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Bass guitar as a lead/melodic instrument?


Conan
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[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1478680962' post='3170792']
I like bass when it's upfront in the mix but still holding down bottom end e.g. Jamiroquai, Associates, Level 42, Primus, New Model Army and early Stranglers. I'm afraid bass led stuff by the likes Wootten, Manring etc bores the tits off me. All very skilful but so what?
[/quote]

exactly - NMA were going to be my suggestion too, that you don't need to be playing "solos" to be the lead instrument, just check out White Coats

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[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1478627823' post='3170442']
Bass as a melodic and lead instrument is as valid as virtually any other instrument. It's people's narrow-mindedness that's the problem. People have preconceived ideas of what an instrument should, and shouldn't do.
[/quote]+ lots of what you just said.

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[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1478623074' post='3170386']
Yes I know, many of us think that this is impossible. I also realise that many people do not like folk or traditional music. But... have a listen to this from 1 minute in. It just might change your mind (or at least give some food for thought) :)
[/quote]

I don't think it is impossible, I just don't think it is particularly appealing as a lead instrument in that context. And for me, although this is clever, it kind of reinforces my view.

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1478723453' post='3171260']
I don't think it's narrow mindedness, if you listen and don't enjoy it then that's it, trying to force it onto people won't make them like it, just dislike you maybe.
[/quote]
[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1478725096' post='3171279']


I don't think it is impossible, I just don't think it is particularly appealing as a lead instrument in that context. And for me, although this is clever, it kind of reinforces my view.
[/quote]

To quote the great mystic and philosopher Ba Nahna Rama, it ain't what you do it's the way that you do it.

Some of (well, a lot of) Steve Lawson's multi layered/looped solo bass stuff sounds wonderful to me and A Walk In The Country from Mo Foster's Bel Assis is just one of my fave pieces of music ever. Add in Elgars Cello Concerto for some similarly sublime bass frequency melodies.

However, Mr Wooten skilfully going "thwack splickety splackety thruppetta whuppetta thwappetta thwap" on his Fodera holds no appeal to me at all.

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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1478634747' post='3170527']


Surely within the inherent limitations and qualities of the instrument itself..? Castanets..? Difficult to imagine a symphony with only those, no..? Possible, too, I don't doubt, but not as rich a potential as a grand piano. Yes, solo (or orchestras of...) bass is all very well, and feasible, but it has to be admitted that the range is less than some other instruments. Melody..? Fine.Lead..? Why not..? An ideal choice..? Not so often, I'd say. Limited scope, by the very nature of the beast (similarly with many other instruments, of course...).
Just sayin'.
[/quote]

That said, there is a rather splendid Concerto by Carl Nielsen whose two solo instruments are violin and snare drum!!

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One of my top five favourite bassists.

As I said in an earlier post, it's what you play i.e. material, and how you play it.

Maybe close your eyes and listen ?

Michael captures the haunting timbre of the call to prayer amazingly well.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx1RccwlF5g[/media]

Edited by ambient
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[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1478737808' post='3171377']
That said, there is a rather splendid Concerto by Carl Nielsen whose two solo instruments are violin and snare drum!!
[/quote]

It must be admitted that one has a rather more limited repertoire with that combination than with many others, surely..? :rolleyes:
No-one would deny that fine music can (and is...) composed and interpreted for many instruments out of their 'comfort zone'; there are, however, physical and physiological reasons why instruments have developed as they have. I would maintain that it's narrow-minded to think that it's narrow-minded to blithely label 'people' as narrow-minded. The world is a very big place, and folks do, indeed, have wide imaginations. There is no limit, but basses are less used as solo or lead instruments, and that's it. Why..? Because they're not [i]ideally [/i]suited for that role. That's not a cultural mould, it's a consequence of its very nature. Snowballs are not (often...) used for building houses in Africa, either. :mellow:

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[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1478738390' post='3171378']
One of my top five favourite bassists.
[/quote]

I like that. But I wouldn't really call it a bass solo

[quote name='paul_c2' timestamp='1478791144' post='3171674']
Took ages to get the old memory cells working, but I found a tasteful one. The bass solo is 1:58 and on.
[/quote]

The irony there is not only do I like that track and that solo, but I was playing along with that last night, I just didn't know that was a bass.

