GreeneKing Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 (edited) I was chatting with our Rhythym guitarist about the difficulties we're having in getting a definite song list set up for our band. Months have passed and we feel no nearer to any definite direction.The lead guitarist (who is very good) is also a noted artist with a successful career of work behind him. My friend was saying that he considers himself more a technician than an artist, preferring to have a list of songs to learn and bring along to practice, not really enjoying improvisation, solos or 'on the spot' 'jams'. On reflection I realise I'm exactly the same. The lead guitarist is so very different and brings new songs/ditches songs you've spent hours learning at zero notice. So what sort of bass player are you? An artist or a technician or perhaps something else? Peter Edited November 11, 2011 by GreeneKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I reckon Artisan sounds better than Technician. I'm not really a writer, and I'm better at reacting to and complementing other musicians than starting things off myself, but I think I'm not totally without creativity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I would say ..by those defintions..a bit of both. I am not interested in learning lines note perfect only to find something else is off in the band ..and therefore the track struggles. I'll just take the jist of the track and make it work with the players WE have got in the band. Trying to rip some studio versions is a hopeless task at times..either down to sheer sounds OR playability, I never get bands who do this..and after putting so much time into a track they obviously want to do desperately..can't then look objectively at it and say...actually,we suck at playing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Technician, definitely. Forewarned is forearmed. I don't like the plans being mucked about with at short notice, and surely improvisational jams are that phenomenon taken to extremes. That said, I'm getting better at recovering when someone throws me a curve ball, but at the moment I still get hit by them. In the face, usually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 As a bass player, I do what needs to be done to get a song working. If that means not playing a bassline at all or even playing one note every other bar, then so be it. It is a recent revelation that I have had in light of me becoming more of a songwriter and guitarist. I'd prefer my role to be a pivotal one and have some artistic license, but when you're working with 4 other people there just has to be a point where you compromise. On the other hand, when I write songs for my band, it's different. I usually have quite a good idea about what I'd like stuff to sound like, and if I have very specific harmonies, choral voicings and melodic parts that I have written then generally I would want them played how I wrote them in the first place. I am however open to other band members trying ideas out on top of what I have written if it compliments the song well. Sometimes you just don't know when someone else's idea will fire off an unused part of your songwriting brain and get you really inspired. Other times, writing by committee just doesn't work and can mean that you come to blows because of conflicting ideas. Like I say, it's just about having that compromise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I'm an artist. I've been to college and everything. Seriously though, I tend to write all the stuff too, so I've got a foot in both camps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I approach my role as musician by being a composer first and foremost. I play the bass because it's the instrument I enjoy playing most and because I'm not a good enough guitarist or synth player to feel that I'm always doing justice to my ideas when writing. So from a composing PoV I'm and artist - the music is my vision. From a playing PoV I'm a technician. I play what the song requires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham56 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 (edited) [size=3]Me, I'm a hack...[/size] Edited November 11, 2011 by Graham56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Just a bass player and a fraud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Neither and both. I think I'd describe myself as an interpreter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Seems I'm a technician. My position in the music scene is technical support apparently. Was at a venue to pick up a bass today, one I played at coupla weeks ago, taking a leak, sound engineer comes in, takes a leak next to me and goes for the old 'Musicians, eh? Vuh!' stuff, as we, the people who have to sort everything out for them all well know. I was kinda figuring I was one of them that was just a bit more capable, but am apparently 'one of us' to the techies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Well, I've fixed one guitarist's guitar, another guitarist's amp, I'm the only one who can set up the PA, I introduced the 'drummer' to drum keys so I guess that makes me a technician. Artistically, I can collaborate when we're knocking a new song into shape and I'm quite happy to jam during closed rehearsals, but I'm not comfortable with winging things for a gig. I play around with writing my own songs but I'm not confident enough to bring them to the band. My ambition is larger than my talent, but at least I recognise it and have learned to live with it - it just means perpetual frustration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 I can do both, but not massively well lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Both, I liked the 'artisan' word used in one of the posts above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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