Running Free

[TimR]

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1440763313' post='2853620']
I'd say that's the secret of good production and mixing.

The secret of good playing is to play good, then you don't need things to be masked.

I fully understand the playing with a band and getting a good overall feel and a few things will be pushed and pulled, but that was just sloppy. Check this, here's JPJ. It's with the band there is the odd push/pull but not sloppy. Good playing!

[url="https://youtu.be/3ANwQW8aspI"]http://youtu.be/3ANwQW8aspI[/url]
[/quote]

The masking isn't done in production. It's done while you are playing. If you can't hear noises you are making while you are playing then neither can your audience. In fact if you can't hear them how do you eliminate them?

We're talking about rock music here, not a solo classical guitar performance.

It's only when you micro analyse each stroke that you'll ever hear it.

That's why as we progress through the digital age recordings are sounding more and more sterile and lifeless.

[sykilz]

It's not likeMaiden bury the bass sound in the mix though, is it...? I can always hear the bass quite clearly, probably because he has such a middy/toppy sound, to be honest not my favourite sound, but it works great for them,and the "sloppy" style is what makes the band sound alive. Mr Harris has done o.k for himself, I'm sure.

[HengistPod]

Apparently, Harris plays with a very low action and a very light touch. It has been said (by either him or Nicko) that if anyone else picked up his bass to play it,they'd blow all the speakers with their first note. He certainly uses two fingers rather than three.

Running Free doesn't require any fancy stuff. Getting the intro (where you're "naked") sounding right is the main thing. Use an open E occasionally instead of the 7th fret to add meat.

Much more entertaining is "Children of the Damned", which requires bionic fingers. You can get away with it with three right hand fingers going like the clappers - how Harris does it with two is beyond me.

[Iain]

[quote name='HengistPod' timestamp='1440773088' post='2853763']how Harris does it with two is beyond me.[/quote]

Indeed - the 16th gallop in something like 22 Acacia Avenue is tiring but fine with two fingers, CotD is something else when you get to the fast bit - it's fast with 3 fingers for me!

[Bassjon]

[quote name='interpol52' timestamp='1440759098' post='2853547']
I thought it was the strings hitting the neck.
[/quote]

He plays right up near the edge of the neck aswell where the strings are looser.

SH is far tighter than Cliff ever was. Cliff was not actually all that great with his tightness on the faster stuff - Steve is amazing!

[discreet]

Isolated bass tracks are never meant to be heard in isolation. Criticising a bass player's technique or whatever is just pointless, as the end result is all that is intended to be heard. And if that sounds good, then it IS good. It's all the little nuances, rattles, timing errors, pushing and pulling and even mistakes that make great bands great. It's not just the bass doing this, it's every member of the band and it's what makes music like this greater than the sum of its parts. As already said above, this is why modern programmed digital music has no soul because it's perfectly produced and perfectly in time. It has no humanity about it whatsoever and relies almost entirely on production tricks to make it in any way interesting.

[ubit]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1440846403' post='2854279']
Isolated bass tracks are never meant to be heard in isolation. Criticising a bass player's technique or whatever is just pointless, as the end result is all that is intended to be heard. And if that sounds good, then it IS good. It's all the little nuances, rattles, timing errors, pushing and pulling and even mistakes that make great bands great. It's not just the bass doing this, it's every member of the band and it's what makes music like this greater than the sum of its parts. As already said above, this is why modern programmed digital music has no soul because it's perfectly produced and perfectly in time. It has no humanity about it whatsoever and relies almost entirely on production tricks to make it in any way interesting.
[/quote]

Couldn't agree more, which is precisely why I'm not worried about the keeping time app. Music is feel, not manufactured ! Well some of it is manufactured, but the less said about that, the better!

[TimR]

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1440848153' post='2854304']


Couldn't agree more, which is precisely why I'm not worried about the keeping time app. Music is feel, not manufactured ! Well some of it is manufactured, but the less said about that, the better!
[/quote]

Micro timing is different to keeping time.

But then we had this conversation before didn't we

[discreet]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1440865296' post='2854434']
Micro timing is different to keeping time. But then we had this conversation before didn't we
[/quote]

It is, you did and I'm off! *Runs away*

[sykilz]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1440865529' post='2854438']


It is, you did and I'm off! *Runs away*
[/quote]
Run to the hills.........😁 coat retrieved, leaving building.

[SH73]

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1440749331' post='2853442']
There are a few isolated bass tracks on YouTube. If you listen, you will here how sloppy he is! Poor. If they are him? Which I think they are!
http://youtu.be/23YO8ijT4Ao

http://youtu.be/qSYuse9o8KI
[/quote]

You might think he is sloppy, but neither you or any other bassist out there have as much as passion, drive and determination to achieve what Steve Harris has . I've listened to different bass isolated tracks by other artists but I love Steve's style. He is unique and his isolated tracks, if it's him, sound raw and powerful.