Rocco Palladino gear etc...

[Beedster]

On 25/07/2020 at 17:11, skankdelvar said:

It's not so much smugness as an air of 'Look at me. I'm in control not only of my instrument but also of my life and everything going on in it. That's because - at my core - I'm a stable, well-adjusted person to whom integrity and authenticity are more important than financial gain or transient popularity'.

So, basically, the mating signal of the (current) younger generation and one which musos integrate into their recordings and performances the better to engage with their audience. It's the old 'dress and act like your punters only 10% more'.

Permit me to expand.

Crudely speaking, I am of the second 'rock muso' generation where both musos and male consumers (sometimes) attracted sexual partners through displays of an unbridled, nay, rampant masculinity reminiscent of Vikings on a North Sea cruise. Fast cars, random destruction of property, indiscriminate porking, heavy consumption of recreational narcotics including but not limited to Heineken lager, cheap bourbon, red leb and pills. Girlies liked that sort of (falsified) image or so we thought. Bands sold their records off the back of it.

The third generation was all about 'Oh, I'm so sad, I'm crying, everything's all too much, it's all black sheets of rain. I might sometimes play loud, discordant guitar but underneath I'm just a little boy who's grazed his knee and wants mummy to kiss it better then, if possible, work upwards'. That's everyone from Cobain through to the afore-mentioned Sheeran*.

The current Gen 4 is all about character and identity and moderation and dressing down and having the latest app, and looking all buttoned-up and extremely unlikely to make a sudden lunge for the jubblies, this on the basis that to do so would be a shameful loss of control and antithetical to the ethical framework of their lives.

Basically, it's a way of looking un-threatening and a bit superior to the norm, and those who practice this modus operandi  undoubtedly do so in the hope of enhancing their chance of playing 'sink the brisket' with whomsoever may be the object of their interest. Punters do it to get shagged; musos do it to build an audience.

It's not a bad tactic though no more likely to succeed than those which preceded it..

One awaits Gen 5 with interest. Will those musos go further down the route of restraint? Will they dress like 1950's Dads, embrace temperance and write letters to The Church Times expressing their disquiet at mounting evidence of moral degradation? Or will they throw caution to the wind, don buttock-less leather trousers, neck meths and sing songs about dining at the Y?

I do not know but I think we should be told.
 

* I instance Cobain and Sheeran because they both sit (sat) on the cusp between eras. Cobain started as the wigged-out junkie and ended as the poor little dead boy. Sheeran started as a whiner but has transitioned to self-obsessed, socially-conscious 'entrepreneur'.

I think this was the best BC post of 2020. Might be early with my vote, but confident none the less

[cheddatom]

16 hours ago, Beedster said:

I think this was the best BC post of 2020. Might be early with my vote, but confident none the less

Best BC post of all time perhaps. The only one I can recall ever showing my mates, and they all laughed out loud

[Beedster]

6 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

Best BC post of all time perhaps. The only one I can recall ever showing my mates, and they all laughed out loud

Yep, it's really dd but I was thinking about that very post yesterday - because it seemed to resonate with so much that I'm seeing on YouTube at present - and was wondering in which thread I'd find it, and then, as if by magic, someone posted a reply in the very thread

[BadHands]

On 28/07/2020 at 08:38, cheddatom said:

I think these are better examples of Rocco working with Yussef Dayes, who is one of the most exciting drummers out there

 

I was just reading through here to see if anyone had posted "Love is the message" - Can't get enough of this at the moment!

With the big London resurgence in jazz  - Joe Armon-Jones, The Ezra Collective, Yussef Dayes etc - They're not exactly short of bass players with whom to play, so I'm guessing it's more about clicking with the right people and enjoying how they play. Dayes isn't getting press because his bass player shares 50% of his DNA with a famous session musician; he's part of a wave. So Rocco stands out to US because he's playing with Yussef Dayes, and we just happen to recognise his surname. 

Therein lies the pressure of having a name to live up to - Nepotism until proven otherwise. 

[BadHands]

On 28/07/2020 at 08:38, cheddatom said:

I think these are better examples of Rocco working with Yussef Dayes, who is one of the most exciting drummers out there

 

I was just reading through here to see if anyone had posted "Love is the message" - Can't get enough of this at the moment!

With the big London resurgence in jazz  - Joe Armon-Jones, The Ezra Collective, Yussef Dayes etc - They're not exactly short of bass players with whom to play, so I'm guessing it's more about clicking with the right people and enjoying how they play. Dayes isn't getting press because his bass player shares 50% of his DNA with a famous session musician; he's part of a wave. So Rocco stands out to US because he's playing with Yussef Dayes, and we just happen to recognise his surname. 

