Bart Funk Bass Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 12 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJTee Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Glorious. Seriously tight. Can hear the flatwound strings clearly during the bridge - that glassy harmonic edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belka Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 Thanks for posting. I heard that actually the strings on his MusicMan were half-rounds rather than full flatwounds. Certainly dead sounding anyway. Interestingly, whereas a lot of isolated tracks show a level of dirt and sloppiness that isn't apparent in the final mix, Bernard seems to play very cleanly and with a light touch (I'd guess that those harmonics you can hear in the bridge are due to not pressing down that hard on the fretboard, although it could be a right hand thing). His muting is also very good - no lower strings ringing out in when he does parts in the upper register. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinB Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 Yeah, GHS Brite Flats were the stock strings apparently. Those repeated notes on the bridge could be played on the 5th and 7th frets, so even careful fret-hand muting would probably still let those harmonics through! It's nice to be reminded that even the greats are only human... and that the mix hides a multitude of sins 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJTee Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 One thing slightly puzzling me is that in a Bass Player article about the song, Nile Rodgers said Bernard plugged straight into the desk to record it (with the band playing live, together). Yet on this I can hear what sounds like a bleed of the track from some headphones. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 This makes me very happy indeed - I've always been very down on the slight hesitation/timing issue I have for the roots in the bridge part, but now I can hear even Bernard didn't get them bang on all the time...still a million miles better than a quantised version, though... 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 5 hours ago, JJTee said: One thing slightly puzzling me is that in a Bass Player article about the song, Nile Rodgers said Bernard plugged straight into the desk to record it (with the band playing live, together). Yet on this I can hear what sounds like a bleed of the track from some headphones. Any ideas? Tape crosstalk? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drTStingray Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 (edited) Bernard (from the live performances Ive seen) plucked the strings very close to the bridge - I wondered if that influenced the level of overtones on the upper strings (and maybe they're heightened by the level of compression in use). Whatever, it's a great performance of a great line. Love the bass sound as well - some modern producers could learn a thing or two from this - I'm astonished hearing modern disco with such imprecise and wooly bass sounds - just hearing the subtle use of both very short notes and longer and in some cases, slid ones in this is an eye opener - the magic is in the subtlety (although not on here the reversed hand claps in the instrumental break is another example of clever production ideas) which all combined create a magical and classic disco song. Edited April 2, 2021 by drTStingray 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilebodgers Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 The muting is really very good on this. One of the greats for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJTee Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 And all to think that this song is the result of being refused entry to Studio 64, a couple of bottles of champagne and a sweary jam at Nile’s apartment. Oh, and a couple of very gifted musicians... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJTee Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 (edited) It’s those octave turnaround fills that always have me struggling. Very nimble fingers to get that octave note and return to the root as tightly as Bernard. And so consistent - super tight all the way through, with (according to Nile) it all done in one take with no punch-ins. Edited April 2, 2021 by JJTee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJTee Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 4 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said: Tape crosstalk? Good call Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 4 hours ago, JJTee said: It’s those octave turnaround fills that always have me struggling. Very nimble fingers to get that octave note and return to the root as tightly as Bernard. And so consistent - super tight all the way through, with (according to Nile) it all done in one take with no punch-ins. That was what I was happy about; he's not quite super tight all the way through...not something detectable on the finished record, though, and as I said, definitely better than perfectly quantised... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie-X Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 Has anybody been smart enough to download and save this ? I am desperately looking for that track, but it has vanished ... and I can't locate it anywhere else ... Thanks a lot in advance Richie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 We could ask @Bart Funk Bass , he was on the site earlier this week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 There's an app called Moises, which uses AI to split mp3s/wavs, etc down into mixable tracks (it's very, very good), and you can drop everything out but the bass. Free for a few goes, it's also a great practice app... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Funk Bass Posted October 22, 2023 Author Share Posted October 22, 2023 On 19/10/2023 at 09:36, Richie-X said: Has anybody been smart enough to download and save this ? I am desperately looking for that track, but it has vanished ... and I can't locate it anywhere else ... Thanks a lot in advance Richie Send me an email: [email protected] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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