Not just ba'dow-da-da-da-DOW-boo-ba-bee-da-dee-dop
September 27, 2014 7:41 PM Subscribe
If you like electric bass or musicians who can do more than one thing, you might like this video of Tom "Squarepusher" Jenkinson giving a solo electric bass recital in 2007. (From his album Solo Electric Bass 1.)
There is definitely some of that in there. It's just not all ba'dow-da-da-da-DOW-boo-ba-bee-da-dee-dop.
posted by carsonb at 8:36 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by carsonb at 8:36 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm a bass player and I hate the sound that guy makes. It's like a flatulent bee stuck in a cofee can.
posted by w0mbat at 8:49 PM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by w0mbat at 8:49 PM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
Well, I disagree, but I'll concede that "Like a flatulent bee stuck in a coffee can" would have also been an excellent post title.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:41 PM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 9:41 PM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
Squarepusher's Theme changed my life circa 2001 on a long drive across the US80 salt flats leading up to my first stay in California.
posted by iandennismiller at 10:22 PM on September 27, 2014
posted by iandennismiller at 10:22 PM on September 27, 2014
Hmm. I actually could not listen to more than 1 minute of that recital. Tomato, tomahto I guess.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 10:32 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 10:32 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm also a bass player. The first part (up to about 14 minutes), strikes me as about halfway competent jazz guitar playing, something like Joe Pass, performed on a six-string bass, which is, however, boring, because it's not going anywhere in terms of melody or harmony, with the added irritation of the highly metallic tone (I know many people like that, I don't), and the recurring loud, popping tones at the end of arpeggios, which are, to me, quite irritating. Then he starts slapping, which makes it worse, then mixes it all up and I couldn't watch to the end. Overall, he strikes me as someone who has practiced fanatically to obtain a great deal of technique while completely neglecting his music theory or much understanding of harmony and harmonic progression. I am not surprised to find that he gave up music lessons after a few around the age of 11, preferring to teach himself, or that he has a formative friendship with Guthrie Govan.
posted by holist at 2:56 AM on September 28, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by holist at 2:56 AM on September 28, 2014 [2 favorites]
Such a progger.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 3:12 AM on September 28, 2014
posted by Joseph Gurl at 3:12 AM on September 28, 2014
Is he slapping earnestly or slapping ironically? Or is it a formerly ironic affectation that he developed a kitschy fondness for as it grew more familiar?
posted by univac at 3:54 AM on September 28, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by univac at 3:54 AM on September 28, 2014 [2 favorites]
Man! People are Not feeling this! I'm just glad that with the Richard D James resurgence of late there's still room for ol' Squarepusher. He may not be as boundary pushing sonically as Aphex Twin, but his understanding of squeezing surprising melodies into some strange places has been instructive to me both as a listener of music and an amateur musician. I even like his weird robot R&B album.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 4:03 AM on September 28, 2014
posted by to sir with millipedes at 4:03 AM on September 28, 2014
I like Squarepusher but I think his bass playing is the least interesting thing about him. Electric bass solos invariably to be entirely about technique rather than music, admired by slack-jawed fellow bassists but no-one else. Like watching someone juggling or tightrope walking, I'm impressed but don't really feel any emotional/physical engagement, which is what I tend to want from music. I have been guilty of doing similar things on my electric bass in the past (though with considerably less competence and less strings) but nowadays I feel like the less notes I can get away with, the better things sound. A few years ago I was discussing my double bass technique with a guitarist friend. I complained that I found it hard to play the higher notes with any speed or precision. His response was 'Don't bother. There's no money in the dusty end'.
posted by peterkins at 4:22 AM on September 28, 2014
posted by peterkins at 4:22 AM on September 28, 2014
That Michael Manring solo is beautiful. And not about technique, though there is a great deal of technique. Richard Bona and of course Jaco (no electric bass thread should exist without a mention) also spring to mind. Victor Wooten, too at times. Stanley Clarke... the only time I saw him live, some 28 years ago, he played a 15-minute solo on the piccolo bass that I actually had on tape for years (radio broadcast!). It was melodic greatness and even I could play most of it, so technically it was not that challenging at all. The best bass soloists, for me, are the ones who put music first, no matter how technically skilled they are.
posted by holist at 5:02 AM on September 28, 2014
posted by holist at 5:02 AM on September 28, 2014
Michael Manring makes me smile.
