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Bass - Developing A Compelling Bass Part
| Posted on August 15, 2009 at 1:54 PM |
James Lee Stanley
I want to talk about developing a bass part for a track today. One thing you have to remember is that for every rule that exists for these kinds of things there is an example of breaking that rule succeeding. So consider this and then do what you feel.
Feel really is the most important thing and the bass and the kick drum working in tandem really help to achieve a feel that is undeniable.
I usually start out an arrangement by putting down a click track and laying down the instrument on which I wrote the song. In most cases this is the guitar so I’ll just speak from that point of view. I lay down the guitar track.
I tend to do the arrangements by playing everything myself, tho I hire players to come in and play their instruments. If they come up with something I like better than what I did, then I use their contribution. Frequently I end up using what I consider the best of everything layed down; part me, part them, I don’t care who played it, as long as it feels good.
So after the guitar track, I tend to put down a keyboard bass track. Even though no keyboard bass sounds as good as a well played bass, in this instance it is important because what I do is to play the keyboard bass into a midi track.
I start out trying to find a simple feel and I play that all the way through the song. The same simple kind of part played consistently.
Once I have the basic feel I begin to look for development. Where can I add a lick or increase the number of notes per bar to add a sense of momentum and change.
A careful examination of all really good recordings will reveal that something changes about every eight bars all through the song. Nothing is exactly the same.
If you start out with a simple part you have someplace to go with the bass. If you play a really busy part from the get go, where can you take the bass that’s different? Only to something simpler and that may decrease the intensity and the sense of momentum.
You can start out playing whole notes or half notes, so that you have something on the bottom but the bass isn’t driving things yet. At the chorus is a wonderful place to begin to give the bass some activity and groove.
Then you can take it back down a little bit for the next verse and then a little bit busier for the next chorus.
Once the groove really starts it is almost impossible to take it away and have the recording succeed, tho there are things like break downs or tacit’s that remove it for a moment, but it’s coming back and everybody knows it.
Now here’s a fun little thing to do with your arrangement demo.
After I have a part that I like, I copy the part and then in the edit page of the copied part, I change every single bass note into a kick drum note. All the programs that I’ve ever worked with have the option of turning all the different notes into one note,usually called fixed note. And I make that one note a kick drum note.
I now have a kick drum that is locked onto the bass. A nice place to begin.
Feel really is the most important thing and the bass and the kick drum working in tandem really help to achieve a feel that is undeniable.
I usually start out an arrangement by putting down a click track and laying down the instrument on which I wrote the song. In most cases this is the guitar so I’ll just speak from that point of view. I lay down the guitar track.
I tend to do the arrangements by playing everything myself, tho I hire players to come in and play their instruments. If they come up with something I like better than what I did, then I use their contribution. Frequently I end up using what I consider the best of everything layed down; part me, part them, I don’t care who played it, as long as it feels good.
So after the guitar track, I tend to put down a keyboard bass track. Even though no keyboard bass sounds as good as a well played bass, in this instance it is important because what I do is to play the keyboard bass into a midi track.
I start out trying to find a simple feel and I play that all the way through the song. The same simple kind of part played consistently.
Once I have the basic feel I begin to look for development. Where can I add a lick or increase the number of notes per bar to add a sense of momentum and change.
A careful examination of all really good recordings will reveal that something changes about every eight bars all through the song. Nothing is exactly the same.
If you start out with a simple part you have someplace to go with the bass. If you play a really busy part from the get go, where can you take the bass that’s different? Only to something simpler and that may decrease the intensity and the sense of momentum.
You can start out playing whole notes or half notes, so that you have something on the bottom but the bass isn’t driving things yet. At the chorus is a wonderful place to begin to give the bass some activity and groove.
Then you can take it back down a little bit for the next verse and then a little bit busier for the next chorus.
Once the groove really starts it is almost impossible to take it away and have the recording succeed, tho there are things like break downs or tacit’s that remove it for a moment, but it’s coming back and everybody knows it.
Now here’s a fun little thing to do with your arrangement demo.
After I have a part that I like, I copy the part and then in the edit page of the copied part, I change every single bass note into a kick drum note. All the programs that I’ve ever worked with have the option of turning all the different notes into one note,usually called fixed note. And I make that one note a kick drum note.
I now have a kick drum that is locked onto the bass. A nice place to begin.
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Categories: Musician's Advice, How To
