I am a bass player, or a player of the bass, if you will. At least
I try to be. Let me explain:
Background
I never considered studying a musical instrument after
the age of 15. Until that point, I had dabbled with various brass instruments,
such as the trombone, the trumpet, and and the almighty baritone. I loved
playing music, and now that I think about it, it came fairly easy to me.
I just plain got sick of high school band, and quit putting any effort
into practicing. Other interests, such as ice hockey, track and field,
and strategically placing lunch meats on unsuspecting victims' automobiles
during odd hours of the night seemed to take over the majority of my free
time. During my senior year of high school, I decided to give choir a shot.
I wish I could tell my future kids there was some noble motive behind this
decision, but there was not. You see, the choir had a Florida tour planned
for the spring, including stops at Universal Studios and Walt Disney World.
After my so-called audition, I was placed in the Signature Jazz/A Cappella
Ensemble as a second tenor. Go figure. That tom foolery lasted a total
of one day, when I told my director that singing tenor was dumb, and I
wanted to be in the bass section. This move had nothing to do with my voice,
at the time I had the range to sing either part. I simply wanted
to horse around with all my friends in the bass section. Immature perhaps,
but it made for interesting foreshadowing, now that I think about it.
That was high school, and basically the end of my music career, which was
just fine with me. At the same time as all of this, and throughout the
first half of my college days, I developed a hobby of analyzing music.
It was an interesting period in music history, hit songs such as "Rump
Shaker" by Wrex 'n' Effex and "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls were somewhat
prominent. Anyway, I started studying pop music, its patterns, styles,
and nuts and bolts that made it popular. As I started down the road of
media analysis, a big focus in many of the classes I took at school, I
began to tie the two subjects together. I feel that I have developed a
strong understanding of the subtle necessities essential for pop music
to appeal to the masses. What can I say, the subject is quite fascinating
to me.
MTI
I've always thought that being part of a live performance pop band would
be fun. During my junior year of college, I saw an opportunity to
test this ambition. The KUMM Battle of the Bands was to be held in a couple
of months. I also lived down the hall from a jazz drummer and a couple
of guitarists, so I inquired about any interest from these guys. They seemed
very interested, but I could sense that overwhelming skepticism, mainly
about the ability to organize such a project. This was completely
understandable, but I still thought the idea was worthy of a good try.
The four of us, Ryan, Noah, Ben and myself, through together a couple of
tunes, mainly based on guitar riffs and weird effects. We also messed around
with some easy cover songs, you know the ones you used to sing at summer
camp by Van Morrison or the Animals? Yeah, those were the ones. The most
important thing, of course, was to come up with a good band name. Noah
and I stayed up all night and came up with Astrolobe. It didn't take us
long to realize that two lead guitars, a jazz drummer, and a kid who hasn't
sang a song since the twelfth grade, do not a rock group make. We had three
main problems, and no, the name was not one of them. We needed 1) Some
low-end sound, 2) Someway to fill out parts other than guitar patterns,
and 3) a vocalist that didn't suck. Giving up hope seemed to be the reasonable
thing to do, but I've seldom been accused of being reasonable. Soon after,
Joel and John were recruited and Ben found more productive things to do.
This rearrangement solved two of our problems. Now, besides needing a bass
player in the group, we had an extra crappy singer, mainly me. So I gave
it a shot. We acquired an electric bass, and I started learning. MTI was
born, and I haven't stopped playing yet.
Technique and Influences
I try to keep my style smooth and steady for two reasons.
First of all, I think it works very well with much of the MTI music I play.
