New song, you should listen to it, you know you want to.

[Joelbassman]

Recorded this as a test of my relatively new bass guitar and my new compression pedal. I like the tone I'm getting considering I'm just going into the line in. It's a bit sloppy, and nothing amazing. I originally hadn't made a guitar part for it, but overdubbed it in the end. On second listen finger picked part sounds a little weak, but I like the echoed tremolo picking at the end.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/7drjnl

If you like it say why.

If you hate it say why.

If you have advice give it.

If you have nothing nice to say, say it anyway.(here's looking at you Raayl)

P.s. it's called Tappity Tap Tap and Pickity Pick Pick. And it isn't a virus, myspace was just being a homo.

[naut]

fairly smooth but there were several agitated moments in the melody line. this could've been overlooked had the melody been pleasing. unfortunately it was not. i use this description a lot but it's very fitting here - it was rather juvenile. it's not in reference to the simplicity, but just the way it sounds. it was more mechanical then musical. the chosen notes are lackluster, and sterile. with an apparent, pleasing melody, you could have something nice going on.

i'm not really sure what happened there at the end...the tremolo picking was all over the place. again, same problem. really think carefully about the notes you use. think about which ones resonate the most emotive qualities, think about which one will sound best next, think about where you're going...etc. don't choose them so haphazardly.

i'm not really a fan of most solo bass anyway so naturally it'd take a lot to satisfy me, but if this is what you enjoy doing, keep at it and you'll get there eventually.

[Joelbassman]

Haha thanks naut, I'd have to agree with most of what you said.

The haphazardness was probably due to a lot of improv, and not being in practice. Especially with the tremolo. That was all pretty much improvised.

In reference to the melody, I agree, it's not the nicest, and yes juvenile. I think it's because I originally wrote this for a solo piece for school, and if you play almost anything tapping, my teacher is like "OMGWTF", due to his lack of solo bass knowledge. But with someone like you who has heard and doesn't like it, you can really pick apart what's wrong with it, rather than just hearing fancy smancy tapping like a noob would. So naturally I wasn't trying that hard. But I think, for the song's sake, I'll change the melody.

What about the B section?

[Raayl]

yeah that wasn't good.

[Joelbassman]

Expected that^.

[Raayl]

sorry man call them like i hear em'.

[Joelbassman]

Haha I think we've all figured that out by now.

I know it's pretty crap, I just wanted an educated opinion, rather than my musically retarded gf or my solo bass retarded music teacher.

[Raayl]

musically retarded people?

uhh try not failing before you condescend the general public?

[katana_manatee]

I think the first section needs a lot of work, it is rather sloppy and the melody seems far too random but if it is improvised and you know it needs work then cool, just keep working on it.

Try working on playing more organic feeling melodies. Just try and learn melodies from songs and then try to play them just with tapping with one hand to develop your facility.

Just keep at it and you will get somewhere with it, most people start with very rough sounding stuff and gradually improve.

Try also composing first without the tapping. Use tapping as a means to an end rather than just trying to see what you can squeeze out from the technique.

You need to get the technique to meet the musical ideas first and foremost and not trying to randomly tap and see if something comes out of it. You can do that when the facility is there and your musicality has developed. It just takes time but you will get there.

The B section was a lot better but just try and work on your timing and melodies and less random tremloing. Some notes just sound really out and that ending seems quite random too.

As I said before though, just keep at it and eventually the fruit will be sweeter so to speak.

[Joelbassman]

Yes musically retarded. And I wasn't referring to the general public. As in, my girlfriend thinks it is good, my music teacher thinks its good, but they haven't heard good solo bass. I meant retarded in the less literal sense of the word.

And tbh I don't think I failed. I just don't think it was very good.

[Raayl]

Yes musically retarded. And I wasn't referring to the general public. As in, my girlfriend thinks it is good, my music teacher thinks its good, but they haven't heard good solo bass. I meant retarded in the less literal sense of the word.

And tbh I don't think I failed. I just don't think it was very good.

your girlfriend humors you. that's a bad sign. want my advice? drop her for a girl that will tell you that your music sucks.

there is no good solo bass. stop trying.

[Joelbassman]

I think the first section needs a lot of work, it is rather sloppy and the melody seems far too random but if it is improvised and you know it needs work then cool, just keep working on it.

Try working on playing more organic feeling melodies. Just try and learn melodies from songs and then try to play them just with tapping with one hand to develop your facility.

Just keep at it and you will get somewhere with it, most people start with very rough sounding stuff and gradually improve.

