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Slap bass - no longer mainstream?


Al Krow
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[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1507572069' post='3386435']
A smiley does not excuse a miserable post. Lighten up.
[/quote]
I think anyone who finds 5 string basses too [i]avante garde[/i] deserves to have a light hearted dig made at them in return, that is the point of a smiley face old chap: it was meant to be a bit of fun.

Edited by Al Krow
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Nice to see such open mindedness.... :sorry: :sorry:

Pick players and heavy metallists don't get this level of abuse even though many of the criticisms levelled at slappists can be levelled at them too - overplaying, cutlery down the stairs,etc .

How can having another string to your playing bow be a negative thing? I think many of the criticisms come from people who can't do it and hide behind "[i]never wanted to anyway[/i]". A good slappist is as good as any good bassist in any other style - they would almost certainly have put in as many hours of practice.

Personally there are many techniques I'd love to master - just working on one at a time.

BTW I love this guy - especially as he defies many of the accusations levelled at slappists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCKU_pffkCg

Lets try to be a bit more open minded folks...

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Back in the 80's every bass player and his dog was slapping the bass, you couldn't get in a music shop for slap happy bass players, it was the bass playing equivalent of the EVH tapping solo for guitarists.

Realistically, though it's just a another technique to be learned, it's a bit like refusing to learn how to play artificial harmonics, sooner or later you will need to know how to do it.
The other day I was working out Peg (Steely Dan) and was surprised at how many bass players were skipping the slap/chorus section on YT.

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Slap bass - I have no problem with it, mind I don't listen to music that features it.

I have a well paid gig later this month, the set features some dance music - the odd bit of slap is required here and there - I just get on with it and hope everyone enjoys their night.

If that wasn't left field enough I play much of the rest of the set with a pick

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I dont think it will go as mainstream in the same way it once did when it was a relatively new thing. These days It comes and goes like a musical fashion accessory in mainstream pop. Its in , its out , its in , its out....

How you use it or not use it is entirely upto you and you stand or fall by your own good or bad taste when doing so. I think some bass lines that are slapped on the record , can translate better live when using more of a fingers style with the pulls offs using a pushing fingers through the strings approach ( if you know what I mean?) I'd typically approach something like Never Too Much or Somebody Elses Guy like this if and when it appears in a set. Still gives the impression of a a bit of the old slap going on but doesn't loose the balls of the bass tone.

I cant remember the last time, if any time for that matter of fact, that anyone from an audience has approached me after a typical pub gig where the music allows it to be used in whatever quantity I see fit, be it a solo or in a song, and complained about me doing it. Or can I remember it doing any harm. The opposite in fact.

I wouldn't use it on a rock type gig or just for the sake of it though. It has to fit in with the gig or the song ,or its borderline comical / sad. IMO :)

Edited by bassjim
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[quote name='BigLicks67' timestamp='1507620567' post='3386749']
Back in the 80's every bass player and his dog was slapping the bass, you couldn't get in a music shop for slap happy bass players, it was the bass playing equivalent of the EVH tapping solo for guitarists.

Realistically, though it's just a another technique to be learned, it's a bit like refusing to learn how to play artificial harmonics, sooner or later you will need to know how to do it.
The other day I was working out Peg (Steely Dan) and was surprised at how many bass players were skipping the slap/chorus section on YT.
[/quote]
Apparently ...........Chuck Rainey who played the bass on Peg, knew the SD guys didn't like slap and had pretty much outlawed it. The band recorded live as a unit BTW. But Chuck said he knew that the chorus just needed it so every time the chorus came about he turned his back to the studio window and tucked himself down behind the screen a bit so he could be heard but not seen. Did the trick and the part stayed.

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[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1507636774' post='3386875']
Apparently ...........Chuck Rainey who played the bass on Peg, knew the SD guys didn't like slap and had pretty much outlawed it. The band recorded live as a unit BTW. But Chuck said he knew that the chorus just needed it so every time the chorus came about he turned his back to the studio window and tucked himself down behind the screen a bit so he could be heard but not seen. Did the trick and the part stayed.
[/quote]
[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1507637628' post='3386880']
Yes, I saw that programme too :lol: Fascinating stuff.
[/quote]

Because that's how things are done in professional recording studios by big-name bands and top-level session musicians.

I know it's a great story, but does anyone seriously believe for one minute that this sort of nonsense would have got past a pair of infamous control freaks like Becker and Fagen?

:rolleyes:

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Who knows for sure..but it was Chuck Rainey himself telling the story. Even if he dressed it up a bit I think the point he was making was pre doing it the Walter Beck duo were very much against it. He had to do it out of sight before it was agreed that it was a working part integral to the track.
I imagine once decided it was in, they had Chuck up for 72 hours straight perfecting every nano second of it :D

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[quote name='louisthebass' timestamp='1507654915' post='3387027']
Ida Nielsen?
[/quote]

Good shout!

She's making the first amp I ever had as a bass player the TC BG250 (ok she's playing the 112 rather than the more muddy 115 I had) sound a lot better than I ever managed! But hey you didn't get to be a bass player for Prince without being premier league do you? But I'm also willing to bet a LOT of money that's not her [i]actual[/i] gigging bass amp! :D

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[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1507649222' post='3386978']
Who knows for sure..but it was Chuck Rainey himself telling the story. Even if he dressed it up a bit I think the point he was making was pre doing it the Walter Beck duo were very much against it. He had to do it out of sight before it was agreed that it was a working part integral to the track.
I imagine once decided it was in, they had Chuck up for 72 hours straight perfecting every nano second of it :D
[/quote]

The Peg story from all involved (including 'that' story). :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waIBA6_0GQc

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Funny to see how many people tend to speak badly about slap. As mentioned here before: It is a technique every bass player with the intention to be complete should be able to play (as is finger style and pick).
Most players I met that didn't like slap obviously were just not capable of it and perhaps frustrated to except their limitation.

I do not think that there will ever be a renaissance of slap tone in popular music. In fact I see the opposite trend: Whenever I see bass players performing with successful "mainstream" artists they play a worn vintage P-Bass with flatwounds that make the bass as an individual instrument mostly indistinguishable from the background. Plus: The majority of basslines are now programed and I can't think of a producer risking to program a poor sounding slap bass.

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