Well known basslines that are deceptively a bit of a barsteward to nail

[bazzbass]

20 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Had a listen to Seinfield theme tune. Is that what you're talking about. I'd never watched the show before or heard the theme before.

Dave

(lost for words)

[EssentialTension]

20 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

... Seinfeld ... never watched the show before or heard the theme before.

Nor me 

[mcnach]

On 3/8/2018 at 18:19, Twigman said:

Forget Me Nots

 

It sounds lazy and is really quite simple (with fingers) but every note is slapped - that makes it bloody tricky...for me

 

It sounds very easy, and it is indeed very easy to play all the notes... however, to play then *right*, it takes far more practice/effort than you first think. The first time I heard it I liked it and went and played it from memory. Something wasn't quite right, I thought. Then I went back to the original. Ah... so many little details that together make a huge difference!

[BigRedX]

3 hours ago, bazzbass said:

why try and learn something that is a bit beyond my current ability? to IMPROVE my playing.:)

and coz I like it

I like it too - in fact it's one of my all-time favourite songs. However I have no desire whatsoever to learn how to play the bass line, especially when I could program it up in minutes and it would sound exactly like the recording. If I was going to play learn anything from that song it would be the piano part.

[Geek99]

14 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Personally I can't see the point. You'll never sound as tight as the bassline on the recording and that's before you consider that the drums are most likely a Roland 606 drum machine (and the "xylophone" is one of the patches in the Roland SH09/101 manual).

you're right, as Homer (Simpson) said, "if its hard, its just not worth doing" 

[dmccombe7]

5 hours ago, bazzbass said:

(lost for words)

Sorry 

[Twigman]

15 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Sorry 

you're not alone

 

I've never watched Seinfeld nor heard the theme tune either

[Geek99]

2 hours ago, Twigman said:

you're not alone

 

I've never watched Seinfeld nor heard the theme tune either

Nor me - saw a clip once and thought “occasionally amusing American sitcom .. ho hum”

[BigRedX]

5 hours ago, Geek99 said:

you're right, as Homer (Simpson) said, "if its hard, its just not worth doing" 

But IMO it's also about having the right tools for the job. And the right tool for this job is a Roland TB303 (or a sequencer and sound module that sounds like it) and not a bass guitar.

I've just had a look at a few "bass covers" of this song on YouTube and while the players are all very accomplished and have got playing the bassline down pretty well, none of them have come even remotely close to the sound on the recording, which is equally important in getting the feel of the song right.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

I've just had a look at a few "bass covers" of this song on YouTube and while the players are all very accomplished and have got playing the bassline down pretty well, none of them have come even remotely close to the sound on the recording, which is equally important in getting the feel of the song right.

I don't know, the first bass line I saw of it being done sounded pretty similar to the sound on the recording. I just looked at the first cover in the search, directly after listening to the original (as I couldn't remember which song it was).

I am not specifically arguing your point as to whether you want to do it on bass or not, but it sounded pretty good to me.

But then I am not one to do a tribute cover

[MattM]

Talking of playing like a sequencer this by the great Derek Forbes is outstanding.  Clearly written in early 80s trying to mimic sequenced Giorgio Moroder stuff like ‘I feel love’, yer man nails *this* on a Precision while “a bit pished”

 

[bazzbass]

16 hours ago, Geek99 said:

Nor me - saw a clip once and thought “occasionally amusing American sitcom .. ho hum”

that is not "never seen it", you have seen it and know what it is.

[dmccombe7]

I knew there was a series but i never even flicked channels to see what it was about and had no idea who was in it. Completely oblivious to this one.

Oddly enough i generally like American sitcoms too. Not sure why 

[Geek99]

36 minutes ago, bazzbass said:

that is not "never seen it", you have seen it and know what it is.

