Take On Me Bass Cover
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- Опубліковано 3 лис 2017
- www.buymeacoffee.com/TJH3113
Yes, you read that right, Take On Me by, Norwegian synth-pop band, “a-ha” off their debut album, “Hunting High and Low”, which came out in 1985.
I have to admit, I never hated this song, even when it first came out…and the video was pretty ahead of its time..for the time. I think it’s a great pop song - melodic and catchy.
I can’t remember what prompted me to learn it. I probably heard it on the radio or in a store somewhere and it just caught my ear. I recorded it soon after I got this bass and was pretty happy with the way it came out. This bass has a really nice “crunch“ to it. I don’t tailor my tone (before or after recording the videos) to suit any particular song. What goes into the camera at the time I’m playing is what you’re hearing. I set the volume of my bass by ear and, once and a while, I’ll go back and do another take on a video if I think my bass is too loud or too low, but that’s it. I wish they all came like this one.
Does anyone remember, back in the 80’s, when sequencing and drum machines really began to catch on? There was talk about how “real drummers” would soon be made obsolete by drum machines. That never happened. And, while I never learned this particular song back then, it was not beneath me to learn a sequenced bass-line from time to time. There is something about their stiffness and rigidity that I actually like.
I'm playing the '76 Guild B-301 which is the bass of choice for the majority of Norwegian synth-pop bands.
![a-ha - Take On Me (Official Video) [Remastered in 4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/djV11Xbc914/mqdefault.jpg)
I love covers of synth tunes using actual rock instruments, it gives those tunes new life and proves that they were actually well-written tunes and not just synth gimmicks of their time.
Cool. I'm glad you liked it.
I dig it, too. Though I will say that the proof was in the original recording.
That bass's tone is KILLER for this!!
Thanks.
All these years of your help and here I thought I was already subscribed. Great job as usual.
Welcome aboard! Thank you.
Damn. So good. Our pop stars of the 80’s are so much better than the crap out kids our listening to today! Great cover!
Thanks. I'd have to agree with you about the quality of "pop" music these days. Thanks again.
Sounds good, that Guild bass model, it's very beautiful, and the bass cover of A-HA, it's remarkable, the sound, this beautiful. A greeting from Chile.
Thanks a lot! I'm glad yo liked it.
Most excellent job. I love 80's bass !!!!
Thanks.
The tone....sounds amazing
Thanks, glad that you like it.
Your tone is always on point man.
Thanks, glad you like it.
That tone is heaven!
I'm glad you liked it.
Nailed the tone and rhythm.
Thanks Jerry.
A super good pop song like this is rare. Really great cover for my birthday.
They are probably more common than we think. Thanks and Happy Birthday!
YESS I've been waiting for this!!
Awesome cover as always. Keep it up!!
That could have potentially been a very long wait. Thanks.
So excellent!
Thanks.
Man this is brilliant! Gifted!
Thanks!
Excellent! Love the song.........your cover is Spot on! of course!!
Thanks.
Fun old tune that reminded me of that time in the 90's when everything was slap 'n pop.
So glad all that shit went away and I could be a Bass player instead of someone playing bass like it was a drum. :-)
Hope you laughed in a good way. :-)
I went to guitar center to try out some basses and buy new strings, and these two guys are there to buy new 5 string basses and are sitting there just slapping and popping away. Nothing wrong with that, but that's not the only technique to use. I use flamenco, slap, guitar finger picking, and regular 2 finger bass playing. Variety is important.
Haha.
That was awesome sound and i alwayz thought that was a catchy song,, your sound is the best I've heard and i always love your covers, fantastic cover ❤
Thanks Cindy.
This tune has been a favorite of mine since it came out. Thanks so much for recording this and giving the bass line the exposure it deserves, Troy!
Excellent! Thanks for watching.
Excellent as always Troy! ✌🏻
Thanks a lot.
I would have to say that I now listen to the bass lines differently - thanks to you and a few other bass players that I follow in youtube. And I thank you for this. As always, GREAT JOB!
Thank you very much for the kind words.
A great song in its own right, and your rendition is excellent!
Thanks a lot.
