Running Free

[Si600]

I don't suppose anyone really knows how to play Iron Maiden's Running Free? All the stuff on the net is close but there are some bits I just can't work out and no one else seems to be bothered either. Particularly the run up to the last verse I think it is, I'll listen to it again and jot the timings down if it'll help.

[TimR]

Are you listening to the live version from Live after Death.

It goes on for ages solo so you should be able to pick something from that.

[Bilbo]

Listening to it now, it doesn't sound particularly unusal, just a pentatonic run. My own experience of such things would suggest that agoinising over one fill on a tunes is not a particularly constructive thing to spend time on. Finding your own fill will certainly be good enough and may even be better. Missing it out or playing it 'inaccurately' will not bother anyone other than that one in a million anorak Harris fans who have spent even more time than you breaking it down. And even then, the chances are that their version is no more accurate than yours. Get the core riff and then make it your own.

[ubit]

I worked it out by ear when it came out at first. It has to be the only IM song I can play apart from the intro to Wrathchild. Steve Harris is a machine!

[TimR]

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1440409867' post='2850353']
I worked it out by ear when it came out at first. It has to be the only IM song I can play apart from the intro to Wrathchild. Steve Harris is a machine!
[/quote]

Learn The Trooper. It is the definitive IM bass line IMO.

[TimR]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1440409524' post='2850349']
...

make it your own.
[/quote]

Arghh. That phrase makes my eyes itch!

But yes. Don't spend too long on something that your band may drop after a handful of plays anyway.

Edited August 24, 2015 by TimR

[Bassjon]

Like Bilbo said its just pentatonic in E...the staple of all good heavy metal fills!

[ubit]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1440410037' post='2850355']


Learn The Trooper. It is the definitive IM bass line IMO.
[/quote]

I always just learned the recognisable bits from Maiden songs cos I knew we would never be playing them and it was just for my own satisfaction. Mr Harris' triplets tended to put me off though. I have heard that he uses two fingers, not three, but I struggle to believe this as his fingers don't seem to be moving. I think he does play very lightly right enough because I heard an interview and Nicko said, " Steve just tickles the strings duntcha mate?"

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

He uses 3 fingers . That's why he does what he does. RF is a number I played by ear,( and surprisingly found it easier than expected).
Open e string , frets 1-5 . ( that's most of it IMHO )
When I pickup the bass agin , I must learn the trooper also;)
Btw; has anybody noticed papa roach have a bass line on their 2nd single that is very similar to ancient mariner?

[TimR]

All interviews with him he smiles and says "Two fingers, people think it's three but it's two."

And to be pedantic they're not strictly triplets they're two 8ths and a quarter note. "The gallop". But we know what is being talked about.

[ubit]

It's actually a high E it's played in 7th fret. Listen to it again.

[TimR]

Highish. Anyway.

Quite a few of the IM are played further up the neck. Maybe that's how he gets his speed. Something to do with string tension?

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I was thinking of the riff on the d string , but I stand corrected
He did play using all 3 fingers when I saw him in the early days , leaning on the stage . Phantom of the opera , for sure .
Doesn't matter really , he's awesome all the same

[paul_5]

7th fret on the A string is where it's at. Makes it TONS easier than 2nd fret D string.

'arry's right hand technique is a real anomaly in bass playing circles (but a brilliant one); 2 fingers with a really, [i]really[/i] light touch, and plays through oodles of compression on flat wound strings.

[colgraff]

I was a huge IM fan in my youth and was impressed with how Mr Harris got away with recycling bass hooks. Example:
Intro to The Clairvoyant is the intro to Number of the Beast played an octave lower and in reverse. N ot B intro is also used in Ancient Mariner an octave lower.

Many, many other examples.

[Iain]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1440427546' post='2850615']
Highish. Anyway.

Quite a few of the IM are played further up the neck. Maybe that's how he gets his speed. Something to do with string tension?
[/quote]

This is something I've noticed when learning from the tabs out there and then comparing to live footage. Tans invariably around 3-7th, his play is mostly 5th and above.

The Trooper is pretty easy although I play it 3-finger - I can just about play it 'Harris style' but it's tiring and uneven. There are way more challenging IM lines out there though but generally they're runs and fills. Playing through 22 Acacia Avenue, NoTB, Mariner, Aces High and 2 Minutes is a good workout.

