bass clip - Awaken

The genius of Chris Squire
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miguelbass
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bass clip - Awaken

Post by miguelbass »



Greetings friends, here's my latest bass cover. Happy Easter everyone!
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woodyng
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Re: bass clip - Awaken

Post by woodyng »

Excellent.
Love your triple neck juxtaposition toward the end,too. :wink:
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Billsbro
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Re: bass clip - Awaken

Post by Billsbro »

DESLUMBRANTE!

Absolutely stunning, Miguel! Thank you for this newest gift.

Like many of us, these Yes tunes have been an essential part of my life since they were released. (The 1977 GFTO tour was my first show though.) But while I know these songs inside and out, you always reveal elements and notes that I was not aware of. Your methodical approach, musical ear, and excellent video production skills result in clips that are must-have tools for those that want to truly understand and assimilate Squire's genius for creating and playing his bass lines. The tremolos and patterns that are somewhat buried in the original are on full display here.The hard-to-guess harmonies are now clear.

Perhaps even more impressive to me is the passion and reverence for Chris that you show in these clips. You channel Squire's oversize musicality and help reveal the stunning majesty of his bass playing. I loved seeing your expressions throughout this video. Your singular focus and pure joy makes me smile. And as always, you effortlessly make me pick up my bass and practice. THAT is one of the many gifts you give us.

Tell us a bit about learning "Awaken." What were the difficult areas? Was it a challenge to determine what lines were played on which neck of the triple-neck? (Like Woody I was very impressed with how you weaved your own spin on the triple into your video.)

Did you ever have any communication with Chris when he was alive? I certainly hope so.

Thank you very much!
miguelbass
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Re: bass clip - Awaken

Post by miguelbass »

Hi Stephen & Woody!

The biggest challenge was precisely the buried bass mix. I had to listen countless times to the recording, trying to figure out the notes. The live renditions I consulted have many different parts and decisions were made. Perhaps the hardest bit to listen is the D major section before "Workings of Man" in which Chris, when playing live, does it doubling Steve's broken scale in the 12-string. To my ears this doesn't happen in the studio version and the version I extracted might sound very different than one would expect from seeing live performances. It is much more discrete and complementary to the guitar. Finally, the bass pedals were also a challenge, as they are very buried and one may wonder where there is actually the sound of the bass pedals and the organ's lower registers. For that I went once more to the live versions of the 77 tour, to find out that Chris played different bass pedal variations in the same tour. I wouldn't be surprised if Chris would many times had fun coming up with different bass pedal lines, even improvising at the spot. In the end I chose a version which made sense to me from listening many versions.

I spoke to Chris a couple of times. I treasure those memories. He was unique - focused... wise. I had a chance to offer him a Rickenbacker pin and a cd with some of my audio covers. That was before YouTube.

Thank you very much for your comments!

Miguel
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Billsbro
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Re: bass clip - Awaken

Post by Billsbro »

Thank you very much, Miguel!
It sounds like even more of a challenge than I expected. You have a marvelous ear!

That is fascinating that Chris appears to have tried different bass pedal lines throughout the 1977 tour. Chris had such a clever mind and an adventurous sense of harmony.
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relayer
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Re: bass clip - Awaken

Post by relayer »

The buried bass mix is the main reason I was severely disappointed that GFTO (so far) was not going to be remixed/remastered by Steven Wilson...
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