Close to the Edge bassline video

[miguelbass]

Hello my friends, here goes "Solid Time of Change" and "Total Mass Retain"

iii and iv... will be up too, when - I don't know yet.
Thank you for watching!

Miguel


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YT notes:

i) The Solid Time of Change
ii) Total Mass Retain

Dear friends, I decided to have a try to cover one of the most incredible songs by Yes, and also one of the most beautiful basslines created by Chris Squire. I must say that this sole bassline can be a matter of lengthy study. From the chaotic intro to the most subtle note choices and rhythmic interplaying, there is a lot to contemplate. The most important, I feel, is to just listen to the music. Besides the technical difficulties of the bass playing, there is also the sound. It's really hard to recreate a similar tone as in the recording. Even more difficult cause the original tone changes a lot in different sections of the song, either by effects added or simply because all settings (accidentally or not) were changed. Some of you may know already how Yes would leave a song unfinished in the studio and take all their gear to do a gig, coming back later to finish the track, so that all settings were never quite the same. Nevertheless I tried to stay as close as possible (and reasonable), namely using my Malekko b:assmaster to play the "fuzzy" middle section. I did have an old plugin (used on the Siberian Khatru audio transcription) which was pleasantly close to the kind of tone present on the Close to the Edge album, but I really have lost it and I don't remember its name I hope you will enjoy this video, and for those who are still not familiar to Yes, I suggest to take the chance to listen to the original recording - the magnificent "Close to the Edge". This title track, especially, will be a whole musical experience for you! Thank you for reading and watching!

[johnallg]

Miguel, another tour de force! You put my VERY feeble attempts at this composition to great shame. Looks like the opening was the toughest; the rest you play with your usual aplomb. Great effort and I await the concluding pair of movements.

Also, for me, this whole album is Chris shining at his best. This really points out how little of the recognition Chris deserves has been paid him.

[miguelbass]

Hi John

Yes it took me another while to finally decide what was played on that intro. I will have to write a follow up to the previous post. Many interesting things happening there with the fingerings.
It's hard to play it really... because the finger pattern it's not something I am used to play... of course one can practice until it looks like you have played it for 38 years... but that wasn't my point, when I really didn't play it for more than some hours.
There are some details there that I would like to explain and analyse but it's kind of hard to put just into words. Anyway my thoughts will mature by the time I get to the second half of the song.

Thanks for watching

Miguel

[ram]

Hi Miguel, I do have a link to the video... is there any where I could view the video?

[miguelbass]

Hi Tom,

It's embedded on the original post. The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ami8TQr6sq8 and it's also linked from http://www.miguelbass.com

Thanks

M

[just_bassics]

Thank you, Miguel! Well worth the wait.

I love the opening riff, it is one of my favorite passages that Squire has ever recorded. In concert, Chris plays many variations on this riff and the number of times it is repeated seems to depend on how far Steve Howe wants to explore the opening solo, but on CTTE, the original riff is amazing. Pete Greenwood gave me a great run down on this sequence a few years ago at his flat in Manchester, I even video taped him playing it, but the tape was too dark to see his exact fingerings. I had long ago worked out my own way of handling this riff, based on Howe's guitar part, between the "Aahs" when Steve and Chris play the part in unison. I now play it to warm up and even play it finger style, which is sometimes painful! Free stroke works better than rest stroke, but either way, it is a challenge. The rest of the piece is, as Miguel points out, worthy of study as Chris technically challenging, tonal and very musical, all within the framework of this masterpiece creation from Yes.

We did explore the opening riff in another thread a few years back:
http://www.rickresource.com/phpBB3/view ... 0&t=382580

In 1967, my Father, then a professional cinematographer, made a trip with the Pittsburgh Zoological Society to the top of Angel Falls in Venezuela. He spent two weeks atop the world's highest waterfall and tipuy and returned with some amazing films and stories about this "lost world". When CTTE was released in 1972, the Roger Dean painting which graced the gatefold seemed inspired by Angel Falls and I viewed CTTE as the soundtrack to this amazing place. I still connect the two in my mind to this day.

[ajish4]

Wow.

As usual, another masterpiece Miguel.

There isn't anything I could add to the compliments already given.

FANTASTIC, and I'm glad I can see your hands and fingers work their magic.

Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

[teeder]

Wow.

As usual, another masterpiece Miguel.

There isn't anything I could add to the compliments already given.

FANTASTIC, and I'm glad I can see your hands and fingers work their magic.

Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

What he said!

[jps]

Wow.

As usual, another masterpiece Miguel.

There isn't anything I could add to the compliments already given.

FANTASTIC, and I'm glad I can see your hands and fingers work their magic.

Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

What he said!

What they both said!

[miguelbass]

Well, "iii" has no bass except for the live versions so for coherence here goes the final "Seasons of Man"

Hope you enjoy it and thank you very much for your continuing support!

Miguel

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0UdInyCq1A


YT notes:

"Seasons will pass you by..."

I used the Malekko b:assmaster for the fuzzy tone. I didn't use the Sansamp this time. For the last section, I used the Bass Pro setting on a Guitar Rig demo, which has the controls of an Ampeg SVT head. Usually I would use the Sansamp but due to some technical problems I had to connect the bass directly to the pc.

[johnallg]

Nailed the tone!

Miguel, you feel this in your soul. For me, most Yes music is like going to church.

[cjj]

Once again, amazing stuff Miguel!

[ram]

Well once again a great effort Miguel. Bravo! Love the visual highlight at the end - nice touch!!! really enjoyed the whole piece!!

[johnallg]

Well once again a great effort Miguel. Bravo! Love the visual highlight at the end - nice touch!!! really enjoyed the whole piece!!

Yeah! I forgot to mention the highlight on the bass horn. So neat.

[Dave Scantland]

More than anything, that just looks like a lot of fun.