The Meters style of music

[Mahlon]

Do any of you guys play "funky" type of bass like The Meters' style of music? How'd you learn?

Mahlon

 

[MingusBASS]

George Porter Jr. is one of my favorite bassists and I'd like to think I have a bit of the New Orleans flavor in my sound. I suppose some of that is from listening to a lot of Meters and other funky music but the style just comes naturally to me.

Andrew

 

[Mahlon]

Cool! Well fly down here from the frozen land of Garrison Keiller and teach me how! Or, maybe I can come up and water ski on Lake Wobegon!

 

[jongitarz]

I saw them in New Orleans at Jazzfest...Muy Funky....I love Right Place/Wrong Time by DR. John with them backing him up.

 

[stretch80]

I'm a funky new-orleans style player. My band is the Space Heaters, and we play what our percussionist likes to call "space funk". Our pianist is real new-orleans style. it's fun.

A few thoughts on how i "learned" to play this style. not sure its the best way!

-- Listen to LOTS of music in this vein - from the Meters to New Orleans Jazz to...Latin music, latin jazz, 70s funk, James Brown, and on..
-- Grab your bass and try jamming along. Do it enough that you can start feeling it.
-- Pick a meters song and learn it note for note. Try to get the feel of the space between the notes.
-- Learn the various "claves" -- ask a drummer to show you!
-- Find a funky drummer to play with, if you can (this can be hard!)

have fun!!! --Bert

 

[stretch80]

George Porter Jr. is one of my favorite bassists and I'd like to think I have a bit of the New Orleans flavor in my sound. I suppose some of that is from listening to a lot of Meters and other funky music but the style just comes naturally to me.

Andrew

Hey Andrew, which bass do you play most for Meter's style? Your Bongo? HOw do you get that funky-old-p vibe?

 

[stretch80]

oops, apologies-- your basses are all bongos! a purist.

A modern artist I've been listening to who has a very funky feel (and a great bass player) is Van Hunt. From Atlanta.

 

[MingusBASS]

I have listed my EBMM basses but not the others I happen to own. I own an old P bass with flats when I want to get that Porter Jr. sound but for instance the main band I play with plays a wide variaty of tunes from motown to jazz to country to funky R&B and the Bongo covers it all easily. If I'm going for that old school thump I'll pan torwards the neck pickup roll off the highs a bit and depending on the room bump or cut the lows a tad. I need to get some flats for my fretted bongo but it's my main slap/pop bass so right now I'm staying with rounds. When I get a single H bongo I can use that as the slapper.

Andrew

 

[bovinehost]

I grew up not far from New Orleans and love playing swampy funk.

It is, in my opinion, all about

1. eating gumbo
2. or anything fried
3. learning to shut the hell up and play the holes as well as the notes.


Numero tres might be the most important, but you can't beat good gumbo - and good gumbo is hard to find, and no, you ain't never had it on Bourbon Street.

 

[Mobay45]

The Gumbo Shop make pretty good gumbo in N.O. too.

 

[bassmonkeee]

Hey Andrew, which bass do you play most for Meter's style? Your Bongo? HOw do you get that funky-old-p vibe?

I play some Porter style stuff in our sets. Last night, someone told me after the gig that she thought I was an old black man playing bass when she was outside just listening to the band without seeing us. She meant it as a compliment, and I took it as such.

Anyhoo, I have TI Flats and a mute on my Bongo 5HHP and I get a great PBass tone by soloing the neck pickup and dialing in some piezo with a low mid cut, high mid bump, and a low bump.

 

[Mahlon]

Thanks to all! Now I'll get the funk, outa yo face.