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It's more than a feeling!

Horizontalste

By Horizontalste,
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Horizontalste Experienced

Horizontalste

Posted
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Let's get straight to the point, when I play reggae music I sound pants, totally unconvincing, flat, lifeless, I just don't tap into "the feel".

 

I've never consciously set out to work on technique, but I have invested lots of time & effort into improving my time over the years.

I can push, pull & sit right in the pocket, I can play fast music & slow music, I can make blues sound blue but reggae, man than vibe just evades me.

 

That's all, as you were.

 

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mcnach Grand Master

mcnach

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Posted
20 minutes ago, Horizontalste said:

Let's get straight to the point, when I play reggae music I sound pants, totally unconvincing, flat, lifeless, I just don't tap into "the feel".

 

I've never consciously set out to work on technique, but I have invested lots of time & effort into improving my time over the years.

I can push, pull & sit right in the pocket, I can play fast music & slow music, I can make blues sound blue but reggae, man than vibe just evades me.

 

That's all, as you were.

 

 

 

I know what you mean, I've been there... and I still have to learn! BUt what helped me was simply... listening to a LOT of reggae, both in quantity but also in diversity. While, for instance, funk came very easy to me, I think it was because I had listened to a lot of it over many years, but by contrast I only heard about Bob Marley and a handful others when I first wanted to play reggae. So I started listening to a lot of it, Spotify was quite useful for that but there's tons on YouTube too. Eventually it gets into your brain and you start to 'get' it: the notes, and the phrasing which is the most important I think.

 

 

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Reggaebass Grand Master

Reggaebass

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Do you listen to much reggae, I was brought up with it so I kinda get the feel for the Bassline quickly, what I find is sometimes less is more, leaving space is important and don’t rush it, playing slightly behind the beat gives it more of a less rushed feel, it’s hard to explain, you may have already seen this video , he breaks down the great Bassline Police in Helicopter  ,don is a great player and has some good tips 

 

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Horizontalste Experienced

Horizontalste

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When I was much younger (& had discovered that you can smoke some plants) I listened to a hell of a lot of Bob Marley (even the early stuff) (I have the songs of freedom book set) but I'm shamed to say that's about as far as I've ventured.

I have consistently had my reggae phases, I'm having one now on this beautiful Saturday afternoon but I can't say that I've studied the genre musically.

& That'll be where the problem lies I'm sure.

But, on the plus side I've now got something to sink my teeth into in the practice room, aka our kitchen.

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Reggaebass Grand Master

Reggaebass

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Just now, Horizontalste said:

@Reggaebass any recommendations of artists I should be paying attention to?

I have 3 favourites myself and they all have different styles of playing

Flabba Holt- roots radics 

Robbie Shakespeare - sly & Robbie & Black Uhuru 

Aston Barrett- Bob Marley

 

I don’t know if you’ve had a flick through the Reggae thread here but there’s lots of great tunes there, might be worth a listen 👍

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police squad Veteran

police squad

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I remember watching the BBC series, 'Rockschool'. They did an episode on reggae. It was very informative. 

The last reggae song I played live was 'Stir it up'. I found that missing the 'one' (first beat of the bar) made for good space. I didn't do it all the time but it sounded good

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Mykesbass Grand Master

Mykesbass

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On 06/08/2022 at 15:04, Horizontalste said:

@Reggaebass any recommendations of artists I should be paying attention to?

Compiled from the early days of @ReggaebassReggae thread. A bit of everything in this list! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/59RhYT5dLPwboS9u3njL4S?si=WHG8qho2Q2GrssAELJYnRQ&utm_source=copy-link

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PaulThePlug Grand Master

PaulThePlug

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 06/08/2022 at 15:13, Reggaebass said:

Robbie Shakespeare - sly & Robbie & Black Uhuru 

 

Loves a bit of Black Uhuru...

May I add Ini Kamoze... 'Statement' and 'Shocking Out' for some more Robbie Shakespear and Danny Thompson Goodness...

Edited by PaulThePlug
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Beedster Grand Master

Beedster

Posted
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Big part of playing reggae bass for me has been the other musicians, the way the bass sits in time is as much about them, especially the drummist but also the guitars, keys etc. I doubt my ability to play reggae has changed much band to band over the years, but the degree to which is feels like an authentic reggae bass vibe certainly has 👍

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mario_buoninfante Proficient

mario_buoninfante

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I think an important part of learning ska, rocksteady and reggae is that of learning R&B and jazz.
this is where all these guys were coming from. most of them were fine jazz and R&B players that found their own swing.
I would recommend to explore those genres too (not suggesting to become a jazz player first though :) ), then the whole "feel" thing will become clearer.
just my 2 cents.

Edited by mario_buoninfante
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mario_buoninfante Proficient

mario_buoninfante

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then I do also believe that the environment and weather both played a role in the genre development and the feel too.
not saying one can't play dub in Norway! but, that way of playing, to me, reflects the 40C degrees one might experience in Kingston ;)

but again, this is more about how it started, one can learn and play reggae regardless the location

Edited by mario_buoninfante
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StickyDBRmf Proficient

StickyDBRmf

Posted
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I live in, born & raised, in Middlesex (isn't that quaint?) County, New Jersey, USA. It's a madness between NYC (mostly) and Southern NJ (retarded) and Philadelphia, PA - ( I am NOT a NEW YORK FAN.) -

So, for all the influences a young impressionable youth w/ a big sister that listened to Pshychedelic Modern Music with Funk Underlines I came out a jazz-rock-Zappa-kitchen appliances-Hybrid and wound up in a No-Wave-Fusion band in the Eighties.

I went to Jamaica first-time in 1986 and by the time I left the Jamaica Air in Monterey to Nigril after Red Stripes and Ganja I had SLOWED DOWN to the speed of The Island and The Music. 

Then I went Home. 

The corn-rows fell out faster than the Music, but I was able to hold on for a SPLIT-SECOND to the ESSENCE of.

Reggae.

It's HARD to play that slow, not so slow, in the BACK pocket, pocket.

Don't drink coffee. Or tea for that matter.

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StickyDBRmf Proficient

StickyDBRmf

Posted
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40 minutes ago, Rib13Bass said:

Every awesome reggae band I ever saw was stoned to the bageezus 

Well, yeah. I'm telling you Jamaica was great. Our "Tour Guide" gave us a bag of ganja every day and said, "Smoke this. I have something better for you tomorrow." And then the day came when he said, "We're going to the mountains." We drove up to an Estate where we smoked "Boom Boom".  "Ha Ha".

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Beedster Grand Master

Beedster

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Posted
6 hours ago, Beedster said:

Big part of playing reggae bass for me has been the other musicians, the way the bass sits in time is as much about them, especially the drummist but also the guitars, keys etc. I doubt my ability to play reggae has changed much band to band over the years, but the degree to which is feels like an authentic reggae bass vibe certainly has 👍


On reflection rhythm guitarists were often the biggest challenge…..

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