lovely, heavy runs - and those runs would not be nearly as effective if not for all the buildup.

Also I'm wondering is there a musical term for these kinds of figures? Ostinato maybe? I've seen the term Static Harmony, in reference to If I Needed Someone, used exactly once but it seems to make sense.
 
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#2
Papa was a Rolling Stone has such killer bass tone. IMO, The bass in songs like these has a ton in common with Drums. Drums in songs like these might be mistaken for boring also. But it has to be done that way. The trick is throwing a tiny tasteful fill for your own personal satisfaction and maybe the appreciation of other musicians. The general listener just doesn't have a clue what the bass is all about. I have spent my life pointing out cool bass lines to listeners. Every now and then somebody "gets it"
That all being said, I dig jamming the bass on songs like these. It's not boring for me at all.
 
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#5
I'm quite a fan of "hypnotic" basslines - simple, repetitive. It isn't exactly the same through the whole song, but one example that comes to mind is a song that my cover band is currently doing, "The Luxury" by The Tragically Hip. Songs like Billie Jean also would fit this bill for me.

Anyway, I really like these types of lines, I love it when the bass can be the pulsing heartbeat of a song.
 
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#8
Biggbass said:
This one never bores me! Try it for 6 or 7 min and see if it's a challenge to keep the
groove steady.

zoom to 3:05 in to get to the 'repetitive' bass line...

Click to expand...


Oh **** yeah, baby! You know, Billy earned the nickname "Lint" because he's SO deep in the pocket!

I think another reason this works is that the snare hit is almost always changing in each bar, but just about everything else in the drumbeat stays relatively stable for at least multiples of 4 bars.
 
#12
It depends on what's repeating...
Neil Young has a song called T-Bone.
It's just over 9 minutes long--has three chords and 7 words.
But i love playing it and listening to it--yet other songs get boring--so the groove is very important in those cases.
 
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#15
If that is what it takes to support the rest of the song then I have no problem playing a repetitive bass line - in fact I do that quite a bit when playing blues ... it is actually a challenge to keep it really solid and simple, to not be tempted to throw in licks everywhere and overplay. Really simple and naked is to me more difficult than busy basslines, every timing mistake is noted immediately. And you have to stay really concentrated to keep the groove throughout the whole song, I have been known to drift off and think of other things while playing these songs, at least at rehearsals. :)
 
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#19
There is no virtue in quantity of notes nor cool arpeggios for sake of displaying your skill on the bass. The virtue and skill lies in your ability to make the song sound like it should sound regardless. I can imagine a 7 minute song where the bass is nothing but repeated low E whole notes. The playing of the part may be boring, but the song will sound good.
Part of it may be that I am not listening to me. I am listening to the whole band and fitting me in to it.
 
#20
Man, a repetitive bass line is sooooo challenging!!!!! Trying to play the same bass line for 3 to 4 mins without screwing up. I guess that's where a programmed bass synth comes in but then that is cheating, isn't it?

Although there are many repetitious bass line songs out there, Huey and The News have 2 songs that are just killer for me. Although I'm not totally sure that they are a bass guitar or a bass synth.

Working for a Living
and I Want a New Drug

Fun but challenging to play all the way through without screwing up.

Excellent thread TBer, A Mirror Somewhere!!!
 
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