One tone/style/technique

[hags2k]

Here's something I'm curious about:

 

If you had to choose one tone/style/technique to play for the rest of your life and could do nothing else, what would it be? It's sort of like the "trapped on a desert island and get to bring one book" scenario. If you can't choose just one, what would be the top 3 or so? Examples are required.

 

Also, what styles would you most NOT wish to have to play (same rules as above)?

 

For example, for me it would probably be:

 

Styles I could live with if I had to choose

 

(top 3)

 

That low, subtle, jazzy tone and technique that I hear on songs like on John Mayer - "No such thing"

 

That fingerstyle funk sound like on "Play that Funky Music"

 

That upbeat jazzy ska/indie type lines like on just about any O.A.R. song (I'm thinking "3AM" and "Crazy Game of Poker" here) and, in a similar vein, Barenaked Ladies lines.

 

of course those may change, but those are my current styles I could live with playing

 

now, for the ones I could NOT live with for the rest of my life:

 

(top 3)

 

Flea-esque power pop/punk/funk slap style (RHCP cover of "Higher Ground" and the like)

 

Punk/pop lines, like Mark Hoppus "one note fast with a pick" like on just about any blink182 song (though some of Mike Drint's (Green Day) lines, which are often classified in the same category of music, aren't too bad, but they're not quite so mindless)

 

Jaco style jamming...now, before I get misunderstood, I should probably explain... I love the tracks of off Jaco's solo album a LOT, and I think many of his lines are great, and there is very little that he did that did not impress or please me musically. However, I have heard several jaco-esque jams that are similar to the intro to "Punk Jazz" and the like, and I can only take so much of that, especially since many attempts to duplicate that style simply don't quite make it, in my opinion. Plus, that line in particular is just not my cup of tea, but I hear that style emulated a lot when people are jamming (does anyone know what I'm talking about here?). I know I couldn't do it if I tried at this point, but I don't even have the desire to, but that's just me

 

---

 

Now, just because I say I'd like to play the top 3 or not the bottom 3, that doesn't mean I couldn't enjoy playing those styles once in a while, or dislike playing them once in a while. Hell, I can't even PLAY some of the styles I mentioned, but this is all hypothetical anyway.

 

Also, I sometimes enjoy listening to those Flea lines and even occasionally some Blink182 (there's something to be said for something simple, fast, and upbeat), but I wouldn't want to be stuck playing those kinds lines or with that kind of tone.

 

What do you guys/gals think? What would be your most/least desirable choices?

[JBFLA]

I'm going to take some liberties with your question/poll. I can't think of any players that I admire who limit themselves to one tone/style/technique - so I'll list two (OK, 3) of my favorites that are consistant within themselves:

 

Kenny Gradney (Little Feat)

Danny Wilson (early Jeff Lorber Fusion)

Verdine White (Earth, Wind and Fire).

 

As far as player's styles I wouldn't want to have to play:

 

Hey, if they (or their group) had a recording contract, then something must have been right.

 

JBFLA

[cornbread_medhotmail.com]

Well, no white boy slap would be allowed, but I'd really enjoy a good Jamerson style.

[Tom Capasso]

I always thought I'd choose some aggressive rocked out style. I love to rock, but I'm seeing my tastes drift to something else....

 

I'd select (I almost said "pick") a smooth fingerstyle with a rich deep tone - almost synth/organ pedal tone. I'd be playing songs from Dido and Sarah McLacklan and Beatle ballads and...

 

Just say no to slap (sorta cheating, because I can't slap to save my life - or our bands version of "Brick House").

 

Hags - you said pick one, and you picked three. Foul!! Now get back in here and pick one....

 

Tom

[SteveC]

As with all my answers, it is based on my interest or what I am working/learning/studying at this moment in time.

 

I'll stick to the question and select one style. I'll go one better and name a player.

 

Jimmy Haslip - Yellowjackets - Contemporary Jazz style.

 

Do I get a prize for doing as asked?

[cornbread_medhotmail.com]

Originally posted by SteveC:

As with all my answers, it is based on my interest or what I am working/learning/studying at this moment in time.

 

I'll stick to the question and select one style. I'll go one better and name a player.

 

Jimmy Haslip - Yellowjackets - Contemporary Jazz style.