HI TJ ..from time to time I always come back to your videos...and they´re great as always!
I´ve been trying the electric guitar this last months but never ever leave the bass..
Thanks my friend!
Thanks Flavy, nice to hear from you. Hope you are well...and thanks.
Funny thing about A-Ha's debut album is that there really isn't a bad song on it. First 12" record I ever bought. Still a total classic album worth returning to... Great work on this cover too!
I'm not sure if I've ever heard anything by them aside from this song. I'll have to check that album out. Thanks a lot.
Fantastic as always!
I was actually planning to learn this song for a relative's birthday, so just in time. Thank you.
Thanks a lot. Good luck with it.
Nicely executed with plenty of punch.
Thanks a lot.
Fantastic 💐
Thank you.
Just what we needed, more 80s pop song bass covers...
No really, do more of them!
I've got a few on deck.
i play this song with my band quite often, it's amazing how you can hit the new wave bass style...well done as always mr.troy:)
Very cool. Thanks.
so cool!
thanks Austin!
that was amazing!
Thanks Patrick!
Awesome Sir , love watching your videos.Regards from Fiji.
Many thanks my friend. Regards from New Windsor, NY.
brilliant!!!
Thanks Daniel!
What fun. Thanks :)
I'm glad you liked it.
I've been watching your channel for a long time. Best bass player on YT;)
Thanks so much.
Brilliant Mr H !!
Thanks you Sue.
Good job, sir, like your all other videos.
So nice of you. Thanks.
Great job. Love the 80's. This tune was everywhere on the Radio, they had a pretty cool Video on MTV too.
Cheers.
Thanks.
Your choices never cease to amaze me lol. You've helped widen my range of learning and playing by doing this, though you didn't mean to lol. Thank you.
Your kind comments never cease to amaze me. Thanks!
Lol
Caraaamba!!!
Muito bom, cara!
Arrasou..! Show!!!
Parabéns!
Muito obrigado!!!
Love your stuff
Thanks.
Once I saw the title I knew that you were gonna nail this song. Great as usual Troy!
Haha...thank you very much.
Me too!
That’s awesome.
Thanks Peter.
No problem.
Excellent job. Much better than the original key/synth.
Thanks.
Very nice!
Thanks.
Youre one of my favorite bassists ever man. Being a person who has tried to play string instruments (guitar and bass) since like 4th grade and have never really gotten that good at either and being a decent drummer all those years. you've taught me alot about bass. Ive learned all the keyboard parts for countdown and subdivisions by rush and thanks to you i can play the bass parts to those songs as well. You are a master at your craft. Thank you so much for everything youve taught me and i will continue to keep learning. Cheerss!
and I've learned how to play the keyboard part for Xanadu very well and I've been watching your Xanadu video and I'm about like 25% learning it. It's a very hard song to learn especially for a person who's Drummond most of their life. That my goal right now to learn the rest lol. You make it look so easy
Thanks for the incredible kind words. I'm so happy that you find the videos helpful, thanks for letting me know.
Perfect.👏👏👏
Thank you.
I LOVE THIS!
EXCELLENT!
I don’t remember the “drummer will be obsolete”, but I remember worrying that bass players would go by the wayside because of synth bass. Great job, btw. :)
I remember a little bit of talk about bass player's role being diminished, but drum machines actually did take a lot of work away from studio drummers back in the day. Thanks a lot.
Your version sounds great! Keep it up!
Thanks!
Nice bass sound on this. Good job.
Thanks...new strings, just at their peak of freshness.
I've come to the conclusion that you have written and directed every song you've covered so far Troy. Great playing. All oh so natural and free flowing. I have a greater appreciation for the bass in that song. It seems like the Keyboards smother the bass work somehow.
Haha...I wish. I'm just a half-way decent mimic, the real credit goes to the folks who wrote these bass lines. Thank you very much for the kind words.
Being humble is a good attribute Troy. I think you are awesome and you'll have to accept my opinion. I really appreciate your videos.