Try also composing first without the tapping. Use tapping as a means to an end rather than just trying to see what you can squeeze out from the technique.

You need to get the technique to meet the musical ideas first and foremost and not trying to randomly tap and see if something comes out of it. You can do that when the facility is there and your musicality has developed. It just takes time but you will get there.

The B section was a lot better but just try and work on your timing and melodies and less random tremloing. Some notes just sound really out and that ending seems quite random too.

As I said before though, just keep at it and eventually the fruit will be sweeter so to speak.
Thanks man, this is all I wanted.:thumb:

I agree, it is REALLY rough.

I do usually fail at writing good melodies, maybe this will help me?

The ending was random, again I hadn't actually written a conclusive ending, I just wanted to record some of the ideas I already had.

FYI I did only learn to tap about a month ago. So give a brother some slack :P But that's no excuse lol.

So checklist: More natural melodies.
Timing.
Forget tapping before righting the actual music.

Again thanks for the advice.

[Joelbassman]

your girlfriend humors you. that's a bad sign. want my advice? drop her for a girl that will tell you that your music sucks.

there is no good solo bass. stop trying.
Hahaha. Good call.

But really, does that mean I should drop my music teacher as well?:amaze:

Haha I believe you were once a 'solo bassist', and I remember you actually writing a lesson on two handed tapping. I'm sorry I just haven't discovered the wonders of Reason yet. And I bet one day you'll come to hate electronic music and say that sucks too.

[katana_manatee]

Thanks man, this is all I wanted.:thumb:

I agree, it is REALLY rough.

I do usually fail at writing good melodies, maybe this will help me?

The ending was random, again I hadn't actually written a conclusive ending, I just wanted to record some of the ideas I already had.

FYI I did only learn to tap about a month ago. So give a brother some slack :P But that's no excuse lol.

So checklist: More natural melodies.
Timing.
Forget tapping before righting the actual music.

Again thanks for the advice.

Totally fair enough if you have only been tapping for a month man.

If you are having trouble writing your own then start with just learning other melodies, learn a melody every day and try to think of your own melodies in your head then try and figure them out. This takes time but like a muscle, the more you do it, the more it will develop.

Learning other melodies will get your brain to try and sort of understand melodies a little more, you will find it easier to create new melodies. Learning scales and arpeggios will help to, as you learn more of the vocabulary of music you then will get more used to arranging that vocabulary to create new melodies and ideas.

A good bit of plain random exploration is good to, but learning theory can be a good way of developing more quickly but don't always stick to general theory, learn to be flexible and go with what sounds good to your ears.

By all means learn to tap at the same time but start things off simple and slowly develop into more complex things. A well played simple thing will practically always sound better than a sloppy meandering thing.

Have a look into what other tappers are doing too, that can be a great way to develop quickly however it can sometimes end up causing someone to end up emulating another player rather than just developing your own style naturally. If you start from the ground up you are more likely to have a more individual sound rather than a facsimile of another bassist's tunes.

Most of all, have fun just playing and see what happens. :thumb:

[Joelbassman]

Totally fair enough if you have only been tapping for a month man.

If you are having trouble writing your own then start with just learning other melodies, learn a melody every day and try to think of your own melodies in your head then try and figure them out. This takes time but like a muscle, the more you do it, the more it will develop.

Learning other melodies will get your brain to try and sort of understand melodies a little more, you will find it easier to create new melodies. Learning scales and arpeggios will help to, as you learn more of the vocabulary of music you then will get more used to arranging that vocabulary to create new melodies and ideas.

A good bit of plain random exploration is good to, but learning theory can be a good way of developing more quickly but don't always stick to general theory, learn to be flexible and go with what sounds good to your ears.

By all means learn to tap at the same time but start things off simple and slowly develop into more complex things. A well played simple thing will practically always sound better than a sloppy meandering thing.

Have a look into what other tappers are doing too, that can be a great way to develop quickly however it can sometimes end up causing someone to end up emulating another player rather than just developing your own style naturally. If you start from the ground up you are more likely to have a more individual sound rather than a facsimile of another bassist's tunes.

Most of all, have fun just playing and see what happens. :thumb:
If I could rep you right now, I would.

I do know quite a bit about scales, and I'm no n00b at general theory. I.e. I know my modes, arpeggios are fairly sound and I can read if I had to. But yes melodies have always eluded me, whether they be on bass, guitar or even sung.

Haha so basically learn to crawl before I run?

[katana_manatee]

If I could rep you right now, I would.