 

Do I get a prize for doing as asked?

You only answered half the question, so you owe us all a prize. You were supposed to also say what you don't want.

[Dm711]

Hmmm...

 

Michael Manring/Thonk, Monkey Businessman.. Amazing piece of basswork that stands on its own (nobody else needed on the island ).

 

Joni Mitchell, Jaco, Michael Brecker, Shadows and light, "Dry Cleaner from Des Moines". (Probably 'cause I got so much interesting feedback on the "Did jaco overplay?" post.)

 

Finally, just strand me on a desert island with my Fender Jazz, my new Hartke amp, a power source, a six pack of Odell's 90 Shilling, a pizza, and my own lame chops. Actually, that sounds like heaven right now! (They baby finally went to sleep. )

 

Peace,

 

Dm7

[Basshappi]

This is really off topic, But I think that it would be far more interesting to take some kids who had never heard music and strand them on an island with a bunch of instruments. Give them no information about the instruments (such as tuning or theroy) then come back and see what their music sounds like and how they play/apply their instruments to it.

[bassplayer5217]

After a long break from the forum, Germain is back in town.

 

But to K.I.S.S., you know, I gotta go wit':

 

- Tim-C's intro to "Calm Like a Bomb', RATM

- Nathan East's on "Master Blaster", Stevie Wonder

- Flea's sound on "Mellowship Slinky, in Bm", RHCP

 

That is what I can think of now, but it'll prob change tonight, as I ponder why if it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't be in college.

 

P.s. Lewis Black said that last thing in some stand up, I didn't think of it.

[hags2k]

Originally posted by Tom Capasso:

I always thought I'd choose some aggressive rocked out style. I love to rock, but I'm seeing my tastes drift to something else....

 

I'd select (I almost said "pick") a smooth fingerstyle with a rich deep tone - almost synth/organ pedal tone. I'd be playing songs from Dido and Sarah McLacklan and Beatle ballads and...

 

Just say no to slap (sorta cheating, because I can't slap to save my life - or our bands version of "Brick House").

 

Hags - you said pick one, and you picked three. Foul!! Now get back in here and pick one....

 

Tom

I like your style, Tom.

 

Oh, and about choosing one...hey, rules are made to be broken, right?

 

Okay, fine, if I had to choose one, I'd take that subtle, round jazz bass style playing, a la british rock (from Beatles to Coldplay), John Mayer, etc.

 

The reason I like this question, though, is it does give some insight into the mentality of the player (at this point in time). I have found these replies very interesting.

[dcr]

"This is really off topic, But I think that it would be far more interesting to take some kids who had never heard music and strand them on an island with a bunch of instruments. Give them no information about the instruments (such as tuning or theroy) then come back and see what their music sounds like and how they play/apply their instruments to it."

 

Interesting. My guess is that you'd come back to find the fat one has been brutally killed and the instruments have been used for firewood--except for one long-scale bass neck which has been stuck in the ground & on which an impaled boar skull continues to decompose.

 

I wouldn't try it. Kids are vicious little bastards.

[getz out]

Originally posted by dcr:

"This is really off topic, But I think that it would be far more interesting to take some kids who had never heard music and strand them on an island with a bunch of instruments. Give them no information about the instruments (such as tuning or theroy) then come back and see what their music sounds like and how they play/apply their instruments to it."

 

Interesting. My guess is that you'd come back to find the fat one has been brutally killed and the instruments have been used for firewood--except for one long-scale bass neck which has been stuck in the ground & on which an impaled boar skull continues to decompose.

 

I wouldn't try it. Kids are vicious little bastards.

Where is Willie with his obligatory comment regarding your profession?

 

You had me rolling with that last line!

[cornbread_medhotmail.com]

Originally posted by dcr:

"This is really off topic, But I think that it would be far more interesting to take some kids who had never heard music and strand them on an island with a bunch of instruments. Give them no information about the instruments (such as tuning or theroy) then come back and see what their music sounds like and how they play/apply their instruments to it."

 

Interesting. My guess is that you'd come back to find the fat one has been brutally killed and the instruments have been used for firewood--except for one long-scale bass neck which has been stuck in the ground & on which an impaled boar skull continues to decompose.

