The Marcus Miller file is well known by thumpers who long ago dubbed him the Thumbslinger for his funk-fueled fretboard prowess. (his 2008 collaboration with Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten), Miller firmly established himself as a bass icon, with a thriving solo career and a line of signature basses, strings, and amps—all while maintaining his music-mogul status as a composer and producer. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. “But when I went to play with these Senegal cats, the rhythm was the easy part! How did you put together “Keep ’Em Running,” your nod to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Runnin’”? Afrodeezia will form the musical focus point for Marcus Miller’s imminent UK shows, which showcase a truly stellar band line-up, including Mino Cinelu (percussion), Alex Han (saxophone), Brett Williams (piano) and Marquis Hill (trumpet). He said, “Just roll the tape.”. Before attempting the double thumb slap technique we need to master the rest stroke. So we get two slaps for the price of one! stop) both the D & G-strings on the 9th fret with your index finger: this will allow you to play the phrase faster (The Marcus Miller song Power uses this technique with all of the strings being barred at the 7th fret position). This bridge has characteristics of a vintage jazz bass but with heavy mass saddles, giving the bass a rich and punchy sound. This instrument is definitely of the Fender-style design. The song has horns, so I asked Trombone Shorty to play on it—we’d been talking about doing something together. No problem! Bending your rhythm to match a drummer or a guitar player and really learning how to work in a group is important. His prowess as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer has earned him two Grammy awards and the esteem of critics and musicians across genres. And if something is behind the beat, it’s the same amount behind in every bar. Born in Brooklyn on June 14, 1959, and raised in musically rich Jamaica, Queens, Marcus parlayed early studies on woodwinds and the bass guitar into an unparalleled breakout. All rights reserved. So I put that in, and I called Alex to let him know. As well as being widely regarded as one of the planet’s greatest living bass players, Marcus is also a celebrated producer, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and solo artist. By The 23 page book has instructions, notation and tab. If you’re playing by yourself and you’re playing solo, you can use a tone that features midrange and high-end, which are things that make the bass really clear. So we adjusted the range of the EQ knobs so you can turn them without wrecking your sound. Marcus Miller SIRE V7 bass is equipped with the newly designed Marcus Heavy Mass Standard Bridge which was specially developed at the request of Marcus Miller. Advanced techniques of anesthetic administration and updated treatment modalities have rendered root canals more effective and predictable at saving your dentition. I played it for my wife because it’s dedicated to her mom, who was ill at the time. I like to ask the musicians which one sounds the best to them. “However, if you’re supporting a band and you’ve got other instruments in the mid-range and you’ve got other instruments in the high-end, your job might be to supply a really fat solid bottom - the more traditional role of the bass! Marcus Miller SIRE V7 bass is equipped with the newly designed Marcus Heavy Mass Standard Bridge which was specially developed at the request of Marcus Miller. Thank you for signing up to Bass Player. Rest Stroke. # Try to hold down (i.e. They know how to play beautiful and very technically interesting things, but they kind of miss the main reason for playing music! The song is my take on trap music, which is a Southern hip-hop style that uses a [Roland] 808 drum machine playing at a slow tempo, with double-time snare fills, and a button that produces a distinctive-sounding roll. Hello, I have been trying to play a song by Marcus Miller for a while and I cant figure out the technique he is using to play it. People know you're high but you’ve played so great that they just forgive you or they say, ‘That’s part of it!’, “That’s dangerous, because nobody’s going to call you up for being under the influence. Since his heady introduction to the New York studio scene in the mid-70s, he has worked with a who’s who of R&B and pop superstars including the likes of Luther Vandross, George Benson, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Al Jarreau, Paul Simon, Whitney Houston, Jay Z … Afrodeezia is available now via Blue Note Records. “I went to high school with the drummer Omar Hakim and we had a little band. I echoed some of the double-stops he played on the original, and one lick at the end of the first chorus is a note-for-note rip—so the next time he sees me, he’s gonna be like, “Really?” [Laughs.]