xilddx

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='938321' date='Aug 27 2010, 06:19 PM']Well i asked on this very forum if i should be in a covers band and also whether i could just use a line out module instead of a bass amp and everyone said i would need monitoring so that's why i got one lolz.[/quote] Well everyone was talking sh*t then weren't they You need to hear yourself but most venues have monitors. I've played gigs without any monitor, just hearing the FoH, and although it's not great fun, it's doable. It's rare that happens though, but I don't know the sort of places you play. I was thinking of getting a small powered monitor for the stage, but it's not yet proved necessary.

There was a Veilette Piccolo on sale here on basschat a few months ago. Have to admit, it looked gorgeous. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=61359&hl=Veillette"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;hl=Veillette[/url]

[quote name='Sean' post='938213' date='Aug 27 2010, 03:58 PM']I love cod-Jamaican, I love anchovies too, in fact I'm really into any salty fish.[/quote] Yeah, salt cod and ackies is delicious!

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='938206' date='Aug 27 2010, 03:53 PM']I wanted to get something simple like that but i was told i wasn't allowed unfortunately.[/quote] Not allowed by whom?

I've tried the Briefcase. Not at all loud and I didn't like the horrid clinical tone either. I tried the Markbass and liked it, a lot. Really nice tones with my Warwick. However, I ended up deciding that any amp was too big and unportable and got a POD. Best thing I ever did.

[quote name='peteb' post='938099' date='Aug 27 2010, 02:08 PM']Re. the Sting / Jaco comparisons I'm sure that Sting would be the first to be embarrassed to be compared to Jaco as a bass player – different stratosphere mate! Jaco composed some nice pieces of music (Portrait of Tracy, etc) but there is no doubt that Sting is a far better pop/rock songwriter – the Police were one of THE great singles bands……[/quote] Well said Pete.

[quote name='Spoombung' post='937908' date='Aug 27 2010, 10:51 AM']To get to Sting's bass playing you have to get past his silly, high-pitched voice and cod - Jamaican accent ...and I'm not prepred to do that, I'm afraid.[/quote] I love his voice, and it's better than ever now. I've always loved his voice.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='937207' date='Aug 26 2010, 02:55 PM']Just found this thread. Really interesting build! Just wanted to say... Holy f***! That's just... that's just... wow. Definitely no neck-dive worries. With that much weight down the bottom, you might have more of a problem with the headstock swinging up and clocking you one in the face. [/quote] Quite!

I'm thinking of starting a "For the Alex Van Halen Detractors". Why is he a crap drummer. I think he's a good drummer, he played all the right things on the VH albums, and he holds time well enough. What's the problem with him?

[quote name='risingson' post='936644' date='Aug 26 2010, 12:19 AM']It's still horses for courses, I find it hard pitting two great musicians with differing levels of technical ability and completely different target demographics against each other. I prefer to listen to Sting but maybe someone else might prefer listening to the director's cut of 'Donna Lee' (should it exist... I reckon it does). It's all a bit irrelevant if you ask me, I'm sure if you asked Sting I reckon he'd say the same thing.[/quote] Agreed, but we're not talking about Shergar here

[quote name='deathpanda' post='936632' date='Aug 26 2010, 12:08 AM']I'm a fan of almost anything (with a shred of integrity, of course), and grew up listening to more Sting than Jaco. I have nothing but respect for the dude, but I was just trying to put across the point that I think Jaco was just as good a song writer. not better or worse, that's impossible to define, but I just don't agree with notion that Jaco was merely an "instrument operator". that's the only thing I took issue with... moving on though... I will give his solo albums a listen and no doubt I'll probably like the f*** out of them.[/quote] I'm afraid that Jaco number you posted was pretty much proof to me that Jaco was nowhere near being a songwriter in the artistic sense of the word, and nowhere near Sting in terms of songwriting. For Jaco, it was all about the bass. Sorry mate, not disrespecting you or anything.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='936203' date='Aug 25 2010, 06:01 PM']Dammit, wombatboter beat me to it with Tea in the Sahara... Otherwise, So lonely, Message in a bottle (except you can hear he's out of tune on the recording), Man in a suitcase. Some of the solo stuff's okay, too. The shift from A Pentatonic to A Major into the middle 8 of "Soul cages" is quite nifty. Same key. Same tempo. Wholly different feel and nicely executed to boot.[/quote] And I'd forgotten how ace Spirits in the Material World is until reminded on the previous page!