One15 second trailerOne15 second trailer

[dmccombe7]

2 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

One15 second trailerOne15 second trailer

your an addict now 

[Geek99]

2 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

your an addict now 

Pesky autotype

[drTStingray]

Each scene change is accompanied by a few seconds of slap bass solo. My teenage son at the time told me all his friends (non musicians) thought that was what bass guitar was (not that rumbly, thumpy stuff!!) A bit of a cult late night tv show. 

Any sequencer line can be challenging on a bass guitar - as can slap bass. 

Edited March 14, 2018 by drTStingray
Auto correct errors

[dmccombe7]

OK i decided to watch a youtube clip about reservation for a car hire. Now i see what you mean by the slap bass bit.

This actually looks quite funny. How did i miss this.

Dave

[la bam]

I only tried it for about 10 minites years ago but i remember 500 miles by tbe proclaimers giving me grief for some reason.

[JamesFlashG]

Somebody else guys - Jocelyn Brown got a lovely bounce to it give it a go  

[Kevin Dean]

On ‎08‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 05:23, bazzbass said:

killer bassline, very hard to play at correct tempo for me too .

 

I can almost play it at full speed, almost hehe

 

XTC's Mayor of Simpleton is a tricky bugger as well. 

Ian Dury's Hit me with your rhythm stick gets me all cramped up too

I find  rhythm stick a lot easier with a plectrum .

[Hobbayne]

On 3/10/2018 at 09:26, stingrayPete1977 said:

I am learning Elvis Costello Pump It Up for rehearsal later, resorted to downloading the dots, every verse and every chorus are slightly different each time both in note choice and quantity of bars! I will simplify it a bit for the real world I think.

I had the same trouble. The basic riff is repeated in three different keys although that is straightforward enough. Its the choruses that catch me out, they are just to fast for my fat fingers. Constantine Islamow has the tab which I downloaded. That helped a bit.

[dmccombe7]

Just had a listen to that Elvis C bass line. I remember the song but never noticed the bass line before.

That's a pretty cool bass line and what a tone he has. 

Very nice.

Dave

[Woodinblack]

I downloaded quite a few (several GB - 50 or so) of multitrack files over the weekend, of various artists. Listening to the isolated tracks on those are quite surprising. There are some gems of tracks, some that are harder than you would think, quite a few that are simpler than they seem to be.

One thing that really strikes you though is how 'dirty' a lot of the bass sound is, in a way that doesn't come through in the mix, and also, surprisingly, how quite a bit of the playing is quite sloppy. In a way it is quite encouraging!

Some things I immediately noticed, I don't play exactly what flea plays on Danni California at the same time (I think I play all the individual parts at some point though), there were a couple of little frills I was missing, and equally some things I was adding. However, in general, listening to a recording of me doing it, and the recording of him doing it, its not the same but his is no better than mine, so that is a win for me!

Some other surprises though - lynyrd skynyrd, 3 steps. Wow there are a lot of notes in that!

[dmccombe7]

32 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I downloaded quite a few (several GB - 50 or so) of multitrack files over the weekend, of various artists. Listening to the isolated tracks on those are quite surprising. There are some gems of tracks, some that are harder than you would think, quite a few that are simpler than they seem to be.

One thing that really strikes you though is how 'dirty' a lot of the bass sound is, in a way that doesn't come through in the mix, and also, surprisingly, how quite a bit of the playing is quite sloppy. In a way it is quite encouraging!

Some things I immediately noticed, I don't play exactly what flea plays on Danni California at the same time (I think I play all the individual parts at some point though), there were a couple of little frills I was missing, and equally some things I was adding. However, in general, listening to a recording of me doing it, and the recording of him doing it, its not the same but his is no better than mine, so that is a win for me!

Some other surprises though - lynyrd skynyrd, 3 steps. Wow there are a lot of notes in that!

I remember hearing a Rush isolated bass line and was surprised how "coarse" it sounded compared to the full song. Even Geddy has a noisy bass when its on its own. Wouldn't quite say he was sloppy as he is still way better than i'll ever be but as you say it gives hope to the rest of us