That is kind of where I am at these days.
Things seem so much more complicated then it did just last year.
Sometimes I feel like an Elvis Costello song, "what's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?"
I could comment on Trumpcare, dismantling of government agencies, DeVos, wiretaps, White House leaks, Wikileaks, poor people buying iPhones, and the list could go on and on, but instead I want to examine pedals.
For most of my bass playing life, I have not really been into pedals. Yes, on occasion I have played a distortion pedal. I also for a very short time played with an octave pedal, and yes, yes, I do like how my bass sounds playing with a bit of chorus on it. My main problem is that I don't want to deal with them when I play live. No muss, no fuss.
Aaand I don't want to appear to be hiding behind pedals.
There are many guitar players who I like that use effects to create soundscapes and some who treat them as another instrument within their instrument.
Since I worry about effects for effects sake. I have been listening to some bassist who use different effects to see if there is something I am interested to explore. My list offers players who I have been listening to for years and are some of my favorites-
Les Claypool
Tony Levin
Jaco (OF COURSE)
Kim Deal
Paul Barker
and my new obsession- Esperanza Spalding.
But then there is my favorite bass player Mike Watt who said this from Bassplayer.com April 2013.
Though Watt used a few stompboxes on The Secondman’s Middle Stand, he’s wary of effect pedals.
“I feel the debt the bass owes the band, and pedals fuck with that low end."
With that being said, there are a few songs that I will be recording next month that maybe could be spruced up with some effects.
I could comment on Trumpcare, dismantling of government agencies, DeVos, wiretaps, White House leaks, Wikileaks, poor people buying iPhones, and the list could go on and on, but instead I want to examine pedals.
For most of my bass playing life, I have not really been into pedals. Yes, on occasion I have played a distortion pedal. I also for a very short time played with an octave pedal, and yes, yes, I do like how my bass sounds playing with a bit of chorus on it. My main problem is that I don't want to deal with them when I play live. No muss, no fuss.
Aaand I don't want to appear to be hiding behind pedals.
There are many guitar players who I like that use effects to create soundscapes and some who treat them as another instrument within their instrument.
Since I worry about effects for effects sake. I have been listening to some bassist who use different effects to see if there is something I am interested to explore. My list offers players who I have been listening to for years and are some of my favorites-
Les Claypool
Tony Levin
Jaco (OF COURSE)
Kim Deal
Paul Barker
and my new obsession- Esperanza Spalding.
But then there is my favorite bass player Mike Watt who said this from Bassplayer.com April 2013.
Though Watt used a few stompboxes on The Secondman’s Middle Stand, he’s wary of effect pedals.
“I feel the debt the bass owes the band, and pedals fuck with that low end."
With that being said, there are a few songs that I will be recording next month that maybe could be spruced up with some effects.
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