The Story Of The Bass

This is one of the coolest videos I've seen in a long time. Bassist Michael Thurber shows the evolution of the bass from the viola da gamba through the modern Dubstep wobble bass in 45 songs and 9 instruments.

He's a great player and the video is real hoot to watch. Enjoy.

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The Carol Kaye Documentary

Bassist Carol Kaye is a studio legend unfortunately that has never gotten enough notoriety. As the only female member of the infamous Wrecking Crew group of LA studio musicians, Carol played on so many of the hits that have since gone on to become classics (think "Good Vibrations," "California Girls," Scarborough Fair," "Feelin' Alright," "River Deep Mountain High," just to name a few) as well as many television shows and movies from the period. It's no surprise that she became the go-to bassist for Brian Wilson, Phil Spector, and even Frank Zappa.

Now a documentary about Carol's life is being shot, and below you can see the trailer for it, as well as a long interview with her. If you love music history and great playing, make sure you check both of these out.

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Bassist Dusty Wakeman On Today's Inner Circle Podcast

Today's Inner Circle Podcast features bassist Dusty Wakeman, who also happens to be president of Mojave Audio.

Dusty will discuss the state of country music, playing in the studio, record production, his 3 string bass, and even a little about the great microphone line that he represents so well.

Check out the podcasts at bobbyoinnercircle.com or on iTunes.

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The Greatest Craigslist Musician Ad

Those bass players. They secretly control the music world. There's never enough of them, and you can never find one when you need one, since what few of them that exist are always working.

That's the untold secret of the music business - if you want to be a working musician, become a bass player. You may not get enough respect, but sometimes you can name your price.

To illustrate the point, here's an ad that appeared in the Nashville Craiglist listings from a bass player looking for work. He has plenty of demands, and he'll probably get them, as laughable as they are.

Bass Player Available NOW (Nashville (only))Bass player available for PAYING GIGS ONLY. I play G, C, D. If your
songs are not in G, please transpose them into G. If your song has an
Em or Bm or anything off the wall I will probably sit out that chord. 

Or I could learn those notes for $30 each. If you want me to do fancy
stuff like go back and forth between G and D while you hold a G chord,
forget it because I’m a “pocket” player. 

Minimum $100 per gig within a 5 mile radius of 37204. $5 per mile travel
charge for other areas out of town. 

Please make sure your gigs are on a Metro Nashville bus route, or you can
pick me up at my place. Must be home by 11 pm due to previous legal hassles.
No gigs within 500 yards of schools, parks, or playgrounds.

So remember, if any of your kids want to be a musician when they grow up, encourage them to be a bass player. At least you'll know that they'll always work.

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"Whole Lotta Love" Isolated Bass Track

If you like listening to isolated tracks of classic records, here's a good one. It's John Paul Jones isolated bass track for Led Zeppelin's 1969 hit "Whole Lotta Love."

There are a lot of interesting things here. First of all, JPJ plays an 8 string bass, which is why the sound of the record is so thick (ha, now we know). Other things to listen for is the slight change of the riff at :29, then the mistakes at 1:05 and 1:10. It's amazing what we'd leave in back in those days that no one ever noticed. Also, listen to the tempo speed up slightly, then pull back, another thing that you don't notice in the track.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

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How To Play Funk

Here's a great clip from Herbie Hancock's Rock School series about how to play funk. It features some greats like Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins and Nile Rogers as they show in slow motion how to bring the funk. Rock School ran on PGS from 1985 through 1988.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

4 Isolated McCartney Bass Lines

We all know Paul McCartney as a fabulous songwriter and singer, but it's easy to overlook what an influential bass player he is as well. Paul, along with MoTown's James Jamerson, changed bass playing from laying down a foundation of root notes to a melodic thing of beauty. Although I don't think the following video is comprised of the best examples of Paul's genius, it does give you an idea of his style.

You'll hear individual snippets from the songs "With A Little Help From My Friends," "Come Together,""Golden Slumbers," and "Band On The Run" with the bass mostly isolated. Sometimes you'll hear other instruments also on the bass track (like the tambourine on "Help From My Friends"), which wasn't all that unusual, according to Beatle engineer Ken Scott's book Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust (which I was lucky enough to help him write). Have a listen.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.