What is a Bassist's Role?

=^-..-^= · Post by **=^-..-^=** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:10 am

bassjones wrote:
Garr wrote:
=^-..-^= wrote: and Geddy Lee
Absolutely. One of my personal faves. Sing, play bass, and play keys. . .ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Amazing.
He "solos" all the time So he sucks

Yer right, I'm sorry.

adam atherton · Post by **adam atherton** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:40 am

bassjones wrote:
Oliver's Army wrote:
traumaqueen wrote:holy sh*t, folks.

hehehehe

let the flame wars begin.

"bygones", indeed.
Not from me.

yep, no flaming here. just stating an opinion.

AndrewTeepleBassist · Post by **AndrewTeepleBassist** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:00 pm

adam atherton wrote:
"creative" is one thing...... "disruptive and embarassing" is another. with the exception of Primus, and maybe one or two other novelties, bass players should play for the song. not for the bass player's personal glory or agenda. it's a rhythm instrument.

the bass players that sit back and play bass- ....for the MUSIC, not for pushing the lead guitar player backstage so he can play worthless bass solos all night...-guide the band, they lead the band, they support the band. there are good bass players, there are great bass players, and there are complete idiots that don't listen to their band.

some bass players understand this. some don't.

unfortunately, there are a lot that never will.

so you sit back and watch them embarrass themselves, and thank God.

I'm trying to understand something. You are bringing this up in a thread about The Who because John Entwistle was "disruptive and embarrassing"? Surely that's not what you meant, was it? So it seems like you are taking a jab at Brad. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't understand why you decided to clutter this thread about The Who with your "opinion" about a bass player who used to play in your band. If you weren't referring to Brad, what inspired you're rant about disruptive and embarrassing bass players? Don't get me wrong, I actually agree with most of what you wrote about bassists.

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:16 am

Don't worry about it Teeple. Everyone now knows exactly why I'm no longer in that band. I have tried to take the high road, but apparently that's a one way street. I've got nothing bad to say about anybody else in that band though as they're all extremely talented musicians and very good people. The guy that replaced me is cool as hell and he and I are friends, so no hard feelings towards him either.

I'm better off now anyway. I'm playing music that I love - funk, jazz, jam - and I'm playing with some awesome musicians - no weak links, which is nice for a change. It didn't hurt that within a week of being out of that band I had been contacted by several people, the first 5 of which were drummers, 3 that would rank among the top players in town, including Mike Shorter who I'm playing with. Mike's mostly known for playing percussion with Mojo Dub, but he's a hell of jazz/funk drummer too.

Truth be told, I probably was overplaying with NoRA - at least for that music. I like what they do, but I can't do it (I CAN do it, I just don't like playing it for long). I was trying to push them into other directions to stretch outside of the Alt. Country mode into more jazz/funk infused stuff and they decided that's not where they wanted to go. Okay fine, no big deal. You go your way, I'll go mine, no hard feelings.

But don't rip me on a public forum while hiding behind the generic term "bassists"

when everyone knows you're speaking directly about me. It's not cool. And it only goes to show other people what a d*ck you are. Nobody reading that thought "Oh, Brad must really over play." They all thought, "Geesh Adam, quit being a d*ck!"

And for the record I generally agree that a bass player's role in a band should be to provide a rhythmic/harmonic foundation for that band, which is something I've always been complimented on doing and is the reason I keep getting hired. So it didn't work out, LET IT GO! My musical goals didn't fit yours, we had different visions of where the band should go musically. Yours won out. I'm fine with that. Now quit posting sh*t about me on public forums and kiss my ass!

adam atherton · Post by **adam atherton** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:48 pm

i typed a really long reply to this, but it's not worth my time.

everyone knows that Brad- especially Brad- is a God.

Flame away, i have no time for your sh*t.

adam atherton · Post by **adam atherton** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 11:33 pm

AndrewTeepleBassist wrote:
adam atherton wrote:
"creative" is one thing...... "disruptive and embarassing" is another. with the exception of Primus, and maybe one or two other novelties, bass players should play for the song. not for the bass player's personal glory or agenda. it's a rhythm instrument.

the bass players that sit back and play bass- ....for the MUSIC, not for pushing the lead guitar player backstage so he can play worthless bass solos all night...-guide the band, they lead the band, they support the band. there are good bass players, there are great bass players, and there are complete idiots that don't listen to their band.

some bass players understand this. some don't.

unfortunately, there are a lot that never will.

so you sit back and watch them embarrass themselves, and thank God.

