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The Death of the Bass Guitar


beerdragon
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[quote name='Super_Mario_Bass' post='58946' date='Sep 11 2007, 08:11 PM']I dont understand whats so great about 5'ers. someone enlighten me?

a deeper string and less need for movement up and down the neck? is that all?

thanks[/quote]
I do'nt get 5 string gear either.They're like Marmite,like or loathe.

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[quote name='ARGH' post='58965' date='Sep 11 2007, 09:02 PM']Considering Roger found playing on records a chore,and they have only played one gig in 20+ years.........if you think the great Floyd are 2nd rate...
Cant help following where the moneys at.....Most of,if not all,the backing bands Bassists on 'Later...' are using 5s,6s.

(I wouldnt actually mind playing for Kylie,or the Spice Girls.....Heard that the pays good,I bet my morgage would be paid off by the end of the year :huh: )[/quote]
I was thinking about Guy Pratt rather than Roger - although like many fans I wish they would put their differences aside and be proper Floyd again.

My daughter loves watching video's and I sometimes play along with Kylie and even the Tweenies. The guy backing Kylie is playing a five but never goes below bottom E and the Tweenies is much much more difficult to play :huh:

I think if you want to do pit work, sessions, play with horns (if the band plays in horn friendly keys like Eb), and all the other stuff Ross mentions then 5 is becoming much more popular and I wont argue. It is probably a lot easier if you are reading not having to change hand position.

But one of the pubs I drink in has live bands every Friday and I often go to catch the bands. I have never seen anyone playing with more than 4 strings and if you are playing in a rock / pop covers band on the local pub/club circuit its probably all you need. I dont object to anyone using more strings but if you want to join a band on the local scene where ever it is you are unlikely to get the gig if you have more strings than the guitarist :huh:

We will have to check out the next series of Later :)

One more thing - the human ears are most tuned to the range of the human voice - thats why we have lost the senses of wild animals (we talk too much). Bottom E is the lowest note usually written for the human voice and thats why it is where it is on the stave.

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[quote name='LukeFRC' post='57519' date='Sep 8 2007, 08:44 PM']why are they using a singular to talk about bands? Slater Kinnie is..... is that a quirk of american grammar? we would use the they, are.[/quote]
It's not a quirk, it's actually correct english as the band name is a collective. (The Government is, not the government are)

Anyway, on the subject of a lack of bass - it's won't last. Song's don't sound quite "right" without one but music goes in phases so it won't be long before this one passes

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[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='58782' date='Sep 11 2007, 04:27 PM']They work without a bassist. It's not a gimmick, and only a bass player would think that. I can't think of a single one of my mates who think of them as being a 'novelty' band. My friends know them as that band that writes those cracking tunes.[/quote]

I said exactly the same thing about them before I started playing bass :huh:

As far as I am concerned the tunes are crap. But I appreciate that people have their own tastes and I don't dismiss anybodies choice of music for one second, I genuinely feel they are nothing more than second rate nonsense. And I suspect the reason your mates all feel that way about them as well is because naturally you would defend something you believe in. I ain't trying to tell you that you are wrong, just that I strongly disagree :)

And what's with all the 5 string diss? What about 5 strings with a C instead of a B? Are they excused?

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I'm not sure if I was being obvious or not, but my mockery was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. I don't really think that dystopian society would actually come about.

I fully support as many different kinds of bass as there are bassists. I was just being (massively) silly.

More power to the ERBs! And the Sid Vicious type 2 strings! And the one string diddly-bow. And the guitar, even (gosh!).

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Number of strings and type of bass is totally irrelevant, it is a purely prsonal choice. The bass guitar is integral to music in so many ways, it is an instrument that traverses all styles and IMHO, music isnt music without it.

Its not what you play, its how you play it.

I bet Marcus Miller could make a shoe box with an elastic band sound awesome!

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  • 7 months later...

That's absolute horse-sh*t....The problem is that most bass players just follow the guitar, and don't come up with basslines that add that special flavor to the song. Also, most bass players out there are just guitar players hitting bass strings...They get lazy and don't feel comfortable with their instrument (a friend of mine that plays bass bought a bass that looks like a regular guitar so that the audience would see him as such - prick).

I believe that in certain genres, bass might become just a studio instrument, and the bass guitarist just a guy that the band pays to make some background noise...But in many other genres, bass is too important to kill itself.

Edited by Joao_Moura
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[quote name='Joao_Moura' post='196870' date='May 12 2008, 06:49 AM']The problem is that most bass players just follow the guitar, and don't come up with basslines that add that special flavor to the song.[/quote]
Thats a pretty sweeping statement as it stands. Presumably you're talking about a specific style of music? Or does your assertion include jazz, funk, soul, etc. where the bass actually plays a distinct and different role to any other instrument?

Personally, I wouldn't get so worked up about it. Who cares what someone writes about in some hillybilly rag? No, really, who actually cares?

St Petersburg, Florida? The only thing St Petersburg has credibility for is pelicans that dive bomb swimmers, giving them 30 stitches in the head!

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[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='57827' date='Sep 9 2007, 06:09 PM']....I remember the 80s when drum machines heralded the death of the drummer. Lazy and stupid journalism just makes the journalist look lazy and stupid....[/quote]
+1. Jack White playes bass on some numbers so....??

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Has anyone noticed that there are a zillion pieces of music out there without basses in and a zillion with?

The world doesn't revolve around the White Stripes, even if they are from the city that brought us Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Al McKibbon and Doug Watkins. Music doesn't HAVE to have a bass in it but nor does it HAVE to have anything else in it - the instruments used are the creative choice of the composer/arranger. Its a colour to use as and when you see fit. If the Stripes don't want to use one, it's their call. But I doubt the impact on the presence of our shared instrument will be any greater than when the keyboard bass was touted as the death of the bass guitar.

I agree - bad journalism (although I am beginning to wonder whether there is any GOOD journalism left?)

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[quote name='paul, the' post='197006' date='May 12 2008, 11:21 AM']It really annoys me when I hear bass in Bob Dylan songs.[/quote]
My bass playing is the only thing that stops the audience collectively stringing itself up during "Desolation Row". I am a benefactor to humanity.

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[quote name='wateroftyne' post='197149' date='May 12 2008, 01:49 PM']*shakes paul by the lapels*

Cold Irons Bound, man! Listen to its' bassy goodness![/quote]

LOL @ "bassy goodness". So obvious, yet so underused. :)

Jon.

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