Roger Waters as a Bassist

pinknewbie · Post by **pinknewbie** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 3:44 am

Roger played the bass for MONEY

And whether its hard or not its probably the most memerable bass line of all time.

Danny Moro · Post by **Danny Moro** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 11:58 pm

mosespa wrote:Pretty much any "melodic" bass line could conceivably be attributed to Gilmour.

"Conceivably" Roger hummed all Gilmour's guitar solos on homemade demos and Dave sat their learning them note for note and it's the best kept of all Pink Floyd secrets.

What are you trying to say here??

Danny

P.S. I think Roger's bass playing is just fine. Most important, as a bass player and a producer, he always made sure the bass was doing what it needed to for the music to work.

Mooner · Post by **Mooner** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 3:10 am

I've always found Rogers' skill on the bass to be lacking. The bulk of his work was repetative and unimaginative but on the other hand I always find it delightful when listening to a new roio and he breaks out of his mold and does something unexpected. That doesn't happen very often.

Charade I am · Post by **Charade I am** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 3:17 am

I have never felt he is a bad bass player

Johnny Rotten · Post by **Johnny Rotten** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 8:47 am

mosespa wrote:Leave us not forget that Dave played quite a bit of bass on the recordings.

Hey You, Pigs (3DO), the first bass (and the middle section bass) of One Of These Days are most definitely Dave Gilmour...I'm pretty certain that he played the bass on Brick One, too...but I can't really prove it.

Pretty much any "melodic" bass line could conceivably be attributed to Gilmour.

bass on Another brick in the wall was quite similar to part 2 which Roger actually played.
I wouldnt call playing in about 5 PF songs bass big deal since even roger plays on same songs bass too and some bass riffs are just clear recycle.

moreblues · Post by **moreblues** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 10:13 am

Mooner wrote:I've always found Rogers' skill on the bass to be lacking. The bulk of his work was repetative and unimaginative but on the other hand I always find it delightful when listening to a new roio and he breaks out of his mold and does something unexpected. That doesn't happen very often.

are we sure we are talking about the same Roger Waters? of Pink Floyd?
repetative and unimaginative?
if rogers playing was unimaginative then who on earthn was imaginative?

princessDungan74D · Post by **princessDungan74D** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 1:59 pm

hes even admits he all not that great but he trys
hes more of a poet then a bassit which is more important IMHP

Mooner · Post by **Mooner** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 4:32 pm

I agree princessDungan74D. In addition to being a master lyricist he was the premier organizer, conductor, and visionary. He knew what sounds worked and which ones didn't. Dave admitted as much.
In the early days when Syd was blazing the Floyd trail I found that Rogers bass was young, spirited, and promising. But when he took the rudder, bass for the most part took a back seat to lead guitar and keyboards. Roger seemed to put his greatest energy and imagination

into the development of the overall sound of the band. Whenever bass was used as the foundation of a song, i.e. One Of These Days or Raving And Drooling, it was usually quite simple - not 'atheletic' but not uneffective either. I listen to versions of Astronomy Domine from Roger and post-Roger eras and even though the post-Roger bass version sounds livelier and more sophisticated, the song also sounds quite diminished in quality. Curious.
For the overall sound of Pink Floyd, bass was not the instrument that gave their music it's greatness. It was a combination of lead and keyboards, performed under the umbrella of genius composition.

Post by **mosespa** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 5:46 pm

Danny Moro wrote:
mosespa wrote:Pretty much any "melodic" bass line could conceivably be attributed to Gilmour.
"Conceivably" Roger hummed all Gilmour's guitar solos on homemade demos and Dave sat their learning them note for note and it's the best kept of all Pink Floyd secrets.

What are you trying to say here??

I'm not TRYING to say anything. I thought it was abundantly clear that I was saying that Gilmour is responsible for the melodic bass lines while Waters is responsible for the rythmic bass lines.

To Johnny Rotten: Gilmour played bass on more than five songs, I wasn't listing every single one.

If this damages the image of Roger Waters that you have built up in your mind...what does that say about you?

