Bass players slapping

[Cantdosleepy]

I dislike the sound of slap bass.

[Sarah5string]

As a popular comedy duo used to say...

No neeeeeeed!

[cheddatom]

I hardly ever slap in my band, but there is the odd occasion where that extra percussive element really helps. With a little bit of overdrive, tuned to drop D, slapping those power chords can sound "brutal".

[geilerbass]

I love the sound of slap - there's something so gloriously satisfying about it... ...but only if it's done well and done appropriately. I still wince at the thought of one of the first rhythm section classes I had at college - we were doing a basic blues groove and working on getting the feel right with the drummer and guitarist. One of the other bass players got up for his try and immediately lashed into a sloppy flurry of slapped and tapped fills, none of which were in the notation. Thankfully the teacher explained to him, diplomatically, that he was completely missing the point. Sadly, he kept up his approach throughout the course - I hope he's figured out by now that more is not always more.

That said, right now I'm going through Stuart Clayton's excellent Ultimate Slap Bass book with the purpose of getting my slap chops really tight and trying to master some of the more advanced techniques. Not because I want to show off, but because it's fun and I like the way it sounds. Simple as that. Though it's highly unlikely I'll be using any of the techniques in any of my bands.

[bremen]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='239135' date='Jul 14 2008, 01:32 PM']I hardly ever slap in my band, but there is the odd occasion where that extra percussive element really helps.[/quote]

Well you *are* a drummer, after all...

[bremen]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='238987' date='Jul 14 2008, 10:49 AM']Everything in moderation. A good bit of slap work from the likes of Mark King and Stuart Hamm can be wildly satisfying. When it's overused and played out of context, it does sound bad. Similarly, fretless is not free from the cheese, and can sound as corny and out of place as an over-enthusiastic thumb.[/quote]

Speaking of Mark King and slapping, here's a sample of Mark King not slapping:

[url="http://www.status-graphite.com/status/carts3/sounds/waltz.m3u"]http://www.status-graphite.com/status/cart...ounds/waltz.m3u[/url]

[Doddy]

I think the problem with slapping these days,is that the majority of people only ever play octave patterns as fast as possible.
I mean,it's only a technique,and shouldn't affect your note choices or groove,but for some reason many players get stuck in certain patterns(mostly root,octave,minor 7th hammer-on). Unfortunately alot players don't seem to understand that thumping is just another way of sounding a note and not a style of music.

[blamelouis]

I have no problem with slap bass, like a lot of bassists i bought stuart claytons slap book (fantastic) and love mark king and marcus miller jonas hellborg and michael manring and do slap myself.

My problem is the TOURETTES syndrome which has no musical merit at all. To switch from fingerstyle to slapping for a quick 3 note burst in the middle of a tune defies logic surely ?

And also to look round the club as if to say "check me out " is comical!

Maybe i'm being too harsh.

[cheddatom]

I often find myself popping the odd note, as opposed to just fingering it. I thought a lot of people did this? I don't see the difference with slapping?

bremen - I'm not a drummer! I'm a bassist who enjoys playing the drums whilst drunk.

[lowdown]

[quote name='Doddy' post='239179' date='Jul 14 2008, 02:23 PM']Unfortunately alot players don't seem to understand that thumping is just another way of sounding a note and not a style of music.[/quote] well put.

Try playing say..a Twelve bar at 170 bpm in shuffle feel.
Only thumbing the note,no pulls or ghost notes,or octaves.
Just a steady solid swing [and in time]
Plenty of so called slappers fall over on that one.

The one that got me is... [hope he is not a fellow basschatter]
A bass player at a recent corporate gig i was on [he was in the function band]
Spent ages sound checking , [digging in to our turn rehearsal ]
Trying to get a slap sound....then spent all night playing with his fingers!
When it came to the thump break in Car Wash....
Made a complete f......g arse of it.

Back to topic....slapping in Bad salads..!


Garry

[Thunderthumbs]

I'm one of those that spent an awful lot of my youngers years being influenced by Mark King. True to form, I'm not as good, or likely ever to be as good as the guys I listen(ed) to.

When I listen back to some of the stuff I used to do back then, it was horrendous. I used to slap pretty much everything.

I still do a bit of slap now and again. But these days, I try do it where I feel it might be appropriate, so it's less and less.

I try with less percussion, and more groove. I also try and play it in such a way that it sits totally with what the drummer is playing, and maybe to give a cover a slightly different approach to the original.

So I don't think wholely that slapping is a bad idea, but done badly and too often it is.

[lowdown]

[quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='239224' date='Jul 14 2008, 03:12 PM']I'm one of those that spent an awful lot of my youngers years being influenced by Mark King. True to form, I'm not as good, or likely ever to be as good as the guys I listen(ed) to.

When I listen back to some of the stuff I used to do back then, it was horrendous. I used to slap pretty much everything.

I still do a bit of slap now and again. But these days, I try do it where I feel it might be appropriate, so it's less and less.

I try with less percussion, and more groove. I also try and play it in such a way that it sits totally with what the drummer is playing, and maybe to give a cover a slightly different approach to the original.

So I don't think wholely that slapping is a bad idea, but done badly and too often it is.[/quote]

Might be worth changing your name to funky fingers.

I think we might have all been down your road at some time [ if we are honest - and we proberly aint ]

Garry

[Golchen]

[quote name='blamelouis' post='238942' date='Jul 14 2008, 09:52 AM']i dont want to risk sliding on the slippery slope !! [/quote]


The slappery slope??