Therein lies the pressure of having a name to live up to - Nepotism until proven otherwise. 

[soulstar89]

On 24/07/2020 at 17:38, Beedster said:

Many years ago I did a lot of work around identifying the instruments, strings and amps of a couple of to my mind iconic bassists (OK, Flea and Zender). Sadly, not only did using exactly the same equipment not make me sound anything like the target players, I probably sounded even less like them than I'd done on my former gear. Conclusion? Play an instrument and setup you're comfortable with and play in the style of the player you want to emulate.

It was mention on strings in the OP that made me reply. I've found some strings (Fleas Bass Boomers for example) appear to make me sound bloody awful, others flatter my playing. I've no idea why, but I generally stick to the latter

great advice. This would save us so much Money and time looking for gear rather than getting to know the gear you have and evolving our technique 

Edited June 26 by soulstar89

[soulstar89]

On 24/07/2020 at 17:27, Vanheusen77 said:

Hi! Not sure where to post this since it’s sort of a general question. I love Rocco Palladino’s sound with Tom Misch! Does anyone here know what strings/amps he uses? I know he plays a jazz bass with what appears to be a both pickups on with flats sound. In particular the sounds on ”Lift Off” and ”Kyiv” w. Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes. 

 

 

Old post but I just watched a Yussef dayes set with Rocco on kexp 

 

 

 

His using rotosound swing 66 strings on a BB1100’s (you can tell by red silk and the coloured ball ends). Prob a dead set. I use a late 70’s Yamaha pulser 400 with Bartolini pickups and can get a similar tone. 

 

one member said about chasing the exact equipment. It can be an endless rabbit hole. I idolise paul Jackson and Freddie Washington. I don’t sound like them even if I tried lol, I’m funkier lmao (bad joke)

 

A good trick to get a dead tone with fresh roto’s is coat them with Vaseline. It gives a different tone to playing them in. That’s what I do. Basically same method as what many do with flats. 

Edited June 26 by soulstar89

[diskwave]

Sorry but Ive been to Saturday afternoon jams where the git picked a key, we play for a bit then would all look at each other and say nah.. this is boring as heck. Tight crisp playing does not equate to great music. Check out Oz Noy for super clever meandering of a Jazz nature.

[soulstar89]

22 minutes ago, diskwave said:

Sorry but Ive been to Saturday afternoon jams where the git picked a key, we play for a bit then would all look at each other and say nah.. this is boring as heck. Tight crisp playing does not equate to great music. Check out Oz Noy for super clever meandering of a Jazz nature.

That’s relative to the environment. Playing with people is extremely similar to team based sports like footy. You react to the moment and adjust accordingly. “X” is playing and doing this how can I complement the mood here. 
 

If a improv gets boring it’s due to no one taking the lead at a given time and then collective reacting and supporting. 
 

To me improvisation is the root of all things creative. The key is being in the same frequency as others. 

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 24/07/2020 at 18:38, Beedster said:

Many years ago I did a lot of work around identifying the instruments, strings and amps of a couple of to my mind iconic bassists (OK, Flea and Zender). Sadly, not only did using exactly the same equipment not make me sound anything like the target players, I probably sounded even less like them than I'd done on my former gear. Conclusion? Play an instrument and setup you're comfortable with and play in the style of the player you want to emulate.

It was mention on strings in the OP that made me reply. I've found some strings (Fleas Bass Boomers for example) appear to make me sound bloody awful, others flatter my playing. I've no idea why, but I generally stick to the latter

There are other reasons to be interested in what kind of gear different musicians play than wanting to sound like them, you know...

 

Personally I have no interest in sounding like anyone else than myself...

 

But you are right, anything else is a fruitless chase, unless you want to make a living as an impersonator, and I don't think people impersonating bass players are in that high demand.

 

But I do find what kind of gear people play, even people who play different instruments than myself, interesting, and sometimes even inspiring. 

 

Edited June 26 by Baloney Balderdash

[Beedster]

On 25/07/2020 at 17:11, skankdelvar said:

It's not so much smugness as an air of 'Look at me. I'm in control not only of my instrument but also of my life and everything going on in it. That's because - at my core - I'm a stable, well-adjusted person to whom integrity and authenticity are more important than financial gain or transient popularity'.

So, basically, the mating signal of the (current) younger generation and one which musos integrate into their recordings and performances the better to engage with their audience. It's the old 'dress and act like your punters only 10% more'.

Permit me to expand.

