Bass players who play both "guitar" and keyboard bass

[Annoying Twit]

I can think of two. Gerald Casale from Devo and Haruomi Hosono from the Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Does anyone here do that? It certainly gives a wide variety of styles to choose from. Particularly Hosono who would play bass, play bass on keyboards, and used sequenced bass (analogue synth style) in the same concert.

Is it something a bassist may deliberately choose to do as a sort of widening of their options, or is this mainly something that happens when someone has the keyboard skills already.

And for that matter, are there any keyboardists who specialise in keyboard bass, as in not playing bass guitars at all, but compose and play the bass lines in their bands. I suppose Ray Manzarak would qualify here, but he only played "bass" with one hand, and IMHO he's not doing anything all that interesting in the bass parts.

[Master blaster]

doesn't nathen watts play keyboard bass to? the guy that played bass on Michael Jackson This is It dvd played a keyboard bass to i do believe

Edited September 2, 2010 by Master blaster

[Legion]

I started playing a synth bass keyboard some time ago - I found it gave a really refreshing approach to my input into songs. I use both in a live situation and wouldnt go back to just the bass guitar. I had, and still have zero keyboard skills really but I get by and love the extra layer it can add to songs.

Just bought a Microkorg XL actually, might retire my Novation Bass Station.

[Dood]

I've noticed a few R&B bands take session bass players who play Synth Bass, Keys and Guitar. - I too would like to be able to play keyboard that well to widen my musical pallette. I'm more than a competent guitar player and know that I could certainly hold my own if I was offered an Guitar/Bass gig - though I'd need a lot of time to practice Synth Bass! - I'd be more likely to sort out a Graphtec MIDI solution for on e of my basses so that I could play the Synth parts on a standard bass guitar!!!

One thing I would love to do in a band situation - as I play 'ERB' is have someone else play a Bass line - and then play melody / chord etc on the bass, just for a completely different tonal 'layer' as Legion above has suggested.

[BigRedX]

I do.

I spent most of the 80s playing synths. I joined the band as the bass guitarist, but pretty soon it became obvious that all electronic was the way to go for the music we were creating. One of the things I did back then was to use the bass guitar to write the bass lines which were then recreated on the sequencer. With the sorts of things I wrote we were able to get completely different types of basslines to those that other synth bands of the time were using which helped give my band a much more powerful bass sound than most.

I've also done synth-style bass using the bass guitar as my main sound source putting it through a MIDI controlled filter.

I find that basslines generated by plucking strings have a completely different feel to those that come from the keyboard. The trick is to use the method that gives the best feel for the song.

[Doddy]

[quote name='Master blaster' post='943682' date='Sep 2 2010, 05:28 PM']the guy that played bass on Michael Jackson This is It dvd played a keyboard bass to i do believe[/quote]

Alex Al. I'd dabbled with synth bass for a while,but hearing Al on 'This Is It' really gave me new inspiration
to get improve my synth chops.
Most of the guys who are involved in the modern R&B and Hip Hop scene play both electric and synth bass,it's
become kind of a pre-requisite.

Players who specialise in synth bass? Check out guys like Neil Evans from Soulive, Michael Boddiker who did a lot
of synth bass along with the great Greg Phillinganes on a lot of Michael Jacksons stuff,and you have to mention
Stevie Wonder if only for 'Boogie on Reggae Woman'. When it comes to synth bass,for me,Greg Phillinganes is the man.

[charic]

I'm a keyboard player first then bass player. Although I tend to play melody on keyboard. I have managed both at once which is something I'd like to pursue.

[chris_b]

There's a whole world of Hip Hop out there using keyboard or synth bass. Also Fender sold a dedicated keyboard for bass in the 60's.

[JMT3781]

I bought a moog a couple of months back for this purpose. I'm really enjoying playing it, I have no keyboard skills aside from knowing where the notes are. I've practiced by playing along to tracks with great synth bass, stevie and mj mainly. My biggest barrier at the moment is making the sounds

[basshead56]

Tina Weymouth from Talking heads was quite good at it.

I´d love to be able to play the synth bass properly, but have only had a chance to noodle on one (a Bass Station) a few times

[Bassassin]

Surprised Geddy Lee hasn't been mentioned yet - Rush have used keyboards since 1977 and necessarily he'll default to synth bass parts, either with his left hand or using bass pedals/sequencers. Rush's keyboard-heavy 80s era produced several songs with no bass guitar part.

Jon.

[matski]

Like Mr BigRedX, I do too.

Admittedly I don't have brilliant keyboard skillz - but seem to have a pretty good feel and can play some good melodies.