 

I wouldn't try it. Kids are vicious little bastards.

And whoever had the microphone was the only one allowed to speak.

[Tom Capasso]

Willie won't be answering. He's on a boat with his oldest and a bunch of friends to a deserted island. He has musical instruments and lots of Oscar Mayer Bologna (hoping to minimize the number of flies).

 

I have the feeling that he's the one who won't make it back. I hope his kid brings back his notes ("notes" - get it?).

 

It was nice knowing you Willie.

 

Tom

[_Sweet Willie_]

Originally posted by dcr:

"This is really off topic, But I think that it would be far more interesting to take some kids who had never heard music and strand them on an island with a bunch of instruments. Give them no information about the instruments (such as tuning or theroy) then come back and see what their music sounds like and how they play/apply their instruments to it."

 

Interesting. My guess is that you'd come back to find the fat one has been brutally killed and the instruments have been used for firewood--except for one long-scale bass neck which has been stuck in the ground & on which an impaled boar skull continues to decompose.

 

I disagree with dcr's supposition here.

 

I think that they will eventually be imprisoned in an underground cave on the island. Unfortunately they will be trapped here from their childhood into adulthood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move (having lost their instruments long before), and can only look forward, being prevented by the chains from turning their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the imprisoned children (who have grown to be adults) there is a riser; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along this riser, like the screen which puppeteers have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.

 

Unfortunately these imprisoned children (now adults) can only see the shadows of the puppets. And, in fact, they never hear voices, but only the echoes of voices.

 

Through the interpretation of their experience we come to understand that the world revealed by our senses is not the real world but simply a copy, and that we can only comprehend the real world intellectually -- not via our senses.

 

Good night, Glaucon.

 

Peace.

[cornbread_medhotmail.com]

I like DCR's version better. The chains and fire scares the bejeebus out of me, not to mention the puppet show.

[dcr]

Well, Willie, of course you're right about them. I've seen folks in that situation, and I've tried to tell them that it was all shadows. But would they listen? Nooooooo. Instead they look at ME like I'M the crazy one. So now I'm just not going back into any of those caves again, unless someone makes me. So there.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Originally posted by dcr:

Well, Willie, of course you're right about them. I've seen folks in that situation, and I've tried to tell them that it was all shadows. But would they listen? Nooooooo. Instead they look at ME like I'M the crazy one. So now I'm just not going back into any of those caves again, unless someone makes me. So there.

I've been waiting all day for you to read that post, dcr. I'm still hoping to garner a "post-of-the-day" award from DBB if he's able to identify the source of my little cavernous tale! I thought your employer paid you to tell people that it's all shadows?

 

BTW, you rightly deserve a "potd" award for the Lord of the Flies reference!

[dcr]

The lord of the who?

[The Bear Jew]

Kill the pig! Kill the pig! Kill the pig!

[_Sweet Willie_]

Originally posted by dcr:

The lord of the who?

Help me out here. I know CMDN's on the right track, but your post is so eerily like the referenced book I have to assume that your query is asked in jest...maybe ...< rechecking dcr's post for one of those tell-tale " " that indicates "wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more, say no more" >

[Tom Capasso]

Sure - I was OK with random LOTF references. then Theseus I'd heard of. Glaucon? I thought you'd misspelled the French word for waiter...

 

So now we're up to Socratic arguments? You educated guys...you just haven't figured life out yet, have you? dcr, willie - meet CMDN. He's well-read and literate, speaks and writes well, and understands the animal within. He's all either of you ever need to know. dcr - his philosophy is not complex. Willie - he's too unpredictable to chart and study his socialization.

 

ahhh - - my work here is done

 

Tom

[The Bear Jew]

Majoring in philosophy is another way of telling everyone you meet, "Hi, I'm totally broke and virtually unemployable. What's the point, anyway? I'm not sorry I shot that arab. Besides, it doesn't matter very much whether you die at 30 or at 70 since, in either case, other men and women will naturally go on living, for thousands of years even."

 

Yep. Philosophy majors are fun at parties.

 

BTW, if I had to choose just one food to eat for the rest of my life, the answer would be:

Cherry-flavored Pez.

 

What was the question again?

[Pernax]

Originally posted by CMDN:

BTW, if I had to choose just one food to eat for the rest of my life, the answer would be:

Cherry-flavored Pez.

