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Anyone up for a collaborative rap track taking the p*ss out of bass?


Annoying Twit
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I've got a long history of not really getting very far with writing and recording music. But one thing I did way back when I was a foreign student was record a comedy rap album as a duo with a friend. Looking back, it's extremely unprofessional, but was a lot of fun. My friend is too busy being an airline pilot halfway around the world to do more recordings.

I'm thinking whether it would be possible to do a concept album in the style of the previous one, but with a different collaborator for each track. Each track taking the utter p*ss out of a different topic. Rules would be: no professional rappers - anyone prepared to speak vaguely in time with music would be fine. There must be a minimum percentage of absolutely corny rhymes in any lyrics. And that would be it. I'd want to program rhythms and synths, and play most of the bass, apart from solos. (Though, if there was a response to this - so far all my attempts have resulted in tumbleweeds) then a fun thing to do for a breakdown would be to have 20 people all slapping at once culminating in a screamed 'STOP IT!!!'. All I would need is for collaborators to write their own verse and send me a digital file of it. Plus anything extra (e.g. if it's possible to collect 20 different recordings of slapping - I'd need those).

The inspiration in the first place was the then recently released De La Soul album 'Three Feet High and Rising'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRIqxSbh41I&list=PLSQUMAtzJMUNijKNBCzWX_dQgayfqJ576

While I hesitate to post this, being as it's ... what it is, here's an example of what we did way back when: https://soundcloud.com/annoyingtwit/bugbusters This is from a cassette copy I recently managed to find as I accidentally stood on the DAT original (yes, this &£$% was digitally recorded :D ) some years ago.

Anybody? Or is it tumbleweed city again?

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Sounds like a terrible idea, so I might be interested... :D

I can't commit to a "concept album", but if all you want is eight bars of especially bad rapping then I might be game (assuming you get enough volunteers together to make it work).

Do you have a beat or backing track to work with? If not what tempo do you have in mind? And what's the topic for the song...?

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My idea of a 'concept album' was that I would try and find a whole lot of different groups/people for one track each. So, this collaboration as per this thread is to create only one track, not a whole album.

This track would be about poking fun at bass players. If we can get a few people together, then I'm thinking that my verse would be about someone who buys basses with more and more strings until the instrument is so heavy they can't pick it up off the floor or something. If there's a non-verse refrain for it, I would be thinking something as obvious as "We're ace, we play the bass" or something. Hopefully something better than that can be thought up.

I haven't got a backing track yet, nor have I decided on tempo or key. The first step was to see if there is a quorum of people interested. Then work can commence.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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I had a chance today to work on a first attempt at a beat. This is 120bpm, because that's what Hydrogen defaults to. And when I tried other tempos, it was all kind of wrong. https://soundcloud.com/annoyingtwit/we-play-bass-guide

The refrain "We play the bass" could be preceded by a different setup line each time. E.g.

Our gear fills up our living space
We play the bass

In any band, we are the ace
We play the bass

I was hoping for at least one or two more people. Surely someone up in bass land is up for this. No? Would easily be doable as a duo though.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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I'd have a go at messing this up, no problem. The above backing track is, however, at a far higher tempo than I would be comfortable mumbling over; I'd be looking more at 80-100, max. Clarity suffers when dentures are taken to too extreme limits (don't ask how I know this... :blush: ). I'm not sure, either, if I can drum up the required levels in sarcasm, although I'm trying. Very trying. :mellow:
I've marked this topic, so I'll see how it develops. To be continued... :)
([i]As a drummer, I would also point out the impossibility of playing 'live' such a track 'solo', but that's a mere professional detail. No, boredom, with its consequential desire for self mutilation, are not the only reasons.[/i] :P )

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I was thinking that it was a bit too ... I don't know the terminology, trippy for this track. I might have a go at doing something slower and heavier, and use the above drum beat for something else. I quite like adding all sorts of weird stuff to programmed drums. Just reproducing what a human drummer would do is always second best. The above is my second attempt. The first attempt was too boring. I'll listen to some slower tempo tracks in the hope of inspiration.

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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1411573435' post='2560818']
I was thinking that it was a bit too ... I don't know the terminology, trippy for this track. I might have a go at doing something slower and heavier, and use the above drum beat for something else. I quite like adding all sorts of weird stuff to programmed drums. Just reproducing what a human drummer would do is always second best. The above is my second attempt. The first attempt was too boring. I'll listen to some slower tempo tracks in the hope of inspiration.
[/quote]

Disclaimer : Heed not my teasing concerning the drums. I, myself, play things that are impossible to do, mostly by accident. There are few virtual drums, for instance, which cater for a stick leaving the hand, to clatter against the 2nd tom rim, fall down to clog the kick pedal before breaking in two with a 'Snap', plus the replacement of said stick, all without breaking stride nor sweat. That's a common feature, however, of my playing. My standards are high, of course, but I, for one, am unable to live up to them..! :P
I would prefer a tad slower, though. That bit was true (... [i]and the 'messing things up' stuff. I'm good at that[/i]. :mellow: ).

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I'm working on something.

....

EDIT: This is 100bpm, and has a very different feel. I've tried to give tom fills a go here, but I never seem to get them sounding proper - too mechanical. There is a fair gap at the start as I want to leave space for even more of an intro if necessary.

https://soundcloud.com/annoyingtwit/we-play-bass-mark-2

Edited by Annoying Twit
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