Slap bass

[risingson]

A bit of a rant here I guess, I appreciate not everyone's going to agree with me here, but here goes:

Every demo and every video of a bass player on Youtube or elsewhere on the internet deems it necessary to damage your insides and your sensibilities with a slap bass solo in E, usually performed with more concern about technique than about notes and timing. I wouldn't usually be so bothered about this but I've been doing some preliminary research on some new bass guitars I might consider buying, everything from Sadowskys, Dingwalls, Laklands etc. and I just keep running up against players who think demo-ing a bass guitar has to involve slapping the living crap out of it. It's just not what I want to see from a good demo, I want to see a decent player making a good go of playing some real bass guitar, but it rarely happens without that player trying their hand, usually badly IMO at playing slap bass.

Slap seems to be in most bass player's repertoire nowadays but I can honestly say there are very, very few bass players I have heard that have ever impressed me using it as a technique (honestly, I could probably count them on two hands tops, maybe even just the one). Most of the time all I see are sloppy performances with little attention paid to timing and musicality and it bores the hell out of me I'm sorry to say. What's more when it comes to actually playing on a track, slap bass immediately dates the sound of a record by 20-30 years, and with that in mind and the fact that very few players use it on records any more why is it necessary to demo a bass entirely slapped?? Answer - it's not.

I'm fine hearing a bit of slap every so often, it's inevitable I guess, but it does very much irritate me that there are videos and demos out there from shops and reputable luthiers alike that rely solely on some bassist who thinks he's got all the slap chops in the world but ends up sounding dull, tonally plagarised and wholly uninspiring.

Rant over!

[Cat Burrito]

I'm inclined to agree. It's obviously a style of playing but I always remember when I started playing. EVERY time I walked into a music shop to try a bass I'd always have to sit through some prat slapping the bass before handing it to me.

Nothing against that style but it does seem to be over represented in some gear demos. There are other ways of playing something interesting.

[AndyTravis]

I'm guilty of it, then after 2 seconds realise that I Slap 0% of the time with the band...so it's useless for me.

DON'T DEMO WITH IT!!!

Although i do enjoy it for the rythmic end of things, I'm tasteful with it, others aren't.

Edited December 2, 2010 by AndyTravis

[icastle]

+1 to that.
I can do a passable impression of a slap bass player if I'm pushed into it, but my own feeling is that if I wanted to batter the hell out of an instrument I'd have become a drummer

[endorka]

I had thought my slap days were long gone, but a month or so ago in rehearsal the singer suggested I play slap bass on a song, so I did... and I think the results are good. I take a fairly minimal approach though, for the most part I am using the slap to create a different type of sound, rather than as a technique in itself.

To complicate matters, the song is in F minor - not your typical slap key!

Playing it live was interesting as the sound was louder than my usual plucked tone, so I had to employ a compressor to prevent the slap sound being too overpowering onstage.

I have to admit I really enjoyed the experience :-)

Jennifer

[JordanRLS]

It's another case of "Each to their own" In my opinion. I for one am a big fan of slap bass (When done at least half-properly) and am always happy to hear/see someone play in that style. I even play (probably badly) quite a lot of it myself. However I do agree that it shouldn't be the ONLY, or even the main style of playing used when demoing a bass. Especially considering as originally the bass guitar wasn't designed with that playing style in mind, so they always have a lot more to offer than just a good/bad slap tone, which itself comes in large part from the technique of the player anyway.

Fairly limited to the subject, I took my Ibanez into my local music shop to have some repair work carried out earlier this week, and while the guy was standing holding my bass explaining what they were going to do to it, he stood there subconsciously slapping away. It didn't bother me in the slightest, in fact I found it quite amusing, and I was pleased to meet someone who can play a bass (well, slap it) in a music shop which has a limited selection of bass gear.

[risingson]

Just to clarify something here. This post wasn't a rant about slap bass and whether it's acceptable or not, I'm happy to concede that whilst it's not my thing a lot of the time, it will of course be of interest to other players. But I don't want to watch a 7 minute video of someone demo-ing an instrument by slapping, especially not when they're a terrible player either with no timing or feel. It's just of no interest to me.

[ThomBassmonkey]

I agree, I keep looking at videos that are 2 minutes of fingerstyle then 7 minutes of slapping and most people just don't play that way. Even fewer demos are done with a plectrum.

I play mainly fingerstyle with a small dose of slap in my bands though, so it is handy to know what the slap tone's like, I'd still rather see more fingerstyle though. I don't use a pick, so that's fine by me.

[AndyTravis]

Ed Friedland gets it right, plays the same Riff 10 times, different pickups, tone settings etc with 3 or 4 techniques.

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='1045770' date='Dec 2 2010, 10:41 PM']Ed Friedland gets it right, plays the same Riff 10 times, different pickups, tone settings etc with 3 or 4 techniques.[/quote]
Totally agree. Demo the gear not the player

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='1045770' date='Dec 2 2010, 10:41 PM']Ed Friedland gets it right, plays the same Riff 10 times, different pickups, tone settings etc with 3 or 4 techniques.[/quote]

His reviews are totally useless though...

He could make a tissue box with laggy bands around it sound great.

[analog kid]

Im personally not a fan of slap Bass at all,reminds me too much of the decade i would rather forget....the 80s.

One of my favourite pastimes was and sometimes still is,
was to go to a music shop and ask a guy to get a Bass down to demo...then as soon as you saw the slight twitch and extension of the thumb say
"please no slapping"....the moment of slight panic in his eyes and the inevitable "eermm"...always brought an inner smile to myself.

