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I admit that sometimes I play bass like lead guitar. But in my defense I played bass a lot longer than I played guitar and learned it first.

So am I playing lead guitar like I play bass?

Talbot

I might like it more if there was some hotrod guitar player on top.

Not gunna happen. Guitarists tend to make every song about their masturbatory wankly pankly solos. They are merely treble that can can be found elsewhere. Don't care if that sounds smug... but you guys are replaceable. If I want solos I'll add clarinet or violin.

No matter what genre you play, the bass is a vital component.

Nah, bassists are totally replaceable. The bottom end can be handled by tuba, Hammond B3, Nord, etc etc.

Dreg

Here is a bass player you may enjoy then. She's awfully young but plays with Jeff Beck. She's fun to watch - look at those fingers go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VNMVv-i ... re=related

Talbot

I'm looking for a bass player who can read notation and follow the chords on a lead sheet. It would be nice if that person showed up enough times to learn our 50 songs. I wouldn't even mind the bass player reading charts at a gig. Bass players don't do it to be stars; they do it for camaraderie and cash. These are 2 things I also covet but, I need to be creative and say something. The charts are there as a starting point to get us to the cash part as soon as possible. At some point it would be nice to be able to get a little freer with the music and explore some active communication between the instruments.

A bass player must groove. Period. It doesn't matter if it's one note or one-thousand notes.

For me, the bass should provide what it provides in the otherwise acoustic song by Leonard Cohen: "So Long MaryAnn." Very punchy without spoiling the mix.

On the other side of the spectrum there is James Lomenzo who has played with Ozzie, Megadeth and others. The guy has a copyright on the word, 'punch.'
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To the guy looking for a bassman. Were I there, I'd talk to you - despite the (I suspect) unwitting insult in the way you phrased your request for a bass player.

i get it. I've done that. Sometimes you just have to fit in fast as hell to make some money. I had to have sheet music to play 'Alphie' and 'Mahogany' in a bullshit band I worked for a few months. I got paid though.

Band didn't work out. They failed their audition.

The key is to get the job done. It's sort of an audition for pay. If you can pull it together quickly for the show, then you can probably work together with the guys on orginal stuff as well.

Good luck with your music
Talbot

[img][img]http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm74/sanshouheil/Copy2ofNKF7-4-11018.jpg[/img][/img]

I'm looking for a bass player who can read notation and follow the chords on a lead sheet. It would be nice if that person showed up enough times to learn our 50 songs. I wouldn't even mind the bass player reading charts at a gig. Bass players don't do it to be stars; they do it for camaraderie and cash. These are 2 things I also covet but, I need to be creative and say something. The charts are there as a starting point to get us to the cash part as soon as possible. At some point it would be nice to be able to get a little freer with the music and explore some active communication between the instruments.

You said a mouthful.

The next time I hear a bassist tell me it's 50$ every time I show up, I am going scream so loudly that YOU will hear it where ever you are, period.

NO HIRED GUNS NOW OR EVER>.

And to the hired guns, when you f**k up in the last show you did..expect to be fired. The 50$ per session you ask is exactly the reason they will tank your ass after your 1st bad show.

If you were a regular guy like the rest of us, "we'd chalk it up to having a bad day" but since you are a hired gun, you are FIRED !!!

Talbot- I watched the link. Alas, I live under a rock and don't know the band, and it's just personally not my listening style.
I did like how the girl did a bassist version of dancing while playing. When her break came around though, I sort of lost the feel of the beat or where the song was going....
What's better? Playing fast and losing the feel of where the song was, or keeping that feel throughout your break?

The only true answer to that is: Be able to Play any speed, at all times AND to always keep the feel.

I agree that you can find different instruments to fit into a certain range, BUT not that the bass is replaceable.
I used to get tuba music in concert band when there wasn't string bass music. I'd transpose it to fit my range and could do things the tuba player next to me couldn't, like slur with a bow, get a sharper sticcato, play with more levels of soft and loud (the tuba just seemed to have 2 volumes to me.) Each instrument has its' own quirks that fit into an individual song (even if not the whole set list.) I would miss watching a bassist if they were cut completely out of a band.

I was first Tuba and Sousaphone from 8th grade through the end of highschool, and was accepted into the Blue Devils drum and bugle corps back in the 90's on marching "tuba" (Bass Bugle anyone)
If the tuba player you were sitting next to only had two volumes he needed to get kicked in the nuts a few times. (Or motivated to learn dynamics in what ever way works.... you know)

Our band went to state and marched in New Orleans. I played bass and Piano in Jazz combo and Big Band too, and on some of the old time New Orleans style jazz tunes, I would switch to tuba for that feel you can not duplicate. There are some mexican bands that have tuba instead of bass that are simply AMAZING the way they hold up the bottom end. On the river walk in San Antonio, some of the tuba players on the barges along the river walk would blow you away (No pun intended) They can put nuance and grace notes in that inspired me to stick with tuba through high school.

So, look for a mexican mariachi tuba player next time you need tuba.

I love Mexican mariachi bands,
would love to see one with a
tuba instead of a acoustic bass.

Talbot- I watched the link. Alas, I live under a rock and don't know the band, and it's just personally not my listening style.
I did like how the girl did a bassist version of dancing while playing. When her break came around though, I sort of lost the feel of the beat or where the song was going....
What's better? Playing fast and losing the feel of where the song was, or keeping that feel throughout your break?

About time someone noticed that about Tal!

She goes out of time on every solo. That would not be so bad except she is always soloing. Lucky for her and the audience, she gets to play with great drummers who switch up the beat, or the whole song would trainwreck.