How's this sound?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zarathustra
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The thing is... I kinda of do know how to play D-G-D-A. I didn't do it then.

I'm sorry Llarion, I just wanted some comments on the quality. You, and the first five other people didn't give any.

I'm aware that playing bass is a totally different ball-park. I've been reading up my stuff long before I even recorded this. It's a challenge enough playing guitar and not being terribly good at it. I play bass because I really enjoy it, not because I'm any good at it. I didn't come in here to get mountains of praise, but at least be considerate. I was asking about my skills as a self-styled "sound recorder", a minimally experienced one.

I wasn't asking for my instrument skills, but I know I've got to improve a lot more. I know it's a hard instrument, because it has to play melodies and remain consonant with the other instruments, but is also rhythmic, and so must interplay with the beat of the piece.

I don't like the whole "tough-football-coach-in-a-made-for-tv-movie" thing you've got going, but I can understand where you're coming from, and fighting about this is retarded. The "flaw in my logic" isn't really a flaw, I can take a picture of the gigantic fissure in my neck. I'm sorry I made excuses, but you guys are asking for a level of perfection I can't attain by not even owning a functional bass guitar.
 
Zarathustra said:
The thing is... I kinda of do know how to play D-G-D-A. I didn't do it then.

I'm sorry Llarion, I just wanted some comments on the quality. You, and the first five other people didn't give any.

I'm aware that playing bass is a totally different ball-park. I've been reading up my stuff long before I even recorded this. It's a challenge enough playing guitar and not being terribly good at it. I play bass because I really enjoy it, not because I'm any good at it. I didn't come in here to get mountains of praise, but at least be considerate. I was asking about my skills as a self-styled "sound recorder", a minimally experienced one.

I wasn't asking for my instrument skills, but I know I've got to improve a lot more. I know it's a hard instrument, because it has to play melodies and remain consonant with the other instruments, but is also rhythmic, and so must interplay with the beat of the piece.

I don't like the whole "tough-football-coach-in-a-made-for-tv-movie" thing you've got going, but I can understand where you're coming from, and fighting about this is retarded. The "flaw in my logic" isn't really a flaw, I can take a picture of the gigantic fissure in my neck. I'm sorry I made excuses, but you guys are asking for a level of perfection I can't attain by not even owning a functional bass guitar.
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Well, most folks in here that offer opinions are going to comment on the first thing that catches their ear. In this case, the uh, "unusual" playing was so glaringly upfront that nobody really got to the actual quality of the recording. Unfortunately, this wasn't really any better. I still don't quite know what you are looking for here; You want us to marvel at the atonal wanderings of the bass line, but you're whining about not having a functioning bass. We're not gonna say "oooh, that was cool, especially considering your crappy bass", we're gonna say "Yikes that bass line was non-musical, the instrument sounds bad, and it was recorded poorly at best". And that's the nicer among us. You'll get smacked a lot harder than by me.

If you want to get better, then invest in a real instrument, practice, and LISTEN to the people you're playing with. If you don't want to get better, well, then that's fine too. If you want advice, you've come to the right place, but make some decisions, here, mmmkay? And don't whine. Thin skin doesn't fly; in here, or in life. Trust me, most of us have been where you are, but there was no Internet yet to get instantly pounded on by perfect strangers when we sucked, know what I'm sayin'?
 
Alright, I draw the line when you insult my bass.

You have any real points? I'm getting tired of fighting about this, the last thing I want to do on the Sabbath is have a "gear war" or an idiotic argument. This is over. I'm not going to fret with you about this. It really wasn't that bad.

The Torah says to love thy neighbour as thyself. I'm going to be neighbourly.
 
I was only asking about the quality of the mix. For the sake of my blood pressure, drop it. It doesn't matter.
 
Zarathustra said:
Alright, I draw the line when you insult my bass.

You have any real points? I'm getting tired of fighting about this, the last thing I want to do on the Sabbath is have a "gear war" or an idiotic argument. This is over. I'm not going to fret with you about this. It really wasn't that bad.

The Torah says to love thy neighbour as thyself. I'm going to be neighbourly.
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No one but you is fighting about anything. The consensus is that you should have played something that sounded decent. When something sounds bad, people are going to point it out be it in the mix or in the playing. Performance is a lot of what makes a recording so if you don't want to catch shit on your performance, then do it well.

P.S.
If you're getting this riled up over some people on the internet, you might as well stop trying to play music right now.
Music is one of the most subjective things imaginable. What one person will find great, another will find to be terrible. And people who have strong opinions will voice them. It's just a fact, get used to criticism. You could write the most insanely beautiful opus and still at least one person is going to consider it the worst piece of garbage to ever come out. And be sure that they'll voice that opinion and you'll probably see it at some point. Music is about playing what you like, so just do that and you'll be fine (though you've been given some very correct input in this thread, so it'd help to take that to heart).
 
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Zarathrusta:

“I don’t want yes-men around me. I want everyone to tell the truth, even if it costs them their jobs.” (Samuel Goldwyn).

I think I'm getting "too old to rock and roll and too young to die."
When I discovered this forum, I also discovered how little I knew and how much there is to learn. Slowly, I am learning a few things.

There's no fight. People took their time to listen and answer. Llarion is a bass player and gave you some valuable advice. Check it carefully and you'll see. No one is trying to compete. You really should thank them. :D

BTW, you could try the download and mix contest to get some practice at mixing - even if it isn't the style of music you are used to.

Good luck and take it easy.
 
Llarion said:
I beg to differ. :) Guitarists tend think that it's easy because it's only one note instead of six, but bass is barely at all about the left hand. A bass player can spot a guitarist playing bass a mile away, trust me. Most guitarists that pick a bass up sound like a hack for a really long time. Nuance on the instrument is a lifelong quest.
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You are right, of course. MY comment "bass isn't that hard" meant basically that with a very little bit of practice and thought, the bass line in this song could sound like a bass line, instead of random low frequency meandings.
 
The joy of bass playing:

Charnett Muffet (Stanley Jordan Trio) playing Lady in my life
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=W3T75X8w2iU

Richard Bona (Pat Metheny) playing Bright size life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s78nEIkFCAQ

Vicenzo Maurogiovanni bass solo (6-string bass)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Exn9CtqBVac&feature=related

Victor Wooten (doens't need more presentation)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NWVIhzW40EM&feature=related

So, turn your bass, pick up your metronome and practice, practice, practice!!!
 
The whole time I've been reading this thread, I've wondered "what were you expecting?"

The quality of the recording simply isn't up to par. It sounds like it was done with a tape deck and one of those microphone-with-the-cord-built-in deals.

And seriously, your bass playing makes me think you have no fingers or ears.
 
If you want some honest critic about your mixing, you should at least give us no reason to critic your technique.
 
andyhix said:
You are right, of course. MY comment "bass isn't that hard" meant basically that with a very little bit of practice and thought, the bass line in this song could sound like a bass line, instead of random low frequency meandings.
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Well, I'll certainly grant you that... :) It's not a difficult song or anything... :) Ya gotta wonder how the singer-friend feels about all of this... :)
 
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