Bass players slapping

[BigBeefChief]

Very occassionaly, in a disco track, its acceptable. Anything else, and you end up sounding like that prick Mark King. The only reason you'd like him is if you're "of a certain age" or bullied at school for having a coat that smelt of vinegar.

I am a young man who was far to hard to ever be bullied. My coat smelt fresh. I didn't drink lemon cordial. Therefore, I can maintain that non-funk/disco slap is the preserve who those who think Hi-Tech trainers are cool and rolling the sleeves up on a blazer is acceptable.

Thank you.

[KennysFord]

And there you have it.

[The Burpster]

A bit of slapping should be reserved for the bedroom, but I understand some folks like to do it in public and have others watch them!

I also belive there are websites set up that guide you to areas where those exhibitionists like to ply thier skills!

[ironside1966]

I don’t mind Slap bass if played with feel.

Slap bass if funky, funk is about space, syncopation and feel.

When I see a band sound check and the bass players blurts out a rapid succession of slapped triplets. which then is usually followed by a widdle widdle on guitar my heart sinks a good indication of a bad band and players.

Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with fast slap bass in the right context and in the hands of a musician IE Marcus miller, Mark King. Louis Johnson, and many others but groove over speed or dexterity.

Some people play bass, while others are bass players

[thebeat]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='341018' date='Nov 30 2008, 12:07 PM']Very occassionaly, in a disco track, its acceptable. Anything else, and you end up sounding like that prick Mark King. The only reason you'd like him is if you're "of a certain age" or bullied at school for having a coat that smelt of vinegar.

I am a young man who was far to hard to ever be bullied. My coat smelt fresh. I didn't drink lemon cordial. Therefore, I can maintain that non-funk/disco slap is the preserve who those who think Hi-Tech trainers are cool and rolling the sleeves up on a blazer is acceptable.

Thank you.[/quote]
Sums it up nicely

Your's Sincerely

A Non Slapper

[nick]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='341018' date='Nov 30 2008, 12:07 PM']...... I can maintain that non-funk/disco slap is the preserve who those who think Hi-Tech trainers are cool and rolling the sleeves up on a blazer is acceptable.[/quote]

Well put, couldn't agree more.
Though, I was told recently reason I failed an audition with a local function band was due to my limited slapping skills.

There's some interesting views here on the subject from Justin Meldal-Johnsen on his talkbass section:
[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=418996&highlight=slap"]JMJ Slapping[/url]

[agoulding]

i love to slap, and my favourite artist thast does it is marcus miller, he has the right idea. Sure he slaps an awful lot but it never gets boring. On the other hand, flea slaps and plays other styles. When he plays slap, i want to slap him in the mouth. it gets on my dairy pillows.

[Gman]

What gets my goat more is when bassplayers slap during soundchecks and then don't do a single slap all bloody night...what's that all about??? I've seen quite a few semi-pro's do this that should know far better. Kind of defeats the object of a soundcheck surely?

The worst example was at the Robin - a blues band were headlining and the bass player slapped his way through the soundcheck, then completely changed his sound and playing for the actual gig....the pillock!

Personally, I find it hard to find songs that it actually fits and works well in...but then I play for the song and not to impress. If people get up and dance, I've done my job.

G

[Toadonroll]

Ouch!

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yioVmqlt2Fk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yioVmqlt2Fk[/url]

This sounds like a bag of crisps, makes my teeth feel like I've just chewed tinfoil.

Edited November 30, 2008 by Toadonroll

[Nate]

I think it's very much a question of context. In the right places - it's all good but obviously, there is another side to it!

If you know how to slap, it doesn't mean you have to. It's just like speaking English. It's great to have a wide vocabulary but just know when to use it. I tend to use the technique in question a lot more when i'm doing a demo because thats what the people who attend those shows want to see. I've tried sitting on a fat groove with my thumb and fingers and people don't seem to take to it as much as when i'm slapping/popping/tapping/fret w***ing...



It's definitely a context thing - like anything else. Shredding on guitar isn't going to fit every musical situation but it can be breathtaking (if you're Guthrie Govan!). Knowing when to use the various techniques you've learned is key. Maturity plays a big part too...

[Jamolah]

Some very thoughtful (and amusing) opinions put forward here over a thorny issue.

For what it's worth I enjoy slap playing and can happily listen to it. I only use it in a song if the bandleader asks me to, however, and would rather impress people with my groove than my flash thumb-licks.

