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What have you got against slap bass?


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6 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

So no different to a covers band at a wedding. At the end of the day we are the "entertainment". Our industry was given the label for a reason. 

I’ve never been asked to advertise a bass but if I was I would probably approach it with a different mindset to wedding gigs. Just explaining the reason for an artist who’s slapped based music can range from engaging to annoying. 

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2 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

So last night...I was talking To @bassfan and we discussed if the Fender Marcus Miller sounded good with the stock Preamp and Pickups...

I’m going to get shot for this - I made a recording of slap.

I’m also trying to do a lockdown “Happy Birthday” message montage video (for my lad) using my phone - so while messing about with what’s what on iMovie...I did this.

I’ve put my flame retardant suit on...

And no, I know I’m really not in the same league as MM - a very vague impersonation.

Nice, but badly needs compression on the pops! (or more if already compressed)

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Think the thread is getting confused. The question was "what have you against slap bass". It doesn't really matter why the person is playing slap. 

Certainly for me it doesn't matter whether its Wooten doing a show to advertise his support brands or MK showing off during a solo on tour or Doug Johns showing off in his own studio.

At the end of the day if it doesn't entertain me then that's what i have against slap. I could say the same thing about finger style solos, guitar solos or drum solos. If they don't entertain me then i don't see the point of it from my personal point of view as an audience member and a bass player.

Others that are more into those specific techniques might see it differently. Its all down to personal choice. 

Each to their own

Dave

 

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1 minute ago, nilebodgers said:

Nice, but badly needs compression on the pops! (or more if already compressed)

Noted - will be revisiting this idea - and will compress more.

I’ve not set the bass up yet - The pickups are seated more towards the treble strings...it arrived yesterday, I have bigger plans for it as it’s a bit ratty. That’s a whole other thread for another day.

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30 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

Sorry, was just justifying why you might bore of his clips

I think maybe i get bored because i tend to see a lot of him on YT and when i watch, it seems a bit repetitive.

I appreciate he's an excellent player and you can't deny that in any way. I know he's playing slap because his sponsors want him to show off what they think is entertaining and its kinda what he's famous for but there's more to Wooten than slap.

But he's not the only bassist doing constant slap and sticking to the OP's question and what's been repeated many times in this thread that it needs to suit the song or it needs to be musical for me to like it.

Obviously if its boring i just stop watching it.:laugh1: That's freedom of choice.

Dave

Edited by dmccombe7
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4 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's tasteful slap. Nowt wrong with that.

Think someone mentioned the extreme slap killer earlier. This is nonsense to me.

 

 

When I found he plays with Dare now I was very surprised, as I can't see him playing much slap there. And he doesn't. He's a pretty good bass player, he's just unfortunately better known for his emulation of a typewriter with a bass. 

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37 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Think Victor has done a Michael Jackson colour change.:lol:

Yep. That's Vail Johnson in the Video.

Keb Mo has about 5 different A list bassists on that album. It's a real master class of playing great lines for the song.

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5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's tasteful slap. Nowt wrong with that.

Think someone mentioned the extreme slap killer earlier. This is nonsense to me.

 

I was there. Went down from Edinburgh with a mate. We looked in on the markbass room for about 40 seconds and left in a hurry as the sound was appalling. Mind you, the sound across the whole of the excel was awful. Didn't seem to be any control over volumes. I'd recently bought some EBS NEo speakers from Bernie Goodfellow so we tried to have a chat with him and Dominique DiPiazza but it was a waste of time.  Went to see Stanley clarke at the jazz cafe in the evening and had an interesting chat with some polish bass players who despised Wojtek !  Stanley didn't seem to be in a good mood and didn't play School Days which was a bit of a disappointment.    

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21 hours ago, chris_b said:

Everyone's posting about hating slap, but all the examples are of "circus" slap bass. The sort of bass playing that is irrelevant to music/songs.

Slap in the context of a song, ie Ashes to Ashes and Never Too Much, Thank You etc, can and does work very well. 

Exactly this. 

Slap exhibitions are almost always  tedious and largely irrelevant. But done well in a musical context it can sound great . There are more examples than you can shake a stick at . As Ubit points out,  Freddie Washington's line on Forget Me Nots is a great bass line, and is indeed the hook for the whole track.  Here is another more recent slap groove that really works, in my opinion.Nothing fancy but the slap line sounds great and   really propels  the  song :

 

 

Edited by Misdee
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I know this clip has been posted here before but's worth putting it up again as IMO it's a classic example of tasteful and purposeful slapping at its best, as well as being one of the best bits of bass playing I've ever come across.

 

Edited by Barking Spiders
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17 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

I know this clip has been posted here before but's worth putting it up again as IMO it's a classic example of tasteful and purposeful slapping at its best, as well as being one of the best bits of bass playing I've ever come across.

 

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4 minutes ago, Richard Jinman said:

That Jaco-ish tone during the intro ... how's he getting that? He's a brilliant player obviously, but is it all technique or a combination of that and the guitar/amp? What a great performance. 

 

A lot of it is hand position, back by the bridge it'll sound lighter and tighter. He's also got the neck pickup turned down for the intro.

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On 17/05/2020 at 12:50, chris_b said:

Everyone's posting about hating slap, but all the examples are of "circus" slap bass. The sort of bass playing that is irrelevant to music/songs.

Slap in the context of a song, ie Ashes to Ashes and Never Too Much, Thank You etc, can and does work very well. 

Think its me that's been posting most of the extreme slap clips but that was purely to illustrate the type of slap i don't like. I have shown clips of slap that i do like where it blends into the song. I had hoped to show the difference between the annoying extreme slap and what i personally regard as musical or melodic slap. 

Think some people have assumed i just don't like slap because i posted the clips . That's not the case at all

I've known a lot of slappers over the years :laugh1:

Dave

Edited by dmccombe7
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Slap technique is to bass, what Slytherin is to the world of Harry Potter. It doesn't make you any less of a 'wizard' but making the choice to pursue that route immediately raises a number of serious concerns about you...

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24 minutes ago, skej21 said:

Slap technique is to bass, what Slytherin is to the world of Harry Potter. It doesn't make you any less of a 'wizard' but making the choice to pursue that route immediately raises a number of serious concerns about you...

Having never watched Harry Potter i've no idea what you mean :laugh1:

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2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

I know this clip has been posted here before but's worth putting it up again as IMO it's a classic example of tasteful and purposeful slapping at its best, as well as being one of the best bits of bass playing I've ever come across.

 

Excellent. thoroughly enjoyed it. Amazing level of techniques.

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