[Iain]

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1440432620' post='2850682']2 fingers with a really, [i]really[/i] light touch, and plays through oodles of compression on flat wound strings.[/quote]

interesting about the light touch as there's quite a marked 'clank' of attack, very low action?

[Lord Sausage]

There are a few isolated bass tracks on YouTube. If you listen, you will here how sloppy he is! Poor. If they are him? Which I think they are!
http://youtu.be/23YO8ijT4Ao
http://youtu.be/qSYuse9o8KI

Edited August 28, 2015 by Lord Sausage

[interpol52]

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1440749331' post='2853442']
There are a few isolated bass tracks on YouTube. If you listen, you will here how sloppy he is! Poor. If they are him? Which I think they are!
[media]http://youtu.be/23YO8ijT4Ao[/media]
[media]http://youtu.be/qSYuse9o8KI[/media]
[/quote]

The trouble with hearing the bass in isolation is that it can sometimes (not always) shatter the illusion. The bigger picture of hearing everything together is where the magic is, so if I hear an isolated bass track, 9 times out of 10 I am disappointed. What I am hearing are notes that are before, on or behind the beat but with no beat to give it any context/foundation. That sounds sloppy sometimes because it is on its own.

I grew up listening to Iron maiden and Live after Death was the reason i picked up the bass. I must have watched the video once a day for months on end. Genghis Khan is one that I have always struggled with, Caught Somewhere in Time and The Evil That Men Do are real tests of endurance too.

[TimR]

That's the secret of good playing though. Knowing/hearing/understanding what will be masked and what won't.

He's probably playing them 'live' with the rest of the band in the studio. Then dropping in to correct any mistakes later.

At least that's the way we use to record in the 80s. It was all on 8 track DAT in those days. So for 24 tracks you had 3 machines sync'ed together.

[rjs1909]

[quote name='Iain' timestamp='1440744857' post='2853397']
interesting about the light touch as there's quite a marked 'clank' of attack, very low action?
[/quote]
The clank comes from keeping his fingernails long on his plucking hand

[interpol52]

[quote name='rjs1909' timestamp='1440756489' post='2853513']
The clank comes from keeping his fingernails long on his plucking hand
[/quote]

I thought it was the strings hitting the neck.

[Lord Sausage]

[quote name='interpol52' timestamp='1440750923' post='2853454']
The trouble with hearing the bass in isolation is that it can sometimes (not always) shatter the illusion. The bigger picture of hearing everything together is where the magic is, so if I hear an isolated bass track, 9 times out of 10 I am disappointed. What I am hearing are notes that are before, on or behind the beat but with no beat to give it any context/foundation. That sounds sloppy sometimes because it is on its own.

I grew up listening to Iron maiden and Live after Death was the reason i picked up the bass. I must have watched the video once a day for months on end. Genghis Khan is one that I have always struggled with, Caught Somewhere in Time and The Evil That Men Do are real tests of endurance too.
[/quote]
I understand all that, but in this case it's nearly all the time. The band would have to be all the place for it to be in context. It's just sloppy.

[interpol52]

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1440762725' post='2853611']
I understand all that, but in this case it's nearly all the time. The band would have to be all the place for it to be in context. It's just sloppy.
[/quote]

Do you think it sounds sloppy when all of the band are playing? I think it fits together great!

I listened to some of the Cliff Burton isolated bass tracks and they sound [i]really [/i]odd on their own, especially the faster stuff.

[Lord Sausage]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1440755650' post='2853502']
That's the secret of good playing though. Knowing/hearing/understanding what will be masked and what won't.

He's probably playing them 'live' with the rest of the band in the studio. Then dropping in to correct any mistakes later.

At least that's the way we use to record in the 80s. It was all on 8 track DAT in those days. So for 24 tracks you had 3 machines sync'ed together.
[/quote]I'd say that's the secret of good production and mixing.

The secret of good playing is to play good, then you don't need things to be masked.

I fully understand the playing with a band and getting a good overall feel and a few things will be pushed and pulled, but that was just sloppy. Check this, here's JPJ. It's with the band there is the odd push/pull but not sloppy. Good playing!

[url="https://youtu.be/3ANwQW8aspI"]http://youtu.be/3ANwQW8aspI[/url]

Edited August 28, 2015 by Lord Sausage