Happy Jack Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 A highly-entertaining thread, although I am disappointed that no one has yet mentioned Adolf Hitler ... he only annexed the Sudetenland because the Czechs objected to his slap style, y'know. Anyway, while most of this thread was being created last night I was playing a 3-hour gig in a pub in Chiswick. Number of notes slapped = 0. Number of disappointed punters as a result = 0. Number of songs "missing something" = 0. Don't really matter whether or not I hate slap, I just don't need it. I suspect that most people don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='1160847' date='Mar 13 2011, 06:41 PM']Anyway, while most of this thread was being created last night I was playing a 3-hour gig in a pub in Chiswick. Number of notes slapped = 0. Number of disappointed punters as a result = 0. Number of songs "missing something" = 0. Don't really matter whether or not I hate slap, I just don't need it. I suspect that most people don't.[/quote] Did you play Mustang Sally or Moondance? Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='bubinga5' post='1160626' date='Mar 13 2011, 04:10 PM']Why are people basing there hate around the slap bass they have seen at some show.?..baffling...?? as far as im concerned slap bass used properly and with taste has its place, like any other technique...sorry but this is a pointless thread.. [/quote] Another +1 here for BB5 I hate the din at shows but unlike some others I can see way beyond that as it's only showcase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='lowdown' post='1160855' date='Mar 13 2011, 06:49 PM']Did you play Mustang Sally or Moondance? Garry[/quote] Neither, but I will if you like. One advantage of coming to bass late is that I haven't had 35 years in which to grow to hate [i]Mustang Sally. [/i] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstriper Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='1160847' date='Mar 13 2011, 06:41 PM']A highly-entertaining thread, although I am disappointed that no one has yet mentioned Adolf Hitler ... he only annexed the Sudetenland because the Czechs objected to his slap style, y'know. Anyway, while most of this thread was being created last night I was playing a 3-hour gig in a pub in Chiswick. Number of notes slapped = 0. Number of disappointed punters as a result = 0. Number of songs "missing something" = 0. Don't really matter whether or not I hate slap, I just don't need it. I suspect that most people don't.[/quote] 3 hours and not one disappointed punter - you're really not trying are you ! Oh and that Hitler was a moody little burger whatever anyone says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='bubinga5' post='1160626' date='Mar 13 2011, 04:10 PM']Why are people basing there hate around the slap bass they have seen at some show.?..baffling...?? as far as im concerned slap bass used properly and with taste has its place, like any other technique...sorry but this is a pointless thread.. [/quote] Another +1 here for BB5 I hate the din at shows but unlike some others I can see way beyond that as it's only showcase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soloshchenko Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I don't get or like slap much either and I think the idea of bass as a lead soloing instrument is slightly daft. Nor do I see why slap is considered to be the holy grail of technique. I learnt a load of slap stuff in my first years of playing bass and think the actual mechanics of it don't take much to master. I'malways more blown away technique wise by a really good fingerstyle player like Nate Jones (who does slap occasionally) as I think developing a good fingerstyle technique is more of a challenge than spending ages making your bass go twang! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 (edited) Whether you like slap or not is not really the real issue. Exhibitors employ artists/musicians/bassists/call them what you will to demo their equipment/entertain the punters. In some strange warped way they think that using slappers will achieve this. It is they who have got it wrong. If they knew that by doing this they were driving paying customers away, then they wouldn't use them. Do what they did in the old days and hire some attractive chatty women (sorry, a bit sexist, but it works). The only way to stop it happening again is to tell them. Maybe BC should lobby the offending exhibitors and tell them what we think. Edit: Those who feel strongly about it should write to the Readers Letters page in BGM. I think I will. Edited March 13, 2011 by obbm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='obbm' post='1160904' date='Mar 13 2011, 07:44 PM']Do what they did in the old days and hire some attractive chatty women (sorry, a bit sexist, but it works).[/quote] What would you chat about - Hoovers and Kitchens ? Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Clarky' post='1160764' date='Mar 13 2011, 05:40 PM']Chaps, I take you back to my comments as I wrote the OP. I was not demonising slap, just the mindless pursuit of machine gun, pyrotechnic slapping at deafening volumes at bass shows ... which frankly spoil it for most attendees (take niceguyhomer's comment - he came armed with moolah but didn't buy as he couldn't hear the gear the wanted to try out over the ear-splitting din)[/quote] Sorry Clarky, my thread was a touch misleading. I forgot to mention that you never intended to knock the style, just the antics of the players at the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I think it's like any style - it gets overused and becomes cliched. But as bass players, I think we should accept that it's a style that's unique to our instrument. Come on, we're stuck at the back of the stage making everyone else in the band sound good. We need to show off now and again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='lowdown' post='1160925' date='Mar 13 2011, 07:57 PM']What would you chat about - Hoovers and Kitchens ? Garry[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Funny, I can accept it by Mark King and many of the funk greats and even Flea as they fit it into a musical style. To me it is like guitarists shredding - when it reaches the point of being competitive it totally misses the point as then loses any musical qualities that the aformentioned players bring to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Pete Academy' post='1160933' date='Mar 13 2011, 08:07 PM']Sorry Clarky, my thread was a touch misleading. I forgot to mention that you never intended to knock the style, just the antics of the players at the show. [/quote] Title of OP amended to make my view clearer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Early Flea stuff was manic, which influenced a lot of slap players. But listen to his slap part on Aeroplane - sublime and totally integral to the song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Clarky' post='1160954' date='Mar 13 2011, 08:18 PM']Title of OP amended to make my view clearer [/quote] Can you amend again to include "and in shops" -that'll probably strike a chord with Pete and the other retailers/ex-retailers on here (speaking from experience)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Mykesbass' post='1160964' date='Mar 13 2011, 08:22 PM']Can you amend again to include "and in shops" -that'll probably strike a chord with Pete and the other retailers/ex-retailers on here (speaking from experience)![/quote] Happy to oblige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cetera Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I like slap when it's used tastefully and in it's place. Unfortunately what I heard today at the Bass Show was neither tasteful nor in it's place.... Lots of show-off bedroom bassists trying to outdo each other but not actually LISTENING to the tonal palette available from the instrument/amp they were demo-ing. Pointless and unnecessary.... and puts me, and many others, off attending future shows.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Clarky' post='1160968' date='Mar 13 2011, 08:24 PM']Happy to oblige [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='cetera' post='1160971' date='Mar 13 2011, 08:25 PM']I like slap when it's used tastefully and in it's place. Unfortunately what I heard today at the Bass Show was neither tasteful nor in it's place.... Lots of show-off bedroom bassists trying to outdo each other but not actually LISTENING to the tonal palette available from the instrument/amp they were demo-ing. Pointless and unnecessary.... and puts me, and many others, off attending future shows....[/quote] Very eloquently put, cetera. Perhaps I should have posted something like that in the OP and it wouldn't have raised the hackles of some - as its exactly what I wanted to convey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmaxblues Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I couldn't agree more, wouldn't go again because of it, party piece idiots who should have bought a drum kit not a bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='cetera' post='1160971' date='Mar 13 2011, 08:25 PM']I like slap when it's used tastefully and in it's place. Unfortunately what I heard today at the Bass Show was neither tasteful nor in it's place.... Lots of show-off bedroom bassists trying to outdo each other but not actually LISTENING to the tonal palette available from the instrument/amp they were demo-ing. Pointless and unnecessary.... and puts me, and many others, off attending future shows....[/quote] Reminds me of when I get young kids who ask to try out a bass. I explain the controls and active tones etc. Then they just turn everything flat out and slap furiously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Reading through the later posts on this made me think probably the problem is having any kind of gathering of bass players - it's inherently stupid (unless they're all solo musicians who happen to play bass) since conventional bass doesn't mean anything out of the context of a band! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soloshchenko Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Pete Academy' post='1160956' date='Mar 13 2011, 08:19 PM']Early Flea stuff was manic, which influenced a lot of slap players. But listen to his slap part on Aeroplane - sublime and totally integral to the song.[/quote] For me, Flea's non slap playing far outshines any of his manic slap stuff. I loved a lot of the intelligent rock playing on Californication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Rich Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 [quote name='Pete Academy' post='1160981' date='Mar 13 2011, 08:30 PM']Reminds me of when I get young kids who ask to try out a bass. I explain the controls and active tones etc. Then they just turn everything flat out and slap furiously. [/quote] What's wrong with that? When I test drive a new car I put the wipers on fast, headlights main beam, stereo on max volume, 7500 rpm and dump the clutch. It's the only way to get a feel for what it can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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