Calling me Al

[archie_the_cat]

Hi

I’d like my bass to sound like the bass in Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al –

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULjCSK0oOlI"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULjCSK0oOlI[/url]

(the bass break is at 3:46).



What equipment, settings, effects and talent would I need to make that happen?

[Mykesbass]

Any good at playing backwards?

[SpondonBassed]

Dang! You beat me to it!

[chris_b]

You can slap on a fretless bass. . . . or. . . . do whatBakithi Kumalo does now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev0wfe6zzi0

As the others are hinting, even he can't play the break on the record.

[lowdown]

Love that video, so much going on.
Really uncanny how well Chevy lip sinks/mimes the vocal line. It's like he was the original vocalist.

[archie_the_cat]

So, what are you saying, that bass break is done with some sort of backwards tracking?

Is the whole bass line constructed that way or just that bit?

[Cato]

[quote name='archie_the_cat' timestamp='1501354605' post='3344256']
So, what are you saying, that bass break is done with some sort of backwards tracking?

Is the whole bass line constructed that way or just that bit?
[/quote]

It's just the solo.

The second part of the break is the first part played backwards.

[archie_the_cat]

I see.

What I wanted to know really wasn’t specifically about that little solo bit. What I wanted was that bass sound, throughout the track.

What is the effect, or equipment settings that would give me that sound?

[wateroftyne]

Slapped fretless, innit?

Incidentally, I just got the Hyde Park blu-ray the other day. It's bloody marvellous.

[ambient]

I suspect a lot of the sound is Bakithi Kumalo.

Just my opinion of course.

😊

[archie_the_cat]

OK, so that’s the first thing then - it’s fretless and played slap.

But I’m assuming that’s not the clean sound, straight out the guitar.

How is it processed?

[lowdown]

Verses are thumbed and choruses are played finger style.
On the studio version you can hear it more distinctively with headphones.
On that live version, sound wise it's more obvious, not to mention visually.

Great groove, on both versions.

Edited July 29, 2017 by lowdown

[SICbass]

I've told this story on here before, but hey-ho. I saw Paul Simon live a couple of years ago. When it came to the famous bass-fill Bakithi Kumalo, clearly asleep at the wheel, utterly ballsed it up. He and the whole band just roared laughing and carried on. Now that's the spirit. Yes we're professionals and we want to do our best, but we're also human and nobody dies if there's the occasional cock-up.

[TimR]

[quote name='archie_the_cat' timestamp='1501357780' post='3344273']
OK, so that’s the first thing then - it’s fretless and played slap.

But I’m assuming that’s not the clean sound, straight out the guitar.

How is it processed?
[/quote]

They recorded it and then it's played backwards.
Just the break.
You can't really replicate it.

[TheGreek]

I showed him how to play that..

[paul_5]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1501365547' post='3344329']
I showed him how to play that..
[/quote]

I showed him how not to!

[Dad3353]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1501365547' post='3344329']
I showed him how to play that..
[/quote]

Maybe you'd care to show Archie, the OP, then..?

[Rich]

Did I read somewhere that his bass at the time was a cheap POS Washburn?
If you've not heard this before, it'll give you a good idea of what the bass sounds like in isolation

[media]http://youtu.be/OMJbJJldSNw[/media]

[archie_the_cat]

This is all great, and thank you all for engaging, but I feel we’re rambling away from the question.

I’m not interested in how to play You Can Call Me Al, great though it is. What I’m asking is what set-up I can use to create that bass sound.

What equipment and what effects and what settings will make that sound?

[Sibob]

It would surprise me if he used any effects, these were African musicians with humble gear. Yeah Bakithi played a POS Washburn fretless, probably through some hired amp in the studio, maybe a B15 if he was super lucky.
I seem to remember that Paul Simon is credited with 6 string bass on the record on that tune....whenever I listen to it, I think perhaps that refers to the plucky high notes played with Bakithi's bass part after the bass break....dunno though.
But yeah, Washburn Fretless, no effects, hired amp of unknown brand (possibly straight into the desk though for the recording ).
The Graceland DVD is his Washburn fretless, but don't recall seeing a specific amp.

Si

[moonbass]

I reckon live you'd get pretty close with a Warwick fretless thumb bass into an Ampeg rig with perhaps a touch of chorus and compression. Not what he used originally, but i think it would get you there.

[Burns-bass]

I agree with poster above, of use a fretless jazz bass with a lot of Bridge pickup and a hint of neck, played at the bridge with a firm set of fingers. You're looking to play right hand with a lot of attack and the left hand silly smooth in a flowing, fluid motion. Chorus and compression (it's the 80s, eh?). This is all about nailing a Jaco-ish tone.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1501366981' post='3344337']
Did I read somewhere that his bass at the time was a cheap POS Washburn?
If you've not heard this before, it'll give you a good idea of what the bass sounds like in isolation

[media]http://youtu.be/OMJbJJldSNw[/media]
[/quote]

Great clip.

Does the OP know how to introduce some [i]heft[/i] into the overall tone of the subject piece - YCCMA?

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='SICbass' timestamp='1501362928' post='3344308']
I've told this story on here before, but hey-ho. I saw Paul Simon live a couple of years ago. When it came to the famous bass-fill Bakithi Kumalo, clearly asleep at the wheel, utterly ballsed it up. He and the whole band just roared laughing and carried on. Now that's the spirit. Yes we're professionals and we want to do our best, but we're also human and nobody dies if there's the occasional cock-up.
[/quote]

That anecdote should be in the topic that follows if it isn't already;
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/308645-punters-dont-know-the-difference/

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1501355906' post='3344262']
Slapped fretless, innit?

Incidentally, I just got the Hyde Park blu-ray the other day. It's bloody marvellous.
[/quote]

My poor old Vantage lost some of the black finish on the finger board because of my trying to copy that style with roundwound strings back in the eighties when I was young and had no sense. Today of course I am older and I've less sense than ever before. OP - If you don't want to see that sort of wear on yours, use flats and it should be easier on the wood. I have nylon wrapped RotoSound flats on these days so I'm totally slap-happy with my fretless.

Oh yeah, nearly forgot the obvious, I am guessing that the original artist was using flats now that I've had thirty years to think about it.

Edited July 30, 2017 by SpondonBassed