Help Transcribing - Lemmy Orgone Bass Solo

[Number6]

BC,

Owing to being a technically and musically inept bass player i am really struggling to transcribe Lemmy's bass solo on Hawkwind' Orgone Accumulator.

Are there any real musicians out there that could help me out please?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.....Paul

[ambient]

Try this [url="http://www.seventhstring.com"]http://www.seventhstring.com[/url]

Very cheap considering what you can do with it.

[lowdown]

Or if you are using iPad.....
Anytune Pro + (£10.50)
There is free cut down version.
Fantastic app, great for transcribing.

[Woodinblack]

There is a youtube bass cover that may show you the key sections.

One of the problem is with that track is that it depends on which recording you mean as they are all different. Although not that uncommon with Lemmy stuff.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Woodinblack

[Number6]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1398544274' post='2435176']
There is a youtube bass cover that may show you the key sections.

One of the problem is with that track is that it depends on which recording you mean as they are all different. Although not that uncommon with Lemmy stuff.
[/quote]

I've seen the YT video and am picking up some of that. I'm listening to the version on Masters of the Universe but most versions differ with any Hawk tune and particularly with Lemmy Lol.

Thanks for the input so far guys :-)

[Mark Dyer]

Without listening back to the track I would say it's probably a minor/blues scale with plenty of chromatic fills scattered all over and some two string chording that is Lemmy's trademark technique. If you use a blues scale as your starting point and improvise you probably won't be far off any of the versions he recorded.

[Number6]

[quote name='Mark Dyer' timestamp='1398602087' post='2435614']
Without listening back to the track I would say it's probably a minor/blues scale with plenty of chromatic fills scattered all over and some two string chording that is Lemmy's trademark technique. If you use a blues scale as your starting point and improvise you probably won't be far off any of the versions he recorded.
[/quote]

Thanks Mark.....i'll give that a whirl :-)

[Stub Mandrel]

Did this ever get transcribed?

The lack of Hawkwind bass tabs out there is alarming.

[Woodinblack]

5 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Did this ever get transcribed?

The lack of Hawkwind bass tabs out there is alarming.

Probably because most of them are just improvised over a scale so you would never really hear them the same twice.

[Hellzero]

Improvisation has always been a great part of Hawkwind songs process.

Check this from when Lemmy joined the band as a bassist during In Search of Space and the tour sessions for Doremi Fasol Latido : 

Hawkwind’s bass guitarist failed to turn up and Lemmy was available. He said:

I learned to play bass onstage with Hawkwind… I go out onstage with this bass around my neck, and it was a Rickenbacker, too. The bass player, like an idiot, left his bass in the truck. So I’m learning. Nik Turner says to make some noises in E. “This one’s called You Shouldn’t Do That.” Then he walks away.

[Woodinblack]

Pretty well all of hawkwind has all been a bit of a jam anyway. Having done a few live before, you just all follow each other and play around a theme, which is why the songs vary quite a lot in length on various recordings. Good fun to do but not something you want to get hung up on an actual transcription.

[Stub Mandrel]

13 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Probably because most of them are just improvised over a scale so you would never really hear them the same twice.

Not strictly true, particularly after Lemmy. Some of them have complex walking lines that are made up of several repeated figures, others have signature riffs that are the basis for improvisation. But learning parts of even the most .mprovisational ones can teach you an awful lot.

Plus you could also say the same about the Faces, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin and the Who and there's no shortage of transcriptions of their basslines.

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Not strictly true, particularly after Lemmy. Some of them have complex walking lines that are made up of several repeated figures, others have signature riffs that are the basis for improvisation. But learning parts of even the most .mprovisational ones can teach you an awful lot.

Oh totally agree, I mean just not getting hung up on the details.

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Plus you could also say the same about the Faces, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin and the Who and there's no shortage of transcriptions of their basslines.

Well, less so with Led Zep, a few songs that got dragged out, but the bass was a lot more stable than the other bits. I am not really familiar with the others.

