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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "John L. Micek" <jlmicek@verizon.net> |
| Subject | Re: Bass Players |
| Date | Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:43:30 -0500 |
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Great bass-player?
Bernard Edwards, RIP.
john micek
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com>
To: <audities@smoe.org>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: Bass Players
>
> Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:46:28 Mark wrote:
>>
>> All this discussion/feudin' regarding Adam Clayton and Michael Anthony's
>> bass playing abilities started me to think about the role of the bass
>> player in the band. I did attempt to play bass guitar in my youth, and
>> have always had a special place in my heart for the instrument. When I
>> first hear a song, I always try to pick out the bass parts.
>>
>> What I have noticed (and I sure others have as well) is that often the
>> bass just sounds as if it is buried deep in the mix. And I am not sure if
>> this is the result of the musician's skills (or lack of them) or is just
>> the result of the mixing process. For example, one of my fav bass players
>> is Annie Holland of Elastica (RIP). Her bass playing just punches right
>> through the guitars and drums and hits you right in the stomach. However,
>> I am not sure if this the result of how the Elastica recordings were
>> mixed or if it is due to her playing technique. Maybe is it a combination
>> of both.
>>
>> Anyway, I've always been drawn to recordings where the bass playing was
>> an integral (and noticeable) part of the band's sound and I was wondering
>> if anyone has any opinions on the subject.
>
> If you can't *hear* the bass in the song then it's been deliberately mixed
> that way. My complaint about modern producers is that bass parts are now
> relegated to merely a sonic tone on recordings. You can only hear the
> parts if you're listening to the CDs on stereo systems with booming
> sub-woofers. Gone are the days when the bass line carried the song ("Day
> Tripper" by the Beatles, "Money" by Pink Floyd.....or, gasp, "With Or
> Without You" by u2). Bass players have become kick drum enhancers....and
> not melody line creators. This may not be true of a lot of the power pop
> we listen to, but out there in the commercial world of knock-off major
> label production it is the norm.
>
> I lament Cheap Trick's "Gonna Raise Hell" as one of the last great bass
> 'playing' songs.....you could hear every fret move on Petersson's 8 string
> beast. And this is before audio recording techniques became high art.
>
>
> Jaimie Vernon,
> President, Bullseye Records
> http://www.bullseyecanada.com
>
> SWAG:
> http://www.cafepress.com/bullseyecanada
> BULLSEYE LIVE 365 RADIO:
> http://www.live365.com/stations/bullseyerecords
>
> Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
> http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/
>
> http://www.myspace.com/jaimievernonsmovingtargetz
>
>
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