Muse in slap bass shocker!

[RussFM]

[url="http://www.nme.com/news/muse/45944"]http://www.nme.com/news/muse/45944[/url]

Not really a fan of Muse, a band I can listen to and enjoy but will never rush out to buy their CDs. Still, no denying Wolstenhome is a great bassist!

[Chris2112]

Will be interesting to see how this turns out. However, Wolstenhome's comments on slap bass are so far off the mark, it's easy to see that he is a million miles from the cool.

[Tusknia]

Its not like its going to become a staple of his sound, it's a fill in one song.

[51m0n]

[quote]“I know it’s probably [b]not ever been cool to play slap bass[/b],” he admitted, “but on that song it just seemed to work, so we kept it in.”[/quote]

Errr, nope thats horsep***.......

Nothing uncool about slapping a bass, if you do it really really really funky.

The likes of Mr King however gave it a very very bad name indeed (esp in various old school funk circles).

Damned shame!

[iamapirate]

[quote name='51m0n' post='537322' date='Jul 10 2009, 04:55 PM']The likes of Mr King however gave it a very very bad name indeed (esp in various old school funk circles).[/quote]

Really?! Ya Learn something new everyday! I always thought it was pretty cool - espscially if you can do that douple-pop thing that I can never really get a hold of. Slapping just sounds so damn funky! Especially on new strings. You can't say that (for example) that Virtual Insanity isn't a good bassline, even though it's really simple. Slap ftw!

[bubinga5]

[quote name='51m0n' post='537322' date='Jul 10 2009, 04:55 PM']Errr, nope thats horsep***.......

Nothing uncool about slapping a bass, if you do it really really really funky.

The likes of Mr King however gave it a very very bad name indeed (esp in various old school funk circles).

Damned shame![/quote] I agree, dont get me wrong i love L 42 but he did do it too much, and didnt let the music breath...Bloody awsome talent mind...

Im curious about Wolstenhome...me not being into this kind of stuff...Ive heard alot about him and was curious to how good he is.??...Cant seem to find anything on YT?

I may be wrong but were not talking Gospel bassist good??? I take it he doesnt slap.

[Dood]

A slow news day again in the NME.. Did I miss something? Slap isn't some kind of Holy Grail is it?????!!!! Playing techniques are just like knives, forks and spoons... just another way to eat your food.. you can even 'pick' at it.. or use fingers lol!

[Tusknia]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='537406' date='Jul 10 2009, 06:34 PM']Im curious about Wolstenhome...me not being into this kind of stuff...Ive heard alot about him and was curious to how good he is.??...Cant seem to find anything on YT?

I may be wrong but were not talking Gospel bassist good??? I take it he doesnt slap.[/quote]

I never got what the big deal about Wolstenhome is, his playing style really just consists of fast picking and a rack full of effects.
Though fair play to him, it fits in with the rest of the band very well and Hysteria alone has probably encouraged a lot of youngsters
to start playing.

[leftybassman392]

Whether you like his playing or not, it's as much a part of the band's sound as Bellamy's guitar. Isn't that a good thing? A lot of kids want to be bass players because of his work. Isn't that a good thing too?

Kids don't take up bass because old farts like me tell them to; it's because they've heard someone like Wolstenholme and think, 'I want to learn to play like that'.

[Tait]

i think it'll sound good tbh, if wolstenholme though it sounded better and worked, he obviously knows the song, and he even thinks its not cool to slap so its not liking hes trying his best to fit it in wherever. nah, slap can sound great in the right place, and by the sounds of it, this is gonna be in the right place. i can't really see why its a big deal though.

[Doddy]

So slap bass is frowned upon, "save for its prominence in the TV show 'Seinfeld'." ?

Two things i feel the need to point out there-
1-Slap is only ever frowned upon by people who can't do it,those who don't like Level 42 and magazines who try too hard to be cool.
Audiences still generally find it entertaining.
2-The 'Seinfeld' theme was played on Keyboard.

NME.........no musical education

[Tait]

[quote name='Doddy' post='537527' date='Jul 10 2009, 09:42 PM']1-Slap is only ever frowned upon by people who can't do it,those who don't like Level 42 and magazines who try too hard to be cool.
Audiences still generally find it entertaining.[/quote]

i dont know, im a confident slap bassist, but i hate it when you see people who sit in a music shop and slap away, i hate things like level 42 and i especially hate slap solos. slap is one of those techniques that is really cliched, and only used when you play a song and you just know it works, otherwise, to me anyway, it just sounds like you're an amature who has learnt to slap and thinks it makes you look like a great bass player if you try and do it whenever possible, even if it doesn't work.

i dunno, slap only works when its done tastefully IMO, so in things like rock or whatever most of MUSE's songs would be classed as, i'd frown upon slap, because it simply wouldn't work, and i'm guessing chris wolstenholme agrees, otherwise he would probably have tried to squeeze in slap before now, assuming he's been a confident slap bassist for every album he's done so far.

[lemmywinks]

So Larry Graham's not cool now?

Right, who wants to buy my bass gear?

[doctor_of_the_bass]

Here we go, dons flameproof helmet!

Slap is good! I can do it very well so I'm told. I like it! It has its place, like everything else!

