The Perception of Bass Players

[bass_in_ya_face]

Just heard an incident in my office which made my blood boil.

Two guys im my office were talking about bands and the one phrase I overheard was "well it doesn't matter about the bass player, coz they don't do anything anyway".....


I also heard bass players described as being like an accountant becuase the job they do is pretty boring.

What attitude to do you live players get 'out in the field' so to speak, do people regard you as a poor mans guitarist?

It just sickens me that i'm investing a lot of time and effort to try and get to grips with playing the bass and people have this kind of perception.

I know drummers suffer the same type of predjudice

Edited September 14, 2007 by bass_in_ya_face

[2wheeler]

The nature of bass is normally a supporting role, not centre stage. That's life.

Playing Latin music you (normally) get to be the only guitarist so that's one less problem

[skywalker]

Imagine what the band would sound like without the bass and drums. You are more important than you think.

[Chappers]

Just stop playing during a song and see what happens

[ahpook]

that kind of attitude says a lot more about the people expressing it than the actual role of a bass player in a band.

if someone's coming out with stuff like that i think you can pretty well ignore their opinion.

[silverfoxnik]

Sad but true story about the perception of audiences to the bass and bassplayers..

Bass playing friend of mine played for years in a Cajun / Blues band and they had a gig at a US Air Force Bass. He bet the whole band their wages for the night that he could detune his bass a semi-tone, play the whole gig as per normal and that no-one in the audience would notice.

He did exactly that and went home that night with the whole of the gig money!!! They even had punters come up and tell them how much they enjoyed the gig and how good the band were

[bass_in_ya_face]

[quote name='ahpook' post='60285' date='Sep 14 2007, 10:33 AM']that kind of attitude says a lot more about the people expressing it than the actual role of a bass player in a band.

if someone's coming out with stuff like that i think you can pretty well ignore their opinion.[/quote]


TBH he is a loud mouth pratt

[s_u_y_*]

[quote name='Chappers' post='60278' date='Sep 14 2007, 10:25 AM']Just stop playing during a song and see what happens [/quote]

+1. With one of my old bands I had to arrive an hour late for band practise. When I came in, the lead vocalis ran up to me and hugged me saying how he missed me and didn't realise how bad it all sounds without bass.

With immature opinions like that, I wouldn't pay attention to those people at all.

[EBS_freak]

Am I the only one who thinks that Level 42 works without the bass?

[niceguyhomer]

Sadly, the world is full of ignorant people and being honest, I used to be one of them when I was a guitarist cos at the time, I never listened to what the bassist was doing and wasn't interested in his bass or rig. I'd only heard of a Fender Precision, could only name about 3 bassists and wondered why anyone wanted to play the thing.

I used to get all the wannabees watching my fingers / checking out my gear / quizzing me after the set / compliments about your tone type stuff but since switching to bass I'm just a fat bastard who can't play a guitar. Frankly, I couldn't give a toss so long as I'm enjoying myself.

What Chappers said is true - if you (the bassist) stop playing during a song, the arse falls out of it. If the guitarist stops mid song (as ours frequently does to fiddle incessantly with his pedal knobs), life goes on and nobody notices. To me, that speaks volumes and on that note I rest my case for the bass.

[Paul Cooke]

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='60253' date='Sep 14 2007, 09:23 AM']Just heard an incident in my office which made my blood boil.

Two guys im my office were talking about bands and the one phrase I overheard was "well it doesn't matter about the bass player, coz they don't do anything anyway".....
[/quote]

just bring in two mp3 files of the same track, one with bass in the mix, the other without...

[skywalker]

I played a gig last night and after the first line played all the way through a number reading the wrong line. Someone in the audience bought us all a drink cos it's her favourite song and she thought we did it beautifully.

[lowhand_mike]

fact of life really, though some of my friends that come to gigs are very good about comenting on the bass and even go to the length of saying i should get more focus with a good choice of certain songs (bass oriented)
even notice it in my band where they spend alot of cash on mics and racks and other stuff but ignor the fact that i'm only just getting heard in the mix, the drummer hopefully will get a new kit soon but that just means i'll have to wait longer to expand my rig, but like i said thats life and i'm enjoying myself which is what matters

+1 on stop playing for a bit it's amazing how flat it all sounds.

[neilb]

I recall many many years agoi when I played in a 60s covers band (yawn!) and we were playing Move It by Sir Cliff. The whole hall was up jiving away. The singer then signalled for me to stop playing so he could sing a verse sort of accapalla if you will and the whole crowd stopped moving. They all started again when I began the walking bassline again. People generally dance respond to what they feel, not what they hear. They dance to your BASSLINES to a large extent.

I thoroughly enjoy being the most powerful member of the band, I can control everything from my 4 strings.

