Question:
> I play _bass_ guitar, not six-string. I’m one of those rare breeds that started > on bass and really can’t play much guitar, except for a few chords. I’m not even comfortable with a pick! > However, I get a big kick out of composing, and I’m pretty good at it (even > if 90% of my stuff sounds like Primus!). But for now, at least, I can only > compose "in my head." I don’t have any good way to explain my ideas to the > other band members ("He said ‘member’ !! huh huh…"). The best I can do > (and it doesn’t work very well) is to play my bass-line while simultaneously > trying to explain what the guitarist and drummer should be doing… Doesn’t > work very well.
I used to have this problem. I took the wimpy way out… I started learning guitar. But before that I used to record demos on 4-track cassette. I could give some idea of guitar parts by playing high on the neck and/or fiddling with tape speed and/or just humming something onto that track. For drums, I’m partial to shoving a mic under a hard cushion and hitting the cushion with a drumstick… makes a pretty good bass drum. For snare I hit an upside-down metal cookie tin with the lid off. Again, this sounds like shit acoustically but fiddling with the mic yields a surprisingly snare-like sound. Plastic bottles are OK fake toms. Cymbals are 100% impossible, though. > Now, if I could wire my bass for MIDI, then we’re talkin! I could arrange > everything on my computer, and, EVEN IF it doesn’t sound quite right (i.e. > the drums sound cheesey, etc.) I could use that to give the band an idea > of what I have in mind. Plus, MIDI composition would give me the ability > to cut n paste, use wierd voices, play w/ tempos and tuning, etc. BUT, I > do NOT want to use MIDI as a final recording instrument — I’m not into > synthesized music. I simply want to use it as a means of writing songs — > the final songs would be done with the appropriate instruments.
This sounds like a good idea. You might learn more about chords this way, too. There are stick-on MIDI converters for guitars. I would think someone would have come out with one for bass. Roland, maybe? Probably they’re expensive, though. Good luck… ennead.
Response:
> It sounds like maybe your co-members aren’t able to get a sense of what to > do with your music and aren’t able to interpret the musical ideas. It > shouldn’t be that difficult to explain things. Have you guys been playing > together long? The guitarist I play with is quick to interpret my ideas > but maybe that’s because we’ve been working together for 5 years.
You may be right — my drummer still gets tripped up if I use a weird time signature. The guitarist has an excellent ear, but of course he can’t tap directly into my brain to hear the music that’s playing in my head (I once had a drummer that could!). But, then, we’ve only been together a year. –Jerry
Response:
This post may not be entirely appropriate for this area, but I can find no one area where it would totally fit, so here goes: I play _bass_ guitar, not six-string. I’m one of those rare breeds that started on bass and really can’t play much guitar, except for a few chords. I’m not even comfortable with a pick! However, I get a big kick out of composing, and I’m pretty good at it (even if 90% of my stuff sounds like Primus!). But for now, at least, I can only compose "in my head." I don’t have any good way to explain my ideas to the other band members ("He said ‘member’ !! huh huh…"). The best I can do (and it doesn’t work very well) is to play my bass-line while simultaneously trying to explain what the guitarist and drummer should be doing… Doesn’t work very well. Now, if I could wire my bass for MIDI, then we’re talkin! I could arrange everything on my computer, and, EVEN IF it doesn’t sound quite right (i.e. the drums sound cheesey, etc.) I could use that to give the band an idea of what I have in mind. Plus, MIDI composition would give me the ability to cut n paste, use wierd voices, play w/ tempos and tuning, etc. BUT, I do NOT want to use MIDI as a final recording instrument — I’m not into synthesized music. I simply want to use it as a means of writing songs — the final songs would be done with the appropriate instruments. Which brings up questions regarding recording and syncing samples to hard drive. It’d be just peachy if the same software could do all my MIDI, all my recording, and any mix of the two. I set up my computer about a year ago with all this in mind. Got a nice fast processor, a big hard drive, and the best all-around sound card at the time, SB16-ASP. I have been able to use my system for nothing but playing games (oh, but they’re NEAT games!). Am I forever DOOMed? –Jerry
Response:
> This post may not be entirely appropriate for this area, but I can find > no one area where it would totally fit, so here goes: > I play _bass_ guitar, not six-string. I’m one of those rare breeds that started > on bass and really can’t play much guitar, except for a few chords. I’m not even comfortable with a pick! > However, I get a big kick out of composing, and I’m pretty good at it (even > if 90% of my stuff sounds like Primus!). But for now, at least, I can only > compose "in my head." I don’t have any good way to explain my ideas to the > other band members ("He said ‘member’ !! huh huh…"). The best I can do > (and it doesn’t work very well) is to play my bass-line while simultaneously > trying to explain what the guitarist and drummer should be doing… Doesn’t > work very well.
It sounds like maybe your co-members aren’t able to get a sense of what to do with your music and aren’t able to interpret the musical ideas. It shouldn’t be that difficult to explain things. Have you guys been playing together long? The guitarist I play with is quick to interpret my ideas but maybe that’s because we’ve been working together for 5 years.