Point19 brought up the subject of "Locking with the drummer" in another post and I thought this subject could use some discussion.
First I should say that this post is not about the subtlties of playing on the beat or near the beat intentionally, which is a deep subject. It is mostly about the cohesive time feel of the rhythm section as it applies to those people playing music TOGETHER.
The phrase "Locking with the drummer" has special significance for bassists because we work so closely with drums. An accurate time feel should be equally important as note selection, and other levels of technique. Not to confuse time with rhythm. Rhythm, whether simple or syncopated, is dependant upon the underlying time/pulse.
Locking with the drummer may, at first glance, imply that other musicians must slave, or defer, to the drummers absolute meter. If we were machines, or it was a machine that is setting the time such as when recording to a click or rhythm track, this first level interpretation of the phrase would apply. Locking to machine time is an important skill, especially for the recording musician, but in the context of live music "Locking with the drummer" has a different interpretation for me. It is not so much about playing the same accents and bass drum pattern, rather being in agreement about where the beat, or pulse is (located in time) without mechanistic conformity.
Many musicans fail to recognize the special skill that a competant drummer has developed. They work hard to achieve full independance of all four limbs, and an accurate sense of time. Their brain structure actually reorganizes to facilitate these attributes. Time is the most important thing in the world to many drummers. Bassists too, should have a well developed sense of time, but like many other musicians, may put emphasis on other things such as learning to read, or music theory, and may never dedicate themselves to develop an acute sense of time.
We are humans, playing with other humans, usually without the requirement to lock to a machine. As imperfect human beings, most of us do not have perfect time, including drummers. Aspiring to achieve perfect time, or perfect pitch, can lead to neurotic behaviour. If one does acquire such perfection, it often leads to incredible frustration with individuals who are less perfect. I think that you can see the trend here as it applies to musicians and groups. The goal is to acquire an accurate time sense and work together with other musicians, co-operating on the group time feel often known as THE GROOVE. Thus "Locking with the drummer" takes on a different meaning. Let the drummer be the time specialist he/she is, while keeping your ears open to all the players individual time contributions. Develop your own sense of time to the point that you understand, or are sensitive to, a drummers perspective on time.
Music is a language so we communicate. Communication is a two (or multi) way conversation. If one individual takes on the role of absolute time keeper then it (in the time domain) is no longer a conversation, rather a monolog with others following. A workable situation but not optimum.
In an ideal musical situation, everyone would have accurate time. The ebb and flow of beat emphasis would be obvious to all (the players), the subtleties of expressing nuance in the time domain would be a subject of agreement and knowing looks among the musicians would be all the discussion necessary.
In the real world a different reality exists. Guitarists often rush the beat consistantly compensating for the relatively long time it takes to rake the plectrum across six strings. Trombone players often drag due to the time it takes to excite the air column. Some players follow others (such as the drummer) for time cues, this is a mistake causing constant "hunting" for the meter and an unstable feeling. Players can have all sorts of time problems causing a group to have a time feel that is not cohesive, no groove.
The good news is that we can improve our time sense. The bad news is that some players don't even recognize that improvement might be needed.
We as bassists, along with the drummer, are the foundation of the rhythm section, but hopefully not time cops taking the fun out of playing music. We have to deal with other musicians variable time sense, and time interpretations. This is one reason larger groups have conductors.
Locking in with the drummer should be easy, if one has to strain, or pay inordinant amount of attention then there is a problem. It is possible that the drummer has poor time. More likely some other player (besides yourself) is pulling the time away from the groove and causing the problem. If this is the case, ask the drummers opinion about where the problem lies and deal with it in a kind way. Unless you are not kind, in which case the defective carbon unit should be neutralized.
Time feel regarding fretless bass. I find that time feel on fretless is slightly different than with the fretted. The fretted is more immediate, the fretless note takes a few micro-seconds longer to propagate. So I approach the two differently, riding slightly ahead of the beat on fast tempo songs to avoid a draggy feeling. This is subtle and you need to figure out your own technique for this as all aspects of creating a note come into play including how fast your speakers respond, size and characteristics of the room, both hands, calluses, mental sharpness, and mood.
One last thing. Avoid all drugs when playing music. They dull the senses and impair not only your time feel, but musicality in general.
What are your views on group time feel, also known as "The Groove"?
Living in the time Domain - Lock and Groove, no loading.
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FretLessSince68
- Posts:307
- Joined:Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:29 am
- Location:On an Island, WA, USA
One good note makes my day.
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point19
Excellent post, 68!!!
In the way of communication, I must add that it is absolutely imperative for the drummer and bassist to be able to communicate nonverbally. Being able to read cues from one another with just a glance (or better yet, by intuition) would be ideal.
Drummers and bassists aren't perfect, and may not be of Swiss precision. Then again, find a guitarist who is.... Particularly, a lone guitarist or a lead player, I have found, can completely wreck the timing in the bat of an eye. But, if the drummer and bassist can lock, then the damage can be minimized to the point to where no one may even notice the guitar's issues.
