drum and bass techniques

A

audioholic

New member
I'm just curious if any of you have come across some techniques on getting two distinct sounds from yesteryear. These two sounds have baffled me for some time. The first and probably the more important of the two for me is Brian Wilsons Bass guitar tone on Pet sounds but not just limited to that album. If you have the chance you can hear a nice example of it by itself on the pet sounds box set. It sounds real nice on God only knows. I don't want any answers like get Brian Wilson to produce you.(although I probably just set myself up for it) Some techniques would be greatly appreciated. The second sound is Phil Collins drums from In the Air Tonight more specificly when the Toms come in of course. I don't think I'll be using that sound often but it just bugs me to not be able to figure that sound out. Is it a mix of audio and midi drums? Obviously there is a lot of room in the mix and its squeezed to all hell and it sounds like the toms have no bottom head but thats just the start there is something else special happening there.
 
Well, to get that bass sound, it helps to have Carol Kaye playing bass!

Carol played on the Pet Sounds LP. She was probably THE top session bassist on the West Coast in the mid and late 1960s. If you want to know all about her, go to

www.carolkaye.com

She played a Fender bass, with homemade string muting, and a pick, through a Fender Super Reverb.

Phil Collins I don't know about. Sorry.
 
Nice info on the Carol Kaye. Nothing I couldn't find out on my own with a little research but it's nice not to have to go looking. The link will surely be key and the super reverb and pick info was just what I was after. Keep it coming anyone. I have a Fender Jazz bass and have been kind of dissapointed with it. I should have known that the bass was played with a pick after listening with that info it seems so obvious. Well now I need a super reverb I guess. That's a 4x10 correct? Awesome sounding amp I know from listining to a blues guitarist who uses one but for bass huh? Sounds good to me, too bad they're around $1200.
 
Well, you don't need a Super Reverb to get that sound. I'd venture to say that Carol Kaye could get a good sound from a Peavey Minx. The point is that she used a smallish amp, and that it doesn't even matter that it wasn't a bass amp because it was close miked at low volume.
 
there was a whole article on Carol Kaye in tape op's last issue... quite interesting. she really is one of the top session players, if not the best. she basically taped some foam lightly over the top of her strings near the bottom near her bridge... got the tone she wanted coming right out of the amp and the way she played, I doubt they used many if any effects on her.
 
Carol sometimes used a rubber mute and usually flat wound strings IIRC. She sometimes used a felt pick, and sometimes a plastic one. The flat wounds were a large key to the sound.
 
You guys are great! Thanks so much for the info. Flat wounds? Hum I may need to try them. I was always skeptical. I will now read everything I can on Carol Kaye and learn. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
 
I'm old enough to remember (I was in high school, and Carol Kaye was playing on records like "Light My Fire") when flatwound strings were all you could get for bass guitar; Rotosound had not started distributing roundwounds yet.
 
I found something interesting. On Carol Kaye's site, she claims to have played bass on several old Motown hits that are always credited to James Jamerson, including Bernadette and Can't Hurry Love. BS!!! She is a great bass player, but she didn't play on those songs. This is established by this site: http://www.bassland.net/books-n-mags.htm
 
Oh no, not the Carol Kaye versus James Jamerson thing...

I think it's well established that Carol was wrong about some of that Motown stuff. She DID play on some Motown sessions in LA, but the Detroit stuff is definitely Jamerson and Bob Babbitt.
 
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