Re: Bassoon Uber Alles

[Paolo Valladolid <pvallado@waynesworld.ucsd.edu>]

> I hadn't seen that, but it could be that if what I call the Soviet =
> Theory of Musical Ego ("The individual is not worthy of individual =
> statement, only the good of the collective should be considered") is =
> presented as good (witness the last twenty years of the British music =
> press holding the anti-solo sentiments of Punk Rock dear to their =
> heart) for long enough, young musicians may be convinced that soloing =
> is a bad thing, and won't work on developing the skills necessary to =
> solo well, which generally involves millions of crap, trite, boring =
> solos.

Actually what Mr. Clapton is talking about is the lack of desire to
make up a totally new solo in the live performance of a song.  Instead
it's common for the guitarist to play it safe and simply reproduce the
same solo he played on the album.  It's much scarier to approach your
solo with a clean slate over and over again with each new gig.
 
> I live in Austin, and so the "guitar gunslinger" mentality, for =
> better or worse is still alive and well here.  I may have a skewed =
> view of the Current State Of Guitar, but there's still a lot of SRV =
> articles in the guitar press--someone's got to be learning this stuff.

Do the gunslingers really invent new solos off teh tops of their heads
with each re-performance of their songs or do they always play the same
solo?  I mean, in Austin, of course.

> Paolo says:
> 
> Bass players I've met tended to be more impressed by a good bass =
> groove
> than ripping bass solos."
> 
> =80 That's strange, because if Bass Player magazine is any indicator =
> of the State of the Bass Union, there's still ample concern for =
> ability to step out as needed.  Reviews of new instruments always =
> have a discussion of upper register access and playability, and the =
> ability to cut through during a solo.  There's also a preponderance =
> of attention paid to the traditional, supportive role of the bass =
> player, but try to tell BP that the bassist shouldn't take a solo, =
> and you'll have a fight on your hands.

But how many bass players in the world actually read Bass Player? I've
met many guitar players who don't read guitar magazines.  The sample
size in my personal experience is admittedly small but most of the
bassist's I've met are more interested in good grooves than out-shredding
the guitarists. 
 
> Paolo:
> 
> "My guess is that because guitar is the featured instrument in rock =
> and
> pop (sorry, I can hardly tell the difference), the guitarist is 
> expected to solo more than the keyboardist."
> 
> =80 But why is it featured?  Where's the Angry Young Keyboard Player =

Because guitar is much more popular than keyboard as an instrument;
they're cheaper, you can take them to the beach and impress girls with 
them, they're much more convenient to use as props/phallic symbols/
fashion accessories, etc.

> with something to say?  The soloing ability of synthesizers is =
> fearsome, there's got to be some rebel who says "screw the guitarist, =
> I've got something to say here".

Maybe the AYKP can't be found in Austin? ^_^

Sun Ra was one bad mofo synth player who actually PLAYED the synth instead
of treating it like a home organ.  If he had been a member of P. Funkadelic
(instead of that weirdo space-jazz arkestra of his ^_^) I'm sure he would
have attracted more attention and inspired a whole new generation of 
ripping synth soloists.

I'm sure there's a kid out there making serious virtuosic noise on a 
Yamaha VL1 physical modeling synth (the best lead synth I ever heard)
as we speak...


Paolo Valladolid
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