Going To The Garden To Eat Worms

[uk_lefty]

@stewblackdon't be disheartened. They will appreciate you once they realise the dep is just pumping the root notes or whatever and they finally understand. Happened to me with an old band. Dep played all the right notes at the right times but didn't drive the band on or throw in the fills and bits that make my approach mine, and therefore the band sounded very much less energetic.

[Paul S]

Its those big gloves I struggle with.

[Rich]

17 hours ago, Merton said:

I know the feeling. In one of the bands I'm in, if the budget from any potential booking is too tight, they immediately offer themselves out as a four piece without me, with the keys player covering the bass.

 

My reaction to that would be "fine, in that case I'll sex & travel and you can play them all as a quartet then". 

[Shaggy]

I remember reading an NME (or possibly Sounds) review of a Magazine gig circa 1980 that I went to, which included: “....It was great that Barry Adamson’s bass was turned up high in the mix, as it really got the crowd dancing....”

 

Those who feel the music will always notice the bass.  

[Rich]

1 hour ago, lownote said:

I'm used to it.  Our drummer does a bit of bass as well and is quite happy to advise me on technique. 'I play it on the open E, you know... like this'.  

In my ska band, if I can't make a gig Mark the rhythm guitarist takes over bass duties and the normally guitarless frontman does rhythm duties. Interestingly Mark and I never discuss our bass parts and how we approach them - there's no "I play that run differently" or anything. If neither of us can make a gig, it doesn't happen - Mark is the only bass dep they'll use.

Edited December 4, 2021 by Rich

[Paul S]

17 hours ago, Merton said:

I know the feeling. In one of the bands I'm in, if the budget from any potential booking is too tight, they immediately offer themselves out as a four piece without me, with the keys player covering the bass.

 

 

Why on earth do that?  Either split the fee 5 ways or don't take the gig.  Must make you feel as though you are irrelevant.

[Merton]

10 minutes ago, Paul S said:

 

Why on earth do that?  Either split the fee 5 ways or don't take the gig.  Must make you feel as though you are irrelevant.

It’s a complicated thing to explain properly - in a nutshell it’s a rock band for kids and they have set themselves up to do duo (keys or guitar and vocals) or full band, so the four-piece without bass has just become a natural progression from there.

And yes it does make me feel a little like a spare part!

[Rich]

28 minutes ago, Merton said:

It’s a complicated thing to explain properly - in a nutshell it’s a rock band for kids and they have set themselves up to do duo (keys or guitar and vocals) or full band, so the four-piece without bass has just become a natural progression from there.

And yes it does make me feel a little like a spare part!

Going out as a 4 is fine if you can't make it, but to leave you out simply to get a few quid more each? All it says is that you personally are less important to them than an extra tenner, and that is outrageous. You're a band member, if you're available you should be included for the gig. As Paul said, either split it five ways or don't do it. Sounds like these 'kids' have a lot to learn.

[mep]

I got this text from our guitarist after they rehearsed with a dep bass player.

Edited December 4, 2021 by mep

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, mep said:

I got this text from our guitarist after they rehearsed with a dep bass player.

Nice one. The miserable side of me (which is almost certainly covid caused, so please ignore it) wonders how any musician could need this experience to value their bass player. 

I am reminded of an audition I attended. The band leader said they had run the songs before I got there and were amazed at how much they missed the bass. Amazed! 

They were a three piece.

[lonestar]

My analogy is bass player is like the 4th table leg; nobody really notices when it’s doing it’s job but you’d miss it if it wasn’t their or it was a bit wobbly.

[Nail Soup]

3 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

A good goalie never forces themselves into the game

There’s always the slap bass of goalkeeping

 

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

42 minutes ago, stewblack said:

The band leader said they had run the songs before I got there and were amazed at how much they missed the bass. Amazed! 

They were a three piece.

 

Neither of the bands I'm in rehearses with a missing member. The six piece tried without a drummer when he was ill, and it was just going through the motions.

[Lozz196]

53 minutes ago, lonestar said:

My analogy is bass player is like the 4th table leg; nobody really notices when it’s doing it’s job but you’d miss it if it wasn’t their or it was a bit wobbly.

I like that, so true 

[stewblack]

Well, it's the day of the gig and no one has contacted me to ask about the PA....

[musicbassman]

17 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Well, it's the day of the gig and no one has contacted me to ask about the PA....

 

Well, if a guitarist will do as a substitute for a bass player, then maybe a hand held megaphone will do as a substitute for a PA............ 🙄

[stewblack]

Actually, I've been reflecting on this situation and I realise they're right. 

The audience doesn't care about the bassist either so really it doesn't matter

[tauzero]

21 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I got kicked out of an originals band for not playing boring basslines.

 

Ditto. That was after the CD we'd recorded got "Album of the year" in Ryan's Gig Guide (a Midlands publication which is a, er, guid to gigs).

[stewblack]

5 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

Ditto. That was after the CD we'd recorded got "Album of the year" in Ryan's Gig Guide (a Midlands publication which is a, er, guid to gigs).

I shouldn't worry too much, even the great Bruce Thomas was often told to stay below the 5th fret 

[tauzero]

7 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I shouldn't worry too much, even the great Bruce Thomas was often told to stay below the 5th fret 

 

It was a bit odd though, as the singer/guitarist/main man had said I was vastly better than the previous bassist and hadn't said anything about not being busy until I said I wasn't doing the PA any more.

[stewblack]

10 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

It was a bit odd though, as the singer/guitarist/main man had said I was vastly better than the previous bassist and hadn't said anything about not being busy until I said I wasn't doing the PA any more.

Ah ha! The plot thins.

[Vinny]

Since the advent of global plague, I've played a grand total of one gig, 3 weeks ago. We had to end on the always...erm...enjoyable...All Right Now (mostly 'cos SuperScrote DJ MC knobhead was already pretending we were his support act, but I digress...) Afterwards two blokes wander up and tell me how they were dead impressed with that Free song and that I played it so like the original it was like having the LP on. I took the compliment and forced down the urge to scream 'that's all very nice, 'cos I spent the last third of the song playing SMOKE ON THE FU**IN' WATER, YOU DEAF ****S!!!!'

 

That would be bad form, I assume.

 

In any given performance the number of people who could care less about bass is one. That's a proven scientific fact, they did tests at CERN.

[stewblack]

2 minutes ago, Vinny said:

 

In any given performance the number of people who could care less about bass is one. That's a proven scientific fact, they did tests at CERN.

Yep.

[Coilte]

On 03/12/2021 at 17:53, Barking Spiders said:

And the bass player is the one that doesn't get to party with groupies and the rest of the band but goes back to his home/motel bedroom to eat a tin of cold beans and feed that cat.

At least the cat appreciates you !!😉

[Downunderwonder]

11 hours ago, Rich said:

tenner

Hyperbole by lack of maths? I wouldn't be too interested in a gig that only paid 200 anyway.

 

A 500 quid gig that they wanted 125 out of instead of 100 I might feel left out depending what else I had going on.