This bass line stands out as one of the most instantly recognisable and song-defining of all time, and is probably my favourite from both a player and a listener's perspective. The song was released in 1969 as the opening track of Abbey Road, with Paul McCartney adding this awesome groove to John Lennon's composition.
Come Together has been covered by many artists including Aerosmith, Soundgarden and Michael Jackson. For something a bit different, check out this version by Bobby McFerrin and Robin Williams (the actor/comedian) produced by Sir George Martin for his Beatles collection, In My Life.
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Friday, 10 April 2009
Too many bassists?
While watching Spinal Tap, I was interested to see that one of their (all rather amusing) songs featured the two guitarists on bass, as well as the regular bassist playing an impressive double-neck bass. It emerged that the song is called Big Bottom, which is fitting (although the lyrics have little to do with the lower frequency ranges).
While searching for the video, I found this discussion of bands with many bassists. Co-incidentally, one of the guys I work with recently hooked up with a band he used to play for - he plays upright (double) bass. He was slightly surprised to discover that they now have another guy on electric bass... He's not quite sure how it's going to work out, but he's running with it. For now they each take a turn.
It did get me thinking about how an acoustic and electric bass would go together in the same song. I'm not completely convinced that the whole would be greater than the sum of the parts. I need to think about it a bit more, so I'll save that discussion for another day.
While searching for the video, I found this discussion of bands with many bassists. Co-incidentally, one of the guys I work with recently hooked up with a band he used to play for - he plays upright (double) bass. He was slightly surprised to discover that they now have another guy on electric bass... He's not quite sure how it's going to work out, but he's running with it. For now they each take a turn.
It did get me thinking about how an acoustic and electric bass would go together in the same song. I'm not completely convinced that the whole would be greater than the sum of the parts. I need to think about it a bit more, so I'll save that discussion for another day.
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Bass appreciation: Dela - Johnny Clegg
This is one of my favourite Johnny Clegg songs. The original version from the 1990 album Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World featured Solly Letwaba on bass. More recent recordings, including the great live version on A South African Story, were performed by Concord Nkabinde, who can be seen in the video below. I especially like the bass/sax lead break towards the end of the performance.
The bass line in Dela is smooth yet punchy, rhythmic and melodic. Listen as the bass kicks in after the first few bars... The start/stop pattern and cleverly placed accents on top of a solid groove keep this song bubbling along in a happy, if sometimes melancholic, mood.
Notes for the novice: To really appreciate the bass in a song, you need a suitably sized sound system or decent headphones - your little laptop speakers won't cut it.
The bass line in Dela is smooth yet punchy, rhythmic and melodic. Listen as the bass kicks in after the first few bars... The start/stop pattern and cleverly placed accents on top of a solid groove keep this song bubbling along in a happy, if sometimes melancholic, mood.
Notes for the novice: To really appreciate the bass in a song, you need a suitably sized sound system or decent headphones - your little laptop speakers won't cut it.
A simple way to embed audio in your blog
I was thinking of including some music on my blog. I noticed that Blogger had an option to add video but not audio. An easy way around this is to use a video editing application like Windows Movie Maker to create a video from your audio file. Then, once you have added your newly created video to your post, reduce the height of the video viewer so that only the control bar at the bottom of the player is visible.
Audio: Distance by Jim The Bassist (c) 2009
Tips: To create a video using Windows Movie Maker, you need to add at least one image or video clip in addition to the audio track. Adding a single, low resolution image keeps the size of the resultant video file small. When you've added your video to your post, switch to Edit Html and set the height of the embedded object to 27 (the size of the control bar).
Audio: Distance by Jim The Bassist (c) 2009
Tips: To create a video using Windows Movie Maker, you need to add at least one image or video clip in addition to the audio track. Adding a single, low resolution image keeps the size of the resultant video file small. When you've added your video to your post, switch to Edit Html and set the height of the embedded object to 27 (the size of the control bar).
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Sign of the times
I think it's impossible not to know that the G20 summit took place in London today. And the protests yesterday have also provided plenty of fodder for the news-hungry. It was reported by BBC News that "City workers have been leaning out of windows to wave £10 notes at G20 protesters on the streets below". I found that quite an ironic sign of the times - back in the good ol' days, no self-respecting banker would taunt you with a tenner...
[Image from BBC News.]
I used to work near Liverpool Street and walked this route on my daily commute - past the Bank of England and the RBS branch that was vandalised and looted. It's quite surreal to see it like this. And I would have battled to get home through the crowds, even if I'd donned a hoody.
[Image from BBC News.]
I used to work near Liverpool Street and walked this route on my daily commute - past the Bank of England and the RBS branch that was vandalised and looted. It's quite surreal to see it like this. And I would have battled to get home through the crowds, even if I'd donned a hoody.
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