I didn’t want to have you endure the entire thing but am I hearing the metronome correctly, minus the glaring mistake at the very beginning?
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@Shane_Landen - Always great to see and hear new covers being posted!! Good on you for stepping out as you have…
I pretty much agree with what @PamPurrs - Pam, @joergkutter - Joerg, and @terb - Laurent have to say, but do believe that an easier song to play at this point could be a great help. Sometimes it’s best to start slow and build up in order to develop the rhythmic technique that identifies a solid bass line. Sometimes it’s better to learn to play something a little more simple and play it well, then it is to take on something way more challenging and struggle through it.
It’s those simple songs that allow us to build experience, and most every simple song has a new technique that can be learned and stored in your “Bassist Toolbox”, then pulled out to be used for songs such as “London Calling”. Many times I (and I’m sure many others here) have to go back to one of the earlier BassBuzz lessons in order to refresh technique - even on some easy to play songs…
My bass mentor also voices the same thing Pam’s bass coach does… It’s better to miss a note or two then it is to be out of time - even once… There are some songs out there that have very tricky timing signatures and quirks that are difficult even for intermediate and advanced bass players.
The other thing that I might question would be the accuracy of the notes being played. Do you have sheet music for that song or did you find tabs online? Sheet music will give you a full road map that includes a lot of what it takes to stay on beat with the song. Using sheet music and a metronome or drum machine could prove to help quite a bit - it does help me when I cannot totally lock into a drummer.
Keep on Thumpin’!
Lanny
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I appreciate the feedback and will take the advice. Back to “Should I stay or should I go.” I’ll be back though, London Calling! You haven’t beat me yet.
Thanks for taking a listen everybody and for all the advice. As the old coach used to say, “Back to the shed for me.”
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Nothing wrong with having an aspirational song to work up to. I have a few 
That is a relatively tough bassline (seriously, I couldn’t directly play it now at over a year out from the course, without practicing it a bit) and I think I remember @Gio giving you the advice to start with it at a much slower speed and work up to full speed. That is an exercise that is always useful and you can just continue to do while playing/covering other songs. Eventually you will nail it (and you have an awesome start at it).
Another thing to try, if you find you don’t like metronomes, is to practice with drum tracks instead, starting with the tempo slowed down. I prefer drums over metronomes myself (and 4-on-the-floor is basically a metronome anyway.) There’s a few ways you can do this; probably the easiest is drum apps on your phone.
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Yeah, you’re right @howard. I do need to slow it down. Probably just got a bit excited. I’m really digging The Clash right now so I got a little overzealous I think. I’ll try the drum apps as well and see which one works better for me. Thanks for the tips @howard
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Totally get that, The Clash is freaking rad, so is Big Audio Dynamite. Lots of killer songs.
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What drum app do you use?
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I actually don’t, I use an actual drum machine or a virtual drumset in my DAW’s MIDI sequencer, depending. I would not recommend emulating me here at this point
There’s some good free apps though, at least for iPhones. Tons in the app store. You can make your own patterns in Garageband too.
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Hi Shane, @Shane_Landen,
I reckon everyone has given feedback on your cover regarding timing etc. so I don’t think I can add anything that hasn’t been said.
What I will add from a technical perspective, is its great to see you using all 4 fingers on the fretboard and alternating picking fingers nicely, you seem a little heavy with the picking fingers across the strings, I am a bit the same and often have to remind myself to take it a bit easier on them.
Cheers Brian
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Playing to a metronome is brutally revealing, @Shane_Landen, especially if you record yourself and have a chance to go back and listen to it - so, that is in fact a fantastic learning experience and practice combo (play-record-listen back).
(I recently had to record to a click track and that almost broke my back - you’d think that damn click is always late or in the wrong place, but of course it’s not the click, it’s you 
)
Anyway, without knowing the sheet music to this song (or actually knowing the song very well), I think one of the first things to look out for is the triplet figure in the beginning (repeated four times), where you always seem to take too long on the triplets and you don’t arrive at the 1, but a good bit late. And, almost as a consequence (?), you are also late sliding into the 1. And… is it really a slide down and then up again? I guess this goes to what @Lanny Lanny said - make sure to check and double check the sheet music or tabs you have and compare to what you hear on the record.
Have fun 
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I think this explains it very well and it proofs that practice to a metronome is essential even for such a master
’Groove’ Vs ‘Good Time’… are they different things? - YouTube
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Hi Bassbuzz friends,
Please find link to my latest cover.
I have always liked this song and thought it would be something a bit different
to my other covers.
Terry Jacks is a Canadian singer/songwriter, and would probably fall into the
“the one hit wonder” category.
Seasons in the sun was released in 1974 and reached number 1 in 12 countries.
The track was originally intended for the Beach Boys but when they decided not to release the song Terry decided to do it himself, I believe he made the right choice.
Hope you enjoy it.
After I completed the final mix I noticed a slight timing issue and the bass appeared to be a little dominant.
As always any feedback is encouraged.
Cheers
Keep on Rocking
Brian.
https://bilgerats.billlanahan.com/2020/12/02/seasons-in-the-sun/
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Great job Brian @TNKA36! I am well familiar with that song. Yeah Terry Jacks was a “one hit wonder”.
I didn’t hear a timing issue, but the bass is a bit loud.
Brought back memories. Thanks Brian!
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I like the phasing/flanging effect on the bass!
Thanks for the history on that song, I’d heard it growing up and had no idea of the provenance of it.
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Well played. Very cool. Always liked that song and don’t mind the bass-heavy mix at all.
PS. Is the Sabbath t-shirt a sign of covers to come? 
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Like it, Brian! Brings back memories from some youth camp where we were confined to the indoors because of really bad weather and only had a handful of songs on an old tape for the entire weekend… 
Music is so powerful in bringing back the weirdest memories!!
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Nice song choice. It had a real good rhythm to it. From what I can tell you nailed it. I like the song history that you included with the description as well. Always nice to know a song’s origins.
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I love that song, and you did a brilliant job on it @TNKA36. I agree, the bass was very dominant, but you played it well. I didn’t detect any timing issues, other than you were still playing the bassline even after the song had ended, but no biggie.
5 stars
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Okay Buzzers, here is my one and only Christmas cover. You may find the video a bit corny as it showcases the 8 Christmases in which Sara and I have been together. It’s really meant to be a video Christmas card for our friends and family, but I guess I can also consider it to be a cover (Rules? We don’t need no stinkin’ rules!). Please let me know if my bassline and timing are acceptable so I can make any needed tweaks (or do-over) before I start sharing it with friends and family.
I’m not a fan of Christmas music, in fact I find the whole season rather depressing (I’ll leave it at that). With that said, I have to say, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is a nice song that’s been covered by a zillion artists. I find this version by Pentatonix to be especially enjoyable, so I chose this for my cover.
For those who don’t know, Sara is deaf. She did a good job feeling the thunder from my 500 watt amp and keeping the rhythm while dancing. She also signs the song toward the end, so please watch the whole thing.
Yamaha BB735
LaBella Deep Talkin’ Bass flatwounds
Ibanez TS9B Tube Screamer
https://pampurrs.com/pam_s_music/have-yourself-a-merry-little-christmas-video/
P.S. The solo at the beginning is not part of the song, it’s just something I came up with and included as an intro. I used the Octaver, Chorus, and Reverb together, which is what gives it that eerie tone.
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