The Secret To Punk Rock Bass... According To FAT MIKE!
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- Опубліковано 20 вер 2024
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He almost always starts with an upstroke too, which arguably contributes to his sound just as much as playing lightly. Some of his best riffs are almost impossible to play if you start with a downstroke.
that’s his signature style which I like and never want to use
@@JustDontCareee I agree. If you've already learned in a traditional way then it's not very practical, but I suppose it does give him a unique sound.
Think about it. Stand up bass. Starts plucking then slap. Most finger players pluck up. It makes a huge difference with a plectrum to start with an upstroke.
"We make other people sound better". Bingo. Quality bass playing will definitely elevate the sound of the rest of the band.
100%.
Well put, I thinks it's why hot water music works so well
I like this a lot but will continue to be a fairly aggressive fingerstyle player all the same.
You do you, haha!
Worked for Geddy Lee....
Karl Alvarez
Dunlop nylon .60mm picks have been my go-to for years when I'm playing with a pick
They've always been my go-to picks as well!
YES! Let your amp do the work. You'll save your hands, and get better speed, control, and intonation.
For sure!
As a sidenote, Its really good that you dont play music during the title cards. Its easier to focus on the topic this way.
Glad to hear that!
Yeah! Great video!
Fat Mike has a pretty unique right hand technique, and some of his bass lines are a treasure. Sometimes it must be kinda hard to play and sing at the same time.
🤘
it is, thats why most times live he often barely plays the bass OR sings haha!
I used to be a really hardplayer, one time at a rehearsal I broke the E string😂 I found this mike's video a few months ago and really made sense, now I play softly with a 0.5 or 0.7 pick when I want a warmer sound
Mike plays with 0.6 Dunlop nylon picks. I was really pleased when I learned that because those are the picks I've been using for years. Granted, I do sometimes play with my fingers. But I still play lightly no matter what.
Agreed. The lesson I've been learning is to let the bass do the work.
The question is: either when you are recording or playing live a fast, energetic song, are you able to convey the emotion of the song by forcing yourself to pick this lightly? Picking as the mood of the song brings you to pick wouldn't result in a more raw but geniune outcome? I'm asking.
There's a difference between playing live and in the studio though. You can be a little looser with your technique live because it's a performance. But in the studio, you want to nail everything technically. The "emotion" can be added in other ways. If you notice, Mike's bass playing still sounds plenty aggressive in recordings because of the tone he uses. There's a little grit and lots of top end. That, to my mind anyway, conveys more of the necessary energy than playing hard would. The mix engineer can also add aggression with the right compressor settings and EQ moves.
I also think an "emotional" performance is probably less important on bass than other instruments. Like Mike said, you want consistency. For vocals and lead guitar, emotion is more important.
@@rome8180 Better than I could have ever put it 😂
@@rome8180nicely put, kind Sir.
@@rome8180 Exaclty. Bass is not important. 😂
you might want lighter strokes when recording in the studio and you still get a gritty sound by the tone and compressors. live, you can get away with harder strumming.
Love fat mikes style. He is legit original AF.
Definitely, super talented bassist!
So do you think Mike Dirnt fakes playing hard on the bass? He always looks so aggressive but sounds so good.
Haha no not at all. They just have very different styles of playing.
I wholly disagree with the handmaid's tale lecture on 'The Proper Humble Role of the Bass', but the technique is good. By holding it lightly you can set it up to keep bouncing on the strings and that makes for a good growl. The downside of doing that way is the level has to be extra hot, which opens you up for more unexpected peaks and farts that you have to relearn control over.
You can make playing lightly less critical if you use a lighter pick, I use the orange ones - same natural compression effect
Mike does both. He uses a 0.6 pick, which is pretty thin.
I've always played bass like that. Fast and with soft picks. I hate the change in pitch when you hit the strings too hard.
I also think it's easier to play fast lines if you use a thin pick. Just think about the physics behind it. The thicker the pick, the more resistance as you pick through the string.
@@rome8180 definitely. Thinner picks flex easier, faster, and give you a more even sound, less peaks and valleys, almost like compression.
Mikes right, you can naturally figure that out while recording. He’s a great underrated bass player in the player community
Jay Bentley has always been an aggressive picker, and there are no discernible problems with pitch disparity when listening to Bad Religion.
NGL, the hard picking sounded awesome to me! Like some street punk type shit. And NOFX-but-streetpunk is a sound I'd like to hear!
Or tune slightly flat so when you hit hard its in tune
Well, that's very interesting
🤯
Great video! It seems like Mike Dirnt is a pretty hard picker, and his tone is great!
