leroybasslines

[quote name='Doddy' post='1105567' date='Jan 27 2011, 08:56 PM']I'm not sure about the gospel guys making the best session players for the reasons you mention. From reading interviews with a lot of the more prominent drummers and bass players there are very few who do read-it's all a 'feel' thing. I think the best guys are the ones who are working every night with different people. We all know that I'm a fan of chops,but there is just something about these guys that doesn't do it for me at all. I read an interview with one guy in Modern Drummer and he said that they have to show off their chops or else they would lose the gigs.I think that must be why I think the a lot of the modern gospel players seem like they want to blow all the time-often inappropriately. It's rare to hear them(especially drummers) just lay it down without flash.[/quote] I think you're right - a lot of the players read but it's not their strongest suit. You rarely see gospel players in church reading, they might be given the changes for what their playing. I think that's why they do well as session players - they are incredibly quick of the mark and able to work on the spot without needing anything other than a rough idea of how the song goes! I play a bit in church and I think that it's an excellent way of developing as a player - pretty much every week you're asked to play 5 or 6 songs with different personnel and very little preparation. You have to be good and very sensitive to what's happening around you - it's not a gig and you're there to do a job and provide a service. I think that a lot of young musicians would benefit from that - I see a lot of players who are very inward looking and don't care much for what their fellow musicians need/want or the audience. Playing in situations like a church service helps you develop your improvisation skills, your professionalism and your ability to work under pressure. No wonder some of the guys playing in church in the US are in demand session guys! They've had a life time of playing the bass in those kind of situations. As for the chops thing, I agree with you entirely! I've got a very good friend who is an outstanding piano player and made a name for himself on the jazz circuit a while back. He jacked it in thought because he couldn't stand the one-upmanship and competition with things like "How fast can you play Giant Steps?" and all that macho posturing. It killed the music for him and he had to duck out and rediscover playing as a means of communicating feel and emotion. But some of those players are master musicians though, and I can't watch that second clip of Sharay vamping and not see a player having a whale of a time and just loving the music and the pure, visceral thrill of playing with other good musicians. But for every Sharay Reed, there is a mechanical dude who can double thumb slap pop like a machine gun but who leaves you cold.

Oh yeah, and having a J Retro on my bass always gives me the option to fight back EQ wise if I need to...

Soundmen are like any other person involved in a show: if they have talent and intelligence they will be good to work with and will find the compromise between room, logistics and musicians and somehow keep everyone happy. For us bass players, a good soundman is like a good drummer - if you find one, be nice to him/her and NEVER let them out of your sights for the rest of your life. I know about 3 or 4 sound people that I will always go to if my band needs them. They know us, we know them, everyone is happy. But, just like sometimes one has to play with dodgy drummers, sometimes one has to deal with less able sound men. I once did a wedding and the couple that booked us insisted that their friend, who was just starting up a PA hire company, did the sound so that he could gain experience with his new kit. I said that I didn't think that was a good idea considering the expense of hiring a band for a wedding and that we wanted to sound and play as well as possible to make the night a memorable one, but they really wanted to do it and the customer is always right. Anyway, the dude had a lovely collection of PA kit, but no ear for music. He took 30 mins to soundcheck the bass drum alone. The singers were almost in tears by the end of the check and I had to spend a lot of time mediating between sound and band. And when he asked if we could wear in-ear monitors, I refused! Who knows what damage he could have done?! But, at the end of the day, we had to work with him and do our best with what was going on. My point is that you have to be professional and that some soundmen are geniuses to be cherished, cared for and looked after and some are crap. When I trust a sound man, I will do whatever he says because he knows me, knows how I play and how to make the best of that and the band in the room and conditions we are in. If he asks to DI my bass, my amp, mic me up, go off the back line alone, I trust him. I trust that he can hear FOH and knows what sounds best, even if from where I'm standing it sounds crap. That trust is really important. If we play a venue with a resident engineer, I trust that that engineer knows what works in that room. I'll have a chat with him about what I sound like and then leave him to it. The sound on stage usually has nothing to do with the sound out front; as long as I can hear myself and key instruments I'm happy. As someone said in a previous post, bass players' ears do funny things in the course of a gig - bass frequencies are the first to be lost to our ears at high volume so we tend to roll up the bass as we go along so that we can hear it. I think that most of the time, my amp is really an on stage monitor for me and the drummer which is why I use PJB stuff now! So, find a soundman and trap him. Keep him shackled but be nice to him. Feed him well and care for him and he will care for you!

