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What have you got against slap bass?


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1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's tasteful slap. Nowt wrong with that.

Think someone mentioned the extreme slap killer earlier. This is nonsense to me.

 

Who IS this man? Is hair style and bass style belong in a decade best forgotten 🤣

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So last night...I was talking To @bassfan and we discussed if the Fender Marcus Miller sounded good with the stock Preamp and Pickups...

I’m going to get shot for this - I made a recording of slap.

I’m also trying to do a lockdown “Happy Birthday” message montage video (for my lad) using my phone - so while messing about with what’s what on iMovie...I did this.

I’ve put my flame retardant suit on...

And no, I know I’m really not in the same league as MM - a very vague impersonation.

Edited by AndyTravis
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2 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

So last night...I was talking To @bassfan and we discussed if the Fender Marcus Miller sounded good with the stock Preamp and Pickups...

I’m going to get shot for this - I made a recording of slap.

I’m also trying to do a lockdown “Happy Birthday” messages video using my phone - so while messing about with what’s what on iMovie...I did this.

I’ve put my flame retardant suit on...

And no, I know I’m really not in the same league as MM - a very vague impersonation.

See, now, this good example of tasteful and damn funky.

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Everyone's posting about hating slap, but all the examples are of "circus" slap bass. The sort of bass playing that is irrelevant to music/songs.

Slap in the context of a song, ie Ashes to Ashes and Never Too Much, Thank You etc, can and does work very well. 

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Victor Wooten said in a recent interview with Janek Gwizdala that he slaps predominantly because it is too painful for him to play with his fingers, so he developed something else. 

Even though when I saw his gig in London he slapped the whole thing, it didn't once irritate me because he still keeps it musical.

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44 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

So last night...I was talking To @bassfan and we discussed if the Fender Marcus Miller sounded good with the stock Preamp and Pickups...

I’m going to get shot for this - I made a recording of slap.

I’m also trying to do a lockdown “Happy Birthday” message montage video (for my lad) using my phone - so while messing about with what’s what on iMovie...I did this.

I’ve put my flame retardant suit on...

And no, I know I’m really not in the same league as MM - a very vague impersonation.

The slap isn't over the top and it blends into the song as everything else comes in.

Lot of nice playing there Andy. 👍

My one criticism and hopefully you don't mind the comment :-  maybe a bit too much happening towards the end and it became a little muddled. Too many layers. If you took one layer out i reckon it would be far clearer.

Happy to listen to the slap tho Very nice sir.

Nice tone as well.

Now where's my flame thrower :laugh1:

Dave

Edited by dmccombe7
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10 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

Victor Wooten said in a recent interview with Janek Gwizdala that he slaps predominantly because it is too painful for him to play with his fingers, so he developed something else. 

Even though when I saw his gig in London he slapped the whole thing, it didn't once irritate me because he still keeps it musical.

Generally speaking and most times i've seen Wooten on YT clips he does always retain a melody of some kind but i've also seen some bad days for him where he just doesn't seem to pull it off. (see what i did there ?)

I do seem to get bored quite quickly with Wooten tho. Maybe i've watched too much of him.

Dave

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4 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

The slap isn't over the top and it blends into the song as everything else comes in.

Lot of nice playing there Andy. 👍

My one criticism and hopefully you don't mind the comment :-  maybe a bit too much happening towards the end and it became a little muddled. Too many layers. If you took one layer out i reckon it would be far clearer.

Happy to listen to the slap tho Very nice sir.

Nice tone as well.

Now where's my flame thrower :laugh1:

Dave

Taken on board - think I should’ve repeated the first phrase of the “lead” part rather than trying to develop it in the same register as the slap riff.

Again, this was purely an exercise in showing @bassfan that it sounded like a Marcus Miller.

Annoyingly - the band love it... “we could use that”

And I have sent 3 lovely ideas this week met with “meh”.

 

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2 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Taken on board - think I should’ve repeated the first phrase of the “lead” part rather than trying to develop it in the same register as the slap riff.

Again, this was purely an exercise in showing @bassfan that it sounded like a Marcus Miller.

Annoyingly - the band love it... “we could use that”

And I have sent 3 lovely ideas this week met with “meh”.

 

Sometimes your best work is when you aren't trying too hard to please others and you're just focused on the enjoyment of playing bass.

I'm no expert Andy so maybe not take my comments too seriously and listen to other more knowledgeable players first.

Jings its not that long ago you were thinking of giving all of this up. Nice comeback sir. :hi:

Think it was you :laugh1:

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35 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Generally speaking and most times i've seen Wooten on YT clips he does always retain a melody of some kind but i've also seen some bad days for him where he just doesn't seem to pull it off. (see what i did there ?)

I do seem to get bored quite quickly with Wooten tho. Maybe i've watched too much of him.

Dave

I get what you’re saying Dave but in his shows he is playing songs for an audience to enjoy. He’s openly admitted in most videos on YouTube he is just doing the slap thing because that’s what brands pay him to do. 

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23 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

I get what you’re saying Dave but in his shows he is playing songs for an audience to enjoy. He’s openly admitted in most videos on YouTube he is just doing the slap thing because that’s what brands pay him to do. 

I wasn't disagreeing with that ?

Edited by dmccombe7
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25 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

I get what you’re saying Dave but in his shows he is playing songs for an audience to enjoy. He’s openly admitted in most videos on YouTube he is just doing the slap thing because that’s what brands pay him to do. 

So no different to a covers band at a wedding. At the end of the day we are the "entertainment". Our industry was given the label for a reason. 

Edited by Al Krow
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