Bilbo Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 Four in one day. This is a transcription of the bass parts played by Dave Myles and Geddy Lee on the Max Webster/Rush mash up 'Battlescar'. I am not entirely convinced of the accuracy of the transcription as there is so much distortion on the basses and guitars that it is difficult to see the wood for the trees. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/battlescar-max-webster-rush/ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Not heard that one before @Bilbo Need to google that. Thanks for sharing Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 It's a great piece of Rock history. I love so many Canadian Rock bands, Rush, Max Webster, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, Pat Travers, April Wine. Even Joni Mitchell is Canadian. Battlescar is a BIG sounding record. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 5 minutes ago, Bilbo said: It's a great piece of Rock history. I love so many Canadian Rock bands, Rush, Max Webster, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, Pat Travers, April Wine. Even Joni Mitchell is Canadian. Battlescar is a BIG sounding record. First saw them support Rush maybe Farewell to Kings tour and bought the album on tape. (bad idea) Did eventually copy it onto CD. Had a look at buying some of his albums but they start at £17 up to £60+ depending on the album. Found a Best of Max Webster on CD at £8 so i ordered it and Battlescar is on there too. Mahogany Rush were a brilliant band too. Also bought an April Wine album back in the day but never heard much more of them. Pat Tarvers i have a couple of his albums and again brilliant. Canada has produced some amazing bands but even more so outstanding guitarists. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 I'm trying to 'translate' it with a drawing of the bass clef and its notes and it's very painful for me, even in C 😞 I don't suppose there's a teeny chance the notation software you use might serve up some tab? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 45 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said: 😞 I don't suppose there's a teeny chance the notation software you use might serve up some tab? None whatsoever 😂 😴 You got to learn the dots, mate. Trust me, it's worth it. Try Jeff Berlin's reading packages. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Bilbo said: None whatsoever 😂 😴 You got to learn the dots, mate. Trust me, it's worth it. Try Jeff Berlin's reading packages. Once you start it soon speeds up as you do it more and more. I've came along a fair bit myself and i used to read a fair bit back in my early days with lessons and few yrs after that. Then TAB came along and now i use both if needed. I started off writing the notes on the page next to the notes and on some of the fast pieces i still do that but most songs that i actually play in the band i can read at my own pace and use it as a back up guide to what i hear on original song. I'm no sight reader and it takes me a bit of time to go thru some of them but it passed the time during Covid Lockdown. Dave Edited September 1, 2020 by dmccombe7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 I try. Every time I try, it's going nowhere. I can do the rhythm easy enough, but not the pitch. I even struggle to work out which line (or space) a note is on, let alone associate it with the pitch for that place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 (edited) Not sure if i've picked you up right but do you mean you don't know what notes are on lines or spaces. I know i take that for granted but appreciate someone that's never taken lessons won't know that. Does this help Dave Edited September 1, 2020 by dmccombe7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 5 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said: I try. Every time I try, it's going nowhere. I can do the rhythm easy enough, but not the pitch. I even struggle to work out which line (or space) a note is on, let alone associate it with the pitch for that place. I struggle with the rhythm. You take the right hand I’ll take the left? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bassman Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 11 hours ago, Bilbo said: Here you go, Captain. This was fun... 'Where's the one'?!!! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/ive-goy-you-eating-out-of-my-hand-it-bites/ See, this is what fascinates me about music and about everyone’s different ability levels and interpretations. The chugging 8th note section in bars 135-142 I had always heard as straight Bs. You hear, and notate, each bar as 4xB, 2xC and 2xA. Knowing this, when I listen to the original track I can hear that subtle difference where I’d never noticed it before. Do you isolate the tracks when you transcribe them or do you just hear things like that in the mix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 57 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said: Not sure if i've picked you up right but do you mean you don't know what notes are on lines or spaces. I know i take that for granted but appreciate someone that's never taken lessons won't know that. Does this help Dave Thanks, but no. For some reason I can't just glance at an isolated not and 'see' what it is. I have to 'work out' which line or space it is on, then translate that to a note, then decide if it needs to be sharpened or flattened. That's too slow for reading. To an extent I can, once I have found a note, follow the ebb and flow up and down, but if there's a big jump I have to work it out. To some extent I can memorise what one place is, but after a while it fades again. And even if I 'know' that the middle line id D (I don't, I had to look it up) it takes me a finite amount of time to work out that the note is on the middle line. The more I try the more obvious it is that my problem is not memorising what notes are where, its actually working out where the note is on eth stave that takes the effort. I think it's like word-blindness. To a degree I can 'read' tab although most tab makes a pig's ear of the rhythm, but sometimes I still get 'lost' and play the wrong string. Fortunately the bigger tonal gaps between tab lines mean I usually 'know' pretty much where I should be playing so I find tab easier. I suspect my personal experience isn't that of many others. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Captain Bassman said: Do you isolate the tracks when you transcribe them or do you just hear things like that in the mix? I can't isolate the tracks. I hear the details usually and can slow it down to check if a passage is too fast. I don't always transcribe with a bass in my hand but sometimes I do. On this one, I heard it the same way that you did on the headphones:straight Bs. When I went to post it and heard it on laptop speakers, like you, I heard the Cs and As. So I redid the relevant passage before posting. It is important to acknowledge that sometimes the bass is lost in the mix (common with double bass playing) and there are transcriptions I cannot do because I can't find the details. Edited September 1, 2020 by Bilbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 Anthony Jackson's bass part to 'The Wizard', the opening track from Al DiMeola's 1976 album, 'Land Of The Midnight Sun'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/the-wizard-al-dimeola/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 Another quick transcrtiption from the same Al DiMeola album, this is Stanley Clarke's part to 'Love Them from 'Pictures Of The Sea''. Only really a two bar phrase repeated with a few asides. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/love-theme-al-dimeola/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 (edited) Another Anthony Jackson part from the same Al DiMeola album. This is the title track, 'Land Of The Midnight SUn'. I am oretty sure that this was the first 'Jazz' album I bought after reading about DiMeola in Guitar Player magazine. Not AJ's 'For The Love Of MOney' bass sound!! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/land-of-the-midnight-sun-al-dimeola/ Edited September 7, 2020 by Bilbo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Been really enjoying this album since you posted yesterday - not heard before. 76-77 feels like such a great few years for electric in jazz / fusion, so many great albums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 Gary Moore's reframing of the Thin Lizzy classic 'Don't Believe A Word' features a simple bass part that fits the version perfectly. An easy read almost entirely free from accidentals. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/dont-believe-a-word-gary-moore/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 The fantastically named Colin Bass played the parts to this tune on a Wal bass. The beautiful tones open the 1981 Camel concept album 'Nude'. THis is a transcription of the opening tune on the album, 'City Life'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/city-life-camel/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 (edited) Another horn solo this time, Sonny Rollins's first saxophone solo on the tune 'St. Thomas' from the 1957 album 'Saxopone Collosus'. An interesting insight into Rollins's concept and 'thematic development'. It is perfectly playable on the bass but woudl probably need some time spent with it in order to determine the best fingerings to get the phrases to flow. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/st-thomas-first-sax-solo-sonny-rollins/ Edited September 17, 2020 by Bilbo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 32 minutes ago, Bilbo said: Another horn solo this time, Sonny Rollins's first saxophone solo on the tune 'St. Thomas' from the 1957 album 'Saxopone Collosus'. An interesting insight into Rollins's concept and 'thematic development'. It is perfectly playable on the bass but woudl probably need some time spent with it in order to determine the best fingerings to get the phrases to flow. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/st-thomas-first-sax-solo-sonny-rollins/ Fantastic , thanks for posting. Attempted transcribing this before but not completed - interesting to compare a ‘correct’ example with my hack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 Don't count on it being correct, Drax. Transcription is not an exact science and I am as fallible as anyone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 An old one I just happened upon. This is an eight bar passage from the tune 'Im Freaking Out' by The Dixie Dregs and features what I consider to be the main theme only, a unison part played with a pick by bass virtuoso Andy West and guitarist Steve Morse. That's enough to keep anyone in the woodshed for a while! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/im-freaking-out-dixie-dregs/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 18, 2020 Author Share Posted September 18, 2020 Eddie Gomez' bass part for 'Children's Song No. 15' from the 1978 Chick Corea album 'Friends'. Easy to read but you need to remain focused and concentrate. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/childrens-song-no-15-chick-corea/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 20, 2020 Author Share Posted September 20, 2020 This is another one I did years ago but had to re-do because I lost the original. This is Andy West's bass part for the Dixe Dregs tune 'Night Meets Light' from the 1978 album 'What If'. The time signatures are a nightmare and I had to follow my nose when writing it down as I was reliant upon what felt like 'on' beats and what felt like 'off ' beats to guide my decisions about what each bar length was. The result is orgnaised chaos! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/night-meets-light-dixie-dregs/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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