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GIG Magazine

GIG BAG - February Issue, 2003

FREEKBASS on BASS Rules of Funk

Every beat is important in music, but to get in perfect sync with "the One" is paramount with the funk. Think in your head "ONE, two, three four, ONE, two, three, four, etc." Even if you are not playing on the One, you need to make sure the One is felt hard and heavy. A good thing to do when listening to music is to start always tapping your foot to the one and the three. This might sound a bit elementary, but a lot of folks are brought up either tapping or clapping on the two and the four. Check it out, it kind of makes your whole rhythmic foundation shift a bit, and gets you even more in touch with, "The One".

Timing.
Getting your timing as stable as a rock is critical in the funk. Don't rely on the drummer or any other musician - YOU have to be that foundation. Always practice with some kind of time-keeping device, and hit all different BPM settings (beats per minute), but get it so you are especially locked in time at tempos in the 70-78 range. Never think of tempos as fast or slow, but just "They is what they is, and they are what they are". I think if you are mentally thinking that something is slow or fast, you can have the tendency to drag or rush the feel.

Gear.
Make sure your amp and speaker setup can really bump! Not necessarily for volume purposes, but so you can move some air. Depending on your setup, try to have a couple of 15" speakers in there - or even an 18" - and enough power to drive it. Also, try experimenting with some different effects. An envelope filter is always nice, because it helps your upper register cut through the mix, and you can still keep your EQ nice and fat. I use the original Mutron III in the studio and use a Q-Tron live. An octaver is another good thing to check out because in addition to giving you more bottom, it can make your approach to writing bass lines a little different. The Digitech Whammy pedal is one of the better sounding octavers that I've found, and they track really well. Also, I have been using the Line 6 Filter Pro onstage, and it has some really great sounds in it. Bootsy gave me a Electro Harmonix Bass Micro Synthesizer, which is also really happening for funkifying your bass.

Slapping.
You do not have to slap to play the Funk. But if and when you do slap, here's a bit of my approach. I think of my thumb as the beater of a kick drum and my index finger as the snare, so when I'm slapping I'm creating a beat the same way a drummer would. You should also get your slapping and your finger playing in the same ballpark volumewise. When I first started slapping, it used to be so much louder than what I was playing with my fingers. For a while I kept trying to bring my volume of my slapping down to the level of my fingers, but in hindsight, what really worked was getting my fingers up to the level of my slapping. The more you can keep those levels consistent with each other, the less you have to worry about a new soundperson compressing you like crazy, and compromising lot of your flavor.

Not just bass.
Try and play the funk on some other instruments - especially drums and guitar. Besides being another rhythmic development tool, playing drums and guitar will help give you the vibe of how they all work together with the bass to create that one universal groove. I learned a lot of the James Brown rhythm guitar parts for technique, and they translate to your fingers really well in terms of feel when playing bass.

Overall, and probably most important is: listen, listen, listen to all of the funk you can get your ears on. The Funk is a very universal language, but a language none the less, so don't just learn the nouns, but scope in on those verbs, adverbs, and adjectives! - Freekbass

Freekbass is the prodigy of funk forefather Bootsy Collins. Always on the road, find out more about him at www.freekbass.com