Spoombung

Lined. Why make fretless bass playing anymore difficult than it already is?

I don't associate Overwater basses with any particular player, or any well known recordings/albums. Do they have a particular sonic quality that sets them apart? I've never heard/played one before - even though they've been around for years.

Without doubt one of the most remarkable basses I've ever seen. Plays like butter and is immaculately constructed. You're a lucky man, Davo.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='645853' date='Nov 4 2009, 11:38 PM'] [/quote] Can you ask the camera man to zoom in a bit, please?

[quote name='Cairobill' post='644326' date='Nov 3 2009, 12:45 PM']Of course when you're making the music, the more familiar elements like the sound of your fretless playing must after a while feel a bit 'been there done that' so, to your ears, your favourites aren't bass heavy. But whenever I hear you play the bass it sounds like only you could have done it, it is a completely unique sound. That is a serious achievement on any instrument let alone the bass. Kudos! Cairo[/quote] That's very nice of you to say that but I can't help thinking that a better grasp of the [i]popular pulse[/i] would have served me better on occasion!

Thanks again, Bass Bruvs. [quote name='steve-soar' post='644030' date='Nov 2 2009, 11:52 PM']Steve Reich, "Music For a left hand up yours finger and Sixteen tripleting right hand digits with treatments", I think that's the name. [/quote] That just about sums it up!

Thanks for the nice comments, guys. I had a quick look on Youtube to see if there was any Cameroon music ( the inspiration for the Spoombung - that and Steve Reich) and there are bit and pieces thus: Perhaps you can hear a slight resemblance? This was the album: [i]Spoombung[/i] is an onomatopoeic word derived from the sound of the rhythm (as you've probably gathered)

[quote name='skelf' post='643272' date='Nov 2 2009, 11:48 AM']My favourite track of Kev's is Return of the Bung which I think is genius and suggest you hunt it out well worth the effort.[/quote] Thanks Alan. I probably shouldn't say this...but my own personal favourites don't usually feature the bass too much!

[quote name='Sibob' post='643271' date='Nov 2 2009, 11:43 AM']I liked it! Don't think I could more than 8mins of it lol, but nice to hear someone doing something a little bit different with solo bass rather than just slapslapslapslapslapslaptapslapslapslap etc Si[/quote] It gets good about 5 minutes in!

Where the hell is Moffat, anyway?

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='643247' date='Nov 2 2009, 11:19 AM']Anyway, it prompted me to have a root around the musical travels on your website, and.. wow. What an adventure! Nice one...[/quote] Why, thank you.

I found an old recording of myself from years ago (1996) playing the 'Spoombung' - a solo (prepared) bass piece - so I've uploaded it on to Youtube. The inspiration for the piece came out of my interest in free improvisation and Cameroonian music. The main ingredient is a pounding beat at a fixed tempo, lots of overtones and harmonic complexity and triplets and flams to produce the rhythm. Tonal variation is provided by an 'assistant'. His job is to move the clips and other paraphernalia around. There is much rattling. If I think about it retrospectively, it's more like an art piece - you know: a performance. 'Preparing' instruments is nothing new, as any student of John Cage will tell you. Guitarists like Fred Frith and Keith Rowe from AMM have been using it for years. But curiously, [i]not bass guitarists[/i] - and I haven't really seen another example after all these years. I thought there might be a gap in the market! My own opinion is that bassists do not tend to like 'experimenting' because they're usually in a supporting role. I abandoned it years ago because I felt I couldn't really move the technique onwards or create much variation from the original blueprint. Unfortunately I never got to play it at big venues (only in front of small gatherings of people in free-impro clubs in London). I did have a go at it at the weekend, however, and it all came back after about 15 minutes. Anyway I wondered what Basschatters might think of it...

[quote name='Musicman20' post='631742' date='Oct 20 2009, 08:06 PM']This is why I love Precisions! [/quote] That's the only Precision I ever heard that sounds like that. I always thought it sounded more like a Rickenbacker, ala Chris Squire. Anyway, it's an awesome, rough sound.

I had the 100 in the 70's and early 80's. Sounded very rich and pleasant.

[quote name='Prosebass' post='631159' date='Oct 20 2009, 10:35 AM'] [/quote] [color="#FF00FF"][size=4]*CRINGE*[/size][/color] You've gone too far now, Paul.

[quote name='Davo-London' post='630952' date='Oct 19 2009, 11:34 PM']Spoombung I see where you get your sound from now ... Davo[/quote] That's good investigative work there, Detective Davo. He was a big influence - the original idea when I started playing all those years ago was to condense some of the Jones language into a 3- minute energized post-punk format (an idea that was considered an act of Punk treachery among my peers until they saw how it all came together in Stump - then it was all [i]Wow, where did that come from?[/i], etc, etc). Since then the objectives, techniques, and context have changed and I've moved away from the ideas I had in my twenties.

[quote name='Prosebass' post='630702' date='Oct 19 2009, 07:54 PM']Well trying at least, same notes I suppose... [/quote] You're far too modest, Paul. I thought you sounded rather accomplished. I was intimidated, to be honest.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='629412' date='Oct 18 2009, 12:58 PM']Nice bit of communal herbage going on in the rythmn section.[/quote] No, no, you've got that all wrong, Steve! Mick was the only partaker of 'herbage' in the band. Rob and I are simply sharing a fag. Someone had to stay sober in that band and I'm afraid it was left to the boys in the rhythm section (as always).

Funny. I favourite a lot of drummers on Youtube... but don't particularly like playing with them. They make too much noise.

Noizy Young Men.

[quote name='Prosebass' post='627480' date='Oct 15 2009, 11:51 PM']Nay , Nay and thrice Nay........ just different Whilst we are exploring fretless in this thread how about a bit of Chris Gartner [/quote] Oooooo, I haven't come across him before. Interesting style. I like the way he hangs around in the sub notes then surfaces occasionally for extended slides and growls. In that way he has similarities with Mr Jones. Great sounding bass too. I might have to Google him now.

[quote name='Prosebass' post='627297' date='Oct 15 2009, 08:12 PM']Having just listened to 'Product' from 1979 I have been reminded of John Giblin.....a name that doesn't crop up much on the forum.[/quote] Ah, I remember you playing 'April' at one of the bassbashes, Paul.

Nicely done.