Muse in slap bass shocker!

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='51m0n' post='538633' date='Jul 12 2009, 05:30 PM']Speak for yourself mate
[quote name='crez5150' post='538637' date='Jul 12 2009, 05:35 PM']
+1 here
[quote name='bubinga5' post='538666' date='Jul 12 2009, 06:06 PM']
+1 also... i can make it sound good erm...IMHO...[/quote][/quote][/quote]

Clearly I haven't spent enough time playing bass alone.

[neptunehealer]

In our set i play a tiny amount of slap in only one song actually. It's not a technique i like to over cook and a lot of our songs don't require it that we do.
But on one song i do some basic slap, but my question is, as i play a cheap nasty p=bass copy the slap sounds good with new strings but crap with old strings.
Just ordered some Seymour Duncan SPB-3 Quarterpounders, are these pups slap sound friendly as i am concerned my slap work in this song may sound crap with these pups. Any opinions welcome.

[Spartacus]

Umm is it ok to have no real desire to slap at all? I got told off for it once and it was only becaiuse i was hitting it so hard fingerstyle taht it was clanging off the frets.

[51m0n]

[quote name='Spartacus' post='538906' date='Jul 12 2009, 10:28 PM']Umm is it ok to have no real desire to slap at all? I got told off for it once and it was only becaiuse i was hitting it so hard fingerstyle taht it was clanging off the frets.[/quote]

Totally cool by me.

Whatever floats your boat mate.

IMO any song that can sound great with a slap b-line could sound just as good with the right fingerstyle b-line. Its a question of taste, what the writers are actually after and what really works best for the player too.

All I was saying is that most non-bass-playing musicians I meet who want funky bass dont want slap. But (and how is this for ironic) I just got contacted thru myspace by a disco funk diva because of the slap playing on my myspace. And she's from Brighton. So I'll just shut up from now on eh!

[urb]

Personally I'mjust looking forward to hearing this track - I dig Muse (they are a guilty pleasure for me ) no harm in a little bit of slap well played in the right place - it's a standard technique of modern bass playing so get over it people

M

[Finbar]

I'm feeling a lot of Muse hate in here! They are a great band. Wolstenholme and the rest of Muse are not virtuosos, but they create songs which are absolute juggernauts. Chris' tone is also great.

I lost interest a little after the first two albums though, I have to say. Felt a lot less organic.

[Spartacus]

[quote name='Finbar' post='538989' date='Jul 12 2009, 11:34 PM']I lost interest a little after the first two albums though, I have to say. Felt a lot less organic.[/quote]

I followed them from before 'Showbiz' & now find it hard to liten to that and 'Origin of Symetry' and see much of the same band. They evolved. YMMV

[Muse_Cubed]

I love Origin of Symmetry and bits of Showbiz and Absolution but Black Holes is a pile of mediocre crap. I was so disappointed but I've moved on thankfully and I'm not excited at all about the upcoming album, so who knows, hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.

I love Chris' style and that got me into playing bass. He's not the world's best bassist by a long way but he's got *it*.

And as far as slap goes...really cool technique but I could never use it seriously. I don't know, to me it's a little bit cheesy and I'm can't help but be overawed by people like Wooten, Claypool etc. but IMO it's got its limitations.

[james_guitar]

Slap bass is cool in the same way that jazz flute is.

If Chris has managed to integrate slap in to one of Matts songs in a musical/subtle way that doesn't sound out of context then fair play to him.

[51m0n]

[quote name='james_guitar' post='539052' date='Jul 13 2009, 01:50 AM']Slap bass is cool in the same way that jazz flute is.[/quote]

Nope, ya lost me there mate

[JTUK]

Quote ----- I love Chris' style and that got me into playing bass. He's not the world's best bassist by a long way but he's got *it*. ...End of

that is fine and I think he works very well in the context of the band..
Not sure I buy the line of how much help they get live, but who cares, they seemed a fine festival act to me..

but I would not go as far as to say he has got 'it' ....... err, no. The guitarist has it , but the bass player and drummer are there on the shirt tails, IMV and there is nothing wrong in that. Loads of people owe their livelyhood to backing up a serous talent.....it is what it is...

