jmstone Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Anyone else had this problem? I was playing through a new song with the band at our last practice, and came up with what I thought was a pretty cool bassline for part of it, until one of the other guys pointed out it was "quite like" a White Stripes track.. I then realised it was pretty much the bassline from 7 Nation Army with maybe one note different.. So what do you do? Come up with something else? Keep it in as a kind of kitsch reference to the White Stripes (it's not as if it makes up a major part of our song)? Give up on playing in a band and look for a job as a shoe salesman? Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 I think it's kind of inevitable that it happens at some point. I realised the other week I'd ripped off something by avenged sevenfold. As long as people don't hear it and think 'Oh, it's that white stripes/avenged sevenfold/joe bloggs bassline' then I shouldn't think it matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 [quote name='Sarah5string' post='353645' date='Dec 13 2008, 03:35 PM']I think it's kind of inevitable that it happens at some point. I realised the other week I'd ripped off something by avenged sevenfold. As long as people don't hear it and think 'Oh, it's that white stripes/avenged sevenfold/joe bloggs bassline' then I shouldn't think it matters.[/quote] Me neither. I'd draw the line at Ken off Bros's riffs though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 I did this years ago with a Lords of the New Church b side. I wrote a bassline, and the guitarist came up with his part for it. We thought it was quite good. And then I revisited the single - not only was 'my' bassline almost the same but the guitarist's part was virtually identical as well. The weird thing was that I'd only ever played the song once, maybe 9 months beforehand, and the guitarist had never heard it. The only thing we could do was ditch the entire thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 It really depends if you are passing it off as your own work, IMHO. I play things when jamming with the drum machine that I realise sound a bit like something I've heard, I think everyone does it. I do think what you play is a distillation of talent, imagination and influences and I've not sure its always an exact 3 way split. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmstone Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 [quote name='Musky' post='353653' date='Dec 13 2008, 03:41 PM']I did this years ago with a Lords of the New Church b side. I wrote a bassline, and the guitarist came up with his part for it. We thought it was quite good. And then I revisited the single - not only was 'my' bassline almost the same but the guitarist's part was virtually identical as well. The weird thing was that I'd only ever played the song once, maybe 9 months beforehand, and the guitarist had never heard it. The only thing we could do was ditch the entire thing...[/quote] Yeh.. I must say it's a bit weird 'cos I don't even like the White Stripes that much, and I certainly haven't been practicing any of their basslines! Still, it must have seeped into my consciousness through the constant bombardment from the radio etc... Or maybe it's such an obvious bassline it just emerged on its own.. Another of my songs (when I was writing songs on the guitar) sounded a bit like "what's happenening" by The Byrds... although my song was a lot more interesting!! (heh heh)... Still, not as blatant as Elastica's "Waking Up" rip off of The Stranglers "No More Heroes", I hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarPig Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 When you only seen to play simple chord progressions most of the time, its going to happen eventually :-/ Good thing im not in that band anymore, maybe we'll reform one day and have abit more skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nito Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 I rip off basslines by accident all the time, and it really winds me up, because instead of coming up with a nice bassline I end up playing something else and end up completely distracted from my original intentions, witch are composing something new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mewsie Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 [quote name='jmstone' post='353671' date='Dec 13 2008, 04:02 PM']Still, not as blatant as Elastica's "Waking Up" rip off of The Stranglers "No More Heroes", I hope![/quote] lol, elastica were the reason i first picked up a guitar! they were terrible for ripping people off (the other classic was 'connection' and 'three girl rhumba' by wire). i agree that its bound to happen sometimes due to things unconsciously slipping in. a few of my own basslines have felt comfortable and familiar and i am always just a little paranoid that its because i've heard it before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Cooke Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 I play Blues... It's almost impossible not to accidentally re-use a bassline someone else has come up with... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 my main influences are generally more funk orientated so it doesn't matter if i accidently rip stuff off in my band ;p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Paul Cooke' post='353801' date='Dec 13 2008, 07:00 PM']I play Blues... It's almost impossible not to accidentally re-use a bassline someone else has come up with...[/quote] I'd say not only 'almost impossible not to' but sometimes 'absolutely necessary to'. Anyway, isn't that what blues players have always done? More generally, I'd say re-using a part from another song is not necessarily 'ripping off'. The line may play a different role in the harmony/rhythm even if it's exactly the same line. And haven't musicians always done this? Edited December 13, 2008 by EssentialTension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markytbass Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 [quote]I play Blues... It's almost impossible not to accidentally re-use a bassline someone else has come up with...[/quote] Same here, I find alot of the covers we do are very similar (12 bar pattern with the chords in a different order). One bass line I did was almost identical to Stuck in the middle with you, but it fitted. Any how that band is no more so it doesn't really matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 (edited) It's a statistical probability. Particularly if, like me, you only ever use G, E and Bb. Edited December 13, 2008 by skankdelvar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 [quote name='Paul Cooke' post='353801' date='Dec 13 2008, 07:00 PM']I play Blues[/quote] Same here, and I LOVE it! Although it's quite a simple form of music, it's amazing what the right group of musicians can do with it. I know I basically use the same basslines and fills for the entire set though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.gif.9ad672bb8b84505709f76b39c8c256ec.gif)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.