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[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1478737308' post='3171374']
Add in Elgars Cello Concerto
[/quote]

One of the best performances I have heard of Elgars Cello Concerto.
Yo-Yo Ma, Conductor and Orchestra are so much on the same wavelength.
Top, top playing.
http://youtu.be/7rVW4Z70TfE

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[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1478802924' post='3171814']


One of the best performances I have heard of Elgars Cello Concerto.
Yo-Yo Ma, Conductor and Orchestra are so much on the same wavelength.
Top, top playing.
http://youtu.be/7rVW4Z70TfE
[/quote]

Wow, the tone and vib on the opening are stunning! I love the Julian Lloyd Webber recording with Sir Yehudi Menuin conducting the LSO. However, in going to need to find some quality time to spend with that Yo Yo Ma recording!!!

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[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1478818585' post='3171970']


I thought the thread was solo and melodic bass ?
[/quote]

Yes me too!

It's interesting that even Andrew Lloyd Webber uses bass guitar to double the melody at times - check out Jesus Christ Superstar. I also played on Don't Cry for me Argentina (Shadows tribute version) and the melody is doubled on the bass at the end for effect - and it certainly does add to it.

I can understand the 'would be a great band if they had a bass player' point of view- indeed guitarist friends have said that to me after both Stanley Clark and Level 42 concerts back in the 70s/80s - I have also bought albums with that sort of thing and sometimes felt similarly. However I saw Level 42 at the Hammersmith Apollo a couple of weeks back and as well as packing the place out, that guy can really groove on the bass, with a sound that smacked you in the chest at the back of the stalls - oh yes a couple of flash bass solos, and why not when you have that skill - the crowd went berserk during them as well - but songs like World Machine and The Chinese Way; the outro on Livin It Up - serious groove.

I do wonder whether some people's apparent objection to people playing anything other than root and fifth or root 8th notes on bass is more to do with a narrowness of musical appreciation than a serious objection - Jameson played tons of notes but still managed to groove!!

Edited by drTStingray
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I think that yes, it can work, and indeed it does work, it's just that some folk don't like it. It's taste isn't it at the end of the day ? My musician tastes are different to the next persons, not better, just different.

Me, I love it, and would I much rather hear bass playing solo material, by a player with proficient skills and artistry like Michael Manring or Steve Lawson, than someone belting out dull old bass lines on a P bass strung with flats, no matter how 'locked' in they are with the drummer.

That's me though :).

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[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1478823200' post='3172006']
I much rather hear bass playing solo material, by a player with proficient skills and artistry like Michael Manring or Steve Lawson, than someone belting out dull old bass lines on a P bass strung with flats, no matter how 'locked' in they are with the drummer. :).
[/quote]

There is a place for both in my philosophy - and all things in between. As long as it is done well :)

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[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1478823200' post='3172006']
I think that yes, it can work, and indeed it does work, it's just that some folk don't like it. It's taste isn't it at the end of the day ? My musician tastes are different to the next persons, not better, just different.

Me, I love it, and would I much rather hear bass playing solo material, by a player with proficient skills and artistry like Michael Manring or Steve Lawson, than someone belting out dull old bass lines on a P bass strung with flats, no matter how 'locked' in they are with the drummer.

That's me though :).
[/quote]

As you say, it's down to taste, rather than narrow-mindedness.

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[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1478823200' post='3172006']
Me, I love it, and would I much rather hear bass playing solo material, by a player with proficient skills and artistry like Michael Manring or Steve Lawson, than someone belting out dull old bass lines on a P bass strung with flats, no matter how 'locked' in they are with the drummer.
[/quote]

Forget about those dull old bass lines on a P bass strung with flats. What do you think of the songs they're in?

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[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1478851146' post='3172064']


Forget about those dull old bass lines on a P bass strung with flats. What do you think of the songs they're in?
[/quote]

It's not something I listen to, there's a whole load of artists, and on here bassists that people rave about, and I'm like, why ?

I respect what a lot of artists do, I just don't like their music. Let's face it, the purpose behind a lot of music is to make money, the artistry is of little consideration,especially nowadays.

I like jazz, classical stuff, experimental music, some progressive metal.

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