LeftyBassist.com

I wasn't going to post these here since they're kind of cheesy, but... these days, I have nothing to lose.

One of the projects I'm in is a pop/rock cover band (the cash is NICE), and I've had to learn a few cool tunes lately... as far as most pop/rock tunes go, these songs inparticular were more fun and challenging to transcribe than most of the others, so I thought they were worthy enough to post "my version" on YouTube in case someone else somewhere might need help figuring out how to play them.

High Wire by Badlands

Rio by Duran Duran

This next one needs an explanation...

I post at this band's message board... the guitar player used to be in a band with me... anyway, someone on that message board told me that because he was a fan of the band that I used to be in with the guitar player that he "knew me" and that there was no way I could play ANYTHING from RUSH's Hemispheres album.

So... I took it as a challenge and made this video specifically to prove the guy wrong and embarrass him on this message board... so, that's who I'm flipping off at the end of the video. Needless to say, it was a success and the board moderator gave him a tag that says "Addison's Bitch"...

Anyway... here's the last one.

Enjoy!!

Circumstances by Rush

Yeah baby! Great playing.

Great job on Rush, man, love the video. That Jazz sounds great too.

Fuck the haters haha

excellent job on all the covers

Excellent work, Addison! I don't know how anyone could claim you couldn't play Rush when you've clearly got the dexterity and technique on the other two. John Taylor is a mofo.

I really like your sound/video quality too. Can you tell us how you went about recording the basses?

Wow, thanks guys!!!


Yeah, absolutely.

You'll probably chuckle, because it's kind of a hokey way of putting it all together.

My set-up is as follows:

1.) Bass into a Boss DR-880 drum machine... that drum machine has amp modeling for guitar and bass, so I use it to record with. The setting being used is "Clean Bass"... so what you're hearing in those videos is pretty much a direct representation of the basses I'm using.

2.) I run the Boss DR-880 S/PDIF out into an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra... it's basically a fancy external soundcard that allows you to record analog instruments directly into your computer.

3.) Audio recording software is Reaper... it's the BEST $60 I have ever spent in my life... it's basically ProTools for 1/100th the cost.

4.) The video was taken with a Canon PowerShot S3IS still camera.

5.) Video editing was all done with Windows Movie Maker... comes free with Windows OS... it's SUPER cheesy and has ZERO solid user features.

6.) Computer is a 4-year-old Dell running Windows 7 OS.

The first thing I do is start a new file in Reaper and drop drag-n-drop an MP3 of whatever tune I want to do... Reaper automatically creates a stereo track of the MP3. Then I create a second track for my bass... check levels to make sure I can hear everything.

Then I start recording the video on the camera, and then start recording the audio on my computer... once the recording is done, I stop the camera and the computer. Then I do a quick "mix" of the song and my bass line, render it to MP3, and upload the video onto the computer from the camera.

I then open Windows Movie Maker, drag and drop the video into that and edit out the unwanted footage (me pressing the record button, etc) and add the title and credits... once that is complete I add the rendered MP3 of my bass and the original song and move it around until it synchs with the video. This part probably takes the longest since you have to do it using visual queues and constantly going back and forth between the recorded tracks and the audio that the camera mic picked up while recording... Windows Movie Maker is NOT set up to do this kind of thing accurately, so I'll usually have to render the video several times trying to make sure I have the audio and video matched perfectly. It can take a while sometimes.

And that's it...

Probably sounds a little more intense than it actually is... but, it works.

LOVE the Rio clip. Man, I loved Duran Duran so much back in high school in the 80s and it always got me laughed at (and worse) by the rest of the guys. Even then I knew there were top musicians in that group. If only there was YouTube back then to prove I was right.

BTW really great balance bet your bass and the original song.

Yeah! Excellent!

Did you learn these tunes just by playing along, by reading or tab?

pete

I can barely read notation... I know what it all means and can slowly work stuff out, but I never practiced enough to sight read. It's one of my greatest regrets.

I use to use transcriptions out of Guitar mags all the time (Wolf Marshall FTW! ), but... I don't really buy magazines anymore. In desperation, I have tried pulling tabs from the interwebs a few times, but... ugh... 99% of them are horribly innacurate. Total garbage.