Thanks! Either works, but I think Mike's technique is great for the fast skate punk stuff, instead of the more mid-tempo style songs that Green Day usually do.
@@SugarpillProd Do you think Dirnt is a hard picker?
@@SugarpillProd Do you think Dirnt is a hard picker?
@@rileycronin-schneider8101 I'd say he's more percussive, than just a very hard picker. He's certainly not making the notes go sharp, if you listen to his bass tracks, so I think he has pretty good control over it, in the same way as Far Mike does.
I don't consider myself a bassist although I am a multi-instrumentalist that can play bass pretty well. But I just thought about something regarding "hard picking" and causing it to go sharply out of tune; that it's not necessarily from "hard" picking so much as "deep picking", that you're digging the pick so deep into the string that it doesn't actually release until the string has REALLY been stretched, causing an excessive bouncing back. In contrast, you can also pick hard but only allow the tip of the pick to graze the string, that way you get a strong attack without it going sharp. Personally, I use Dunlop Tortex "Sharps" (a very pointy model of guitar pick) and the purple ones which are color coded as 1.14mm. I really like to articulately "prick" the strings. I find that this allows me to get strong, loud, clean notes. A final factor to consider is the thickness of the strings and whether you're playing in standard tuning or half-step down etc. Anyway I just wanted to share my thoughts about it 😀
Think that only for this kind of music or all
Msuic?
I think in most cases you'll want to stay in tune, regardless of genre, so pretty widely applicable imo.
What is a good pick to use for punk bassing
I like the orange Dunlop's personally. I think they're 0.60mm. Anything that bends slightly when you pluck the string usually gives you a nice "clacky" sound, as opposed to thicker picks which makes your tone sound a bit more dull. Hope that helps!
Just started playing bass in a band, after 20 years with the electric guitar.
I was certain I should use a hard pick, but after seeing this video I bought Fat Mike's signature picks hahaha.
However, Mike Dirnt seems pretty aggressive. He can't be using 0.60mm picks, right?
I wasn't aware Fat Mike had signature picks, haha. I think the difference with Green Day is that both Billie and Mike hit hard, plus overall, they're playing much more mid-tempo songs compared to a band like NOFX. So they could easily tune a little flat, to make up for how the strings will naturally go sharp from those hard hits.
With NOFX, they're playing a lot faster and more technical stuff, so Mike playing soft and giving them a solid, in tune foundation really helps the band a lot more.
It just works on a case by case basis I think. There is no "one rule" that suits every band or every player.
ending it with "dick lips" was fucking awesome!
whats the song between 0:30 - 0:32 ?
Oh it was some old thing I wrote for one of my drum pack ads I think, haha.
@@SugarpillProd damn it sounds kinda good 👀
Possible to use pitch correction over a bass track to allow aggressive picking? Although one thing i will say is aggressive picking does cut too much into the mix
You could do, as long as you're only playing single notes, but I honestly think you'd just be making unnecessary work for yourself in the long run.
And he starts on upstrokes
His use of a soft pick is more so for speed, and not so much for how it sounds versus a hard pick.
I think it's a mixture tbh. If you AB a thin pick and a thick one, the thick ones do sound noticeably more dull than thin ones. So based on the context of music you're making, one may work better than the other.
Pro tip: tune your strings sharp or flat to compensate for your aggressive picking 🤷🏻♂️
Just kidding. It doesn’t work, especially if you switch to finger style mid set and forget to retune. Not that I know from personal experience…. 😂
Haha that tip does actually work sometimes, but maybe more in a studio settings rather than live, when you can tune in-between takes.
which is that video where fat mike is talking about his technique?
Should be the one on LoudWire's channel, where he's talking about his favourite bass lines.
Buying thinner picks now.... hahaha
It's worth it 🤘
Fat Mike plays bass the exact opposite way to how I believe bass should be played. But he does it so well, I'll let him get away with it.
something else mike uses often is economy picking in his crazy fast riffs like the decline solo and idiots are taking over
Great advise, unless you're Nate Newton, then beat the everliving crap out of your bass.
🤟🤟🤟
🤘
Honestly, why are all bass players named Mike so damn good? Lol
There is definitely a pattern there, haha!
Fat Mike
Mike Dirnt
Mike Balzary
Mike Inez
Mike Anthony
And many more 😂
Not punk,why do y'all call it punk try the exploited,chaos uk etc
100%, the most punk thing to do is police it 🤯
Exploited are a bunch of posers.
Good shit bro. Got a link to the fat mike vid pls
Should be the one on LoudWire's channel, where Mike lists a few of his favourite bass lines.
Mike probably can’t even play hard accurately, he’s not all that good
He's good when he's sober. Problem is, he's not sober very often when he plays live.