Tapping Many Parts
Dale Edward invited me to be part of his submission for the NPR Tiny Desk Contest with his song Hold On. When neither horns’ nor guitarists’ schedules would align, I offered to take over those parts via tapping them on the bass. It’s the sort of challenge I really like.
I used my five string Marleaux Consat, which isn’t really set up for tapping, but sometimes you have to make logistical decisions. Typically I would choose my 6 for this sort of thing.
Dale had an active JBL set up, so I just went straight into that.
I cleaned my strings to bring out some high end (I use Dean Markley SR 2000s in medium gage on my fiver, I’d use light for a typical tapping situation, but sometimes you have to work with what you got).
And it is in these situations that my fretwraps by GruvGear.com really come into play nicely.
On this tune I pulled the fretwrap onto the strings just a tad. I was using harmonics at some spots, so I did not want to dampen the strings beyond the point of being able to use harmonics. By pulling it in a bit further on the E,B and A strings I could tame the ring of the lower strings while keeping the top two (D and G) available for the harmonics.
To give a nod to the original arrangement I grabbed the horn line with my right hand while laying down the bass parts with my left. My goal was to add dynamics by playing chords for the verses and bridge. Jamming along with Richie opened the space add some spontaneous variations to the groove.
I had prepared the main ideas, but left plenty of room for interaction as I wanted this to have a jammy kind of feel. Could not think of a better way to spend a Wednesday morning 🙂 Thanks, mates!
Richie Aguon, Cajon; Ariane Cap, Bass; Leah Tysse, BG Vocals & Shaker and Dale Edward, Vocals and production. Videography: Dave Sturdevant.
My Gear:
- I use Marleaux Basses and Dean Markley Strings.
- TC Electronics Pedals, cabs and amps!
- Fretwrap by Gruvgear.
(Ariane Cap is an official endorser for all these fine companies.)