But like Out to Play said, it's about taste. I find it strange, for example, that Victor Wooten gets maligned as a bad-taste slapper. Those who apply this label to Vic seem to ignore all the gorgeous melodic and grooving work he does with Bela Fleck or any number of other collaborators. Sure he busts out the flash for his solo shows, (but those shows are all about musical circus play and his audience probably would be happy to listen to it all night) but when he's on a sideman gig, forget it. You're getting tasty groove and playing that's appropriate for the music, and if he does slap it seems totally seamless. Thats the mark of a great musician, IMO.

I think the thing that REALLY winds most slap nay-sayers up is the perceived 'Hark at me!' attitude of the bass players who employ it to draw attention to themselves. Most musicians who haven't gotten round to learning about taste do this because they see good players that they admire chuck this stuff in at will (not just on bass, of course; guitarists and drummers do it too and it's equally painful). It would be equally distressing to watch a mediocre bass player do any of the following, in attempt to make themselves appear centre stage;

1) Slap needlessly,
2) Use grinding distortion that drowns out the band during the chorus,
3) Change hat for every song of the set and bounce around, gurning,
4) Attempt a Cliff Burton,
5) Attempt a Cliff Richard.

Of course, it goes without saying that bass players who slap have massive testicles. Giant.

JP

Edited November 30, 2008 by Jamolah

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Toadonroll' post='341332' date='Nov 30 2008, 07:24 PM']Ouch!

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yioVmqlt2Fk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yioVmqlt2Fk[/url]

This sounds like a bag of crisps, makes my teeth feel like I've just chewed tinfoil.[/quote]

The longer that lasted, the more eager I became to listen to something musical.

[agoulding]

its exactly the same on guitar with sweeping.

they are both similar. done properly they sound beautiful, performed rushed or performed with a lack of musical awareness they sound like an elephant seducing a lamb.

not a brilliant example but if it were to happen it would be pretty tragic.

[urb]

I hate bad or inappropriate slapping as much as the next man but tastefully done and with actual musical content and groove present and correct I don't see/hear anything wrong with it. I played a fast funk tune on my gig last night at the end and got a chance to so solo, I started with finger style and then half way through I switched to slap but instead of trying playing anything flash I played the equivalent of a very busy but grooving bass line. At the end I slapped the chords of the song but still held the groove and it worked really well. I play 99% finger style on my gigs but I do use slap just to vary the tones I use, I always try and hold the groove and make sure whatever I play fits, as long as other players follow a similar approach I think it's cool, Yolanda Charles is a perfect example of this because she both extremely musical and extremely groovy in her playing. So don't throw the baby out with bath water...

Cheers

Mike

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='BeLow' post='341549' date='Nov 30 2008, 11:43 PM']The clip of Mark King needs to be understood in context.

I am taking an educated guess that the critique on the clip was done by someone who is not a Level 42 fan, but I think you need to think it through a bit more. That clip is probably the bit of the show where King demonstrates some amazing technique, I don't think that it is very musical, but in context it is great showmanship.

If you went to see Eric Clapton and he played rhythm guitar in the background all night you would be upset, Mark King is pretty much duty bound to do some showing off in a Level 42 gig because that's what people go to see, and they would be pretty hacked off if he played root and fifth with a plectrum all night.[/quote]

Well, there might be some truth in what you say but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Which is why you wouldn't catch me at a Level 42 concert - it is wholly of no interest to me. YMMV.

[marcus bell]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='341018' date='Nov 30 2008, 12:07 PM']Very occassionaly, in a disco track, its acceptable. Anything else, and you end up sounding like that prick Mark King. The only reason you'd like him is if you're "of a certain age" or bullied at school for having a coat that smelt of vinegar.

I am a young man who was far to hard to ever be bullied. My coat smelt fresh. I didn't drink lemon cordial. Therefore, I can maintain that non-funk/disco slap is the preserve who those who think Hi-Tech trainers are cool and rolling the sleeves up on a blazer is acceptable.

Thank you.[/quote]


yeah prick mark king eh??? play like it, id love to see you play like that, and sing at the same time...

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='BeLow' post='341564' date='Nov 30 2008, 11:58 PM']That's cool enough, you would not catch me at a Motorhead concert (to pick an example at random) but I would generally try not to suggest Lemmy was a bad bass player for playing the way he does even if I don't particularly like it myself. Apart from that he would probably hit me.