I do know quite a bit about scales, and I'm no n00b at general theory. I.e. I know my modes, arpeggios are fairly sound and I can read if I had to. But yes melodies have always eluded me, whether they be on bass, guitar or even sung.

Haha so basically learn to crawl before I run?

Pretty much, try and learn the basic techniques first before getting into the composing side of it otherwise you will likely feel disappointed at how your compositions don't feel quite right.

It is just another technique, when you first picked up a bass the first thing you probably wanted to do was learn how to play it first and others' songs before composing your own. You need the tools first before you can build the house.

Try and compose away from your bass first, or at least without using tapping. Just record a simple chord sequence then improvise melodies or even sing melodies over it and eventually find something you like. Then try and see about putting it altogether with tapping.

But essentally yeah, crawl before you walk and walk before you run.

I'm happy to help man. :thumb:

[EADGC]

your girlfriend humors you.

there is no good solo bass. stop trying.

yar

[Joelbassman]

EADGC, you don't even play bass anymore so stfu.

And there's a difference between humor and ignorance.

[Raayl]

now now guy lets not get MEAN here

[Joelbassman]

Lol to clarify, I was doing a 'Raayl stfu'. If you catch my drift.

[Raayl]

Lol to clarify, I was doing a 'Raayl stfu'. If you catch my drift.

oh well in that case please continue

[EADGC]

EADGC, you don't even play bass anymore so stfu.

And there's a difference between humor and ignorance.

I just played for like 3 hours.

If you want some actual advice, you're going about this the wrong way. You're thinking like a bass player. Think like a musician. Stop comparing your music to other solo bass music and start comparing it to music in general - then you'll start to see the bigger picture.

[Phalanx]

I just played for like 3 hours.

If you want some actual advice, you're going about this the wrong way. You're thinking like a bass player. Think like a musician. Stop comparing your music to other solo bass music and start comparing it to music in general - then you'll start to see the bigger picture.

I really couldn't put it much better myself.

To me, your song sounded like one riff after another. That's it, it's not even a song really, it's more like one undeveloped idea after another with no context - typically what solo bass seems to be.

I'll actually say, that second riff actually sounded pretty cool, but it needs context. As someone (i think) said earlier, it's so easy today to grab basic drum loop software and synth software off the internet that there's absolutely no excuse to having such a simple track.

[Joelbassman]

I just played for like 3 hours.

If you want some actual advice, you're going about this the wrong way. You're thinking like a bass player. Think like a musician. Stop comparing your music to other solo bass music and start comparing it to music in general - then you'll start to see the bigger picture.
Haha I know, it's a crappy song, I now realize that. Let's just forget it ever existed lol.

And to EADGC, I was kidding about the not playing bass thing :p

[EADGC]

I actually hadn't even listened to the song until now, but I have to say it's terrible. The tapping just sounds gross, plain and simple. Either take the time to hone your tapping technique and sound (and trust me, it takes years to make it remotely listenable) or focus your efforts elsewhere.

[Joelbassman]

Lol that kind of pisses me off that you posted a bunch of **** without actually taking time to listen to the song. But oh well.

For everyone's info, I've been playing for about two or three years and only seriously started tapping a month or so ago, I'm pretty competent at slap/pop, and I would probably say proficient at finger style. I only decided to take up tapping because I'm running out of solo pieces to play for my music class.

What I'm basically doing is covering my ***, by explaining how much of a n00b I am at tapping, and that this isn't my true ability.

Kthx :)

Edit: And I'm not saying my true ability is necessarily all that great either.

[EADGC]

Lol that kind of pisses me off that you posted a bunch of **** without actually taking time to listen to the song. But oh well.


Well.. I didn't actually say anything about the song.


For everyone's info, I've been playing for about two or three years and only seriously started tapping a month or so ago, I'm pretty competent at slap/pop, and I would probably say proficient at finger style. I only decided to take up tapping because I'm running out of solo pieces to play for my music class.

What I'm basically doing is covering my ***, by explaining how much of a n00b I am at tapping, and that this isn't my true ability.

Kthx :)

Edit: And I'm not saying my true ability is necessarily all that great either.

I understand that you're just starting, and it's actually not bad considering.. about average for someone who's been doing it in their spare time for a few weeks-a month. I'm just saying that if this style is something you want to pursue seriously... be prepared to work really hard for pretty much nothing.

[jake_kinney]

Eww...sorry but that sounded like poop.

But I get the feeling with more tapping practice you will be making nice tapping songs that dont sound like poop.

[Joelbassman]

Hahaha that's the most encouraging words I've heard in my life.

[jake_kinney]

I do what i can.