. Marcus Miller isn’t known for his double thumb technique to the same extent as Victor Wooten but like every other aspect of his playing, Marcus is a virtuoso of the highest order! When I’m working with American musicians, they’ll get the notes right away when I’m trying to show them a piece of music that I’m working on, but it can sometimes take me a long time to get the right feeling and the right rhythmic lilt. For my solo, I changed my sound via an amp simulator and distortion pedal every four bars, so it sounds like a different bassist is responding to what I play on the clean side. There was a problem. I see a lot of discussion about Victor W. and Marcus M. and their double-thump or double-thumb technique - but I am interested in the double-pluck. I had interviewed Verdine White in his home music room for my SiriusXM show, right after Maurice White passed, and talking to him and seeing the gold records that lined the walls inspired me to do a cover. What led you to cover Sly Stone’s version of “Que Sera Sera,” and how did Larry Graham’s part influence what you played? S imply put, Marcus Miller is a living legend. You know, it can take me a while to find the … And this includes me, too, because I’ve been playing the same [Fender] Jazz Bass since my mom bought it for me in 1977. Aug. 27, 2018, 1:50 p.m. UK Guitar Interactive Magazine reviewed Marcus Miller signature head and cab in their issue #58, including also a video test. I was trying to take a modern hip-hop feel you hear on the radio, along with a contemporary gospel sound, with the three horns in the chorus. I said, “Let’s rename it OLD SCHOOL.”. “I would advise bass players to go and play with other musicians, every opportunity they get. Hip-hoppers boiled it down to what we were getting away from, and it had a vast effect on music; it made the whole world pay attention and see that the groove is the most essential part of music. We get a lot of 14-and 15-year-old hip-hop fans coming to our shows who are loving the musicianship; they want to get out of their virtual worlds and go see bands play and sweat. You seem to be enjoying your SiriusXM Satellite Radio show. That left plenty of room for Miller’s singular bass voice, with its feel-good signatures: back-pocketed slaps and pops, hard-plucked melodies that float over bar lines with vocal-like phrasing, and spontaneous solos, whose polyrhythmic intent arrives via hammers, trills, tapped passages, and three-finger rolls. Marcus Miller SIRE V10 bass is equipped with the newly designed Marcus Heavy Mass Standard Bridge which was specially developed at the request of Marcus Miller. © I came up in the studio scene, where we played basses that sounded good direct. She thought it was beautiful, but a little too basic for me, so I went in and re-harmonized the final A section. Coming off the ambitious, globally recorded Afrodeezia, Miller’s impulse was to lighten up and relax a bit. 14.0k members in the basslessons community. All rights reserved. Visit our corporate site. I have Sly on constant rotation when I listen to music, and my wife encouraged me to cover the song. That was one of the earliest songs we recorded—actually in a studio in Seattle, while on tour. Born in Brooklyn on June 14, 1959, and raised in musically rich Jamaica, Queens, Marcus parlayed early studies on woodwinds and the bass guitar into an unparalleled breakout. This is an all-around bass that is suitable for fingering, slapping, and other techniques and styles of playing. When I played the band the melody, they all jumped on it, and things fell into place. She thought Sela Sue, who had guested with us in Europe, would be perfect because she can sing from sweet to raw, which is what happens between the verse and chorus on the Sly version [Fresh, 1973, Epic]—and she was right. The folks at Fender were the first ones to tell me that—“It’s going to be bigger than you think.” Man, the floodgates have opened; people contact me saying, “I’ve got two of them!”. I have a movie score upcoming that I can’t talk about yet. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, The rise, fall and rediscovery of the Fender Jaguar, How to set up a Les Paul: 7 essential tips, (Image credit: Getty/Peter Van Breukelen/Redferns), Meet Bassist of the Year 2020, Danny Sapko, Fusion legend Mark Egan talks creative chemistry, custom basses and the spirit of improvisation on new album Electric Blue, Thundercat: “Not every instrument carries the weight to be able to morph and change in the way that bass does“. Our band leader would show us a groove with bass and drums, and we’d start playing the groove and he would say, ‘Okay, you all keep playing that. I wrote the song for my dad, who would accompany me on piano for woodwind recitals when I was a kid. That’s the rhythmic DNA of hip-hoppers, having come up with drum machines. Please refresh the page and try again. Artists don’t seem as concerned about it now as they were back in the day, but I still love it; it’s the way to get people to feel things in your music. You can expect thorough, effective treatment of your teeth with no pain during the procedure. I just then had to work on the notes because some of them weren’t necessarily jazz musicians, so some of my notes probably sounded a little from outer space for them. They’re light, not too expensive, and they sound great. But those are not the only hats Miller’s famed ’77 Fender Jazz Bass wears. Jun 22, 2002 #1. They’re more focused on sounds and placing things in the beat in a very specific way. This bridge has characteristics of a vintage jazz bass but with heavy mass saddles, giving the bass a rich and punchy sound. And there’s a project proposal with Larry Graham that would involve more than just Larry and me collaborating, so watch for an update on that. They’ll say, ‘I didn’t play my best on it, but overall, the music sounded the best to me.’