I'm listening to that now and like it a lot more than the guy in the FPP videos, but there has to be an easier way to play than adjusting the tuning every few notes.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:48 AM on September 28, 2014
I'm listening to that now and like it a lot more than the guy in the FPP videos, but there has to be an easier way to play than adjusting the tuning every few notes.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:48 AM on September 28, 2014
I can't see how, not a single person with two hands on a single bass.
posted by holist at 5:59 AM on September 28, 2014
posted by holist at 5:59 AM on September 28, 2014
Why doesn't he just get a guitar? He's really just playing the guitar on a six-string bass.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:10 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:10 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Even Jaco didn't go for that metallic angry bees tone. Sure he was prone to excess, but the work he did on Hijera & Don Juan's Restless Daughter is just astounding. What Jaco was creating in that space has been perverted by his imitators, much the same way that SRV was simultaneously the best and worst thing to happen to modern blues.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:21 AM on September 28, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:21 AM on September 28, 2014 [3 favorites]
Jaco Pasteurized, more like: some of the flavour remains, but the danger is gone.
posted by scruss at 6:45 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by scruss at 6:45 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
I love love loves me some Squarepuser, that said one of the albums of his that I don't own are SEB. Out of all is work that is the one that just doesn't turn me on. I love his bass work, I love his compositions usually (the progressions on some of them, the way he plays with time, etc...) But just don't feel SEB. I was highly disappointed when it was released.
I remember when there was rumors that he was gonna do something with Herbie Hancock, but it seems that never took off, which is a real shame. That would've been fucking amazing.
And I mean, really, are you talking coffee cans? You've got the wrong guy, there, I believe you're looking for Venetian Snares for that.
posted by symbioid at 11:59 AM on September 28, 2014
I remember when there was rumors that he was gonna do something with Herbie Hancock, but it seems that never took off, which is a real shame. That would've been fucking amazing.
And I mean, really, are you talking coffee cans? You've got the wrong guy, there, I believe you're looking for Venetian Snares for that.
posted by symbioid at 11:59 AM on September 28, 2014
there has to be an easier way to play than adjusting the tuning every few notes
The re-tuning on the fly seems to be a core part of Manring's style, both for changing the pitch of drone strings and for re-configuring what chords with harmonics are useable. The bass he's playing is designed for doing this - it has Hipshot D-tuner like gadgets on all the strings, plus a thing at he bridge that changes all the strings - and his compositions seem to be written around the tonalities that he can thereby get to.
I saw him play last week, and I think he mentioned that this song was the first thing he wrote when he got that bass, so it's sort of a showcase for the retuning concept. He played other stuff where it wasn't done much, or at all.
He was really impressive. I am a bass player, and I usually find solo bass pretty boring after a couple of minutes, but he had a lot of strong material.
posted by thelonius at 12:00 PM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
The re-tuning on the fly seems to be a core part of Manring's style, both for changing the pitch of drone strings and for re-configuring what chords with harmonics are useable. The bass he's playing is designed for doing this - it has Hipshot D-tuner like gadgets on all the strings, plus a thing at he bridge that changes all the strings - and his compositions seem to be written around the tonalities that he can thereby get to.
I saw him play last week, and I think he mentioned that this song was the first thing he wrote when he got that bass, so it's sort of a showcase for the retuning concept. He played other stuff where it wasn't done much, or at all.
He was really impressive. I am a bass player, and I usually find solo bass pretty boring after a couple of minutes, but he had a lot of strong material.
posted by thelonius at 12:00 PM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty snobby about IDM, and particularly against Squarepusher, but the guy knows how to do a bass. However, I think it's apparent that his compositional skills are vastly improved by the addition of sequencers.
posted by rhizome at 6:29 PM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 6:29 PM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
NEXT COME BASS SOLO
posted by stenseng at 1:18 PM on September 29, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by stenseng at 1:18 PM on September 29, 2014 [3 favorites]
When drums stop, VERY BAD. Gotta say, as much in awe as I am at the chops of the Victor Wooten types, If someone said I could only listen to VW or Family Man Barret for the rest of my life, I wouldn't think twice about choosing Family Man. I love me some fundamental tone, & the bass, in my mind, is an accompanying instrument.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:10 PM on September 29, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:10 PM on September 29, 2014 [2 favorites]
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