Edited July 13, 2009 by JTUK

[sshorepunk]

I like urb's comment "it's a standard technique of modern bass playing, so get over it"

I guess most of you guys weren't around in the mid 80's then, everyone was at it

I remember going to see MM at the Jazz cafe a few years back and someone said, "way too much wacky wacky pop" but he doesn't get a mention here and thats probably more full on "slap solo kind of playing" than I recall Level 42 playing live, I'm not a big Level 42 fan these days, but I enjoyed it back in the day, it opened my eyes to a lot of other players that I was unaware of at the time!

One more thing, CW is indeed responsible for a lot of kids picking up a bass and giving it a go, as is flea, as was MK in the 80's, cos it was relevant (and a bit cheesy, but so was a lot of mid 80's pop) then, the earlier stuff, up to and including P of A lacks cheese IMHO, some of the best Brit Funk around at that time

We had a jam during a sound check last week, we are a rock band, but we do good funk, I played a slap line, kept it simple, sounded cool, felt great to play, needs to be done every now and then.


Tony

[xgsjx]

I don't see how slap can be described as cool or uncool, is picking cool or uncool?

To me it's a way to get the sound from the bass that suits the song, whether that be picking, slapping, tapping or fingering (I do like a spot of fingering :brow: ) or whatever else needs be.

I am partial to a bit of overdriven slap with an envelope played at a slow to moderate tempo. Some might call that uncool

[mike257]

[quote name='JTUK' post='539490' date='Jul 13 2009, 05:25 PM']that is fine and I think he works very well in the context of the band..
Not sure I buy the line of how much help they get live, but who cares, they seemed a fine festival act to me..[/quote]

Where are your mad conspiracy theories about the live show coming from?

Up until (I think) the Absolution tour, it was just the three of them. These days, there's them, plus an extra guy on stage doing additional keyboards and bits, plus there's synth stuff sequenced because there's a lot of layers of it in some of the tunes. The guitar, bass and drums is the blokes on stage playing. We're not talking about the Spice Girls here!!

[JTUK]

[quote name='mike257' post='540017' date='Jul 14 2009, 08:44 AM']Where are your mad conspiracy theories about the live show coming from?

Up until (I think) the Absolution tour, it was just the three of them. These days, there's them, plus an extra guy on stage doing additional keyboards and bits, plus there's synth stuff sequenced because there's a lot of layers of it in some of the tunes. The guitar, bass and drums is the blokes on stage playing. We're not talking about the Spice Girls here!![/quote]


??????? if you agree they have a sequenced track running they could fly bass, bv's or anything else on it.

I think they are great show but I sure don't think they play everything live

[cheddatom]

[quote name='mike257' post='540017' date='Jul 14 2009, 08:44 AM']Where are your mad conspiracy theories about the live show coming from?

Up until (I think) the Absolution tour, it was just the three of them. These days, there's them, plus an extra guy on stage doing additional keyboards and bits, plus there's synth stuff sequenced because there's a lot of layers of it in some of the tunes. The guitar, bass and drums is the blokes on stage playing. We're not talking about the Spice Girls here!![/quote]

They do double and layer guitars, bass, synths and BVs. It used to be chris->pedalboard->amps->ears. Now you haven't got a clue what you're listening to. It takes away from the energy you get from seeing a live band IMO.

[mike257]

[quote name='JTUK' post='540186' date='Jul 14 2009, 11:42 AM']??????? if you agree they have a sequenced track running they could fly bass, bv's or anything else on it.

I think they are great show but I sure don't think they play everything live[/quote]

You think they're miming?

[JTUK]

[quote name='mike257' post='540496' date='Jul 14 2009, 05:18 PM']You think they're miming?[/quote]


No, I think they fly in tracks to supplement their sound...

[thisnameistaken]

Do they have sequences running? I thought they had that geezer out of Senseless Things as their spare pair of hands these days?

Anyway I like the fact that they play stadiums and still have a sense of humour, unlike most.

[cheddatom]

The keyboard player can't do everything, they deffinitely have sequenced synth tracks as well as bvs and guitars and sometimes bass - but the bass is generally a synth sound over chris playing the line clean.

I used to love the way muse had a massive intricate heavily layered sound on their CDs, but playing live it was very stripped down, but still sounded huge. Simpler = heavier IMO and they really had that. Clearly that's not what they're into anyway.