Thinking about the topic this will be debated again in a month's time, and then a month after that etc etc. How about a discussion on more than 4 strings we have not done that for a bit![/quote]

Well, strangely, I saw Motorhead recently and after about 5 songs I'd had enough. It's limited musicality was all used up for me. I'm sure Lemmy would never hit you and anyway he's 62, you could probably take him.

I've got nothing against Mark King and I could never do what he does (including the singing) but nor do I want to (except the singing). I didn't suggest he was a bad bass player but, actually, when I think of bass players and bass playing I would never in a month of Sundays think of Mark King.

And, by the way, 4.

[Josh]

[quote name='marcus bell' post='341558' date='Nov 30 2008, 11:55 PM']yeah prick mark king eh??? play like it, id love to see you play like that, and sing at the same time...[/quote]

Now this is one of the reasons many people get put off slapping, and it's what TBBC is getting at, alot of players are delluded that being able to play slap like Mark King and having the exact same bass and rig as him and being able to do every little nuance thing he does (I mean even chewing gum and the slap ring or tape and the trademark strap height) will make you a good or "cool" bassist, a member of the Joe public may see it that way, but bassists who have been playing long enough can smell the cologne of a clone straight away.

What I'm getting at is that alot of the slap playing we see is either clones attemtping to be someone their not, whereas examples of tasteful "Original" slapping aren't too common especially when compared to amount of Mark King clones/Flea clones/Wooten clones etc... who are taking up the stage when they could be earning more respect by sitting back and learning to refrain from bass acrobatics to get attention.

Edited December 1, 2008 by Josh

[4000]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='239050' date='Jul 14 2008, 10:59 AM']I think you've been a bit harsh on Claypool there Bilbo. Just yesterday I was watching a live video of primus and thinking "what a fienddish slap bass solo, I wish that lasted more than 10 seconds before he went back to fingerstyle". Also, the way in which he slaps the bass at times is quite different to a standard "funk" player. All in all, I think he tends to be quite tasteful and stylish in his playing, although I can totally understand if it's not your kind of music.[/quote]

+1. For me it's all about context. Nothing wrong with Mark King or Les slapping because their music is pretty much based around it. I absolutely detest sweeping generalisations; "oh isn't this technique/sound crap". Several years back it used to be using distortion on bass; terrible thing to do apparently. Says who? Thank goodness those days are over. Inappropriate [i]means[/i] something. I also hate the "I don't like that style so it sucks" mindset. Each to their own.

[nick]

[quote name='marcus bell' post='341558' date='Nov 30 2008, 11:55 PM']yeah prick mark king eh??? play like it, id love to see you play like that, and sing at the same time...[/quote]

[Thunder Fingers]

What the...?

Have slapping becomed the new pick?

Jeez people, let people play their basses the way they want to, eh?

I use my fingers, pick, slapping or tapping, all after what I feel like, And im not hesitating about doing a 2 bar slap part in the middle of a song, if I feel like it and my band dont protest (The current song I do it in, they actually said "Cant you do a simple slap thing here?). (Then its usualy a build up so it'll end up as root octave slap moving upwards in the scale..)

But Mark King? I realy dislike that guys playing personaly, but I keep away, and I couldnt care any less about how he approaches to play the bass.

[BassMunkee]

It has it's place - for instance Tony Pettit plays a particularly good delayed slap bass line on "Psychonaut", oh yeah and Level 42's music is pretty much wholly based around slap bass, so it fits - you might not like it, and I don't, but it works.

Context is everything.

[Golchen]

Personally I'm amazed at the amount of slap hate shown here. All this time I thought that I was escaping the guitarist 'contempt for other guitarists' syndrome by coming to a positive and engaging community, but I guess that it's a case of same poison, different bottle. There are opinions and there are blatantly negative and destructive statements, and both are alive and kicking at Basschat.

[agoulding]

[quote name='marcus bell' post='341558' date='Nov 30 2008, 11:55 PM']yeah prick mark king eh??? play like it, id love to see you play like that, and sing at the same time...[/quote]


he obviously touched a nerve there lol.


i didnt see you as a 42 fan much

[NickThomas]

[quote name='Golchen' post='341682' date='Dec 1 2008, 10:18 AM']Personally I'm amazed at the amount of slap hate shown here.[/quote]

Likewise .. Everyone used to hate shirt lifters , but now people leave them alone and pick on slap bassists instead. lol