Why is it such a crime that Gilmour should have played bass lines? Similarly, to the Waters haters, why is it an indication of weakness that Roger recognized that there are things he CAN'T do that someone else could?

Hell...even Gilmour farmed out guitar work to session musicians from time to time ("One Of My Turns.")

Johnny Rotten · Post by **Johnny Rotten** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 8:04 pm

David has played bass on 6 PF songs.

Danny Moro · Post by **Danny Moro** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:29 am

mosespa wrote: I'm not TRYING to say anything. I thought it was abundantly clear that I was saying that Gilmour is responsible for the melodic bass lines while Waters is responsible for the rythmic bass lines.

I wondered if this was what you were angling at. I'm very sceptical. While Gilmour does do good melodic guitar lines, and he has written some great riffs and strong chord sequences, my general impression of him as a writer is that he's got a terrible ear for a good melody. At least as far as vocal melodies is concerned, Roger can do it and David can't (or hardly can; I'd concede a case here and there). Within Floyd (e.g. the awful vocal melody on 'Fat Old Sun' despite the nice guitar work and the fact that all the best DG sung songs are Waters written) and outside (especially AMLOR and TDB) DG has shown again and again that while an excellent soloist he has no ear for melody. So on the bass lines, in the absence of further evidence, I agree it's conceivable that Gilmour produced all the more melodic ones, but is there any good reason to believe that this is actually the case?

Danny

Post by **mosespa** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:26 pm

The beauty of Gilmour's guitar work lies in the very melodicism we are discussing here.

Concocting a vocal melody is quite a different thing from coming up with a guitar melody...or a bass melody.

Taking it even further...compare the melodic STYLE of the bass lines in question (or any of the bass lines...in particular the melodic ones) with the melodic STYLE of Gilmour's guitar solos...each applies the same melodic sensibilities.

Geez...I would figure that's a no-brainer.

Also...take a look at Roger's solo albums and notice the complete absence of melody in the bass lines unless someone else is playing it.

Roger's bass lines are rythmic (this is not a bad thing...after all, the bass IS considered part of the rythym section...)

Gilmour's bass lines are melodic (as is his guitar playing.)

Now...the next person who tries to call shenanigans on what I say in this post ought to offer at least as much deduction in their argument as I have just presented...otherwise, you just look like a silly assed Gilmour Hater/Waters Loyalist.

I am neither...I respect both men greatly.

More Floyd Fans should.

Powderfinger · Post by **Powderfinger** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:38 pm

mosespa wrote:Also...take a look at Roger's solo albums and notice the complete absence of melody in the bass lines unless someone else is playing it.

In fact, when I listen to Roger's solo tracks, I can hear no melody at all most of the time, he's just mumbling his lyrics with some low chords on the backing track.

Charade I am · Post by **Charade I am** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 8:52 pm

mosespa wrote: I am neither...I respect both men greatly.

More Floyd Fans should.

I agree.....Personally I got into Floyd because of its compenetration as a band. I don?t think Gimour is Pink Floyd, I don?t think Waters is Pink Floyd, to me, Pink Floyd is their best parts, their best talents, join together to create that music I love. I just think that people who ONLY like Waters, or ONLY like Gilmour, at the end, they don?t REALLY like Pink Floyd, they are projecting their self-images in these two members, putting aside the essence of the Floyd. It?s like they fell in love with a particular member, not the band as a whole, which I?m not saying that?s a bad thing, but after all, we all got into this forum because of PINK FLOYD, at least I did......IMO

Danny Moro · Post by **Danny Moro** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 10:39 pm

mosespa wrote:....
Geez...I would figure that's a no-brainer ....

mosespa wrote: Now...the next person who tries to call shenanigans on what I say in this post ought to offer at least as much deduction in their argument as I have just presented...otherwise, you just look like a silly assed Gilmour Hater/Waters Loyalist.

I'm puzzled by the tone of the quoted post which seems rather fierce. If I've provoked that by being over fierce in any of my posts, let me apologise.

Danny