Not everything about the bass is great .....

[drTStingray]

11 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

Because I'm literally the only other person on this thread who has mentioned Call Me the Breeze...?

Well I'll join you - we play an interpretation around the John Mayer version and seldom have I come across a root and fifth type of line and feel which is so satisfying to play as part of rhythm section (makes a change from those songs where I'm expected to stretch out and play a bit of Marcus Miller or Jaco style!!). Usually on a Stingray 5 - absolute bliss for me 😀

[Skinnyman]

As mentioned earlier, I think the bassline should serve the song. Sometimes root notes are all that is needed. One of the worst sins a bass player can commit ( in my opinion, of course, others are available and equally valid) is to overplay.

So I'll happily play anything in the spirit of the arrangement we've come up with, even if it's simple and repetitive. I just relax and think of myself as playing tuned percussion

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Skinnyman

[oldslapper]

I can't think of a bass line that's ever had that effect on me tbh. 

I can think of plenty that I've though were great, or make me happy.

However, "trebley" bass tones have a similar effect on me that the OP describes experiencing when hearing the bass lines he dislikes. So, think of the bass tone from a certain "Affirmative" prog rock ensemble and you'll get the picture. 

Back on topic. I guess I associate the bass line with the song, it is what it is & makes the record what it is. Can't think of a time I've thought "what this needs is something more interesting/challenging/complicated/etc" But each to his own.

[Monkey Steve]

can't think of any that particularly annoy me.  there are plenty of songs that I don't like, and a bass line may well contribute to that, and plenty of bands with bass players that I don't particularly rate.

But simplicity certainly wouldn't be something to object to, unless it's not appropriate.  Loads of bands in rock and metal (AC/DC for starters) where the bass isn't doing much more than holding down the rhythm and underpinning the vocal melody - the start of Live Wire is proof that sometimes you only need one note, as long as it's the right one

[Rich]

In terms of repetitiveness, my bassline from hell is Dance The Night Away by the Mavericks. The song makes my skin crawl anyway, but the idea of playing that bassline almost makes me nauseous. OK I know it supports the song and isn't overplayed and all that, yeah yeah well shoot me, it's awful. Many years ago when the vocal talent in a band I was in announced at a rehearsal that we were going to do it (a unilateral decision, not a suggestion), I played my absolute veto. He was adamant, but so was I. It became quite a frank exchange of views in the end, especially when I told him that if he insisted on doing it at a gig, I would head to the bar for the duration of the song and they'd have to do it bass-less.

[Graham]

Playing Champagne Supernova bores me rigid......but.....as the last song of the night it usually evokes a mass sing-along and goes down really well, making it much more bearable.

Edited January 15, 2019 by Graham

[wateroftyne]

2 minutes ago, Rich said:

In terms of repetitiveness, my bassline from hell is Dance The Night Away by the Mavericks. The song makes my skin crawl anyway, but the idea of playing that bassline almost makes me nauseous. OK I know it supports the song and isn't overplayed and all that, yeah yeah well shoot me, it's awful. Many years ago when the vocal talent in a band I was in announced at a rehearsal that we were going to do it (a unilateral decision, not a suggestion), I played my absolute veto. He was adamant, but so was I. It became quite a frank exchange of views in the end, especially when I told him that if he insisted on doing it at a gig, I would head to the bar for the duration of the song and they'd have to do it bass-less.

Are you saying the line is right for the song, but you hate the song?

[chris_b]

11 minutes ago, Rich said:

. . . .  I told him that if he insisted on doing it at a gig, I would head to the bar for the duration of the song and they'd have to do it bass-less.

Braver than me. What if they took you up on your offer. Permanently!

A player took over from me in a band and the guys were tearing their hair out because he couldn't play a shuffle on root notes only. He was a good player but had to play a bass line up and down the frets. He said he felt "ill" just playing 1 note. They decided to bin all the shuffles, which was a big deal for a blues band!

I don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing, but I figure it's only 4 minutes. . . . I haven't come across a number I can't deal with.

[Rich]

14 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Are you saying the line is right for the song, but you hate the song?

Oh, probably. My dislike for the song extends to the bassline. Same 5 notes over and over again. Yes, I know Simple Minds' Waterfront is just one note, but I'd rather play that all night than the feckin Mavericks thing even once.
As always, YMMV.

[dyerseve]

14 hours ago, josie said:

The basslines that set my teeth on edge are not the repetitive ones - which as said often do exactly what they should do in the mix - but the fussy ones which get in the way. I suspect it's bass players who really want to play guitar but drew the short straw on "we need a bass player" without understanding what that means. 

No recordings that I can think of, but I've heard a few at fringe venues at blues festivals. Come to think of it, the two worst I can remember both had very flashy, obviously expensive gear. That might not be a coincidence. 

+1!

I'll take boring but appropriate any day over over-played and distrascting. Victor Wooten always springs to my mind when it comes to "too busy". Sure he's a virtuoso but when playing for other bands he should know how to tone it down - see Marcus Miller for how to do this correctly.

[wateroftyne]

2 minutes ago, Rich said:

Oh, probably. My dislike for the song extends to the bassline. Same 5 notes over and over again. Yes, I know Simple Minds' Waterfront is just one note, but I'd rather play that all night than the feckin Mavericks thing even once.
As always, YMMV.

What would you play instead? I think you should record your take and offer it up for analysis 🙂

Edited January 15, 2019 by wateroftyne

[Rich]

1 minute ago, chris_b said:

Braver than me. What if they took you up on your offer. Permanently!

 

If I'd been fired for not doing exactly what he wanted without any question whatsoever, then I'd have gladly walked. Call me a big softy but I like a band to be a democracy, not a dictatorship.  

 

[chris_b]

2 minutes ago, Rich said:

. . . Same 5 notes over and over again.