[quote name='deathpanda' post='936178' date='Aug 25 2010, 05:32 PM']hate to always defend Jaco, but I'd love to see Sting write a song like this not meaning to sound disrespectful to Sting, I actually quite like most of his stuff, but Jaco was as good a songwriter as any.[/quote] Umm, it's not a competition That Jaco song is not something I would ever want to hear again. Only the drums and voice make it funky. If I wanted to hear bass like that I would choose Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, which is much more listen-able, and a really good song. It's Just Jaco showing off again, which is what he nearly always does. That's not a song, its a bass idea with music and vocal around it. The only thing I liked about it is that drum drop which makes the music lurch beautifully. That's it for me. Otherwise I would just switch off.

[quote name='zero9' post='935933' date='Aug 25 2010, 01:39 PM']Anything by Sting...[/quote]

[quote name='oldslapper' post='935832' date='Aug 25 2010, 12:10 PM']So glad you put that in silddx, hopefully the thread can continue to be about him as a musician. Saw the Police when they supported Ten Years After way back in late 70's, then again when Walking on the moon had just charted. Sting was the most "energetic" musician I had ever seen live, blew me away both times. Great songs, vox and bass lines. [b]Whatever material of his I have listened to, he seems to use space really well, "less is more" kind of thing (most of the time). [/b] I also like the way he has explored different genre since the Police days. Not all his material is to my taste, but I respect him as a musician, totally. John[/quote] I meant to put that in the OP! I side-tracked myself with all that Wooten sh*t His instinctive sense of when to leave a note OUT, is one of the keys to his style I think. He just seems to know how to get a groove moving, and how to syncopate, withourt really thinking about it, which is why his bass playing has so much personality. Well said, mate.

[quote name='risingson' post='935804' date='Aug 25 2010, 11:42 AM']Soloing bass parts often reveals an uneven take, even if at the time it might have felt like a tight locking in with the drums, like you say it's all about where the bass part sits in relation to everything else. I think this is what so many people miss when they listen to bass guitar on record, [b]it's the little mistakes that make music interesting, not perfection.[/b] [/quote] Exactly.

[quote name='risingson' post='935784' date='Aug 25 2010, 11:27 AM']This might be an interesting read for some, here Hugh Padgham who was the Police's engineer' for their last few albums talks about Sting's bass ability. Full article to be found here: [url="http://mixonline.com/recording/interviews/audio_polices_every_breath/"]http://mixonline.com/recording/interviews/...s_every_breath/[/url][/quote] That's very interesting. He bounces on a trampoline in the Synchronicity Concert film, totally out of time with the music I might add. As for soloing bass tracks, it's a bit misleading. I recorded what I felt was a near perfect take to a song the other night, a song with a sequenced drum track, so metronome timing. I soloed it before emailing the bass track to the songwriter. It was all over the place timing wise, occasional ghost notes from strings ringing sympathetically, fret noise here and there. I was shocked at how dodgy it sounded and considered doining it again. But I played it mixed at about the right level with the song and it worked perfectly. The timing was just me laying back in the groove or pushing it in the parts that needed it. It wasn't a conscious decision as such, I played how the song made me feel. Weird though.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='935736' date='Aug 25 2010, 10:47 AM']Personally I'd like to hear more people saying which Sting basslines they like in particular, and why. Anyone?[/quote] My personal favourite is Wrapped Around Your Finger. For its wonderful feel and how the notes compliment the feel of the lyrics so perfectly. The choice of a fretless for the album version was inspired, chosen for precisely the right reasons. I love his little embellishments throughout the song, little slides, rhythmic accents, natural harmonics, etc. I love all recorded versions of it, studio and live. The fact it's such a wonderful vehicle for Stewart Copeland is a much appreciated and massive bonus.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='935693' date='Aug 25 2010, 10:16 AM']When I was studying Music Production at Newcastle College, Sting came along and basically had an open rehearsal with the guys he was using for a show that evening. He had to rest his sore throat for the show, so he pulled a couple of fans out of the crowd of students to do the singing and just sat back to play bass. It was a real treat to watch him just concentrating on the bassing. Mainly very simple lines (with those lovely little melodic flourishes Nigel mentioned), played with confidence, groove and solidity. (And it was clearly something he hadn't done in a while, because he was reading charts for his own songs!) In the end, his throat didn't hold out that well, so he invited a couple of the students along to the show to do some of the vocal duties for the real thing. Now [i]that[/i] must've been pretty awesome for them.[/quote] Er, WOW!