We, as bassists, act not only as "the bottom", or "the rhythm section", but also in the role of "damage control". Crowds love flashy bassists. Drummers love the good ones.
As a drummer, "locking in" would be that nonverbal communication as much as maintaining a tightness you can't squeeze a penny through. Instinctively knowing when an accent or fill will be thrown in, reading when each other may feel a little "off" and compensating to maintain a sense of balance, knowing when to lay low so to not clash with each other. That is "locking in" to me.
Being on both sides of the fence, I feel that this is more important than almost anything else when in a band setting. If I could ever achieve the Jones/Bonham mind meld with another, then I feel that my abilities could increase exponentially in a band setting.
Fretted or fretless, the bassist is the key to most good drummers.
In the way of communication, I must add that it is absolutely imperative for the drummer and bassist to be able to communicate nonverbally. Being able to read cues from one another with just a glance (or better yet, by intuition) would be ideal.
Drummers and bassists aren't perfect, and may not be of Swiss precision. Then again, find a guitarist who is.... Particularly, a lone guitarist or a lead player, I have found, can completely wreck the timing in the bat of an eye. But, if the drummer and bassist can lock, then the damage can be minimized to the point to where no one may even notice the guitar's issues.
We, as bassists, act not only as "the bottom", or "the rhythm section", but also in the role of "damage control". Crowds love flashy bassists. Drummers love the good ones.
As a drummer, "locking in" would be that nonverbal communication as much as maintaining a tightness you can't squeeze a penny through. Instinctively knowing when an accent or fill will be thrown in, reading when each other may feel a little "off" and compensating to maintain a sense of balance, knowing when to lay low so to not clash with each other. That is "locking in" to me.
Being on both sides of the fence, I feel that this is more important than almost anything else when in a band setting. If I could ever achieve the Jones/Bonham mind meld with another, then I feel that my abilities could increase exponentially in a band setting.
Fretted or fretless, the bassist is the key to most good drummers.
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FretLessSince68
- Posts:307
- Joined:Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:29 am
- Location:On an Island, WA, USA
Actually Rando brings up a good point.
A professional bassist should be able to hold down a gig without drums, no fear. I've done steady duo gigs at restaurants, art shows, etc. for years. Not the most exciting gig but it fills the gas tank, and keeps one in practice. In this situation you are both the drummer and the bassist so locking in should not be a problem unless you are certified schizophrenic.
If you want to test your ability to keep time, and maintain it when the guitarist drops a 1/8th and brings the melody in early inverting the beat, a duo or trio without trapset fits the bill. In this situation you will find that either you get better and more confident in your time skills, or it gets worse because your, or other musicians, weaknesses are revealed. Either way, it's better experience than taking lessons for a year.
When you do a gig with-out drums, first be aware of your time keeping skills, how consistant are you, can you lock to machine time and remember what it feels like, then bring that feeling to the gig? Second, be confident in your skill, you probably have better time than most guitarists, so lay it down and be steady. Third, don't syncopate too much, keep it simple, strong, consistant. Fourth, maintain focus, NEVER let your mind wander.
On some tunes you can play a ghost note on beat 2 and 4 to help keep it together.
A professional bassist should be able to hold down a gig without drums, no fear. I've done steady duo gigs at restaurants, art shows, etc. for years. Not the most exciting gig but it fills the gas tank, and keeps one in practice. In this situation you are both the drummer and the bassist so locking in should not be a problem unless you are certified schizophrenic.
If you want to test your ability to keep time, and maintain it when the guitarist drops a 1/8th and brings the melody in early inverting the beat, a duo or trio without trapset fits the bill. In this situation you will find that either you get better and more confident in your time skills, or it gets worse because your, or other musicians, weaknesses are revealed. Either way, it's better experience than taking lessons for a year.
When you do a gig with-out drums, first be aware of your time keeping skills, how consistant are you, can you lock to machine time and remember what it feels like, then bring that feeling to the gig? Second, be confident in your skill, you probably have better time than most guitarists, so lay it down and be steady. Third, don't syncopate too much, keep it simple, strong, consistant. Fourth, maintain focus, NEVER let your mind wander.
On some tunes you can play a ghost note on beat 2 and 4 to help keep it together.
One good note makes my day.
This is a very interesting subject! The relationship between drummers and bass players is something that involves both practice and sublety...there are some drummers you play with for the first time that are so musical and reactive that you immediately start to "lock" with 'em and react to what they're playing...in an average live setting it's usually bass and drums keeping the groove and adding colours occasionally (and for my experience in the studio too...), but when I play in a more free live context, especially when me and the drummer know each other well, it's very fun to improvise short licks, switch beats and accents, add also little stops( the pause gives a lot of strenght to what you're playing next) and also change kind of groove (yesterday evening I was playing a gig, and the drummer switched time from funk to latin!).
Anyway, I noticed that when I go fretless instead of fretted, many drummers seem to relaxe a little bit and give more breath to the music we're playing...
Anyway, I noticed that when I go fretless instead of fretted, many drummers seem to relaxe a little bit and give more breath to the music we're playing...