Land Of A Thousand Dances, Higher and Higher, I Wanna Take You Higher. All fantastic minimal bass parts, that just cook!

[Rich]

1 minute ago, wateroftyne said:

What would you play instead? I think you should record your take and offer it up for analysis 🙂

Are you going to ask the same question of everybody who has expressed a negative opinion in this thread so far?

[wateroftyne]

4 minutes ago, Rich said:

Are you going to ask the same question of everybody who has expressed a negative opinion in this thread so far?

No, no. Don't be grouchy.

I think there's a fine line here, between lines which are played badly (see my 'Call Me the Breeze' post) and lines which are perceived to be boring. I'm just curious as to whether your take on it would improve the song, or have no effect. That's all.

[Rich]

I'm 100% sure I couldn't come up with a bassline that would improve the song, because I'm firmly of the opinion that the song itself is beyond redemption. The bassline is the same few notes over and over again because the song is the same two chords over and over again -- this in itself wouldn't be so bad if the other parts of the song were more interesting, but the vocal line is just an uninspired drone too. For me, the only interesting aspect of the song is the horns -- everything else can be filed firmly under 'meh'.
As I said, YMMV. I know some people love it, and for some reason it always fills floors at parties.

 

[wateroftyne]

1 minute ago, Rich said:

I'm 100% sure I couldn't come up with a bassline that would improve the song, because I'm firmly of the opinion that the song itself is beyond redemption. The bassline is the same few notes over and over again because the song is the same two chords over and over again -- this in itself wouldn't be so bad if the other parts of the song were more interesting, but the vocal line is just an uninspired drone too. For me, the only interesting aspect of the song is the horns -- everything else can be filed firmly under 'meh'.
As I said, YMMV. I know some people love it, and for some reason it always fills floors at parties.

  

Understood.

[knirirr]

14 hours ago, josie said:

The basslines that set my teeth on edge are not the repetitive ones - which as said often do exactly what they should do in the mix - but the fussy ones which get in the way. I suspect it's bass players who really want to play guitar but drew the short straw on "we need a bass player" without understanding what that means. 

No recordings that I can think of, but I've heard a few at fringe venues at blues festivals. Come to think of it, the two worst I can remember both had very flashy, obviously expensive gear. That might not be a coincidence. 

Do you think that this recording would count? It popped into my head when reading your comment, but I might well be mistaken about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NtZ2W8L5Rw

 

[Monkey Steve]

45 minutes ago, Rich said:

Oh, probably. My dislike for the song extends to the bassline. Same 5 notes over and over again. Yes, I know Simple Minds' Waterfront is just one note, but I'd rather play that all night than the feckin Mavericks thing even once.
As always, YMMV.

Yeah, I think I'd draw that same distinction, that it's not about the bass line per se, it's more that you don't like the song and the bass line doesn't give you any reason to like it any better.

Had a drummer in an old band of mine who was exactly the same about one song in particular - thought it was dull and the drums didn't give him anything interesting to do.  But the rest of the band loved it, as did the crowds, so he never spat his dummy out, or sabotaged it, just let us know that it was his personal three minutes of hell every at gig.  Really helps if it's a crowd pleaser though.

[HengistPod]

On ‎14‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 10:10, leftybassman392 said:

Presumably Smoke on the Water will find its way onto this list sooner or later...

Our guitarist recently took to playing the riff to tease folk before breaking into feminist anthem "All Night Long".

But we found that folk were getting all excited - and then a bit disappointed when we didn't actually play Smoke. So we decided we'd better learn it properly *.

Now, I know that the bassline behind the solo is "just" based on a couple of pentatonic scales and a fellow could blag through it easily enough - but it turns out the original is very nicely constructed and worth duplicating. I had to consult Songsterr to figure it out, and then it took me several evenings to get those 16 bars sorted.

The verse part is also entertaining to play. I can better understand now just why it's a "classic", particularly when you add in Paice's hugely tasteful choice of what to play where in the song.

(* our singer, who is but a young thing, had actually never heard Smoke on the Water before in his life!)

[ricksterphil]

9 minutes ago, HengistPod said:

(* our singer, who is but a young thing, had actually never heard Smoke on the Water before in his life!)

WTF!!  It is getting up to 50 years old now tho!

"Can we have everything louder than everything else" ...classic (ok it's off Made in Japan I know but still...) loved a bit (a lot) of Purple when I was a callow youth!

[Dan Dare]

Nothing, not even playing a musical instrument, is the cure for all ills or the one thing that lifts life from the mundane. Any job (including playing a musical instrument) has its repetitive, even dull moments. I agree with those who say the bass (and by extension every other instrument) should serve the song. You gotta take the rough with the smooth. If a roomful of people want to hear Dance the Night Away or Cocaine Superwally, why argue with them? You're more likely to get booked back if you keep people happy. 

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

Nothing, not even playing a musical instrument, is the cure for all ills or the one thing that lifts life from the mundane. Any job (including playing a musical instrument) has its repetitive, even dull moments. I agree with those who say the bass (and by extension every other instrument) should serve the song. You gotta take the rough with the smooth. If a roomful of people want to hear Dance the Night Away or Cocaine Superwally, why argue with them? You're more likely to get booked back if you keep people happy. 

We often get drunk people asking for Oasis, I am sure it irritates the others in the band that I won't do them.

[josie]

4 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

I agree with those who say the bass (and by extension every other instrument) should serve the song. 

see my .sig 🙂 

[Muzz]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

We often get drunk people asking for Oasis, I am sure it irritates the others in the band that I won't do them.

We play Don't Look Back In Anger, and for the third chorus everyone drops out but me, just playing single root notes while the punters sing it to us. Satdy night was me and sixty or so people raising the roof. Brilliant to be a part of. 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Muzz