I think he's a very good songwriter and an excellent guitarist. I like his voice too. Can't stand his lyrics though.

[quote name='lonestar' post='935674' date='Aug 25 2010, 09:54 AM']I couldn't agree more with all of the above sliddx. As well as most of the Police stuff; one can almost forgive the daft high pitch reggae'ish vocals, I really like his Nothing like the sun solo album with him on bass and a stellar lineup of musicians playing on it. Good point about songwriter bassplayers versus muso bass players. I find that as with guitards noodly players are often at their best playing on other people's material. Tony Levin+ Peter Gabriel( and just about everything else he's played on), Steve Vai+ Zappa are perfect examples for me.[/quote] Exactly my point. Most of Zappa's musicians were pretty bad when it came to solo material. I think Zappa was invited to make a speech to some music college in the states churning out top flight instrumentalists, might have been Berklee, can't remember. He said something like "don't try to make music, music doesn't need you". I'll look it up tonight when I get home and post the accurate quote.

[quote name='Clarky' post='935664' date='Aug 25 2010, 09:41 AM']His bass playing in early Police was good and memorable ([b]everyone plays Walking On The Moon, don't they, while noodling?)[/b] However the only solo album of his I liked (Dream of the Blue Turtles) featured Darryl Jones on bass![/quote] Yep! In fact we played it in a rehearsal a few weeks ago, Kit started playing and singing it, and we all joined in, even the violins. It's a wickid number. I've played it in auditions and when I tried out an EUB in the Gallery. It is so simple but it insinuates itself into one's head for the rest of your life once you've heard it. It's a great line for drummers to play around, it drives the song, it is based on two notes but doesn't sound like it. The ultimate in basslines.

I know lots of people dislike the guy, because of what they read and see of him in the meejah, but this isn't about that. This is about the fact he is a fabulous pop and rock bassist. I realise some of the qualities below are because he is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, but most of the celebrated pop and rock bassists are aswell, like Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Paul McCartney. It is why I can't get into Jaco, Wooten, Alain Caron, etc. They are not songwriters, they are instrument operators with enormous facility. To me they are making bass a solo instrument, which I don't like at all. Compared to other solo-inclined instruments, it is simply far too limited, both in timbre and potential for compelling expression, beyond the odd song or two. Which is why most solo-type bassists all do more-or-less the same thing. It's like the difference between a sax and a tuba. I don't want to hear a tuba solo, do you? That's just my view you understand. [b]Sting Qualities:[/b] He uses the bass to get the most from his songs. He uses the bass to get the most from his vocal. He uses the bass to create atmoshere and make the song [i]breathe[/i]. He creates bass lines which are [b]interesting [/b]and [b]inspiring [/b]as well as doing the above. He varies his bass lines throughout the song in a compelling way, with many rhythmic, melodic and harmonic accents and grace notes. He improvises and jazzes up his bass lines in a live setting which adds a lot of interest to the interplay with the rest of the band. He gets good tones. He plays very sensitively and knows when to accent and when to hold back. Most of all, he understands the multiple roles of the bass and uses them appropriately and to maximum effect in the song. I believe he does this instinctively. I think he's a bit of a genius on bass. What do you think?

[quote name='KillCassidy' post='934583' date='Aug 24 2010, 11:11 AM']BASSIST REQUIRED FOR KILL CASSIDY (Bristol) www.myspace.com/killcassidy {snipped by mod}[/quote] Your mate's already posted this in the Bassists Wanted section so why have you posted it in a pictures of bassists thread? Hmmm?

[quote name='Sue' post='934501' date='Aug 24 2010, 09:57 AM']A belated hello to you too! (Cool hat!) A great review of the gig, by the way.[/quote] Thank you, Sue