[spectoremg]

Thread revival for an album I loved in my youth. 

[spectoremg]

21 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Improvisation has always been a great part of Hawkwind songs process.

Check this from when Lemmy joined the band as a bassist during In Search of Space and the tour sessions for Doremi Fasol Latido : 

Hawkwind’s bass guitarist failed to turn up and Lemmy was available. He said:

I learned to play bass onstage with Hawkwind… I go out onstage with this bass around my neck, and it was a Rickenbacker, too. The bass player, like an idiot, left his bass in the truck. So I’m learning. Nik Turner says to make some noises in E. “This one’s called You Shouldn’t Do That.” Then he walks away.

Leonard might be being a bit modest. Dave Brock was a chord player so the bass on a lot of The Space Ritual is really interesting. 

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, spectoremg said:

the bass on a lot of The Space Ritual is really interesting

Understatement....

[Len_derby]

Interesting.

As a long-time fan of Hawkwind I much prefer the bass playing of Dave Anderson on In Search of Space to Lemmy on Space Ritual and Do Re Mi.

The former seems to blend-in and support the songs much better, where again to me, Lemmy is just noodling up and down a pentatonic scale. 

All just personal preferences though, not a band to get hung-up about over musical niceties. 😘

[FinnDave]

Lemmy's playing on the Space Ritual version of 'Down through the Night' remains a highlight - a perfect example of playing to fit the music in my opinion.  I'm not a fan of his later music, but that one track was part of the reason I got into bass playing back in the early 70s.

[Stub Mandrel]

This is taken from the long-lamented Starfarer.net website, now only available on the web archive.

It's rather short on details but at least it give some structure to get started. I commend High Rise (Adrian Shaw on bass).

Hawkwind Bass Tab.docx

[4000]

16 hours ago, Len_derby said:

Interesting.

As a long-time fan of Hawkwind I much prefer the bass playing of Dave Anderson on In Search of Space to Lemmy on Space Ritual and Do Re Mi.

The former seems to blend-in and support the songs much better, where again to me, Lemmy is just noodling up and down a pentatonic scale. 

All just personal preferences though, not a band to get hung-up about over musical niceties. 😘

Personally I find Lem far more melodic and driving, which is what I prefer.  Dave’s more meat and potatoes.

[Stub Mandrel]

29 minutes ago, 4000 said:

Personally I find Lem far more melodic and driving, which is what I prefer.  Dave’s more meat and potatoes.

I think on all the Lemmy-era albums it's his basslines that provide the fundamental melody line for the stand out songs; the keys are often sound effects and the guitars mostly go between powerchord chug and psychedelic noodling.

[spectoremg]

http://www.hawklord.com/hw/HWgiglist.html

Pretty sure I saw them with Lemmy twice in the early '70's so I looked up this site. Jeez those guys played a lot!

[Len_derby]

On 01/04/2020 at 22:02, FinnDave said:

Lemmy's playing on the Space Ritual version of 'Down through the Night' remains a highlight - a perfect example of playing to fit the music in my opinion.  I'm not a fan of his later music, but that one track was part of the reason I got into bass playing back in the early 70s.

I dug out my copy of Space Ritual, and you’re right. That’s a stand-out track. 

[Woodinblack]

On 02/04/2020 at 17:47, spectoremg said:

http://www.hawklord.com/hw/HWgiglist.html

Pretty sure I saw them with Lemmy twice in the early '70's so I looked up this site. Jeez those guys played a lot!

Yep, I saw all the ones in the 80s in portsmouth, seemed they were always there.

[Skybone]

On 01/04/2020 at 19:48, spectoremg said:

Thread revival for an album I loved in my youth. 

Still do.

On 01/04/2020 at 22:02, FinnDave said:

Lemmy's playing on the Space Ritual version of 'Down through the Night' remains a highlight - a perfect example of playing to fit the music in my opinion.  I'm not a fan of his later music, but that one track was part of the reason I got into bass playing back in the early 70s.

My personal favourite is "Lord of Light". Superb song, superb bass line.