 

What was the question again?

What kind of Pez dispenser would you use if you had to live with it for the rest of your life?

 

-P

[_Sweet Willie_]

Originally posted by CMDN:

... I'm not sorry I shot that arab.

"Standing at the beach with a gun in my hand,

Staring at the sea, staring at the sand..."

 

Ahhhhh, Jean-Paul's influence stretching into the realm of depression-filled English music from the '80s...

 

I'm alive. I'm dead.

 

I'm Sweet Willie...

[The Bear Jew]

What kind of Pez dispenser would you use if you had to live with it for the rest of your life?

It's a purple one with a skull on top, naturally.

[dcr]

Willie, I'm even more puzzled now than before. My point was just that kids are vicious little bastards. They're likely to do all kinds of weird, cruel crap if left without civilization.

 

Maybe I should write a novel.

 

Oh, all right already: Happy now?

 

CMDN, actually, philosophers can be fun at parties. But philosophy majors can be a different story. (The long, dark trip from student to pro tends to weed out the head cases. Tends to.) And no one who actually digs Sartre should be allowed to a party, or anywhere else, really. But you can usually suss them out by their dreads.

[HypnoBassMan]

What is Indie? I've asked my daughter who is 18 and she can't tell me.

[The Bear Jew]

Ahhhhh, Jean-Paul's influence stretching into the realm of depression-filled English music from the '80s...

erm.... yeah. Not to nitpick, but The Stranger was Camus (and The Cure). No Exit was Sartre.

 

CMDN, actually, philosophers can be fun at parties. But philosophy majors can be a different story. (The long, dark trip from student to pro tends to weed out the head cases. Tends to.) And no one who actually digs Sartre should be allowed to a party, or anywhere else, really. But you can usually suss them out by their dreads.

Yer right, DCR, philosophy majors can be pretty annoying.. they tend to view their schooling as a justification for depression. Once they go pro, they can be fun... especially the nihilist ones. They're the ones with the fancy cars and bling bling.

 

After all, those pro philosopher salaries are just astronomical.

 

What is Indie? I've asked my daughter who is 18 and she can't tell me.

BTW, Hypno...

"Indie" is short for "independent." That used to refer to an artist without label support or a small label operating outside of the major lines of distribution. Back in the early '80s, there was an insurgence of independent artists and labels who started getting kinda popular on the (then unimportant) college airwaves. Many of these acts shared some aesthetic and sonic similarities: relatively low-budget recordings on sub-par gear released on vinyl, cheap packaging, unconventional song structures, interesting/pitch-challenged vocals. When this whole thing started taking off and becoming popular, "indie" started referring more to this sound than actual "independent" status, as some of these artists moved from truly independent labels to majors. These days, "indie" really only refers to that sort of reckless musical style...

 

Hope that helps.

 

Does anyone else have any questions?

 

All of this will be on the mid-term.

[The Guy]

Originally posted by Sweet Willie:

Originally posted by dcr:

"This is really off topic, But I think that it would be far more interesting to take some kids who had never heard music and strand them on an island with a bunch of instruments. Give them no information about the instruments (such as tuning or theroy) then come back and see what their music sounds like and how they play/apply their instruments to it."

 

Interesting. My guess is that you'd come back to find the fat one has been brutally killed and the instruments have been used for firewood--except for one long-scale bass neck which has been stuck in the ground & on which an impaled boar skull continues to decompose.

 

I disagree with dcr's supposition here.

 

I think that they will eventually be imprisoned in an underground cave on the island. Unfortunately they will be trapped here from their childhood into adulthood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move (having lost their instruments long before), and can only look forward, being prevented by the chains from turning their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the imprisoned children (who have grown to be adults) there is a riser; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along this riser, like the screen which puppeteers have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.

 

Unfortunately these imprisoned children (now adults) can only see the shadows of the puppets. And, in fact, they never hear voices, but only the echoes of voices.

 

Through the interpretation of their experience we come to understand that the world revealed by our senses is not the real world but simply a copy, and that we can only comprehend the real world intellectually -- not via our senses.

 

Good night, Glaucon.

 

Peace.

Sounds like someone didn't pay attention in high school english class.