Madness’s One Step Beyond album was the second album I bought, their second album, Embarrassment was actually my first. That said, Bed and Breakfast Man has had a place on my heart since I first heard it!
This is not an exact copy of the original bass line, but an homage to…
Madness - Bed and Breakfast Man
I used no effects when recording this, playing the Dingwall in passive mode (so no on board EQ), straight into the Scarlett Solo and in into Garage Band, where I added a tiny bit of bass EQ and a touch of compression. I also played the line twice for fatten up the sound a little.
As an aside, I find recording myself really helpful. Sometimes I think I get it right, for example, the Prince / Crimson and Clover, and sometimes I don’t for example, the start of Pulp’s Common People, and I am not sure I like my cover of The Cult’s She Sells Sanctuary. But it’s all a learning process, what works and what doesn’t. How would I play it differently if I were to re-record it etc. for me, it’s not necessarily the end destination, a perfect rendition, but the journey. And the thing I think we all need to do is embrace the journey, enjoy the ride!!
I learnt this one by ear, rather than using a tab. The bit I couldn’t get was the 3 bar section in the middle - when I say, I couldn’t get it, I mean, I know the notes but it was too damn fast, so I listed to a couple of live versions and went with that! Oh, and it didn’t like the end of each bar in the original main riff where he goes up, not down, I decided not to do that…!!
As I say, am homage to, rather than a direct copy!
Finally feeling well enough to do a cover! It was exhausting, but a lot of fun too.
I heard this song for the first time about a month ago despite it being 30 years old. I love it, it’s a great song and very bass forward. I worked pretty hard to get this down, still not perfect, but I’m very happy with this one.
I hope you like it too
This one is in my ‘almost done’ pile, awaiting my hand to get better.
I am using a 5 string to get that one darn low note.
You played the note higher, worked well.
Not crazy about the tone here, a bit too nasaly for me. YMMV.
Dang! I will survive would be the last song I attempted on that album! Very interesting rhythms in that one, the note lengths are really strange and the bass kind of just does its own thing the whole way through. I don’t think there’s even a single rest in that one longer than a 16th note until the last 10 seconds of the song. Sounds very challenging to play, can’t wait to see your cover when it’s done!
Thanks @John_E! Glad you liked it and even happier you’re listening to one of my favorite bands. My good friend who passed last year was obsessed with Cake and he’s the one who originally turned me on to them, so their music means a lot to me. Very sentimental.
