          Music - Basslines.           
                                       
   As promised, this issue I will throw
a few ideas in your direction viz a viz
basslines. More trackers than I care to
count employ a very lazy bass line with
one note played with the following bass
line - on,off,on,on. (ad nauseam) This 
can sound effective, I used it once,   
but you might not want all your tunes  
to adopt it. The first bass effect I   
sometimes use is the echo. Here you use
two different bass sounds, one large   
and warm acoustic bass, and one sharper
slap bass sound. One instrument plays a
refrain, and the second one repeats it 
making the bass line more interesting. 
   Another simple effect to gain some  
interest is to devise a bass line, eg  
G,G,G,D,rest,F,G (a good reggae line)  
and then only play it every other bar  
to hold the interest. Minimilism is a  
useful byword, for instance a good bass
line which walks up a scale sounds even
better if it is played every other beat
instead of all beats. This sounds good 
with a 12-bar style walking bass line. 
My personal favourite bass line has to 
be the hi-lo ELO disco bass line. The  
bass plays a bottom G and then the G   
another octave up, and then jumps back.
This was very popular with bands like  
ELO (Last Train to London) and it works
well as a decreasing scale. One thing  
to remember when a bass line takes form
especially if it has a melody, is not  
to change the notes used simply because
the chords have changed. If your chord 
pattern is still in the same key, like 
a move from C,E,G to G,B,D then the    
bass line may not need to move.        
   The bass line is seriously under-   
used as a source of melody, but you can
make a very good tune with a bass as   
lead instrument - Axel F is a good     
example. This sort of tune is supported
by a simple AcouBass that plods along  
every other beat, or even every bar    
just providing back bone. Right that is
enough bass lines for one issue. Just  
try to avoid a bass line as awful as   
the one in this magazine's 'theme' tune
where my little sister is on vocals.   
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
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