Of course the massive advantage nowadays is that you don't need to spend money on buying synths - as long as you have a half decent laptop and a keyboard that you can plug into it via USB or FireWire.

There are a huge amount of 'virtual' synths available for both Mac & PC: Moogs, Prophet 5, DX7alikes, Jupiter 8, ARP 2600, OSCar to name a few just off the top of my head. They all have great bass sounds amongst their presets so you can just fire 'em up, pick a sound you like, and off you go.

Interestingly when I am composing music at home, I tend to lay down synth bass parts before recording bass guitar parts. Like BRX mentioned you definitely get a different feel from using the synths and it tends to stop me from creating 'the same old type' of basslines.

[BottomEndian]

John Paul Jones? Keys/mandolin/whatever with hands, bass pedals with feet. I'd love a set of bass pedals.

[risingson]

Alex Al played synth bass as well as regular bass on the 'This Is It' tour with Michael Jackson (or was supposed to at least) but it was Greg Phillinganes that played on all the original records. Him and Stevie Wonder are without a doubt the best synth bass players I've ever heard.

Most R&B and Hip-Hop players double on both, you'll always see Mary J Blige's bassist do it, for example. Nathan Watts with Stevie was meant to have set the pace doing this before anyone else.

[Golchen]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='944321' date='Sep 3 2010, 10:38 AM']Surprised Geddy Lee hasn't been mentioned yet[/quote]

You beat me to it!


I used to really like UK 2nd wave proggers Haze and saw them live several times. They were a 3 piece band with brothers doing guitar/vocals and bass/keyboards respectively. When Chris did keys instead of bass he would use Taurus bass pedals to keep the bass line going. You don't see bass pedals any more??

[BottomEndian]

[quote name='Golchen' post='946956' date='Sep 6 2010, 10:17 AM']You don't see bass pedals any more??[/quote]

That's cos [url="http://www.dv247.com/guitars/moog-taurus-3-bass-synthesizer-module--67102"]they're hideously expensive[/url].

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='Golchen' post='946956' date='Sep 6 2010, 10:17 AM']I used to really like UK 2nd wave proggers Haze and saw them live several times. They were a 3 piece band with brothers doing guitar/vocals and bass/keyboards respectively. When Chris did keys instead of bass he would use Taurus bass pedals to keep the bass line going. You don't see bass pedals any more??[/quote]

Andy White was using bass pedals of some sort when he did some two-man band live shows that I saw. However, he was playing quite simple bass lines on them, more held single notes, while he played acoustic guitar and sang. He was playing with a percussionist who was playing a sort of wooden crate thing.


Thanks for all the comments on here. I've had several unsuccessful attempts to learn to play real instruments, and a side-effect of one of them is that I own a Novation Basstation, bought new just when they first came out. I've still got it too. Dunno what I'll end up doing with it.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='946973' date='Sep 6 2010, 10:29 AM']That's cos [url="http://www.dv247.com/guitars/moog-taurus-3-bass-synthesizer-module--67102"]they're hideously expensive[/url].[/quote]

From the same supplier: [url="http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/roland-pk-5-dynamic-13-note-midi-pedal-board--25837"]http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/rol...al-board--25837[/url]

I never thought of bass pedals. My aim is to be a multiinstrumentalist, and at present I'm making most progress on bass and fingerstyle acoustic! It could make sense to have a sideline in bass pedals. However, what's ruined my attempts to learn real instruments before is getting sidelined. So, there's no way I'm buying any pedals now!

Edited September 6, 2010 by Annoying Twit

[TransistorBassMan]

[quote name='charic' post='943762' date='Sep 2 2010, 06:36 PM']I'm a keyboard player first then bass player.[/quote]

Me too. When recording, I'll play whichever suits the song best.... Sometimes both.

[pete.young]

So what would be a good synth for playing bass parts live? Someone mentioned a Microkorg XL . For those of us who probably couldn't justify a minimoog, what other choices are there? GAK seem to have a good deal on the Akai Miniak at the moment, any comments from the synth-playing fraternity?

[Doddy]

I've got the MiniAk and it is pretty cool. It's got some good useable sounds and at the moment is a really nice
price.Plus it has proper sized keys,not diddy ones which is what really put me off the MicroKorg. I've worked with a couple of
guys who have had the MiniAk as part of their set,so that helped sway my decision.
Obviously,if you fancy going software based there are loads of good sound programs to choose from.

Edited September 6, 2010 by Doddy

[Faithless]

i'll keep that MiniAk thing in mind, thanks, Paul..

For 300 euros it seems just nice..