Post your covers! (2023)

https://youtu.be/B2amTYEFnuU

Bass Cover - Grenade - Bruno Mars
Squier Classic Vibe 60’s
Tone 70’s Pop Bandlab

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Good job @Vince you are right there with the music and rhythm.

I’m not sure if you are going for a pick sound but try to plug the string with the meat of your finger and not the nails.

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With the purchase of my new p-bass I unlocked the Ramones, Guns n Roses and of course Iron Maiden :slight_smile: . So I set forth upon my quest to master The Number of the Beast, or at least play a semi-decent version!

Of course Steve Harris needs no introduction. I knew going into this that I would either need superhumanly fast fingers or insanely good picking skills. Unfortunately, as I have neither, I chose to ‘massage’ the transcription a little… As a result I have managed to work out a simplified version that a mere mortal like me can play.

Most of the song isn’t too bad with a pick but the intro really needed fingers - you have to play a triplet by raking the middle finger across two strings and then playing the third note with the first finger (or at least that’s how I did it). The solo section in the middle was a total beast to learn and there is a fill leading into the solo which was way above my level (not for long tho!).

Equipmentwise I used the Squier precision and that was it. I couldn’t get Steve Harris’s sharp tone with the pick - Maybe I could have used an EQ ? Or played nearer the bridge?

Anyway I present my attempt at that classic of 80s Metal - The Number of the Beast!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8csEZGsQY

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Also more or less all of punk :slight_smile:

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Really awesome! Actually made a bit teary eyed when I remembered that Daft Punk are no more.

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Tremendous effort, @Ed - not the easiest of tunes by far! I see no issue with “simplifying” some passages to make them playable for us mortals - what’s the alternative? That we never ever play that tune!
What is a bit “distracting” is the sync between audio and video, which is a bit off. Did you record video with one device and audio with another? There are some tricks you can do to “stretch” and align the audio such that it syncs again.
Anyway, well done!
(By the way, I think Steve Harris doesn’t play with a pick, but aggressive finger style (with longer than usual finger nails) - Josh has a video somewhere about that style :smile:)

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Great job Vince! Nice subtle bass line; excellent.
:+1:

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Awesome playing Ed!
:+1:

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congrats @Ed , that’s not an easy one !

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Oh @Ed that was fantastic!
This is one of those videos that makes me want to sell all my basses and go back to sax full time.
Wow you are really doing great!!!

Video is a whisker out of sync for sure, but we get the idea!

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Nice groove @Vince

The audio/video is a bit out of sync, but that’s not really important.

What is something to have a look at and correct is plucking angle…

image

You are basically hitting the strings at a 45 degree angle, which is going to waste a lot of your pluck energy vs. efficiently plucking at a 90 degree angle. This should reduce some of the twang I hear as well. This is something you want to correct now so it doesn’t become a habit.

Cool tune, never heard it before, well done!

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Totally agree, yes. The plucking fingers can be very “flat” relative to the instrument ; not sure I find the right words but those claw-shaped fingers are not efficient as it doesn’t bring much control over the attack

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Forgot to comment that that was outstanding, I cannot pluck like that. Well done. P-Bass is perfect. Excellent work switching to the pick.

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a guitarist trick maybe, I do that a lot too, and I encourage all of you fellow bassbuzzians developping that skill :slight_smile: as I always stated, I really think that an important key is being able to switch between pick and finger plucking. it’s even more true when you’re able to switch during a song.

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Thanks @joergkutter ! :slight_smile: This was a tough one and some of the fills took a lot of grinding …

I think you’re right there - I also remember something about him having the action really low so that he can play more percussively (maybe a little like John Entwhistle?). Then again maybe the man really has 6 fingers on each hand :slight_smile:

Yeah maybe I should put my hand in my pocket and stop using freeware :slight_smile: I recorded the cover itself on the laptop, filmed me playing it on the phone and then merged the two together - no straightforward procedure on Icecream! I’m always thinking about Whiplash : are you rushing or are you dragging :slight_smile:

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Thanks Jerry! :+1: :grinning: :+1:

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Thanks @terb - it was quite a workout! I was sweating at the end

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Thankyou thankyou :grin: I’m going to have to grit my teeth and play for a decent video editor, although tbh I was dragging at one or two points (it wasn’t 100% my video editing skills :wink: ). Steve Harris must have some kind of genetic mutation to keep pace at that speed…

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Thanks @howard ! I would have preferred to pluck all the way through but my puny hands are just not up to it :slight_smile: Harris must do fingertip pushups or something …

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Honestly I think this kind of song sounds dramatically better with a pick.

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