Secondly it's easier for me and I'm not that good. One thing that I've
learned is that in most cases, a good bassist does not show off at the
expense of the song as a whole. There are plenty of very good bassists
out there, playing with plenty of very good groups. However, you seldom
get a chance to witness the full extent of their talents. "Know your role"
as they say. Two of my most significant influences are Jeff Ament of Pearl
Jam and Adam Clayton of U2. Both are talented bassists who have raw skills,
and both use a smooth, harmonic technique in their basslines that I like
to model. For this reason, I hate picking. It is my opinion that picking
limits your sound to practically zero options. Sure, it sounds great in
a lot of punk music, and can look a bit cool on stage, but you get one
tone. I am a fingerstyle player. I started this way because I watched Travis
Freudenberg do it that way, and he is really good, so it made sense. I
soon figured out the reason for all this. Fingerstyle bass gives you a
limitless variety of tones and rhythmic patterns, and seems to be the way
to go for versility. I'm learning some slap bass, but I'm horrible and
never do it in public. I do think it's worth working on though. I'd like
to be able to play like Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I really
doubt that it's in the cards for me. Anyway, I think that my first 15 months
of playing the electric bass have been productive, and I don't suck quite
as bad as I used to. I believe that I have accomplished my goal of becoming
a better bass player than most other members of MTI, and being good enough
for them to think twice about replacing me. Besides, who would design their
website for them?
Gear
I learned my first few bass lines on a red Peavey Fury with only the
bottom three strings on it. It sounded horrible, but I didn't know the
difference between a good bass and a crappy one at the time, so it didn't
bother me too much. I ran that baby through the ten-inch subwoofer on my
stereo, and let me tell you, you couldn't hear a high note, but the low
ones were really frickin' loud. Once MTI was somewhat established, I ordered
my first bass. This was a brand new Washburn Bantam XB100 with a quilted tobacco finish. To this date,
I think this is the best sounding bass I've ever heard that carries a sub-$300
price tag. It's stacked with one passive pickup and one tone control, but
sounds full and warm. I've worked hard to set the action perfectly for
my needs, and my fingers seem to float on its smooth neck and Washburn
Slicks strings. It is still my main bass to this date, mainly because it
sounds so solid and is so easy to play. My other bass is a work of art.
This instrument is way to good for me, and I usually just admire it from
afar. I swear that the guy who auctioned it off to me stole it from a Washburn
delivery truck on the outskirts of Chicago. It is a Washburn Bantam RB4500 Custom.
This is a five-string monster with a custom flat-silver paint job, a soft,
smooth neck and fingerboard, and better body curves than Christie Brinkley.
It has a pair of fat humbucking pickups and the most versitle set of active
electronic controls I have ever played with. The bass has great smacky
highs and lows that growl to beat heck. I have more difficulty playing
this one, but use it whenever I can safely get away with it. I think that
it is a five-string jazz player's dream, and I'm pretty sure it says in
the Bible that angels play these instruments, at least the tough ones.
My practice amp is a punchy little 12-inch Peavey, which I mic at gigs.
There isn't anything fancy about it, but it supplies a nice tone and gets
the job done. I've been searching the Internet for a decent Hartke 4.5 XL cabinet
and and a series 5000 Hartke bass amp to go with it, but I haven't one
the lottery yet. I like to use Washburn Slicks strings,
they have a bright, warm tone and are incredibally smooth playing. Their main drawback, however, is
their lack of duribility - I've managed to pop quite a few of them. I've messed around with some Ernie Ball flat
wounds, which really give a dull tone. This isn't all that bad when paired
with those active electronics on the RB4500, and they are the smoothest
bass strings I have ever encountered. My homemade effects board suits my
needs just fine. It is equipped with five pedals, in the following order
from instrument to amplifier: 1) A Jim Dunlop Bass Crybaby Wah Pedal, this
is basically a lot of fun on the quirkier MTI songs and a few of the covers
we do. Hours of clean family entertainment. 2) A DOD FX25 Envelope Filter
Pedal, I was, for some reason, playing through the bass rig of the Daisy
Head Maisy bassist, and used his Envelope Filter. I loved it, and immediately
thought of many uses for one, so I bought Joel's from him. 3) A Boss ODB-3
Bass Overdrive Pedal, I found that this OD has a huge range, extending
from a very subtle growl to hardcore fuzz. The beauty of it is the onboard
EQ, which puts it far above other bass OD pedals, in my opinion. 4) A Boss
CS-3 Compression/Sustainer Pedal, it has a great EQ and long, steady sustain.
I use it mostly in punky songs, simply because too much compression limits
my dynamics. 5) An Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, just because. Everyone likes
a good volume pedal, and I think these are the best ones.
