Bass Players on Camera

[machinehead]

After watching Glasto and that global warming gig yesterday I started to wonder why it seems to be that the bass player is the least filmed in a band.

Obviously, the singer is the most filmed and even more so if he/she is also playing an instrument. Guitarists and drummers also appear more often and for longer shots than the poor old bassplayer.

Why are we so uninteresting to the producers?

(I've always threatened to get a T shirt that says "Nobody wants to s**g the bassplayer" Wife forbids it in case someone wants to prove me wrong.)

Frank

[Sibob]

Who cares, we're not there to be on camera, we're there to play bass!

In any case, its about performance!! Most of those bass players were session guys who don't move around much, or Indie bass players who...........don't move around much.

You take the guys who are fun to watch....flea as a random example, they're on camera all the time.

Si

[stingrayfan]

Dunno what the reason but it's flippin' annoying when you're having to rewind Sky+ to see what gear the bass player's using because the shot was so quick!

[setekh]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='28754' date='Jul 8 2007, 08:11 PM']Dunno what the reason but it's flippin' annoying when you're having to rewind Sky+ to see what gear the bass player's using because the shot was so quick![/quote]
that I can relate to

[Super_Mario_Bass]

Where can we get that tee shirt?

[machinehead]

Sibob, no no, that's not what I meant. I like to see their gear, their technique and licks - and they get the very least time on camera.
Am I the only one to get annoyed and frustrated by this?
Frank

[David Nimrod]

It really annoys the hell out of me... A great example was the Who at Glasto.

Pino wasn't even in close up during one of the bass breaks in 'My Generation'

[bigthumb]

[quote name='David Nimrod' post='28845' date='Jul 8 2007, 10:25 PM']It really annoys the hell out of me... A great example was the Who at Glasto.

Pino wasn't even in close up during one of the bass breaks in 'My Generation'[/quote]

Now that just ain't fair!

And i want one of them t-shirts. There might be the slim chance that i could be proved wrong!

[Dusty]

I've have a T shirt that I got from (and is still available) from the Hard Rock Cafe which say's
'Musician looking for Groupies' Not as good as Franks idea. Strange thing is, it was bought
for me by my wife and daughter, but I'm not allowed to wear it unless they are with me ..
So unfair !!

Back to subject, Agree re lack of Bass Players on film, I was watching the Live Earth
thing and started writing down (sad) the basses being used. At times it was a real
struggle to determine the make! But it was great to see two Laklands within the first
30 mins.

Best thing on the day for me was the first time I had seen Flea in action.... Fantastic.
And of course, Derek Smalls 5 pick up Lakland Bass

[The Funk]

My friend is the guitarist in a band that played Live Earth - not only did he get hardly any screen time, they muted his guitar on 2 out of the 3 songs!

So, depending on the type of music, the bass player might not be the guy who gets the least screen time.

Edited July 9, 2007 by The Funk

[lowhand_mike]

didn't watch must of the live earth thing but yeah its annoying when you are trying to see what they are doing, again pino at glastonbury for example.
of the liveearth thing that i did watch i noticed that one of the P basses that the bassist in fall out boy had was a Squire, very strange to see a budget bass on the big stage.

[Rich]

[quote name='David Nimrod' post='28845' date='Jul 8 2007, 10:25 PM']It really annoys the hell out of me... A great example was the Who at Glasto.

Pino wasn't even in close up during one of the bass breaks in 'My Generation'[/quote]Wouldn't have surprised me if the camera had cut to a shot of the [i]guitarist[/i] during that solo...

[Machines]

[quote name='lowhand_mike' post='28983' date='Jul 9 2007, 10:18 AM']of the liveearth thing that i did watch i noticed that one of the P basses that the bassist in fall out boy had was a Squire, very strange to see a budget bass on the big stage.[/quote]

Pete Wentz has a Squier signature Precision - that's why he was using it.

[url="http://www.squierguitars.com/products/search.php?partno=0301074506"]http://www.squierguitars.com/products/sear...rtno=0301074506[/url]

[Toasted]

... and it's most likley a custom shop master build with squier on the headstock

[Dood]

[quote name='Rich' post='29006' date='Jul 9 2007, 11:05 AM']Wouldn't have surprised me if the camera had cut to a shot of the [i]guitarist[/i] during that solo... [/quote]


hmm.. yes.. I wish they would employ a musician to control cutting in and out of camera shots/angles at live gigs.. at least they'd be able to centre on the musician doing the solo instead of the singer standing around scratching his backside. It seems to happen quite a lot with TV coverage of live gigs and is absolutely hopeless!