These particular tunes I transcribed on my own... I have no idea how "correct" they are, but I try to get as close as I can without going insane. Sometimes a part is too buried or too weird and I simply have to guess and call it good.

There's already a couple of things that I know that are wrong... but, I generally like to make stuff my own anyway.

I use a Tascam CD-BT1 to work the parts out... if I had a nickel for every mile that a CD has spun in the 7 or so years I've had that thing, I would be a gajillionaire. I'm not kidding... it might possibly be THE MOST important piece of gear I own... If you are into transcribing tunes and playing along, etc... I HIGHLY recommend it.

Before I had that I used to use an Ibanez Rock and Play... same idea, but with a cassette instead of a CD. I literally wore that thing out.

Good stuff Man - I like it!

Being into the Clash, the Jam and power-pop bands at the time, I was one of those idiots that used to just hate D.D. To me - at that time -they were the antithesis of what rock and roll was spposed to be about. Big hair, big production, big dollar backing, big ego, etc. etc. on and on ....

I changed my tune after I heard Power Station.

That is just plain great playing, even; smooth, in the pocket, killer ghost notes. I know it's good when I watch with my mouth open and then pick up one of my basses I keep right by my computer and start playing and practicing and saying in my head well damn I'm still pretty good too.


Seriously Addison you sound great. I don’t know why but for me when a gig is over it always means more to me when a sound guy or another musician gives me a compliment than if 10 people in the audience do. Guess it nice to have a compliment from your peers...You definitely get one from me!

Damn, man... thank you... and I agree 100%... thanks brother!

I've had my share of musicians or normals saying "wow" and "that's fantastic" junk for years, but the biggest question/compliment is always "how do you play like that" ( inverted ).

I just tell them "how can you play like that" ( e on top )...lol

Thanks for the thorough explanation of your recording methods, Addison. Hey, if it works, then why change? I've owned several multi-track units over the years and was looking for a suitable replacement for my little portable Zoom PS-02 3 track pocket recorder that came out over a decade ago. After trying several, I decided to just find a used PS-02 on ebay for $30. Everything else was just too complicated. It has killer bass effects patches and amp simulators on it, and I still use it every night as my quiet practice amp.

Hey Chris (aka Addison)... Thumbs up or Horns up in my case! Great playing brother.... All 3 tracks. Nice tone too!

Yeah I dig the tone too. Nasty.

>>>I use a Tascam CD-BT1 to work the parts out... if I had a nickel for every mile that a CD has spun in the 7 or so years I've had that thing, I would be a gajillionaire. I'm not kidding... it might possibly be THE MOST important piece of gear I own... If you are into transcribing tunes and playing along, etc... I HIGHLY recommend it.<<<

In the eighties I USED to own a CD player, one of Sony's first, that had the A-B function, so I would simply start a tough part and just loop it until I got it right, then write it down. I can't find a CD player, never mind one that has that function on it. Does the Tascam allow you to just constantly loop?

pete

Damn!!! Thanks!!!

I respect you guys A LOT... so, your words really mean a lot to me.

Yeah, the tone on that Fender is 100% au naturale. I set it up really really low... pretty much a bone-straight neck... just a hair of relief, with the saddles set to give me just the right amount of buzz when I dig in... put a set of lighter guage rounds on it... when you get really aggressive with it and play HARD, that's how it sounds... super chunky and compressed with a nice GROWL. But... you can also play softer on it and get all Motowny or Jaco-tastic on it too.

It is hands down the BEST sounding passive four stringer I have ever had the pleasure of playing.


Oh, yes it does... and you can even control it with a foot-switch.

It also allows you to adjust pitch in cents or even half steps, and even has a feature that allows you to slow down a track and maintain pitch (although, the slower you get the more digitally distorted it gets, so it's not the greatest).

It also has 40 effects banks with several common built-in effects... I've never used one, but they're there... and it has a line-in, line-out, separate input level control for your bass, and a built-in tuner.

The current model is the CD-BT2... not sure how it compares... but it definitely looks smaller.



Like I said... I've put more miles on this thing than I have anything else I own. I've thought about literally giving mine away to someone deserving and buying another one just because I've gotten THAT much use out if it.

Great piece of gear.

I'll take it... I'll cover shipping.