Baloney Balderdash Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said: To sum up this thread: And here is my counter argument: Edited March 17 by Baloney Balderdash 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilorius Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 3 hours ago, Rayman said: I really want to get Stu Hamm…… but his solo stuff in particular just leaves me cold. I saw him with Joe Satriani many years ago on the G3 tour, and absolutely loved his contribution, but having listened to his solo stuff, including live performances…… I just do not connect at all. Who do you feel you should like, but just don’t? Just buy an unbrella. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Thundercat for me. Tried loads of times and it’s just not for me. I think I might have seen him live too but can’t remember when it might have been. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 To sum up, it's OK not to like something. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 No. There are none for me. There’s music that isn’t for me made by people who don’t make music for me, and then there’s ones that do. As with all art, there are going to be detractors. If it’s not your kinda thing, you just need to move along. Fame and success do not always relate to your definition of skill or application. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40hz Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 For me, there are players I don't like, but it doesn't invalidate them at all. Lots of different bass players speak to different people in different ways. Saying that, for what it's worth, and to contradict myself immediately, I just don't get 'Julia Plays Groove' amongst others. Playing someone else's songs (well), but that's it. I've seen hundreds of bass players on YouTube do the *exact* same thing, often better, but don't receive this weird fawning (I suspect I know the reason). 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matski Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 Les Claypool - his style just doesn't do anything for me at all. I once bought a Primus album to see what all the fuss was about, gave it a couple of listens and then gave it away. Awful. I don't even like the look of the basses he plays 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bam Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 For me, it's always been about the song. Everything is the song. So I really really don't get 4 minutes of just bass, banging, slapping and confusing everything - at the detriment of the song. I don't get people playing full songs just on bass. There's so many more better full range instruments for soloing on. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 To take a different approach, Sid Vicious. Growing up listening to punk, people raved about him but Matlock was obviously the talented one. Sid Vicious had the image but made a mockery of the music / the instrument. It's not some sort of snobbery - people like Dee Dee Ramone played very simple root note based stuff but he wrote and brought something to the group. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 The one I don't get the most is Mohini Dey, great you can play lots and lots of notes very very fast, very technical and all that. But to me there is no feel and not much musicality.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnybass Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 14 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said: And here is my counter argument: I came on to say I dont "get" VW, i love hearing him accompany other people, but his solo stuff I find a bit meh. This is the first thing I'd say i liked. Thanks for sharing. jonny 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 It strikes me that the bass players most BCers don't get is the ones wot play a bit jazzy... The usual criticisms are "no musicality or feel" but I reckon much of that dislike is due to a hatred of jazz! The bass players I find over-rated are those who simply lay down the bottom end with minimal flourishes - in other words are basic bass-players allowing the rest of the players to be the actual musicians 😁 Calling Mr. McCartney!! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 I agree with a lot of what's on here, the YouTube generation of bassists doesn't do much for me, but then we all know their names and what they do so have they achieved what they needed to? I can watch them for a two minutes "oh, that's clever" but couldn't listen to a whole album unless their playing is within a context that makes sense and is tasteful. In a band context there are no bassists I don't like per se, they probably play what the producer needs them to play so it works for the radio or recording. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 52 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said: It strikes me that the bass players most BCers don't get is the ones wot play a bit jazzy... The usual criticisms are "no musicality or feel" but I reckon much of that dislike is due to a hatred of jazz! The bass players I find over-rated are those who simply lay down the bottom end with minimal flourishes - in other words are basic bass-players allowing the rest of the players to be the actual musicians 😁 Calling Mr. McCartney!! I don’t buy this. I love jazz and play it live and at home and I can’t stand the virtuoso stuff (or Joe Dart). Part of it is the register of the instrument and the challenge in shifting larger intervals. Piano, guitar and brass are just so much more suited to it. Bass solos to me just sound so forced, even when they’re technically beautiful. This is less of an issue in DB where the timbre of the instrument adds character. I also can’t stand Flea. But that’s years of being a bass teacher. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 3 minutes ago, Burns-bass said: I don’t buy this. I love jazz and play it live and at home and I can’t stand the virtuoso stuff (or Joe Dart). Part of it is the register of the instrument and the challenge in shifting larger intervals. Piano, guitar and brass are just so much more suited to it. Bass solos to me just sound so forced, even when they’re technically beautiful. This is less of an issue in DB where the timbre of the instrument adds character. I also can’t stand Flea. But that’s years of being a bass teacher. What kind of jazz though? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barking Spiders Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) There are no bass players 'I don't get'. It's more the music they play that can pass me by. I'm no fan of shred guitar but I've seen live footage of Satriani which I fast forward to Stu Hamm's 'Country Music' solo which I think's great. On the strength of this I listened to Radio Free Albemuth but for me classical tunes transposed onto electric bass doesn't work. No fan of the RHCP but I'm fine with Flea and he's done a good thing for the bass by raising its profile in the mainstream, like Mark King did in the 80s. Edited March 18 by Barking Spiders 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 15 hours ago, bassbiscuits said: Its like someone having brilliant handwriting but no interesting stories to share. That's a superb analogy. I find that technical playing (of any sort, not just bass) usually turns me off, as I prefer the music to serve the song rather than just show the skill of the players. I'd rather hear one note that really makes you sit up and pay attention to a hundred that are all icing and no cake. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 1 hour ago, Cat Burrito said: To take a different approach, Sid Vicious. Growing up listening to punk, people raved about him but Matlock was obviously the talented one. Sid Vicious had the image but made a mockery of the music / the instrument. It's not some sort of snobbery - people like Dee Dee Ramone played very simple root note based stuff but he wrote and brought something to the group. Yes it`s amazing that given how many very talented bassists there were throughout punk that Mr Ferocious is the most well known. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 I love playing bass but find fretted bass to be a mediocre solo instrument, no matter who's playing it. Fretless allows much more subtlety and it works in the hands of some players. Sonically, to me, fretted just sounds unsuited to a lot of the emotive kind of things you hear a lot of players attempting. Too metallic, too noisy, just not pleasant to the ear. I get taken out of the music by the unsuitable characteristics of the instrument. The same piece of music played on certain other instruments usually sounds so much better. I appreciate the technical ability of the players, but it's just something which doesn't hold any interest for me as a music listener. Bass, as an ensemble instrument, however, locking in with some drums is manna from heaven. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesy Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 It sounds like I'm the same as a lot of comments here. It's not that I don't get certain players it's more that I don't enjoy soloing virtuosic music, and that can be said for any instrument, not just bass. I'd rather listen to a song I like that has 7 notes played tastefully and contributes to the song, rather than a 4 minute solo piece that I just don't connect with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) It seems that a lot of people seems to be of the assumption that technical playing is the opposite negation of serving the song or soulful playing, which is just nonsense. Of course it can be, but so can just turning out root notes, or any other type/style of playing for that matter, but it all depends on the context. From what many people are writing here it sounds like some of you are automatically dismissing everything as soon as it gets a bit too technical as bad, without actually listening. Context, context people. Also, do some people have an aversion against solo pieces, or is it just bass solo pieces, if then why is this, and if not, how can a solo piece serve the song, it is the song? Also I love the sound of bass as an instrument, one of the main reasons why i chose it as my main instrument. Why chose it as your main instrument of choice, if you don't like the sound of it? Edited March 18 by Baloney Balderdash 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 18 hours ago, Hobbayne said: Yes. Its a lot of notes played very fast. I'll probably get booed off now by Jaco fans. 😅 Boo, go listen to Joni Mitchell's Hejira 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 Stu Hamm 1-0 Flea as far as I'm concerned 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 18 hours ago, Delberthot said: Give it long enough and every bass player who's ever lived will be in this thread 😀 So far I've got away with it, I'll check back in 100 or so pages of posts though 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 There's nothing to "get" really. Artists are free to express themselves however they're feeling it. As listeners, some will float our boat, others will not. It's a great journey finding out which is which for ourselves. The bits we do like can then inform our own work. Sorry if I'm stating the obvious. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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