Crudely speaking, I am of the second 'rock muso' generation where both musos and male consumers (sometimes) attracted sexual partners through displays of an unbridled, nay, rampant masculinity reminiscent of Vikings on a North Sea cruise. Fast cars, random destruction of property, indiscriminate porking, heavy consumption of recreational narcotics including but not limited to Heineken lager, cheap bourbon, red leb and pills. Girlies liked that sort of (falsified) image or so we thought. Bands sold their records off the back of it.

The third generation was all about 'Oh, I'm so sad, I'm crying, everything's all too much, it's all black sheets of rain. I might sometimes play loud, discordant guitar but underneath I'm just a little boy who's grazed his knee and wants mummy to kiss it better then, if possible, work upwards'. That's everyone from Cobain through to the afore-mentioned Sheeran*.

The current Gen 4 is all about character and identity and moderation and dressing down and having the latest app, and looking all buttoned-up and extremely unlikely to make a sudden lunge for the jubblies, this on the basis that to do so would be a shameful loss of control and antithetical to the ethical framework of their lives.

Basically, it's a way of looking un-threatening and a bit superior to the norm, and those who practice this modus operandi  undoubtedly do so in the hope of enhancing their chance of playing 'sink the brisket' with whomsoever may be the object of their interest. Punters do it to get shagged; musos do it to build an audience.

It's not a bad tactic though no more likely to succeed than those which preceded it..

One awaits Gen 5 with interest. Will those musos go further down the route of restraint? Will they dress like 1950's Dads, embrace temperance and write letters to The Church Times expressing their disquiet at mounting evidence of moral degradation? Or will they throw caution to the wind, don buttock-less leather trousers, neck meths and sing songs about dining at the Y?

I do not know but I think we should be told.
 

* I instance Cobain and Sheeran because they both sit (sat) on the cusp between eras. Cobain started as the wigged-out junkie and ended as the poor little dead boy. Sheeran started as a whiner but has transitioned to self-obsessed, socially-conscious 'entrepreneur'.

Four years on and I still maintain that is the all-time best post on BC 👍

[tayste_2000]

Grabbed these from Reddit, dated about 7 months ago.

 

Boss TU3 - MXR Bass Octave Deluxe - MXR Vintage Bass Octave - Darkglass X7 - Boss CE-2w - Source Audio Spectrum - EQD Dispatch Master - Jad Freer Capo (using the clean di out)

 

 

Edited July 17 by tayste_2000

[petebassist]

Went to Forwards fest in Bristol at the weekend and was watching Yusef's set and enjoying the bass - tasteful, non-flashy, BB cut through but was slightly muddy sounding amplified that loud - didn't realize it was Rocco until the end of the gig when Yusef introduced him. 

[soulstar89]

3 hours ago, petebassist said:

Went to Forwards fest in Bristol at the weekend and was watching Yusef's set and enjoying the bass - tasteful, non-flashy, BB cut through but was slightly muddy sounding amplified that loud - didn't realize it was Rocco until the end of the gig when Yusef introduced him. 

youssef is a great artist. Was venna also with them? Plays sax. I bumped into him in Peckham London randomly and had a chat. 
 

on rocco’s tone. That could be a EQ setting, PA, di or amp setup, dying strings etc. BB basses compared to traditional P’s cut more and aren’t really muddy. 

 

[petebassist]

7 minutes ago, soulstar89 said:

youssef is a great artist. Was venna also with them? Plays sax. I bumped into him in Peckham London randomly and had a chat. 
 

on rocco’s tone. That could be a EQ setting, PA, di or amp setup, dying strings etc. BB basses compared to traditional P’s cut more and aren’t really muddy. 

 

Agreed he's an incredible drummer and artist. I don't know who was playing sax, Youssef spoke quietly when he introduced stuff, but I'm pretty sure he said something about the sax player being from Jamaica and was maybe new. Like I said the overall sound was great, and I could hear the bass clearly, which is the most important thing right 😉   

[soulstar89]

32 minutes ago, petebassist said:

Agreed he's an incredible drummer and artist. I don't know who was playing sax, Youssef spoke quietly when he introduced stuff, but I'm pretty sure he said something about the sax player being from Jamaica and was maybe new. Like I said the overall sound was great, and I could hear the bass clearly, which is the most important thing right 😉   

 

he does have a very quiet voice. I didn’t expect that lol. 
 

venna is from the uk. Probably someone new. Venna is a solo artist himself. Some really cool stuff tbh. Alpha mist is also a great artist. Done some songs with youssef. Love is the message is one which stands out. 
 

On tone most definitely. When I went to see venna in London last year the bass sound muddy but I’m sure I was due to his EQ choice as his bass wouldn’t fat out mud lol.