[The Funk]

But the odd thing is that they seem to miss the soloist almost all the time. That suggests something more sinister than random acts of stupidity - but I can't see the benefit in any conspiracy to film the wrong guy at the wrong time. Unless THEY are out to destroy rock n' roll.

[chris_b]

[quote name='The Funk' post='29108' date='Jul 9 2007, 02:45 PM']But the odd thing is that they seem to miss the soloist almost all the time. That suggests something more sinister than random acts of stupidity - but I can't see the benefit in any conspiracy to film the wrong guy at the wrong time. Unless THEY are out to destroy rock n' roll.[/quote]
Unfortunately, music on TV is controlled by TV people. They are mainly interested in the pictures and the presentation not the subject. Most of them wouldn't be able to differentiate between a bar of music and a bar of soap.

Look at how Mike Mansfield destroyed miles of footage of bands in the 60's with his wizzy, zoomy film antics. It is unwatchable now and it was unwatchable then, but he was cool in the TV/music business for years! TV and film directors cut every .2 seconds because they think that makes the visual experience more exciting.... unfortunately the music is always of secondary importance.

[redroque]

re Pino - he's not in the Who is he. He's a session guy so either the tv guys thought no-one was interested or more likely, the production team were instructed not to film him, I only saw a tiny bit of Pino - there was more of PT's brother who placed himself better to be filmed in the background. Session guys are paid to play.
It's all about exposure for the band and money. The music industry has bugger all to do with talent. I do it cos I love it but I'm under no illusion.
Cynical, no!
max

[Cantdosleepy]

1) Pino was a session guy during the Who. +1 to redroque.

2) I like Jools Holland because the cameramen just do nice slow pans with no silly filters. And because they have that jam at the beginning. And because Jools' interviews are often amusing. And because the music is vaguely eclectic.

3) I don't see any reason why Wentz' bass shouldn't be a squier. Them squier's are getting to be pretty good. I think it's wonderful when you see someone famous using an instrument on tv that kids in the audience could possibly afford - how inspiring.

4) It seems odd that with concert DVDs they don't have an extra feature where you can focus on one player for the show - wouldn't cost much to slap a feature like that on, and the market for 'MUSE in Wembley Special Edition: with extra Disc Featuring Matt Bellamy's fretboard for an hour' would actually be pretty significan, I reckon.

5) I'm not too bothered about bassists being filmed.

[jacko]

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='29665' date='Jul 10 2007, 11:45 AM']4) It seems odd that with concert DVDs they don't have an extra feature where you can focus on one player for the show - wouldn't cost much to slap a feature like that on,[/quote]

Get the Who's 'The Kids are alright' The extras have a very good section just of the OXcam. Only entwistle (plus a little bleed through from his mike). It's astounding to see just how much he puts into a song.

[Muppet]

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='29665' date='Jul 10 2007, 11:45 AM']4) It seems odd that with concert DVDs they don't have an extra feature where you can focus on one player for the show - wouldn't cost much to slap a feature like that on, and the market for 'MUSE in Wembley Special Edition: with extra Disc Featuring Matt Bellamy's fretboard for an hour' would actually be pretty significan, I reckon.[/quote]

Sky TV playercam for gigs instead of footie.

[16Again]

If certain bass players want noticed they have to come out of the shadows!
I was guitarist ( ) for a punk band a few years ago and the bass player we had then totally used to annoy me by practically hiding behind the drums!
if you want to be noticed it easy enough!

But i think most tv producers etc dont really care about any band member apart from the singer!

I hate bands with no bass player....white stripes, yuck, whats the point of them?

[Hamster]

[quote name='machinehead' post='28717' date='Jul 8 2007, 07:14 PM']After watching Glasto and that global warming gig yesterday I started to wonder why it seems to be that the bass player is the least filmed in a band.

Frank[/quote]


IMHO it goes back a few years to a then young man whose on-camera charisma, coupled with his pyrotechnic riffs and manic gyrations forever sealed the fate of the on-camera bass player to the realms of "never again will we waste the film."



Hamster

[paul, the]

I'm watching Marley's sons covering his songs at Glastonbury on BBC4 now. Marley's original bassist Aston Barrett is playing for them and he's getting loads of coverage despite being the most inconspicuous on stage.

[EdwardHimself]

I was whatching this vid of jason newsteads new band, and you'd think the ex-metallica bassist would have gained a little respect but no, he was shown for about 2 seconds of the whole song, also the band elliot minor never ever have shots of their bassist.