The Bass Player And The Drummer

I didn’t watch this, but as a bass player, I wish we could get rid of the idea that the bass and bass drum need to follow each other at all times. They do sometimes but not all the time. Many of my favorite songs have them ignoring each other.
 
JimmyM said:
I didn’t watch this, but as a bass player, I wish we could get rid of the idea that the bass and bass drum need to follow each other at all times. They do sometimes but not all the time. Many of my favorite songs have them ignoring each other.
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100%!!!! I personally am not a great jazz bass player, but I have played bass enough to know what I like when playing bass, and honestly, I always listen to the right hand subdivisions, and fit in to those first....probably b/c I am also a drummer

i am a much better rock bass player, and I still usually go off of the subdivision of the drummer

the guy who plays bass in my jazz band - who is legit - loves that I don't always play with him with the bass drum all the time. We have talked about our sound a lot over the 7 years, and he knows about what I said above, and loves it. There are many times where I let him lead the feel of the song, and there are a lot of times where he lets me do the same
 
The best bass player I have ever played with is my son, so we get along very well. Peace and goodwill.
 
JimmyM said:
I didn’t watch this, but as a bass player, I wish we could get rid of the idea that the bass and bass drum need to follow each other at all times. They do sometimes but not all the time. Many of my favorite songs have them ignoring each other.
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I asked the same question from my teacher a while back. The answer was yes and no. So, I guess that makes it a guideline rather than a rule. If I remember correctly he mentioned that quite a few 70's bass players did not follow that guideline.
 
A good bassist is rare. I haven't come across many over the years. It's always a joys to gig with a good one. You keep each other on check and it sounds so much better.
 
I’m glad he brought up bad bass players because a bass player can be your musical enemy just as much as they can be your friend. In hindsight I had a dream run until this one guy came along and basically ruined any enjoyment I had playing my gig with his ego and his volume knob.
 
striker said:
I asked the same question from my teacher a while back. The answer was yes and no. So, I guess that makes it a guideline rather than a rule. If I remember correctly he mentioned that quite a few 70's bass players did not follow that guideline.
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Even 60s bassists like Jamerson, Entwistle and McCartney didn’t always follow the bass drum or vice versa. It happens more than people realize, and it still does.
 
Duck Tape said:
I’m glad he brought up bad bass players because a bass player can be your musical enemy just as much as they can be your friend. In hindsight I had a dream run until this one guy came along and basically ruined any enjoyment I had playing my gig with his ego and his volume knob.
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This is what I've really noticed since using IEMs and silent stage. There's nowhere for bad musicians to hide and it's usually the bassist.

Even my regular bassist has this horrible habit of going off piste and does this slappy thing right over his pickups which I really notice and everyone else has noticed. I have the bass turned off in my IEMs because what's being played ain't the song. I could go off on crap bassists all day! Being in a rhythm section really isn't rocket science. If you both keep it simple and play together it makes the band sound better. If one of you steps out of the pocket the other covers it.

There are exceptions to the rule like the Who, Rush, Primus, Level 42 but they've all got guitarists who absolutely nail the rhythm part and hold it all together that way.


Even with Motown go from 1:06 and they break a Motown song down, there was the room for Jamerson to do what he did, everyone is playing rhythm. All I know is I wish I could play tambourine like that.
 
I have been fortunate to play with solid, musical bassist for most of my career. The thing that has bugged me the most over the yrs is ones that overplay
 
Houndog1964 said:
The old saying that a good drummer can make a bad band better is wrong , it’s the bassist !!
I’m serious ..:
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I can not like this enough!!!

in marching band, we always say your band is only as good as your tubas and bass drums...same with concert band...tubas and bass drummer

same with rock/jazz/stage bands....bass player first and drummer second!!!
 
JimmyM said:
Even 60s bassists like Jamerson, Entwistle and McCartney didn’t always follow the bass drum or vice versa. It happens more than people realize, and it still does.
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In one of the clips that I saw by a Bass player, he was saying that some Bass players lock and unlock to the Bass drum throughout a single song. So, they go back and forth and give themselves a lot of flexibility.
 
mikyok said:
This is what I've really noticed since using IEMs and silent stage. There's nowhere for bad musicians to hide and it's usually the bassist.

Even my regular bassist has this horrible habit of going off piste and does this slappy thing right over his pickups which I really notice and everyone else has noticed. I have the bass turned off in my IEMs because what's being played ain't the song. I could go off on crap bassists all day! Being in a rhythm section really isn't rocket science. If you both keep it simple and play together it makes the band sound better. If one of you steps out of the pocket the other covers it.

There are exceptions to the rule like the Who, Rush, Primus, Level 42 but they've all got guitarists who absolutely nail the rhythm part and hold it all together that way.


Even with Motown go from 1:06 and they break a Motown song down, there was the room for Jamerson to do what he did, everyone is playing rhythm. All I know is I wish I could play tambourine like that.
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I’ve played with a couple of bass players far more experienced and talented than myself and I actually don’t mind if they play a lot of notes but it has to be in time, same with being loud, if they are awesome and have great time then ok, turn up and I will go along with it and match their volume, if they are just your usual pedestrian bass player and they push or drag or rush through transitions and they’re loud then that makes my job hard, and I hate being blamed for someone else.
 
Duck Tape said:
I’ve played with a couple of bass players far more experienced and talented than myself and I actually don’t mind if they play a lot of notes but it has to be in time, same with being loud, if they are awesome and have great time then ok, turn up and I will go along with it and match their volume, if they are just your usual pedestrian bass player and they push or drag or rush through transitions and they’re loud then that makes my job hard, and I hate being blamed for someone else.
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I've only been lucky enough to play with one bassist like that and I think bassists suffer as much as we do because we got on like a house on fire and really clicked. Dead humble bloke that had done session work at some big studios but never mentioned it once, other people told me. Amazing with fingers, pick, slap and played upright. If unicorns were bassists..........

A great bassist is a joy to play with. You just know exactly what to play and how to play just from a bass line. This involuntary smile appears when you've got a bassist who knows their arse from their elbow, you're not fighting with someone who is playing for themselves instead of the song.

Lost count of the pedestrian bassists with volume issues. That's the joys of ampless and IEMs, I turn them off. It's way too off putting and annoying.
 
I don’t need to hear the bassist on stage , they stay with me . Now when working up original songs which I do a lot of , I listen to the bass line and adjust if necessary..
 
mikyok said:
I've only been lucky enough to play with one bassist like that and I think bassists suffer as much as we do
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Not as much on load ins and outs these days, at least, since the advent of micro heads and neodymium speakers that don’t sound like crap.
 
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