I
love playing bass.
...okay, a bit more clarity is in order. I've always wanted to be a
bassist, from the first moment I truly got into music (the junior high school
timeframe). Unlike a great deal of "band" bassists (or as I
like to refer to them, "bass holders") who pick up the instrument
due to their lack of guitar/drum/vocal/kazoo skills, I never went through the
"I want to be Steve Vai" period only to realize that it takes
considerable inborn talent as well as dedication to the craft to reach that
level, and abandon it for the "easier" instrument. I've always been
attracted to the bassist's role in both a band setting as well as the structure
of modern music.
Part of this has to do with my inherent personality. It takes an extrovert to
become the "showman/woman" of a band, to want all attention focused
upon oneself in which most guitarists and singers have in spades. We've all
heard of the dreaded LSD, or "Lead Singer's Disease" and let me
tell you from someone with a decent amount of band/sideman experience - a good
deal of the time it's true. I'm not knocking it (at least not too much) -
live performances are rarely all about the music. People pay to see a show,
and stage presence is a part of the package. I've been lucky enough to work with
the positives I have in that regard, and to downplay the negatives... but it's
never been my focus. I prefer to be in the background, to be able to concentrate
on the music as much as possible.
The other main reason is the actual role that bass plays in "rock",
although I don't feel that I'm confined to one strict genre. I can play the
guitar - not well by any means, but enough to strum a few chords and get a
musical or songwriting point across (well, that and the opening of
"Silent Lucidity"). However, I can simply feel that it's not in my
nature to play that instrument. The vast majority of guitar playing revolves
between densely packed chord structures and lead lines. There's little thought
about the "space" of music, both between notes and within the notes
themselves. Of course there are exceptions to every rule (David Gilmore of
Pink Floyd is one of the few guitarists whom I believe truly understands this
concept), but it's a fair generalization, especially in the more technically
minded music I listen to.
Playing bass is different on that basic level. When I'm playing a line, there's
much though both conscious and unconscious about space. Part of this has to do
with the nature of the "rhythm section" (i.e. drums and bass the
majority of the time). The elusive "feel" of a song is driven by
this, and can be changed in a huge way by something as simply as playing
"with" or "against" the drummer. There's no formula - it all
depends on the particular song, and even the direction the song should take. One
of the reasons I love being a bassist is the duality of the role. Bass bridges
the gap between rhythm and melody. It can influence both timing and pitch. By
shifting a bassline you can imply different chords, and therefore different
moods. It's the covert instrument, able to manipulate most aspects of a piece of
music without drawing undue attention to itself.
If the rhythm section concept is the application of space in the external, then
the same idea has an internal counterpart. It's not just about whether I play a
steady 8th note line or a syncopated groove with the drummer - it's about
phrasing. Should I play exactly on the beat, pull it (play slightly ahead)
for an increased sense of motion, or push it (behind the beat)? Beyond
that, each note has it's own internal space. What do I accent by my choice of
start time? How long should I hold the note? Where does my endpoint effect? It's
"deep" concepts like these that separate the bassist from the bass
player, and ones that I've only really started to explore in the past few years.
Music always has, and always will be one of the largest aspects of my life. More
than that, however, is being a musician in general and a bassist specifically. I
may not record in the future. I may not play in a band situation in the future.
But I will always be a musician. It is at the core of my being.
It truly is who I am.
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Current
and Past Musical Project - What I've done, who I've done it with, and
how it turned out.
My
Equipment - For good or bad, I use these to make various noises. Samples
- Clips of recordings I've been a part of in mp3 format. Not too shabby,
if I say so myself. Trades
- You like live shows of the Dream Theater/Nine Inch Nails/various others
variety? Stop in and we'll work something out. Concerts
- Shows I've attended. All of them. I could have seen 4 in the time
taken to compile this.
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