[quote name='silddx' post='1105252' date='Jan 27 2011, 04:57 PM']My fave bit is at 0.22 where the keyboard modulates the key into major on one chord (possibly a minor 3rd to a major 3rd - I'm probably talking sh*t ) and the bass stays minor, it's a beautiful thrilling musical moment for me.[/quote] I love those little twists you get with good gospel players (forget about gospel chops!). All those inversions and turns just make you want to get up and dance! I guess that's the point of the music - it is praise music and a lot of it is about celebration. It beats the hell out of [i]We Plough The Fields and Scatter[/i] though... Here's another gospel trick that get's me every time: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HAIEve3aME"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HAIEve3aME[/url] Kirk Franklin's choir doing Hosanna (you have to wade through the very un-British schmaltz here, the white suits and performance makes me cringe!). The key change at 2:21 is great! Voices pretty much singing in unison up to this point - the central focus of the song - and then the whole thing takes off. Simple, but highly effective arrangement. Great bass player too - laid back, in the pocket and not making a fuss and showing us his chops!

I totally agree about the 'Gospel Chops' phenomenon. It's the same as all the sweep picking, 6 million notes a bar guitarists we all had to be in bands with in the early 90s; music without feeling and passion but constructed out of technical competence is boring. But with a player like Sharay, I don't get that at all. I think you're spot on sillddx: he loves what he's doing. He's totally [i]for[/i] bass playing and music. I'm totally disinterested in whether what he does is hard and only in the sound and feel of it. I guess if you break down any great player's greatest playings - say Jaco - into a series of notes to play and a technique to learn, it's not that hard. I can play the first 16 bars of [i]Continuum [/i] with no bother at all because I learnt how to do it (I didn't get further than that because I have a very short attention span when it comes to learning stuff!). BUT, choosing those notes and taking those twists and turns and speaking in a language with the bass like Jaco did...that's something completely different. One need's technique to play what one thinks, but without the guts it's pointless. I've always shunned slap playing for that reason - it's a bit like tapping was on the guitar post Van Halen. Lots of showing off and not much to listen to. Having said that, really masterful musicians make it sound good in context and that's the point - musicality is what gets you and makes you want to listen and play along. But, yeah...Sharay. He's really good.

I don't know if you've heard of Sharay Reed, but he's a Chicago based session bassist that's getting quite a reputation in the States. He's probably best known on the gospel circuit, like a lot of the stunning bass players you hear on RnB, sould & pop records from the States. Anyway, I can't get enough of these two YouTube clips of him playing at his church. It's obviously some kind of music celebration event, but I tell you what - that would be my kind of church! Clip 1 - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pATcvr3zAhg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pATcvr3zAhg[/url] The fill he plays starting at 2:08 makes me soil myself every time I hear it. Check how the people watching react too! Amazing playing. Clip 2 - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_KuD0AjWdE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_KuD0AjWdE[/url] What they call in Gospel a shout groove where the band grooves on a progression while the choir and soloists improvise or shout stuff out. An absolute master class on tight, in the pocket, powerful but incredibly imaginative playing. And he looks like he's loving it too! I love the dancing preacher dude towards the end too. So yeah, Sharay Reed. I love how he commits to some pretty crazy playing - pushing the boundaries to the limit but always staying on the ONE and doing his job. He is BASS. What do you think? Any other gospel type players you want to flag up? Sometimes you hear their playing, think WOW but have no idea who they are. Cheers!

I find that if I haven't played DB for a while I need to look a bit at key moments - big position shifts etc. But I pretty soon find myself not looking very much at all as the muscle memory returns. The neck on my bass has a very handy bit of grain at the position the 5th fret would be if it were an EB. As I started on EB, this is a handy reference point for when I panic and lose my way! I've heard of guys practising in the dark to stop them using their eyes and developing trust in their ears!

[quote name='leroybasslines' post='1101970' date='Jan 25 2011, 12:18 PM']They look promising! Any UK distributors out there?[/quote] Wicked! They seem to be very easy to get hold of. Great price too...it looks like my troubles are a thing of the past. Cheers!

[quote name='MB1' post='1101495' date='Jan 24 2011, 10:17 PM']Safer on the bus with a lakland! [/quote] In Bristol, you are most certainly [i]not[/i] safer on the bus with a Lakland! The bus system here is famous for attracting wierdos, violent criminals and nutters. And that's just the drivers!

