The highs and lows of original music

[Graham]

I've been working on bass for a grindcore album, after a mate who I see once a year at a festival asked if I wanted to play on it.

 

I've not done original music for the best part of a decade and have found the process to go something like this:

 

Sure, I'd love to play on your album

 

These are cool songs, quite quick though, I'm sure they'll be fine

 

This is cool, okay I got this

 

Hang on. No, I do not have this

 

I am bad and should not be allowed at music

 

That's......better?

 

I can't hear the difference between good and bad anymore

 

Nope, that's out of time

 

.....and that's out of tune....

 

And that's just plain wrong

 

Jesus, he's not a bassist and his bass part is much better

 

I need to email him and tell him I can't do this

 

Oh. That works

 

I think this is good?

 

Timing sounds about right?

 

I think I'm happy with this

 

 

I've now uploaded to Dropbox and will await feedback from the songwriter

[neepheid]

Sounds about right, and that's on the songs I start writing

[Newfoundfreedom]

Mixing is even worse. 2 hours listening to a track and I can't tell the difference between a flute and roadworks. 

[Skybone]

To be fair, it is a bit easier when everyone can get into the same room, at the same time.

 

But even then, you still think about all of that...

[chris_b]

I have no idea what gridcore is, but the bottom line for playing anything is have confidence in yourself and your ability. You can do it.

 

I did play with one guy who wrote everything down and preferred it played exactly as written. That was easy.

 

I also played with other songwriters and when I asked what they wanted for the bass lines, they said, "Play it your way." One said, "I hear the whole song until the band plays it, then everything changes and improves." I just told them if they heard anything they didn't like to tell me and I'd change it.

 

There are many ways of working.

[neepheid]

35 minutes ago, Skybone said:

To be fair, it is a bit easier when everyone can get into the same room, at the same time.

 

But even then, you still think about all of that...

 

Agreed, I have found that songs coalesce better when you're all playing together, all making mistakes together and sharing ideas together.

[Maude]

I find that, annoyingly, the first rendition of an idea is usually the best. 

I'll come up with a basic idea and think, that sounds good, I'll expand on that. 

Then I'll add bits that accentuate certain instrustuments or add counter melodies to other instruments, build on that main riff I came up with, add little lead ins to the chorus, maybe a little solo riff that plays off the guitar solo, add some dynamics. 

Then I'll hear a recording of the original basic idea I came up with and think, oh that's perfect. 

Note to self, stop trying to overcomplicate things. 

 

 

[Nail Soup]

32 minutes ago, Maude said:

I find that, annoyingly, the first rendition of an idea is usually the best. 

I'll come up with a basic idea and think, that sounds good, I'll expand on that. 

Then I'll add bits that accentuate certain instrustuments or add counter melodies to other instruments, build on that main riff I came up with, add little lead ins to the chorus, maybe a little solo riff that plays off the guitar solo, add some dynamics. 

Then I'll hear a recording of the original basic idea I came up with and think, oh that's perfect. 

Note to self, stop trying to overcomplicate things. 

 

 

Yes, kitchen-sink syndrome. Difficult to know when to stop adding.

[Nail Soup]

It's difficult being objective about your own work.

You may have a voice on one shoulder saying 'this is the best thing ever' and a voice on the other saying ' this is a pile of cr4p'.

 

In the case of the OP, you were invited so just follow your gut feel and do your best. And then submit and see what they think.

You can always say 'I went for simple/complicated/whatever (delete as appropriate) bass-lines - is that what you wanted?'.

[christhammer666]

I’m a metal bassist myself and I feel the same sometimes but as I get older when I here someone’s else take on a song I think to myself it’s not better it’s just different . 
your bass playing makes you YOU 

never move from that path 

[odysseus]

7 hours ago, Skybone said:

To be fair, it is a bit easier when everyone can get into the same room, at the same time.

 

But even then, you still think about all of that...

 

Even that is like herding cats sometimes.... 

[Skybone]

11 hours ago, odysseus said:

 

Even that is like herding cats sometimes.... 

 

Only sometimes?  

[NancyJohnson]

I only do original material, so at the very least I'm not being measured against someone else's lines and all my work over the last two years has been remote; the guys I do stuff for know my strengths so in general I'm good.

 

That said, I did have a similar exchange to the OP where I struggled with a looped live drum thing where the producer had mixed up two very different time signatures (for the hell of it, let's just say 11/4 and 7/6) which repeated on a bar and a half cycle, before dropping into a 4/4 time signature for the chorus.  The odd-timing was hard enough to resolve, but the drums on the loop were very boomy (and quite musical, if that makes sense) and it just felt that everything I played sounded out of tune.  

 

This went back and forth quite a few times; I wasted hours on it and then it never got used. 

[SumOne]

I find the cheesy cliche accronym  'KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid' (which perhaps KISS followed?!) works in many things in life - including Bass playing, 'simple' doesn't necessarily equate to 'easy' though.

 

In the spirit of cheesy Monday morning inspiration, these sucessful dudes all back that theory up:

• "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" (Leonardo da Vinci)

• "Brevity is the soul of wit" (William Shakespeare)

• “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” And, “If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it well enough.” (Albert Einstein)

• "Simplicity is the glory of expression.” (Walt Whitman)

• “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” (Jack Kerouac)

• “Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.” (Frank Lloyd Wright)

• Keep it simple and focus on what matters. Don’t let yourself be overwhelmed.” (Confucius)

Edited February 21, 2022 by SumOne

[BreadBin]

Simplify, and add lightness - Colin Chapman.

🤣