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Root Notes


Pete Academy
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Well said chris b. I can't imagine going on stage, and thinking 'nobodys going to listen to me anyhow' or any rubbish like that. Stuff that. This is how I approach a gig - I'm the bass player and I'm proud of that. My job is to rock/groove/swing the t*ts off this gig. And the rest of the band had better be up for it too. I'm not one for simply going through the motions on stage, I try to play to the best of my ability every time.

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[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1422431524' post='2672449']
But that's what I'm saying, bass was starting and stopping. Some songs had none and NO ONE. Noticed. They were all up dancing and having a ball. All they were interested in was the beat and the melody and obviously, the vocals, which I supply too, so I was powerless to do anything about it as I was trying to keep the show rolling.
[/quote]

I think that as long as a song isn't too butchered, as long as it's familiar, the typical audience member will hear the soundtrack inside their head, not the song being played in front of them. The ones who'll definitely notice are the musicians in the audience and any agents who've popped in to check you out.

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[quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1422435836' post='2672486']
TBF, given the time signature, dancing to Floyd's [i]Money[/i] could be an interesting exercise. :happy:
[/quote]

My old club band used to play one club where they liked to line dance. They tried it to "Music" by John Miles once. The 7/8 section proved quite amusing.

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[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1422454334' post='2672859']


I think that as long as a song isn't too butchered, as long as it's familiar, the typical audience member will hear the soundtrack inside their head, not the song being played in front of them. The ones who'll definitely notice are the musicians in the audience and any agents who've popped in to check you out.
[/quote]

Yeah, there was no one more annoyed than me , as being the bass player as well as lead vocalist, I was thinking, that whole set was rotten, my bass kept cutting out, it must have sounded sh*t. Everyone danced though, and complemented us and that's the part that equally baffles and annoys me. No bugger noticed my hard worked bass sound was not driving the song along. I'm sure SOMEONE out there must have noticed, but the vast majority of the drunken revellers were blissfully unaware that the bottom end was in and out for a bit, then out for a long period before I could rescue the situation during the break.
I'm totally behind the ethos that the bass is one of the most integral parts of a band, but what I'm saying is most punters haven't a clue if, as I say, there's a beat, melody and some singing. Once they recognise a song, they will make up the bits missing in their heads especially if it's a dance where people want to enjoy it.
My amp worked perfect at the next and every gig since, so the dodgy electrics must have been the culprit.

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[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1422463511' post='2673025']
You don't do covers exactly like the originals do you? If you did, you might as well have a DJ playing a CD.
[/quote]

But would you go up to an originals act after a gig and ask them why they bothered turning up if they played the songs as they were on their original CD that they were promoting? they could have just sent a DJ out and played it over the PA instead.

Edited by KevB
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[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1422463511' post='2673025']
You don't do covers exactly like the originals do you? If you did, you might as well have a DJ playing a CD.
[/quote]

That's a good advert for a cover band. We are so good that you won't be able to tell the difference from the real thing , so we're just going to put cd's on instead !

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[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1422463511' post='2673025']
You don't do covers exactly like the originals do you? If you did, you might as well have a DJ playing a CD.
[/quote]

I seem to remember a previous topic stressing the importance of on-stage visuals, including dress code..? Is the presence of the band of so little import that a CD would do instead..? I think not.

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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1422522314' post='2673580']


I seem to remember a previous topic stressing the importance of on-stage visuals, including dress code..? Is the presence of the band of so little import that a CD would do instead..? I think not.
[/quote]

However a DJ playing a CD is not the same as a CD on a stereo. He's there to interact, decide what tunes to play next, do requests, have a light show.

But essentially, yes, valid point, there is more to it than just the music. Jean Michelle Jarre and Tangerine Dream, nice music, rubbish stage show. Add lasers and projectors and hey presto you have a show.

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[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1422314495' post='2671194']
I have a different take on this.

The band is playing for the audience, I'm playing for the band. What the audience notices isn't my main concern. My job is to fire up the rhythm section and drive the front line, with the aim that we can impress the audience.

I know audiences hear me loud and clear because they tell me but I have to make it work for the band. Root notes or not, the band has to like what I play. A pat on the back from them means good job done.
[/quote]

This my take as well... we've all got notes, but the trick to get them noticed and I don't necessarily mean in
a flamboyant way... it is give it some attitude. And that isn't about volume either.