I'm trying to understand something. You are bringing this up in a thread about The Who because John Entwistle was "disruptive and embarrassing"? Surely that's not what you meant, was it? So it seems like you are taking a jab at Brad. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't understand why you decided to clutter this thread about The Who with your "opinion" about a bass player who used to play in your band. If you weren't referring to Brad, what inspired you're rant about disruptive and embarrassing bass players? Don't get me wrong, I actually agree with most of what you wrote about bassists.

you need to go back to the beginning of this thread and read it all.

some people need to make everything about them.... and you played right into it.

adam atherton · Post by **adam atherton** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 11:39 pm

and by the way, if i wanted to be a "d*ck" i would have informed you all of Brad's actions over the past year. or his actions over the past couple weeks.

i did not. nor did i bring him up. YOU did.

sorry if things that get said hit a little too close to home, there, Brad.....

i stand behind what i say.

and i retract what i said earlier. i will defend everything i said.

again......flame away. just read this thread from the beginning.

Garr · Post by **Garr** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:41 am

I split this out, as it really derailed the thread. I'm considering locking it down.

Please, take it to PMs guys, and I may end up deleting some of these posts in the nature of keeping things civil.

Thanks, and please keep discussing the role of the bassist!

bwohlgemuth · Post by **bwohlgemuth** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:45 am

I am not a bassist, but I have played one on TV....

Soloing can occur on any instrument, it just depends on the perception of the audience and the band. I have seen drummers who are light years ahead of the rest of the band, and have decided to show off, to the "detriment" of the song. Honestly, I would rather hear a good drum or bass fill as opposed to "another guitar solo" any day of the week.

In the end, it's the song that matters most, and that interpretation of "the solo" is up to the band. Hindering overzealous creativity is fine, if that's the direction you want to take with your band.

Shaggydoo · Post by **Shaggydoo** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:58 am

bassjones wrote:Nobody reading that thought "Oh, Brad must really over play." They all thought, "Geesh Adam, quit being a d*ck!"

I'll form my own thoughts, thank you.

AND

A bass player should neither be heard OR seen. He should be FELT.

Lou B do B dooo · Post by **Lou B do B dooo** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:14 am

I thought the role of the bassist was to bring the left over pizza to practice after work. Ha ha ha ha ha ha h umm..... funny...... no?

I guess I had better not open up with bass player jokes since I am trying to aquire one.

In all seriousness if a bassist is tight with the drummer they are worth their weight in gold.

On a side note I had the chance to play a gig with Brad at the last minute. He had to learn a set of material in less than two hours. He did a fantastic job!

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:32 am

Shaggydoo wrote:
bassjones wrote:Nobody reading that thought "Oh, Brad must really over play." They all thought, "Geesh Adam, quit being a d*ck!"
I'll form my own thoughts, thank you.

AND

A bass player should neither be heard OR seen. He should be FELT.

okay fine.

Go back to 1952 then.

Bassists who play(ed) prominent roles in music (seen and heard as well as felt)... This list will be long.

Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Charles Mingus, Milt Hinton (quite possible the baddest MFer to ever walk the earth), James Jamerson, Jaco!!!, Stanley Clark, Stu Hamm, Rocco, Geddy Lee, John Entwistle, Paul McCartney, Willie Weeks, Victor Wooten, John Pattitucci, BOOTSY!!!!!!, George Porter Jr., Abraham Laboriel, Andrew Gouche', Terrence Palmer, Verdine White, Oteil Burbridge, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Carol Kaye, Chris Squire, ....... I could easily go on.

and thank you Lou!! That's the prevailing opinion of most of my former bandmates.

Garr · Post by **Garr** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:40 am

That's it.

Since you can't follow directions and take this to PMs, it's locked.

It will likely be deleted as well.

Grow up.

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:10 am

unlocked, and my last post edited to delete inflammatory responses... I should be above that. All apologies.

Cale · Post by **Cale** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:30 pm

IMO, roles of individual voices in music (whether bass, git, vox, perc, kazoo) are relative to the music being played...and this is a dynamic element to be determined by the sum of the players. The players have to respect the music as much as vice versa. To say any voice over/under plays in music (generalized) doesn't really make much sense to me. A comment like that just has no context.

It was better off locked.