I was the touring bassist for The Miracles for a while. I can tell you this is all Nate and if you cannot appreciate the rawness of this line and how it absolutely sits perfectly in the mix then you have no business playing bass. Nate was a huge Jamerson devotee as am I, having been lucky enough to occupy his chair with The Miracles for a while. No doubt many of you younger guys would say he sounds a bit rough as well isolated. But you’d be missing the genius of it all.
Damn well said. This is what great bands sounds like isolated. They are playing to/with the band not a metronome or programmed track. This is awesome. So much soul.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I put much of the blame on Protools/digital recording. Just because you can edit something to tidy perfection doesn’t mean you should. I love this isolated recording.
A great example of the differences with today. Anyone who goes to record with strings in that condition would be told, "you can't record like that because it doesn't sound good, buy some new strings and calibrate that bass"... good music comes from somewhere else and here is the proof.
And yet this recording is regarded as one the BEST In every way, aspect, shape or form. Yesterday’s attitude towards music and recording music was itS AUTHENTICITY, as opposed to today’s.
I forgot I had made this comment and while I stand by it I also think it depends on what genre you are playing. I love old recordings and the tube sound over a very modern and clean sound but I clearly understand that if you are going to play a slap bass for a much more modern funk or mainstream style that this sound would certainly not be appropriate.
My god this is an incredible example of what has been lost in modern music. This is not slop. There is a reason it sounds so much better within the mix, and there is a reason the song is one of the greatest grooves ever recorded. Because it is HUMANS talking to us together, through their instruments, and saying more than any of them could say by themselves. It started with the drum machine in the 80s and it has only gotten worse. Nirvana stands the test of the time because they were at the head of the class for the last era of non-overproduced musicians and bands.
i’m pretty sure he’s tuned to eb for this even though there’s no need. i saw an interview where he said he was as a massive hendrix fan and that was his reason for tuning to eb. pretty cool.
I'm only after realising that too! I slowed it down to 1/4 of the speed on TH-cam and I heard a low Eb so it got me thinking...he's playing a four string bass so how does that work? He must be tuned down a half step but is playing in C
This is legit and anybody who thinks it's bad or sloppy or sounds bad, you have no business in music, unless if you want to produce shitty mechanical filtered bad music. Period
Is that a really good P bass? Got that old woody tone....love all the slides, scratchyness pickup hits...so organic and real not like todays stupid over digitised noise.
Sounds farty, clipping, notes being executed poorly, loud background hiss. Makes me question if this is authentic. But perhaps the post production and mixing process cleaned it up.
This is what an isolated bass sounds like in a studio work. Not an instrumentist point of view but more a sound engineer one. It's an instrument serving the song.
I was the touring bassist for The Miracles for a while. I can tell you this is all Nate and if you cannot appreciate the rawness of this line and how it absolutely sits perfectly in the mix then you have no business playing bass. Nate was a huge Jamerson devotee as am I, having been lucky enough to occupy his chair with The Miracles for a while. No doubt many of you younger guys would say he sounds a bit rough as well isolated. But you’d be missing the genius of it all.
Damn well said. This is what great bands sounds like isolated. They are playing to/with the band not a metronome or programmed track. This is awesome. So much soul.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I put much of the blame on Protools/digital recording. Just because you can edit something to tidy perfection doesn’t mean you should. I love this isolated recording.
"...and how it absolutely sits perfectly in the mix"
👍🏼
apparently he had only been playing bass for a couple years when he recorded this. now it's one of the most iconic basslines ever. absolutely insane
A great example of the differences with today. Anyone who goes to record with strings in that condition would be told, "you can't record like that because it doesn't sound good, buy some new strings and calibrate that bass"... good music comes from somewhere else and here is the proof.
And yet this recording is regarded as one the BEST In every way, aspect, shape or form. Yesterday’s attitude towards music and recording music was itS AUTHENTICITY, as opposed to today’s.
How can you tell he is using old strings?
@@promark5317 the lack of brightness (which for me is good) is noticeable that the brightness it has is due to eq.
@@avanti6058 gotcha ✌️
I forgot I had made this comment and while I stand by it I also think it depends on what genre you are playing. I love old recordings and the tube sound over a very modern and clean sound but I clearly understand that if you are going to play a slap bass for a much more modern funk or mainstream style that this sound would certainly not be appropriate.
Love these ghost notes!
the legend nathan watts on bass 🙏🏾
That’s Nathan West on bass.
*Watts@@jzzfan1
A legend
My god this is an incredible example of what has been lost in modern music. This is not slop. There is a reason it sounds so much better within the mix, and there is a reason the song is one of the greatest grooves ever recorded. Because it is HUMANS talking to us together, through their instruments, and saying more than any of them could say by themselves. It started with the drum machine in the 80s and it has only gotten worse. Nirvana stands the test of the time because they were at the head of the class for the last era of non-overproduced musicians and bands.
I distinctly recall Cobain calling the production on Nevermind "candy-ass".
i’m pretty sure he’s tuned to eb for this even though there’s no need. i saw an interview where he said he was as a massive hendrix fan and that was his reason for tuning to eb. pretty cool.
I'm only after realising that too! I slowed it down to 1/4 of the speed on TH-cam and I heard a low Eb so it got me thinking...he's playing a four string bass so how does that work? He must be tuned down a half step but is playing in C
Amazing!!!
Hes a busy guy .... I love it...
This is legit and anybody who thinks it's bad or sloppy or sounds bad, you have no business in music, unless if you want to produce shitty mechanical filtered bad music. Period
Well said my man, well said and so true.
Is that a really good P bass? Got that old woody tone....love all the slides, scratchyness pickup hits...so organic and real not like todays stupid over digitised noise.
2:10
is it me or is that last note a mistake 2:22
It's a bit sharp but not a wrong note, ends on the correct F sharp
@@rbstems yeah it feels like it’s in between F sharp and G
Such strange chord changes.
I guess it's just me then but this doesn't sound good, still a hundred times better then me but nah
Yeah, its kinda sloppy, but would you notice that in the mix? Just listen to the original recording
@@semenshestakov2247 Busy melodic playing always sounds sloppy and noisy. It cant be beat. Just fantastic.
It absolutely is just you. There is probably medication for that.
Sounds farty, clipping, notes being executed poorly, loud background hiss. Makes me question if this is authentic. But perhaps the post production and mixing process cleaned it up.
This is what an isolated bass sounds like in a studio work. Not an instrumentist point of view but more a sound engineer one. It's an instrument serving the song.
No. This is authentic. Young people today think that everything has to be “perfect”. This is as it is on the record. And it’s perfect as it is.
It's all about the mix. Most recorded bass tracks sound like crap when isolated, but sound great in the mix.
Yup, I play bass and HATE what I hear in a studio...until it's mixed properly.
You sound like you dont know whats going on.
0:50
0:35