Grimalkin

Just now, stewblack said:

Thank you - that's a great one. I don't have a clue about the synths used - and I don't really care. But if others enjoy discussing it that's cool.

I've always liked interesting synth lines, synth players tend to approach things in a way that wouldn't naturally occur to a bassist.

2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

That one is almost certainly a DX7 - different from the bananarama one.

indeed. I'm just posting synth lines I found useful to play along with, on bass.

On you go.

Need a five string, and the ability to swing...

https://www.mixonline.com/recording/classic-tracks-thomas-dolbys-she-blinded-me-science-365232

"Most of “Science” was recorded on synthesizers. A Moog Source synth played by Dolby’s bass guitarist, Matthew Seligman, was used for the prominent bass lines. Instead of going direct, however, Friese-Greene fattened up the synthesized sounds by feeding them out to Seligman’s miked bass amp in the studio."

"I'm an alligator
I'm a mama-papa comin' for you
I'm the space invader
I'll be a rock 'n' rollin' beach for you
Keep your mouth shut
You're squawking like a pink monkey bird
And I'm bustin' up my brains for the words..."

Indeed.

"The phone, the TV and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh-oh..."

More pigeons. From hell this time.

"From the early 1970s, David Bowie used cut-ups to create some of his lyrics. In 1995 he worked with Ty Roberts to develop a program called Verbasizer for his Apple PowerBook that could automatically rearrange multiple sentences written into it."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut-up_technique#:~:text=The cut-up technique (or,Burroughs.

Write them on bits of paper and put them into a hat.

"Pigeons in flight
I wanna see you tonight
I want to hold you
If I may be so bold to
And tell you some things that you like..."

I would like to have a vintage SA-17.

Play lighter and turn the amp up, that's how you retain energy over distance. One thing you need to tighten up with that is muting, otherwise the extraneous noises will be more pronounced with the extra headroom. Ligaments and tendons work better in straight lines, straighten out the wrist and fingers a little more.

I always wondered if "Ready" Freddie Washington was paid a flat fee for what he contributed to Patrice Rushen's: "Forget Me Nots". Turns out he was credited as co-writer, which is only good and right considering what the line does for the track, it's where it's at.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpHwfckZ7SU

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Washington_(bassist)

Make it a habit of visualising the first five frets of the board in your head. If someone asks what the 6th of C major is, it's far easier to locate if you can visualise it on the board.

4 minutes ago, Fishfacefour said:

Just tried this. Much harder than you would imagine!

In pairs it is a struggle, you have to 'think' them up.  The idea is to make that connection faster, for the independence.

Practise internal time, set a timer for a minute, and count down yourself without looking at it. See how far out you are.

On slower tempos subdivide the gap by counting a straight triplet, not swung. This gives you more of a reference and a feel rather than trying to judge a big empty gap. Drummers use that a lot.

If you're really bored, put your hand palm flat on a table top and try lifting pairs of fingers in different combinations while keeping the rest flat. Thumb and index are easy, try index and ring, mid and pinky and so on...

 Piano callisthenics.

Interval recognition, if I gave someone a root note and asked them to sing a perfect fifth interval above it, they may have problems getting that. But if you remember that a fifth interval is the first two notes of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,' you can do it almost instantaneously. You don't have to use the tunes listed, you can find your own. The first two notes of 'Whole Lotta Love' for instance, is a minor third interval.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_recognition

Alternation while string crossing. Rocco Prestia lines are not just difficult because of the stamina, Rocco used strict alternation almost all of the time. It's hard work trying to play it with raking.

"When the pain will vanish, will you make it home
Our days were squandered, our days were sunk
Attenders of madness, fell from great heights
Today's darkest cloud, was yesterday's light

We must've spiralled out of control
Suffer and glory, rage in my skull
All we've become, to make it seem right
Today's darkest cloud, was yesterday's light..."

Not the kind of thing I'm into as far as slap, but a description and demo of what having a thicker plate helps with in that regard.

From 4.30 - 5.30:

If you like playing over ramps, or pickups effectively acting as ramps, then for different thumb techniques, a nice thick pick-guard does the same thing. It stops your fingers from over-travelling. I've had a couple made and requested that they be thicker than the usual three ply.