Modulus Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1333569912' post='1603805'] What turned me off slap, back in the early 90's, was when Blood Sugar Sex Magic came out and, within a couple of years seemingly every bassist over here was playing a poxy Stingray and firing their thumb at everything[/quote] No slap on Blood Sugar (Aside from chorus and bridge on Power Of Equality), and it was recorded with a Wal, not a Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='Shade' timestamp='1333576728' post='1603922'] No slap on Blood Sugar (Aside from chorus and bridge on Power Of Equality), and it was recorded with a Wal, not a Ray [/quote]Uh huh. That album was the catalyst, it made hundreds of white men mistankenly believe they had the funk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judo Chop Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I was trying a Jazz bass (didn't like it much) out in Dawsons in Chester this afternoon, when this lad walks over with the salesman to try one out for himself; he sits down opposite me and spends a good few minutes fiddling about with the EQ on a Roland Cube, then proceeds to treat us all to the worst slap bass solo in history. How many times can someone play E and it's octave in five minutes? A lot apparently. Why on earth do people insist on doing that? I feel sorry for the sales people having to put up with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairobill Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Slap does my nut when it's played as quavers. That 'chugging' effect so beloved of many is anti-groove. A groove is syncopation and interlocking musical elements with pride of place given to SPACE. When people chug quavers (not naming names), it's a drum rudiment and is largely awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairobill Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 This is slap that works for me. not all slap is slop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ9xHHWAyos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxKBnR_8LIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairobill Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 But some is utterly, utterly sheatt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-kajkjGKuk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='Cairobill' timestamp='1333578223' post='1603945'] But some is utterly, utterly sheatt [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-kajkjGKuk[/media] [/quote] What a cock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayben Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I can't say I'm a big fan of slap bass tbh, I'll pop a couple of notes every now and then to really push them through, especially on octaves, but otherwise I'll stay well away from it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer.b Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 not sure that slap has lost it's way, I don't really do it myself but I hear some great slap on modern gospel, RnB funk etc. I think solo bass show off nonsense is giving it a bad name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Love that clip of Larry Graham playing with Betty Davis. Around here slap seems to be a YouTube and music shop trick. Where do all these slap bass players gig? I never see them playing live. [font=Arial][size=2] [/size][/font] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earbrass Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 The acceptable face of slap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3rP-8mWWeY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 [quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1333577193' post='1603931'] Uh huh. That album was the catalyst, it made hundreds of white men mistankenly believe they had the funk. [/quote] But by far the most slap heavy album from RHCP is Mother's Milk. Still does my head in when you see chaps attempoting to slap Suck My Kiss, which always was fingerstyle, silly s*ds Funk != Slap I think its so down to the player, if you have a bassist who is truly a great musicician, then that transcends anything to do with technique. Larry Graham (and particularly the Betty Davis stuff for me) plays some of the best funk grooves, It is music for one purpose (hint, it aint for dancing to!), and hits that nail right on the head (Betty doesnt hurt onel ittle bit either, Nasty Girl indeed....). This is great slap bass IMO... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weN7DkrLjEU&feature=related Great slap is even rarer than great funk though, mainly because it has become a parody of itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1333585016' post='1604015'] Love that clip of Larry Graham playing with Betty Davis. . [/quote] That is because Larry Graham has always been so funky. A lot of players confuse funk with slap and are anything but funky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1333614465' post='1604127'] But by far the most slap heavy album from RHCP is Mother's Milk. [/quote]Indeed and if you check the sales of that album before and after BSSM you'll see what I'm getting at. Prior to BSSM they were still a reasonably underground band, the only time I saw them on tv was on the James Whale radio show, if you remember that. A mate of mine was a huge fan at the time so I remember their subsequent success correlating with the explosion in the numbers of Stingrays on stages and thumbs cocked and ready to do damage. They were dark days indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1333614465' post='1604127'] Funk != Slap [/quote]This. 100% this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetricMike Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 It strikes me that slapping on the bass has become the equivalent of tapping or sweep picking for the guitar. What were originally techniques to add the occasional bit of spice to the music have become, in some peoples eyes, a form of competitive sport for players to show off what great players they are. Unfortunately it is a sport that has about as much meaning as sychronised swimming. Yes it is very clever, but why would anyone think it is worth doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 [quote name='MetricMike' timestamp='1333627110' post='1604459'] It strikes me that slapping... is a sport that has about as much meaning as sychronised swimming. [/quote] In ketchup. Metaphors comin' atcha like taxi cabs! And yes, Flea's best playing is fingerstyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 But surely we should all really be saying that playing out of context with the music, or in a n unmusical way is all rubbish, not just slapping. There are plenty of examples of people flailing away at tapping producing an ungroovey unmusical mess, or fingerstyle, or with a pick. Equally there has been great music made using all these techniques on a variety of instruments. I understand that unmusical slapping is a predominant annoyance for bassists, and we are plagued by that particualr form of poor musicianship, but why allow people who are rubbish at fingerstyle off the hook so much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuNkShUi Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Its all opinions though aint it? I agree alot of the stuff on youtube is terrible. The groove is lost to the percussive "efforts". But like its been said, there are some players who i like who still like to add the technique into certain parts of songs, and for me, that works! The other thing is that someone earlier mentioned that pub crowds and such will not be particularly impressed with some arpeggios or jacoesque bassline, but pull out a few bars of thumping the E and they go bonkers! May not make sense to many people on this site, but when its them paying to watch you, you gotta try make them enjoy it right?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude_b Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) I think slap/pop works particularly well with funk-based music because it was largely invented by funk players, lends itself to those rhythms and it locks in with the other sections rather than overpowering everything else. It's also difficult to play slap melodically, with a tone and volume that fits in with other types of music. Or rather, it's just simpler and more effective to use other techniques. I'm surprised double thumbing doesn't get used more widely, in technical metal for instance, as it seems a pretty versatile, fast and melodic technique to me. It is depressing how many times I've seen bassists warm up at gigs with some rapid slapping and then they can't get through a blues once the gig starts. The most impressive bass players to me are the ones who find the right techique and, more importantly, notes for the music they're playing. I realise this has been repeated ad nauseum on other threads before! Edited April 5, 2012 by jude_b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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