solo4652 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) I've been invited along for an audition and one of the songs is Kiss by Prince. I've got the chords. There doesn't appear to be any bass on the original. Just wondered if anybody plays this and could suggest an approach, please? A quick look on YouTube throws up one attempt at a bass cover but it sounds far too busy to me. Edited September 26, 2013 by solo4652 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Be brave and just play the accents with the bass drum*. Add some small fills if you really can fit them in but the risk is that you over play and sound crap. In an audition you have to play something but I'd try to hit the groove just right instead of attempting to show how funky you are. * That's all I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1378815638' post='2204937'] Be brave and just play the accents with the bass drum*. Add some small fills if you really can fit them in but the risk is that you over play and sound crap. In an audition you have to play something but I'd try to hit the groove just right instead of attempting to show how funky you are. * That's all I do. [/quote] Thank you. There is a thread on Talkbass about this with some useful ideas buried within a long-running joke. I'll concentrate on root notes on the groove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I could be wrong but I would think that there must be a hidden agenda if you've been asked to play this in an audition. There is nothing to play so unless they've given you a different feel to the number the idea must be to find out how you groove on 2 root notes a bar. I'd add some small unobtrusive fills, but assuming the drummer is playing the correct part, I'd stick to him like glue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urban Bassman Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I used to play it like this. [url="https://myspace.com/thecarpetsharks/music/song/kiss-47055617-50425169"]https://myspace.com/thecarpetsharks/music/song/kiss-47055617-50425169[/url] Always went down well. Not sure if it helps you though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1378817125' post='2204977'] I could be wrong but I would think that there must be a hidden agenda if you've been asked to play this in an audition. There is nothing to play so unless they've given you a different feel to the number the idea must be to find out how you groove on 2 root notes a bar. I'd add some small unobtrusive fills, but assuming the drummer is playing the correct part, I'd stick to him like glue. [/quote] A hidden agenda!? I've not heard their take on the song, so I'm flying blind here. I've just been grooving along basically playing root, root, rest, 5th, root, rest, pretty much throughout with some lead-in notes here and there and slide back down to A at the end of each chorus. Sounds OK. It's easy to get carried away with the fills so, as you say, I'll concentrate on root, root, rest, 5th, root,rest with space just about everywhere else. Edited September 10, 2013 by solo4652 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 [quote name='Urban Bassman' timestamp='1378817933' post='2205010'] I used to play it like this. [url="https://myspace.com/thecarpetsharks/music/song/kiss-47055617-50425169"]https://myspace.com/...055617-50425169[/url] Always went down well. Not sure if it helps you though... [/quote] Thank you! All ideas and suggestions gratefully received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 I won't be playing it like this: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To9PqpyuM1k"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To9PqpyuM1k[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foal30 Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 good decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 So what happened Steve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 22, 2013 Author Share Posted September 22, 2013 [quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1379499990' post='2213321'] So what happened Steve? [/quote] Hi Stuart. I went on holiday for a week! Audition moved to Wednesday 25th. Songs: Kiss, Valerie, Get Lucky, Call me maybe (Carly Rae Jepsen), Proud Mary, You can't hurry love, 20th Century Boy. I'll let you know what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mep Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Check out the versions by Tom Jones & White Plaines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestar Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 We do a kind of hybrid tom Jones /prince version. I just slap along with the bass and sometimes snare drums in a fairly sparse manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 One of the guys I went to school with was the guitarist on the Tom jones/Art Of Noise version. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 26, 2013 Author Share Posted September 26, 2013 Quick report back from last night's audition. As is often the case, it was a hair's breadth away from organised chaos. I turned up and was told that "we're also auditioning several singers tonight. Can you stay for the whole 3 hours?" This was before they'd heard me play. Crap PA - couldn't hear any of the singers, guitarist way too loud, crackly/underpowered Trace bass combo, drummer effing and jeffing after 3 minutes..... And this was billed as a full-on pro/give up your day job top-end wedding band with a "business plan" already in place. From my point of view, Kiss turned out to be the easiest song. Guitarist hadn't listened to it properly though and kept going from A to D too early. My gut feeling is that, with time and patience, we could probably get a reasonably decent pub band out of it, but definitely not a full-time pro pay-your-mortgage wedding band. If I get asked, I'll tag along while I continue to look elsewhere - wouldn't want to put all my eggs in this basket. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Who wrote the "business plan"? Who's running the band? Hopefully not the guitarist. For my last audition only the guitarist, singer and guy from the record company turned up. We were playing 3 songs written by the singer, who couldn't remember any of them after the first verse. Mr record company guys apologised to me at the end. They were supposedly a pro band!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 26, 2013 Author Share Posted September 26, 2013 Guitarist wrote the "Business Plan" and is trying to put the band together. Previous bassist and singer left after 6 weeks because of "commitment issues". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChick Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Glad it went well, and that you are going in with your eyes open as to what you could achieve as a band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 26, 2013 Author Share Posted September 26, 2013 (edited) I've just had an email from the guitarist and drummer inviting me to join the band. Now - my view is that there is certainly potential for a half-decent pub band here. However, I strongly suspect that neither of them have really thought through all the ins and outs of setting up a full-time pro wedding band. When asked, (not by me, but by one of the singers they were auditioning), they couldn't give a clear description of; how many people would be in the band (horns? keys?), what sort of music would be played, how the band would get gigs (wedding agents? DIY?), how the band would co-exist with the guitarist's involvement with an Oasis tribute band, where rehearsals would be, who would be responsible for sorting out band logistics etc. Actually, I don't particularly want to be part of a full-time wedding band - I just would like to get out gigging. What should I do? - Join them, tag along and see where it goes while continuing to look for something else? Express my concerns upfront and risk being seen as negative and defeatist? This is typical of me - over-analyse something, be overly-cautious and then miss the boat. Edited September 26, 2013 by solo4652 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Are you doing something better at the moment? They might find a great singer and the two of you can leave for something better, citing "commitment issues". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChick Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 I'd keep in there for a while whilst they are answering the questions, but keep looking. It sounds like they may have delusions of grander, if they get a decent singer, you could start out in pubs and see what develops from there.... I'd certainly be suggesting that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 27, 2013 Author Share Posted September 27, 2013 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1380241425' post='2222848'] Are you doing something better at the moment? They might find a great singer and the two of you can leave for something better, citing "commitment issues". [/quote] No - I'm not in a band right now. I got a bit fed up with the usual join, rehearse hard, do a few gigs, see it collapse routine. I'm afraid it's made me rather pessimistic about finding a band I'd enjoy. Maybe I'll give this crew a go and see if I can prove myself wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Might be worth giving it a go Steve. Why not suggest getting together with Git and Drums and chat through any concerns to put your mind at rest and get some idea of the overall plan. If you think at this stage they would be better trying to put a good pub band together, with a view to going Corporate when they have a polished package, tell them. Having been in bands since the year dot, I find a good blend of Pubs/Private is the way to go. If someone wants to see you before commiting, you can't invite them to a private gig. You pick a lot of good gigs up via pubs so it may be no bad thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Just give it a whirl mate as long as its not going to cost you financially you don't really have much to lose and it could be a stop gap until you find something better or it could surprise you and work out really well? who knows? but good luck whatever you do mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted September 28, 2013 Author Share Posted September 28, 2013 Thank you to everybody who has helped me think this one through. I've emailed them and accepted their invitation. If nothing else, it's an opportunity to buy some new kit! I've already put an offer in on a bass. Well, you do, don't you.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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