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1101456' date='Jan 24 2011, 09:56 PM']Could look at Protec stuff, never used them but they look solid: [url="http://www.ptcases.com/items.aspx?ProductID=275&InstrumentID=5&InstrumentGroupID=4&CategoryID=2&subCategoryID=7"]http://www.ptcases.com/items.aspx?ProductI...subCategoryID=7[/url] [url="http://www.ptcases.com/items.aspx?ProductID=410&InstrumentID=5&InstrumentGroupID=4&CategoryID=2&subCategoryID=45"]http://www.ptcases.com/items.aspx?ProductI...ubCategoryID=45[/url][/quote] They look promising! Any UK distributors out there?

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1101441' date='Jan 24 2011, 09:51 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1994-FORD-FIESTA-FREESTYLE-II-BLUE-/260726945196?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3cb48975ac#ht_500wt_1156"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1994-FORD-FIESTA-FRE...c#ht_500wt_1156[/url][/quote] Very funny! I had one of those for my first car. It was sh*t.

Hi there, I had a little browse at some of your case recommendations up above here but couldn't quite find what I'm after. I'm about to become the owner of a bass nice enough to not just sling it in a gig bag and chuck it around (Lakland 55-60). Trouble is that I often end up travelling on a bright orange Vespa! And before you ask how my amp gets about...I believe a good bass player should have an amp in every port. That's all I'm saying about that Previously, I've found my Ritter gig bag to be ok - I just wear it like a rucsac and tighten the straps up so that it sits on my shoulders but the bottom of the bass rests on my saddle. But, having had a near miss in a comically low speed parting of me, my bass and my Vespa on some ice before Xmas, I'm getting a bit nervous about carrying my bass like this. No harm was done to the bass, but it made me think... Is there such a thing as a hard/hybrid type case that has backpack style straps that can be adjusted etc and manipulated to go on my back while riding? I saw this [url="http://www.goincase.com/products/detail/dub-bag-cl56066"]http://www.goincase.com/products/detail/dub-bag-cl56066[/url] and nearly wet myself until I saw the price and the size and read that they are like gold dust over this side of the pond. Ho hum. So, any recommendations? Any other scooterists or bikers out there that have a preference? Budget wise...about £100 ok? Thanks! Liam

Alright?! I play in a band called the Leroys - we're not particularly active at the moment because I'm recovering from a bit o'knee surgery and also because we're pretty lazy! It's good to meet Bristol players, albeit in a cyber fashion! Do you play much in Brizzle?

Genius - a really simple but effective idea. Thanks for that! Can't believe I didn't think of it myself! I sense that I shall be stretching my limited handiwork skills very soon...

[quote name='Doctor J' post='1100426' date='Jan 24 2011, 08:37 AM']Bassdrobe, the [i]real[/i] one Keeps them out of harm's way while being easily accessible too. Lots of basses in a small space means I don't hear about it from the missus too. [/quote] Possibly the coolest thing I have EVER seen in my entire life. Awe. Some. How did you build it? I'd love to replicate that...

It's very interesting, but I reckon the Game Changer would have me in tears within minutes! I'm definitely not a player that relishes loads of choice...it makes me anxious! I've always been happy to leave endless agonising about the minutiae of tone to guitarists while I just plugged in and was ready to go within 10 seconds or so. The Jazz system has enough tones for me - bridge pu when I'm feeling funky, both pups when I'm behaving. Even that confuses me from time to time... Also, is it just me or is 'The Game Changer' pretty much the worst name ever? That's going to sound really silly in 10 years time and either the game didn't change or all guitars have 8 million combinations built in! Despite the excellence of their instruments, names haven't been EBMM's strong point of late, although 'Bongo' is starting to grow on me for some reason - it has always brought an annoying children's entertainer to mind...

Mine are lying about the place ready to be picked up in an idle moment! Don't know why, but I've never really used hard cases...probably something to do with going to gigs on a Vespa...much easier with a gig bag! In the cold snap recently, I skidded off on some black ice at a very low speed but with my bass on my back. My first response was to defend the bass at all costs; I managed to get away from the bike and skid safely to a halt while staying sat bolt upright with my bass safely protected on my back. Not a bump or scratch on the bass, although the same couldn't be said for my scooter or my bum. It's hard to retain dignity as one pirouettes down the road on one's arse. Bu,t going back to storage, I need a little reassurance - is it ok to hang basses on wall hangers for prolonged periods? I know they're exposed to the elements and this can have a negative effect on hardware etc. - that doesn't bother me so much - but can hanging a bass have a detrimental effect on the instrument's neck or the finish around the headstock? I hope not! We're currently in the process of adopting kids and the cold, harsh reality of not being able to leave lovely basses on chairs ready to go whenever the muse descends upon me is slowly kicking in. Any tips from those that parent boisterous kids while guarding precious basses would be greatly appreciated!