BASS
ANALYZING YOUR ACTIVITY LEVEL | Adam Nitti
In this installment I have put together another conceptual lesson that I hope will help you when you are creating basslines . This is a topic I ’ ve been thinking a lot about lately as I have been writing new material for my next instrumental album . Those of you that are composers or who have written basslines before have most likely had to make decisions about what bassline choices will be complementary to the music . It is not necessarily easy to figure out what bassline will be the “ perfect fit ”, and of course this is always going to be somewhat subjective .
So , what typically influences our choices ? There are some basic things that you can be aware of when putting together ideas :
• Listening closely to the drums and choosing a direction that is rhythmically compatible with the grooves in each song section
• Melodically outlining the changes in a way that reflects solid root movement and smooth harmonic transitions
• Making sure to leave room for the vocal ( if applicable ) to be fully forward by not competing with it in terms of space and range
• Choosing a bass tone that is complementary to the music and doesn ’ t step on the toes of the other instruments
Again , these are just some basic guidelines you can be thinking about and are not an exhaustive list of what might go into bassline creation . However , there is another evaluative perspective that is not always at the forefront of our minds , and that involves the choices we make in terms of our activity level . On the surface , “ activity level ” can refer to how busy our lines are , and many of us have at one time or another have had to learn to discipline ourselves when stepping into the realm of what would be considered overplaying . But what I ’ m referring to here is on a deeper level that refers to how much motion you choose to contribute to a groove . With this perspective we are basically saying that we can make a choice as to how rhythmically intricate we want to go , or more specifically , how much “ space ” we choose to fill up in the rhythm section . Within these guidelines , there really is no right or wrong approach , but the significance of our choice translates into how well our basslines speak within the music .
A COMPLEMENTARY PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DRUMS Most of us discovered early on that we bassists have a special relationship with the drummer . We are taught to “ lock in ” with the drummer and “ groove ” with the drummer . However , I would add that we are not always taught the
specifics of what that means . It sounds like the logical thing to do , but how do we do that and what does it even mean ? Sure , we can make an effort to play on the same rhythmic subdivisions as the kick drum for starters , but that is really just the tip of the iceberg . If you want to go deeper and really understand what it means to lock in , you must think beyond the idea of simply emulating what the drummer is doing rhythmically . And that is where your activity level comes into play .
EXPLORE THE SPACE One of the most important lessons for any rhythm section player to learn is that notes and their corresponding rests are on equal terms when it comes to their weight and content within basslines . For example , a quarter note and a quarter rest both occupy the exact same amount of time . The only difference is that the rest is silent ... or is it ? We “ hear ” rests and spaces in music just as overtly as we hear the played notes because they are just as much a part of the construction of the line . Think about the depth of that statement for a moment . It will change the way you look at how you construct lines . If you think about bassline ’ s identity as being defined primarily by the notes it contains , you are only seeing ( and hearing ) part of the picture . The spaces in between shape the identity of the line just as much as the notes do . T
96 June 2023 Subscribe for Free ...