[Machines]

Hmm. I'm in a funk band and slap in one of our songs, only because it fits perfectly well. There are plenty of songs I know it doesn't work and prefer to sit back and just play 'quietly'. Too much slap is mind-numbing - i'd had enough of it after the last Bass Bash !

[Thunderthumbs]

[quote name='lowdown' post='239230' date='Jul 14 2008, 03:18 PM']Might be worth changing your name to funky fingers. [/quote]
Hmmm......thinks.....

[quote name='lowdown' post='239230' date='Jul 14 2008, 03:18 PM']I think we might have all been down your road at some time [ if we are honest - and we proberly aint ] [/quote]

Nail on head.

[bremen]

[quote name='Machines' post='239240' date='Jul 14 2008, 03:36 PM']Too much slap is mind-numbing - i'd had enough of it after the last Bass Bash ![/quote]

'the whole experience felt like spending a day locked in a staple-gun factory...' -TKenrick

[truegeminis]

[quote name='geilerbass' post='239136' date='Jul 14 2008, 01:34 PM']I love the sound of slap - there's something so gloriously satisfying about it... ...but only if it's done well and done appropriately. I still wince at the thought of one of the first rhythm section classes I had at college - we were doing a basic blues groove and working on getting the feel right with the drummer and guitarist. One of the other bass players got up for his try and immediately lashed into a sloppy flurry of slapped and tapped fills, none of which were in the notation. Thankfully the teacher explained to him, diplomatically, that he was completely missing the point. Sadly, he kept up his approach throughout the course - I hope he's figured out by now that more is not always more.

That said, right now I'm going through Stuart Clayton's excellent Ultimate Slap Bass book with the purpose of getting my slap chops really tight and trying to master some of the more advanced techniques. Not because I want to show off, but because it's fun and I like the way it sounds. Simple as that. Though it's highly unlikely I'll be using any of the techniques in any of my bands.[/quote]


I met him in a bar in Kingston a few years later. He's now a guitarist!

... You're not surprised are you.

[blamelouis]

[quote name='Machines' post='239240' date='Jul 14 2008, 03:36 PM']Hmm. I'm in a funk band and slap in one of our songs, only because it fits perfectly well. There are plenty of songs I know it doesn't work and prefer to sit back and just play 'quietly'. Too much slap is mind-numbing - i'd had enough of it after the last Bass Bash ![/quote]
Nothing wrong with that !
But to go off on a tangent not complimenting the music for a few notes every couple of bars = delusions of adequacy !

diarrhea of the fretboard , constipation of the mind !

[Funkmaster]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='239209' date='Jul 14 2008, 02:52 PM']I often find myself popping the odd note, as opposed to just fingering it. I thought a lot of people did this?[/quote]

Yeah - me too.

In my head, and in the right place, I just see it as kind of musical 'punctuation'.

Plus a bit of slapped 'disco' octaves occiasionally (in the ceilidh band mostly)

But I'd never see myself as a slapper - it's just another way to coax a different sound out of the bass and gear.

David

[geilerbass]

[quote name='truegeminis' post='239249' date='Jul 14 2008, 03:51 PM']I met him in a bar in Kingston a few years later. He's now a guitarist!

... You're not surprised are you. [/quote]

Ha ha!!! I bump into him every now and then - last time I saw him, I think he probably said he was now a guitarist. Nope, no surprise there...

[Chris2112]

Is it Stuart Clayton who is playing guitar now?

[EssentialTension]

Can't slap, won't slap, don't slap ...... but a very very occasional pop.

[geilerbass]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='239460' date='Jul 14 2008, 07:51 PM']Is it Stuart Clayton who is playing guitar now? [/quote]



No, it was the guy at college that I used for an example of unnecessary slapping. Truegeminis was also in my class and clearly knows who I'm talking about.

I think Stuart Clayton might actually be on this forum - which should hopefully mean he hasn't turned to the darkside

[Chris2112]

[quote name='geilerbass' post='239501' date='Jul 14 2008, 08:42 PM']

No, it was the guy at college that I used for an example of unnecessary slapping. Truegeminis was also in my class and clearly knows who I'm talking about.

I think Stuart Clayton might actually be on this forum - which should hopefully mean he hasn't turned to the darkside [/quote]

I was gonna say, Stu is too much of a talent to stop playing bass!

[Josh]

Try telling a Die hard MK fan that your not the biggest fan of slap, yet you have a King-Bass, it's the best reaction ever!

Personally I find that it's a sign of maturity, once you've gone through the phases of wanting to tap like Sheehan and Hamm and slapping when no one else is playing or paying any attention, or when the teacher is trying to introduce your songs at your performances, you actually notice the subtle difference of just holding the groove as best you can, can give you an even bigger buzz than playing "Mr. Pink" in front of the mirror.

I like slap, but the same for any focused player, I prefer tasteful slap, I.E Marcus Miller esque slap and thats pretty much self-explantary. I'll have a noodle around with it at home and make sure I can do it good enough so if I ever need to add into what I want to do, I can but that is hardly ever and I prefer it that way, I even refrain from popping here and there with just a simple hard pluck over the neck pick-up, simple and it sounds just right.


Ohhh and try and teach a drummer how to slap correctly, it's more than a laugh!