Nice job Troy I love this song and the bass line is interesting definitely a "guilty pleasure" song for me and again I'm a hard rock and metal guy but I love these iconic pop songs...and yes I agree with you sometimes playing the bass is not always about tone but about feel and if the bass or any instrument that you play feels right that is half the battle
Thanks. I'm glad you did not hold this song against me.
Great stuff!
Thank you.
Another great vídeo. Hy from Brazil
Thanks and greetings from New York.
Fantastic job
Thanks you.
No problem
Well done man!
Thanks a lot!
It's like Geddy is guesting with a-ha! Kudos!
Haha, thanks.
My fingers are sore just watching you play.
Haha. Mine still get sore once and a while.
@@TJH3113 It was the fingers on the right, but that's gone now thankfully. Now then, the left. It appears getting your tendons sliced restricts things more than you'd think 🤣🤣. No feeling also makes the middle finger absolute bollocks. So I'm just not using it.
Stamina was very weak, 2 bars of Got to Hurry and it killed me. Slowly building. I think I should leave the Rush and Maiden stuff a wee bit longer.
You are great man!
Shucks.
My fingers are raw, hope there then. It's interesting to try and play the bass again. Big inspiration mate. Thanks for this.
This too shall pass. Have fun and thanks so much for the kind words.
Bass of choice eh... good one. Great job and yes, still a catchy tune!
Haha...you caught that, eh? Thanks.
Superb sir!
Thank you kindly.
TJH3113 Say, do you take requests? I've gone through the catalog and was wondering if you could do Teenage Lament '74 by Alice Cooper. Dennis Dunaway on bass. Thank you.
Never was a fan of this tune do to hearing and seeing it on MTV every time you turn to the channel. Thanks Martha, JJ, Nina and Mark. Can’t think of the rest of them. Anyways back in Mid September my oldest got married in Georgetown DC area and she requested the Winn Brothers band for her reception. It cost a pretty penny but this band was worth it and put the reception over the top. Anyways this is one of the songs they performed and like a fifty something ole fool I was out on the floor I was taken back. I was quite surprised by their performance of the tune. I actually liked the tune after being burnout on the song thirty some years ago. Outstanding take on the tune. Never expected you to ever put a vid out. From a cars fan have a safe weekend. Curtis
Yeah, it was definitely in hyper-rotation on MTV. Great to hear you had such a good time at the reception and did not injure yourself...haha. Thanks a lot.
Well done
Thank you
Nice one!
Thank you.
Well done.
Thanks a lot.
Top bass.
Thanks.
Love the guild
Me too.
Super
Thanks John
You look so cheerful playing this - Ancient Norwegian pop clearly agrees with you.
first ABBA, now this...Get this man a Tull/Rush/Gentle Giant injection STAT !!
Clearly this awesome specimen of B301 is missing something....Hmmmm
can't put my FINGER on it....
This was a lot of fun. I love trying to lock in with a machine.
Yeah, I did this shortly after I got the bass and before I got the thumb-rest.
good job
Thank you.
Nice
Thanks.
love it!!! Do we have any Europe songs? Final Countdown....Cherokee.... : )
Thanks. Hadn't thought of it.
Great song, and great cover: tone and nuances...
I've noticed identical or similar bass you had on the stand ?
Thank you, Roman. The bass behind me had a maxed out truss rod and a big twist at the head stock. It was still playable, but had major issues.
@@TJH3113 It appears that you have a bass for any occasion to choose from :). There are many covers of the popular songs out there but those you'd done amazingly match the tone of original songs. I would even say improve the bass part, that the bass stands out more, especially on older recordings.
Great!!! Could you make the tab available?
Thanks. I'm sorry but I don't have the tab. I play by ear and memory.
I really like how do you play the covers....
Have you ever made one from Level 42???
Congrats and best Regards
Thanks a lot. I'm not very familiar with Level 42, just know a few of their hits...Something About You might be the only one I could name. Perhaps I'll check them out at some point. I do not slap, so that may put a damper on things.
I owe you a beer. I've been watching your vids to learn how to play these songs
I'd settle for a Tanqueray and tonic. That's great to hear. Thanks for stopping my and letting me know.
2023🔥✊😎
Thanks!