"Same notes, same chords, but NOT like that..."

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Lot of comments about bass players not existing in a bands scheme of things.... If I got shoved to the back right corner of a stage, or given a corner of a grubby boozer to stand in, I would be off. Do these so called other band members have any idea how vital the bass is to making them sound good. If the bass player puts a foot wrong, because of the huge percentage of the overall sound he is responsible for, it is instantly obvious something is wrong... If a guitar player stuffs up, he just stops playing for a few bars, is covered by the other guitarist and or keyboard player, (and yes the bass player.) Everyone thinks the guitar player is then a creative genius for 'creating that bit of space' in the song.... Talk about double standards... Just think about it, as a bass player, in a 120 bpm song, you might be making upto 240 to 480 individual hits one of four or five strings.... And everyone must be perfect or else..... A guitar player may hit maybe 20 or thirty strikes of a chord in this minute, and this is veiled behind as many pedals as he can squeeze on a stage that pushes you into a corner, and soaks up 20% of the little room there is already. WHAT !!!! If you give a guitarist 3 or 4 hundred notes to play one after the other for the duration of a song, it would be called a 'solo.'I can't believe the arrogance of some of these expert band members, who think the band revolves around them, and their very limited talent. Give em the responsibility of a bass player or the drummer, and they would crap there spandex Yfronts. With the responsibility I carry as a bass player, I want to be at the front where all the fun is... And it's a shame I can't take the drummer with me

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+1

The guitarist in a band I was in did a dep as a bass player. On our next gig he said how tough he found playing bass. "On guitar or singing you can have a break every now and then, but on bass you've got to keep playing all the time! I was knackered by the end of the night!"

I got a lot more consideration after that.

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To be fair, he would find it hard playing fence wire after being used to guitar strings. I play bass all the time in every song and I don't get tired by playing. I sometimes get cramps, but that's more with digging in too much if I'm not hearing myself.

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[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1422542221' post='2673895']
Our singer made a great comment on Monday night.

"That's a hard song, there's no breaks in it. I have to sing all the time."

I just smiled.

I guess each person in a band has their own difficulties that the others aren't aware of.
[/quote]

Quite so - a thread a couple of lines below this one: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/254531-alright-now-what-do-you-do-in-the-verses/"]Alright Now - What do you do in the verses?[/url]

:)

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[quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1422543426' post='2673911']


Quite so - a thread a couple of lines below this one: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/254531-alright-now-what-do-you-do-in-the-verses/"]Alright Now - What do you do in the verses?[/url]

:)
[/quote]

I have just contributed. Thanks. ;)

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In the rock band I pretty much play approximations of the basslines from most of the songs we do, there are a few that I have completely made my own up for, and a few that I try to get spot on... The intro and verse part of SCOM, London Calling are the ones that come to mind immediately. The only one I feel a little guilty about not having learnt correctly is Ziggy Stardust- I pretty much play just behind the chords. It is quite a distinctive bass part to me but no-one has ever pulled me on it..

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That's interesting I'd be interested to how you've simplified Ziggy and how it works in your arrangement. Ziggy was one of the bass lines I felt I had to learn verbatim or people might notice. Ziggy and Born to be Wild (with bass solo in middle section) are my few moments to remind people there is a bass player on stage!! Other songs we cover I've played a simplified version and everyone is happy with the results but I'm gradually polishing them up here and there. My approach it to think about how important the bass is in each song dynamic be that playing roots or more complex lines and how present the bass feels. E.G. Does it need to ease off into the background like in Brown Sugar or be cutting through dominant and present like in Bring you Daughter to the Slaughter (I always up the tweeter tone on the TC for Maiden so people notice the bass clank a bit more).

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It was one of those songs that I'd originally learnt on guitar, probably just a chordal campfire type version, so when asked to play it on bass I was aware of the bass part being quite distinctive, but just kind of jammed along using root notes initially. Over time I've added in bits and pieces like the unison riff with the guitar in the verse, and a few other bits and it has never been an issue either to the audience or the rest of the band. It works fine, there is just a slight nagging in the back of my head every time we play it- and maybe 1 or 2 other bass players who have been at the back of the room shaking their heads into their pints at odd gigs.

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