As said above, just stop playing one day during a song and wait for the frustrated glances.......we are needed!!!

[theosd]

I tend to draw more attention than any other member of my covers band. Partly because I'm 20 years younger than the rest of them, and partly because I get to let loose with them rather than play 'properly' like I do with my originals band.

Yeah, I don't feel I'm missing out in that scenario. Even in my originals band I'm the only one standing up when we play, so I tend to draw more attention that way as well. I imagine it's all about how much you want to get noticed in the long run, as most punters don't know the difference anyway, hence that guy's comment.

It's worse when a guitarist says something like that, but strangely I've never heard a drummer say it, nor a vocalist!!

Guitarists can be right plebs sometimes, there are so many who are just completely out of tune with music, and play guitar for all the wrong reasons.

[The Funk]

You're always going to get people talking with great conviction on subjects they know nothing about.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='The Funk' post='60350' date='Sep 14 2007, 12:30 PM']You're always going to get people talking with great conviction on subjects they know nothing about.[/quote]

Yup. This forum alone illustrates that

[jacko]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='60296' date='Sep 14 2007, 10:58 AM']Am I the only one who thinks that Level 42 works without the bass?[/quote]

yes

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='60253' date='Sep 14 2007, 09:23 AM']I also heard bass players described as being like an accountant becuase the job they do is pretty boring.[/quote]

You got a problem with accountants, huh?

[jwbassman]

the important thing to remeber here is that you know how important you are - you don't need to make a song and dance about it and niether does anyone else...

[alexclaber]

Maybe the accountant analogy isn't so bad - we're both essential to the successful functioning of our respective collectives!

Alex

[Krysbass]

Have a photo on my desk at work of one of my kids having a go at my bass. A few months ago, someone looked at it and asked me if it was a banjo...?

Says it all really about the public's perception of the bass and probably musical instruments in general.

But add to that the very widespread scenario where so many bassists, including some of the very best ones, came to the instrument from a previous foray with guitar and it contributes to the myth that bass is some sort of cop-out for people who couldn't hack it on guitar (totally wrong of course.)

In the face of such adversity, there's only one thing to be done. Let your fingers do the talking.

Edited September 14, 2007 by Krysbass

[bass_in_ya_face]

I made a concious descision to play the bass, I really don't have any interest in lead guitar and I'm not an extrovert so the bass suits me fine.

Plus the fact it looks way cooler also.

I've only been learning just under a year but I absoloutely love it...sadly the missues is getting a bit hacked off with the amount of time I play it!

I've already acquired two fretted and a fretless and promised there will be no more...but I still have a list of 'dream basses' i'd like if I won the lottery.
The aria pro sb1000 (just like the avatar) for openers, a proper fender p-bass and MM Stingray (only got a copy at the mo).

[Krysbass]

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='60390' date='Sep 14 2007, 01:24 PM']I made a concious descision to play the bass, I really don't have any interest in lead guitar and I'm not an extrovert so the bass suits me fine.

Plus the fact it looks way cooler also.

I've only been learning just under a year but I absoloutely love it...sadly the missues is getting a bit hacked off with the amount of time I play it!

I've already acquired two fretted and a fretless and promised there will be no more...but I still have a list of 'dream basses' i'd like if I won the lottery.
The aria pro sb1000 (just like the avatar) for openers, a proper fender p-bass and MM Stingray (only got a copy at the mo).[/quote]

+1 to that.

I also went for bass from the start - love the look, love the sound, love being able to play it hard without worrying about breaking strings.

EDIT: I also have serious GAS attacks about that Aria SB1000. Just wish I'd bought one back in the 80's when the price didn't seem so out of reach.

Edited September 14, 2007 by Krysbass

[gilmour]

It's a shame but that's the role of the bass and everyone above is right when they say that the minute the bass isn't there you notice.

I think the problem you describe is wider, and about the publics misconnceptions and lack of understanding about lice music. An example of this is when I tell people i'm in a band and the conversation goes like this:
ME "Oh, I play in a band"
THEM "Really what kind?"
ME "We do funk, soul and a bit of hip hop, breakbeats that sort of thing really"
What happens next is that I persuade them to come and see us and after the show there will be a convesation ...
THEM "That was really good I enjoyed it"
ME "Why did you expect us to be sh*t?"
THEM "No but, well, hmmm, I thought you'd be a bit more rock you know"
ME "I did tell you we were a funk/soul band"
THEM "Yeah well, I just expected ... something else"

I don't know what it is in this country (the UK) but people associate live music in this country with Garage Rock bands? I wonder why?

No that there's anyhting wrong with Rock, but there's a whole world of music out there, all those funk tracks and break beats were played live at some point, but people associate them with DJs?

Sorry for the off topic rant.