Wow that is SO tight. I'm not a bass player, still I wonder how one would approach mastering the staccato 8ths at the end of the chorus... is it just "start slow and only speed up if you really control it" or is there some other method to it? How do you control the lenght of silence between the notes? It looks like it's the same finger that stops the string that then plucks it again, right (so you're actually acting out 16th notes)? Amazing! A joy to watch!
Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. I have a couple of muting techniques that I employ but, at this point, I'm sort of on autopilot as to which ones I use. Thanks for taking note of it. Take care!
Yet another great video, Troy. Excellent work.
Would you be so kind as to consider my request for you to cover Go Wild in the Country by Bow Wow Wow please?
Thanks so much.
I'll check it out!
Wow that's a gorgeous tone. Does anyone know what kind of strings he uses?
Thanks. D'Addario EXL200's.
Great as always, hey...have you ever covered Rio by Duran Duran? One of my favourite bass lines.
ua-cam.com/video/NwT-suWaYXw/v-deo.html
Thanks. Yes, I did Rio a ways back.
Really nice!!
Witch pedal effect do you use?
Another question, have you ever tried playing the 5 strings bass?
Respect from Brasil 🇧🇷
Thank you.
I use a SansAmp pedal for my EQ. In this video I was using a Bass Driver Ver. 2.
Yes, I have one 5 string, a MusicMan Stingray 5.
Take care!
How about Wrath Child from Iron Maiden?
Mmmm...
Yeah. 😊LOL! to drummers been made redundant 🤣 The sound of the bass is like what you say a really nice " crunch" to it. I am listening to a drum and house guy called " Fatboy Slim". He made a record called " i shoukld praise you " ! But i am also stuck in the 80s music and am playing again. Thank you for this and your Ace VID 3113 🙂🤣😍😊👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍!x
Thanks David! Hope all is well!
Do you think you could cover rush’s working man?
Jonny Godden hellls yes pls do
meh...it's not likely, but you never know.
excellent troy! nice bass ,what year is it? I have a white one, they sound great through a mesa boogie!!
Thanks. It's a '76. I really like these basses. So much so, that I've got a couple of them.
I just had to learn this for school! I'm guessing there is no bass part and that it's synth you're playing to?
Cool. You have guessed correctly.
"I'm playing the '76 Guild B-301 which is the bass of choice for the majority of Norwegian synth-pop bands." - Ha!
Did I say that?
No but you should! GUILD B301 POWER....
This guy makes the bass to speak....uauuu
Thanks.
You're perfect
I would never say that, but I appreciate the fact that you did. Thank you very much.
I remember this guy in middle school (35 years ago) had a Guild bass similar to the one you have. Some of us non-band wannabe "musicians" thought it was junk, for we were big Rick 4001 fans. I now see we were very wrong!
Yeah, I almost wish I hadn't have waited so long to get one. They've fast become my favorites.
Excellent as usual. Never noticed the bass in this song before, keyboards are way too high in the mix. Wife & I just saw Primus a few days ago. Would you consider doing anything by them? I know it's pretty far from your style.
Mopar Stephen I'd like to see him do some Primus too. Maybe something not too hard like "John The Fisherman"
American Life cover would be amazing
my name is muddddddddddddddd
I don't think he does slap stuff. Not that that's a bad thing, just doesn't venture into those areas. Id love to see him do it though
ANY Claypool would be amazing ! Huge Les fan !
Cada música um instrumento. Afinações diferentes ?
Não tenho certeza do que você quer dizer.
G R E A T
THANKS.
Nice job with this one. Uploading a video myself within 1-2 hours.
Thanks. I'll have to check it out.
You should try the Reel Big Fish version lol.
Never heard it. I'll have to look it up.
I loved this band Troy. "Scoundrel Days" is a great album too, although I must admit it was my girlfriend at the time that got me into ah ha or is that what all the blokes say ..... Lol.
I'll try and check that one out.
what pickup? and any pedals?
It’s the stock pick up that came in these bases which was made by Dimarzio. I’m using a SansAmp Bass Driver Ver. 2 for my EQ.
i wanna know play like this. oh my God :'(
It can be yours with some time, patience, and practice.