JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Bass and Drum Forum Finally some respect for the folks in the back!

Hello all,

It's good to see a forum such as this, dedicated to the lowly drummer and bassist. At Mike's suggestion, I have come to poke around a bit and stir up some sawdust. I'm sure there's much to be shared, learned or otherwise bandied about. I look forward to hearing from you all.

Cheers,

Dave

www.davedemarco.com

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Dave,

Thanks for checking in. Your website is cool. I think you'll find Just Plain Folks is a terrific place to network and etc. There are a lot of great people that hang out here, and now we have a forum for the groovers.

All the Best,
Mike

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Mike Dunbar Music

I guess I have been living in ignorance because I have always had a great deal of respect for drummers. Especially those who could sing well while keeping an intricate beat. That goes for bass players too. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Everyone is important in the band, IMO.

JeanB

Jean,

No, you haven't been living in ignorance; rather consider yourself one of the observant ones. I was being a little facetious though in my original post. While the rhythm section certainly gets the props by those who know better, from a marketing perspective, we're often shoved to the back or given less ink than the guitarist and singer. Recently, when a dormant project I had been involved with looked like it was going to start working again, I got a phone call from the singer/guitarist asking if I was still interested in participating. He then said he hoped I would be, and then added "but if you're not, I'm going to continue with or without you because you're the bass player and that's how it goes."

I've observed this attitude a lot towards not only myself, but other bassists and drummers. Bands are able to admit that they need us in order to function and that a bad rhythm section usually = a bad band, yet very often we're treated as disposable components. I'm now playing with a well established act in my area and I was lucky in that I didn't need to audition to get the gig, but lemme tell ya, every day is a fight to preserve not only my place in the mix, but also my voice in the goings-on.

Anyone else encounter this and if so, how do/did you deal with the situation?

Thx,

Dave

How many bass players does it take to screw in a light bulb? None, the keyboard player does that with his left hand.

All kidding aside, Dave, just last night I played a country dance gig. One of the regulars, a wonderful lady of the WWII generation, came up and said, "I just want to let you know, I always dance to the bass."
It made me feel great.

Another anecdote: I'm bandleader for a writer's night with studio musicians who read charts and accompany the writers. On several (and I mean several) occasions, writers would hire the entire band for demos and either have the keyboardist play bass or have the guitarist double on bass. Now, I admit this probably saved the writer a few dollars, but I don't think I'm being immodest by saying some of these demos suffered for it. In the long run the band suffered for it...I had to reconsider my hiring criteria.

In summation I'll reiterate my motto. I play bass for the glory of it.

Mike,

That's really the only way to go about it - playing for the glory of the instrument. I've also had those occasions where non-musicians have come up to let me know that appreciate what I'm doing. It's amazing how subtle changes in playing can affect what goes on on the dance floor. It really makes one appreciate the value of a great drummer too.

Here's another situation which is related to my previous post: The manner in which The Who decided to carry on after the death of John Entwistle has irked me a bit. I'm not going to get into the great debate over whether they should or shouldn't have continued without him, as there are likely many circumstances at play which anyone outside of the band would be unaware of - not the least of which being that John, Pete and Roger reportedly are not that fond of each other to begin with. But again, we have a situation where the bassist is treated as a disposable element and the band continues on w/o missing a beat. Pound for pound, Entwistle's songwriting contributions far outweigh those of Daltrey's yet because Daltrey and Townshend are the collective "voices" of The Who, chances are this tour would not have continued had it been one of them that passed away.

If it sounds like I'm trying to undo 50 years of programming of the collective consciousness of music listeners by asserting that people should be just as cognizant of the sound of a bass guitarist as they are of a particular singer, I'm really not. I just think it's sad that most musicians will admit that a band is only as good as its bassist (and drummer), somehow we seem to be the easist to replace and the average listener can't tell the difference.

Dave

Myself and two other members of my band have been together for about twenty years now. they certainly could replace me. But, I promise, after that long, it wouldn't be any easy task. And besides, , I own most of the equipment. And, all of the studio.
Enjoy your day,
AaV

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My family coat of arms buckles in the back. Is that normal?

Bumping some useful older posts