If you can do it, do it. If not, do not criticise it! I can't tap for toffee but I love Stu Hamm's work for example. All that's needed is for me to sit down, practice it and broaden my own horizons.

Heheheheh!

N x

[Spartacus]

Its Muse. No matter how much you hate them its always fun to hear their albums and laugh, sometimes intentionally. Knights of Cydonia? Played on a RIckenb*****d? From the man who used to play Bass Collection and Pedulla because they're lightweight? Class

[bubinga5]

A lot of kids want to be bass players because of his work. Isn't that a good thing too? QUOTE>>>>>


In my opinion...yes thats great!! as long as they dont emulate him in a way that may take away from there style that could be there own...I have learned many a lick from amazing players along the way, but its important to keep your own thang..

i appreciate players who cover great bass players tunes, but for god's sake dont ask me...."how can i get the tone of"....your YOU, good or bad..important thing is your original..

Edited July 11, 2009 by bubinga5

[The Funk]

No point getting wound up about an article in The NME. The writers don't know anything about anything except that they're supposed to wear skinny jeans, baggy beanies, rate The Smiths and The Stone Roses, and slate anything else vaguely resembling music.

[JTUK]

Where slap is crap is when people do it for effect rather than enhancing the track..... this is a huge hge factor, IMV

I think even Miller said he started doing it so he could pick out his parts on a tiny radio speaker...nice line, tho...

I would think most of Muse's bass parts are sampled and sequenced anyway but I guess anyone who has seen their live show would be able to
correct that, or not..

BIG sound from a 3 piece guitar unit last time I looked...

For all that, I quite like them

Edited July 11, 2009 by JTUK

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='537719' date='Jul 11 2009, 09:42 AM']A lot of kids want to be bass players because of his work. Isn't that a good thing too? QUOTE>>>>>


In my opinion...yes thats great!! as long as they dont emulate him in a way that may take away from there style that could be there own...I have learned many a lick from amazing players along the way, but its important to keep your own thang..

i appreciate players who cover great bass players tunes, but for god's sake dont ask me...."how can i get the tone of"....your YOU, good or bad..important thing is your original..[/quote]


Couldn't agree more. I would hope that all young players will eventually want to develop their own style, but everybody's gotta start somewhere. I also think that an important part of developing your own style involves taking the things you first learned to play and exploring areas the player(s) you pinched them from didn't go to. I did, and I'm willing to bet that most if not all the people reading this thread did as well.

Edited July 11, 2009 by leftybassman392

[TheRev]

[quote name='JTUK' post='537760' date='Jul 11 2009, 10:41 AM']I would think most of Muse's bass parts are sampled and sequenced anyway but I guess anyone who has seen their live show would be able to
correct that, or not..

BIG sound from a 3 piece guitar unit last time I looked...[/quote]

I didn't catch them on the Black Holes tour but every time I've seen them before the bass was all live. The huge sound comes from the enormous amount of effects that Chris and especially Matt use.

They apparently approached the Black Holes recording sessions with no regard whatsoever to how the songs would be played live so that nothing would be off limits in the studio. All the previous albums were recorded with an eye on whether the three of them could reproduce the tracks live.

[51m0n]

I dont think I made myself very clear before.

I think MK plays some amazing stuff. He became absolutely irrevocably the poster boy of slap at the time

I think Level42 are rather unfortunately cheesy 80s pop (just my opinion), 'jazz funk' (or was it Britfunk); which is the antithesis of deep funk to many if not all the funk bands I've ever played in.

As a result one of the first things you hear, at least down in Brighton (whereeveryone takes themselves very seriously and is definitely too cool for school) is 'the bass must not slap, ever under any circumstances, because thats not real funk, thats what Level42 and the Chili Peppers do'.

I kid you not. Less often its the Chilis who get the blame.

And if you suggest they may be somewhat inaccurate you will be shot down in flames, you will not get the gig.

It is that simple.

It doesnt matter whether or not they can slap, thats irrelevant, its the simple fact that they associate slap with watered down too clever by half MK (in their opinion) which has absolutely nothing to do with deeply funky grindy bump music. And they are right MK has nothing to do with bump music at all.

So IMO MK has a lot to answer for...

I've done more slapping in rock bands than funk bands!

[thisnameistaken]

TBH I don't think I'd slap a bass unless someone else in the band asked me to. And even then I'd ask them if they were taking the piss first.

Very few bassists can make it sound good. I'm definitely not one of them, and I can imagine most of you aren't either.

[51m0n]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='538345' date='Jul 12 2009, 11:06 AM']TBH I don't think I'd slap a bass unless someone else in the band asked me to. And even then I'd ask them if they were taking the piss first.

Very few bassists can make it sound good. I'm definitely not one of them, and I can imagine most of you aren't either.[/quote]

Speak for yourself mate

[crez5150]

[quote name='51m0n' post='538633' date='Jul 12 2009, 05:30 PM']Speak for yourself mate [/quote]

+1 here

[bubinga5]

[quote name='crez5150' post='538637' date='Jul 12 2009, 05:35 PM']+1 here[/quote]+1 also... i can make it sound good erm...IMHO...Keeping it simple does help i think...I really dont like it when people put every possible sub technique into slap, like three finger pops and double thumbing, it just turns into an ego festival and a noise..For me space has alot to do with making up good music and its the same in slap..