Which reminds me of the scene in the guitar shop in Waynes World..with the sign saying no Stairway to Heaven.
There should also be a sign in the Bass section saying no slapping!

[xgsjx]

I get where you're coming from. Slap can be done without having open E as the root, be in time and without a million notes randomly fired into a bar.
I do some slap on a couple of originals & both are in G, tho I have been guilty for doing pretty much what your rant is about! Only at home tho.

[gjones]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='1045770' date='Dec 2 2010, 10:41 PM']Ed Friedland gets it right, plays the same Riff 10 times, different pickups, tone settings etc with 3 or 4 techniques.[/quote]

As good old Ed Freidland says in this video you can't be a bass hero if you don't play slap. But he never ever gets to play it unless he's doing a bass clinic or while videoing a bass review as the bands he plays with never ask him to play that style. See his words of wisdom on the matter at 1 min 12 secs of this video [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQB8eIEhQeo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQB8eIEhQeo[/url]
I'm in the same boat as the blues and alt country bands I play in would look at me as if I was insane if I started slapping.

So why is it I've just ordered Ed's slap bass DVD from amazon? Is it because you can't be a proper bass player if you don't play slap? Good question.

Answers on a postcard please.

[Doddy]

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1045803' date='Dec 2 2010, 11:04 PM']I get where you're coming from. Slap can be done without having open E as the root, be in time and without a million notes randomly fired into a bar.[/quote]

Very true. However,most players don't seem to grasp the concept of playing in keys that aren't E minor. Although,in fairness,there are a lot
of finger and pick players who have the same problem.

[Chris2112]

Much like Mark King, I love to slap and I'm at my fastest in E...I guess most people are! Though I followed Stanley Clarke's advice (that he gave in the late 70's) and developed my skills in all keys. I can see why it would irritate some people in tone demos, but I like it. I do slap after all! And I think that slap can be a way of showing a bass's "base" tone in an easy an accessible light.

The greater problem in these tone demo videos is usually the naff mic or amp thats been used to record them with!

[thisnameistaken]

I do wonder how many people are actually using slap for anything, I imagine it's a very small proportion of us. I do sometimes use it for bashing out a beat - nothing intricate or funky but just a "2 Tribes" type of approach - but it's really rare and I don't think I'd record like that, I'd probably use a synth instead.

[Chris2112]

I've been using slap quite a bit lately as the band has been doing an instrumental jam over Thomas Dalby's "Hyperactive" tune with me slapping out the old synth line.

[Mog]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='1045770' date='Dec 2 2010, 10:41 PM']Ed Friedland gets it right, plays the same Riff 10 times, different pickups, tone settings etc with 3 or 4 techniques.[/quote]
yea Ed is about as good as it gets review wise. One thing that pisses me off though is that he plays through an excellent rig. I wanna see reviews recorded either straight to a console or through a crappy 30 watt 1x0 combo.

[JMT3781]

sounds like you've been watching my youtube channel

[crez5150]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1045914' date='Dec 3 2010, 02:05 AM']I do wonder how many people are actually using slap for anything, I imagine it's a very small proportion of us. I do sometimes use it for bashing out a beat - nothing intricate or funky but just a "2 Tribes" type of approach - but it's really rare and I don't think I'd record like that, I'd probably use a synth instead.[/quote]


One of my bands plays Disco/Funk..... utter slapfest for bass but because of the type of music it is..... it doesn't detract from the songs. I think the problem with slap is that there are too many people doing it badly.

Anyway for a bit of self promotion

Edited December 3, 2010 by crez5150

[paul h]

I am quite a fan of slap in a Larry Graham, Louis Johnson way. Which is cool because I am talking the band into introducing some funk stuff so I will actually get to use the technique.

Anyhoo, with regards to demos...

I know I am probably alone in this but I think a good slap tone is the hardest thing to achieve with a bass. So I understand totally why slap is chosen as a showcase for an instrument. For example I judge every P bass on how it sounds playing Forget Me Nots by Patrice Rushen. That is how I want a P bass to sound and I want to sound like Freddie Washington when I play one. If it can nail that tone then anything else is secondary to me.

[Delberthot]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1045767' date='Dec 2 2010, 10:37 PM']Even fewer demos are done with a plectrum.[/quote]


You've obviously never been in the market for either a Violin bass, Thunderbird or Explorer.

PITA trying to find demos of these basses played fingerstyle



Totally agree about the slap thing on demos. Personally I find that it sounds pretty much the same regardless of what bass you play so its not really fitting when you are trying to extole the virtues of the bass you are demoing.

[Prime_BASS]

indeed when I play a bass I see if it has a good even sound across all strings, I dont need to hear if it sounds good slapped, as slapping you you get get lows and highs and not much mid, so in essence you cant really hear how the bass sounds.

[JTUK]

It you are demoing a bass..there are 3 universal things that you would cover, IMV

Full finger style sound for general band mix sound.

Slap sound

Bridge hard plucked sound

Pick players will use a P-bass anyway

If you are practising then it will likely be slap chops 60-70% of the time which is crazy as most players use a slap part in their set
about one per cent of the time.

My rule is no slap cliche parts..
only fills of 2 bar max..or a little accent here and there.
We do have one tune that I may need to slap the line as I can't get the part big enough otherwise, but it is not a slap line as such..but I hate the song plus it is really hard to make it work anyway..

I hate to see over played slap parts.. and don't get me started on the guy in the band playing a Status with TE gear..
......you just know what is coming ..