. ‘Marcus Miller’s Sire J-Bass model has been widely admired since its launch for its practical playability and no-nonsense price point. It’s so easy - especially when you’re travelling on the road - to not get the right sleep. It was a groove we were messing around with during Afrodeezia, and it came back to me in New York. Bath Guitar World is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Nothing is incidental; the programmers work on the same four bars for like two days. It's track nr. The Marcus Miller file is well known by thumpers who long ago dubbed him the Thumbslinger for his funk-fueled fretboard prowess. “The one complaint I’ve heard from other musicians about the new generation of bass players is that they don’t know how to make the music feel good. technique groove bass tabs contact blog search cours.bassistik@gmail.com. “Pay attention to your tone and how your tone maybe needs to be adjusted for different situations. “It was just fascinating, man, to see how much of what I know as an American musician comes from West Africa. Marcus Miller has been a first-call bassist since the late 70s, when his distinctive jangly rhythmic sound seemed to be on every jazz and funk cut of note—from “Just the Two of Us” with Grover Washington, Jr. and Bill Withers to “Power of Love” with Luther Vandross. Technique | Practice | Low Action | Strings | Electronics | Amps & Settings | Preamps | Frets. Covers basic “slap” and “pop” techniques in funk, rock, R&B, Latin and reggae styles. In the late ’70s, R&B had become very produced, with layers of keyboards and strings. He said the first one pulls the highs down and gives the bass a thicker, more classic sound. After he passed, I wanted to cover it again. Bass-wise, I have synth bass and my Fender on the bottom, and every four bars they play a descending line together that sounds like elephants running through the room. The fretless is my Sire V7 5-string. “But I think, in the long run, man - and I’ve been around a long time - I think it’s really benefitted me to keep myself together. Body Shape : New Marcus Miller Jazz Type. “When I think of the guys that really made an impact on me - Jaco [Pastorius] played a 1962 Jazz Bass, Stanley Clarke plays an Alembic bass, Victor Wooten plays that Fodera, Larry Graham plays a Fender Jazz Bass and James Jamerson played a Fender Precision. Mark King's top 5 tips for bassists and other musicians. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. But people forget he started as a guitar player, so he also embraced the guitar part of the bass guitar—using distortion and effects, and playing upper-register chords and fills. You play upright exclusively on your soundtrack for Marshall, Reggie Hudlin’s film about Justice Thurgood Marshall. The Audio quality is better than the earlier concert CD. Larry, of course, had a profound impact on me, having invented slapping. BA1 1UA. Sire Guitars’ Marcus Miller V7 5-String Bass really caught me off guard, more about that after the details. I asked about the two knobs on Markbass heads that say VLE and VPF. Specific to the bass, I had already found a voice for myself using a lot of notes and playing percussively. We had a $500 price point, but some kids said they still couldn’t afford it, so now we have one in the $250 range. From there I became [Miles Davis producer] Teo Macero, listening back and picking out parts and melodies to form the song. Body Color : BK, TS, AWH, MA. It was so early that we were playing it live before I finished the album. I was like, “Where were you hiding this?”. How about hip-hop’s programmed component? “This is just something to consider. For “Untamed,” I had asked my keyboardist, Brett Williams, to bring me something for the record. It’s not a rule, because music is music and there’s a lot of merit to switching basses, and sometimes I really have to fight the limitations of my Jazz Bass. “And the guitar player will usually say, ‘Well, I like number two’ and I know why the guitar player says he likes number two, because he played well on number 2. He plays in a group called Peculiar 3, with a former drummer of mine, Charles Haynes, and keyboardist Mitch Henry. © I told him, to be honest I wasn’t feeling Markbass because they sound like fusion-bassist amps, favoring the midrange. Then I’ll ask the piano player, ‘Which one do you like?’ And he’ll say, ‘I like number four’ because he played the best on number four…, “But there are some musicians that you ask and they’ll say, ‘I think number one felt the best’ or ‘I think number three felt the best’. You’re going to get fired but, as a musician, you can get away with a lot. For me, harmony is that magic place where you can find flavor. “You just need to be aware of where you are and what might be necessary from you. Take care of yourself. With more recent adventures, such as his popular jazz cruises, his appointment as a UNESCO Artist for Peace, and his SiriusXM radio show, Miller Time with Marcus Miller, the 59-year-old can add musical ambassador to the mix. Then it needed a C section, and I remembered a tune from when I was in Lenny White’s band in 1978 called “Stew, Cabbage and Galactic Beans” [The Adventures of Astral Pirates, Wounded Bird]. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Because the beat is in half-time, we had to play the melody very fast, so it might be unrecognizable as an EW&F melody at first. After another dozen years of augmenting his multi-Grammy-winning skill set via countless album sessions and jingles, producing a wide range of artists, and film composing, Miller officially changed the course of bass with his 1993 solo effort, The Sun Don’t Lie. They’ve even figured out how to play busy and creatively, while retaining the hip-hop vibe. Double thumbing is a slap technique whereby we slap through the string (rest stroke) with a downstroke before using the upstroke to get an extra note in that single motion. John Patitucci saw the movie, and he called to say he could tell it was me. For decades a top-call session musician, his genre-hopping bass can be heard on more than 500 albums by artists ranging from Herbie Hancock to Donald Fagan and Aretha Franklin to Beyoncé. They were amazing.”. I started with two themes, one on piano and one on upright bass, and Reggie chose the bass theme—so the upright became quite prominent as one of the lead voices of the film, with a couple of main themes. I’ve seen a lot of musicians suffer. The musical approach and concept were inspired by Miller’s role as a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Artist For Peace and as a spokesperson for that organisation’s long-running Slave Route Project. Over ten more studio albums, a couple of live albums, and Thunder with S.M.V. Author Jean Marc Belkadi applies the latest slap bass techniques popularized by bassist Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten to the guitar. The song im talking about is Mr Pastorius. I get it in theory and I have a pretty good 'standard' thump/pluck technique. That song came to me while walking down the street in Detroit, and I sang it into my phone. Sessions were recorded across the US, Europe, South America and Africa and collaborators included Chuck D, Keb’ Mo’ and Lalah Hathaway in addition to an extensive list of leading jazz players and other musicians from across the world. Then I brought it to the band and we recorded it again. Bass Player Staff So he headed into the studio with his touring band to bust out their take on contemporary urban grooves, filtered through the historic lens of black music. Artist: Marcus Miller Album: M2 Year: 2001 Bassist: Marcus Miller Power is a bass anthem in the key of B, which gives it a different sound to the usual slap-friendly keys of E and A. The response to the video has been incredible. It was a Hendrix-y tune written by [bassist] Alex Blake that had a bass line I never forgot [see music, page 32]; sometimes when I’m soloing I’ll slip it in, because I dig it so much. BA1 1UA. You close the album with your bass clarinet feature, a redo of “Preacher’s Kid,” from Afrodeezia. MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. I'm a huge Marcus Miller fan so take it with a grain of salt but this is an outstanding performance. And he said, “Okay, and I’m gonna name the other one the MILLERIZER.” He said it exaggerates the highs and the lows, creating more of a mid scoop. PastoriusRules. They can play the bass and the chords and the melody, but they’re more like guitar players because they play by themselves a lot. “I’m trying to expand while keeping the essence of my sound—seeing how many different ways I can still sound like me.” So says Marcus Miller addressing the many shades of bass found on his latest album, the straight-up throwdown Laid Black. The C section has more recognizable themes. At age 21 he was simultaneously playing, producing, and writing for Luther Vandross, David Sanborn, and Miles Davis. If you’ve got guitars and keyboards and horns that all operate in the same midrange area, then you might need to get a big thick fat sound and fill the band up and help the drummer out, you know what I mean? How is it going with your line of Sire basses? When we’re playing in the studio, I use a mic so I can call out directions as we jam. Line 6 Helix adds new amp and five effects with 3.10 firmware update, DADGAD tuning for beginners: 5 chords to start exploring with, The 25 best VST/AU plugin synths in the world right now: all the best soft synths you need in your DAW, In pictures: 68 pro guitarists' pedalboards, Washburn unveils a classy yet affordable acoustic line, the Deep Forest Ebony Collection, Best jazz guitars 2021: 9 recommended electric guitars for playing jazz, Pioneer DJ’s latest monitors are aimed at delivering club-style mixes at an affordable price-point. We’ve also added some features at the top of the line: body tops, heavier hardware, different pickup and preamp options—stuff that allows you to trick out the bass a little. So I said to Brett, “Ahh, this is your impression of what I do.” He said, “Yeah, we had to put some Marcus chords in there.” [Laughs.] Sign up below to get the latest from Bass Player, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! The body and neck feel as you would expect from this approach. Thank you for signing up to Musicradar. Marcus Miller, Laid Black, 2018, Blue Note; Afrodeezia, 2015, Blue Note; Renaissance, 2012, Concord; Marcus, 2008, Concord; Silver Rain, 2005, Koch; M2, 2001, Telarc; Live & More, 1998, GRP; Tales, 1994, PRA; The Sun Don’t Lie, 1993, PRA, Basses 1977 Fender Jazz Bass, Sire V7 4-string and fretless V7 5-string, fretless Mayones Patriot MR 5-string, 100-year-old French acoustic bass from Stein on Vine, Nord Stage 3 keyboard bass Strings Dunlop Marcus Miller Super Bright (.045–.105, .125) Rig Markbass Little Marcus 1000 head, two Markbass Marcus Miller 104 cabinets Effects Custom M2 Rodenburg Overdrive/Distortion, MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe, MXR M77 Custom Modified Badass Overdrive, Fulltone OCD Overdrive. Much of that came into play in our late-June discussion, but we began with the hows and whys of Laid Black. Guitar Interactive Magazine reviews Little Marcus 800 and Marcus Miller 104 CAB. He said, “When you come, I’ve got some surprises for you.” So I stopped by while we were on tour in Italy, and he pulled out a ported cabinet that had plenty of booty and low-end punch. “No Limit” is one of my favorite tracks. “Untamed” and “No Limit” have contemporary feels. On Father’s Day, we released a video of us playing the track in the studio. The Double Thumb Technique. I recorded with my band for four days at Sear Sound in New York City, and that was the foundation. A modern master of the electric bass, Marcus Miller has been landing dream gigs for the best part of 40 years. Young musicians can be so focused on their own thing so when they listen to music, they listen to their own instrument. When the rappers started sampling, they took the four bars of those R&B records that had nothing but the groove. The Maple neck had that full rounded profile associated with J basses, and the Ash wood body felt familiar. Coming off Afrodeezia, which involved working with a lot of international musicians and looking back at the music along the Slave Route, I wanted to bring everything up to date and do my interpretation of what’s going on now in urban music—and also kick back and have some fun. I’ve got to do a little bit more work than somebody who just smokes a spliff or something, you know what I mean? But I love that deep, fundamental bass you find in hip-hop—I love having that component on my tracks. This entertaining instructional DVD shows you how to enhance your vocal performance by introducing you to many of the techniques used by some of music's biggest stars. I got to run some errands and I’ll be back in about an hour but don’t stop playing that groove 'til I get back!’ And we would just sit there, man, just playing this groove over and over again… it changes you, man, when you have to play the same thing over and over again and make it feel good.”. Jun 22, 2002. Plus, they weren’t musicians—largely the result of not having music and instruments in schools—so it became very raw. How did you connect with Markbass for your new signature rig? Some of my favorite EW&F songs are the instrumental tracks, where they stretch out. Please refresh the page and try again. It was originally supposed to run one hour, but I go close to three hours—and I don’t mind stopping a record and saying, “You gotta hear this part again!” It’s like hanging out in the basement listening to records back in the day, as [drummer] Kenny Washington did with me. I always like to get away from the bass for a minute. I said, “On upright?” And he said, “Yes, because of your inflections.” He heard some guitar-like hammer-ons, and he pointed out that most upright players don’t use those, but electric bass players employ them regularly. I was thinking early Duke Ellington, and I had Wynton Marsalis and some of his Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra musicians play on it, as well as [saxophonist] Jimmy Heath. I also added a tag at the end of the tune, with new changes. This bridge has characteristics of a vintage jazz bass but with heavy mass saddles, giving the bass a vibrant and punchy sound. Jay-Z, Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Mariah Carey, Frank Sinatra, George Benson, Elton John, Roberta Flack, Billy Idol, Bryan Ferry and Dizzy Gillespie are just a few of the artists that have called upon Marcus’s extraordinary talents on the four-string. “I really appreciate that kind of input, man, and I really appreciate somebody who listens to the whole music and tries to figure out what makes it feel good. While his production and composition credits include legendary artists as varied as Miles Davis, Luther Vandross and Aretha Franklin, Miller’s session CV – which includes around 500 albums – is equally as staggering. I told him one of my beefs is turning a knob to its extreme and getting a harsh, unusable tone. Although it’s really fun, and I have, like, 35 basses or something like that, I only really ever play one consistently. Bath Since 1983, Miller has also enjoyed significant success as a solo jazz artist and bandleader. Now, a couple of generations later, musicians are comfortable functioning in that setting. Want your slap tone to sound more like Victor Wooten, Flea, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller and other slap bass greats? The guys in my band do that. Sire Marcus Miller Fretless – The Fretless range of Marcus Miller basses captures the clear punchy tone of their fretted range with the smooth tonal response and silky feel that you can only get from a fretless bass. “I’m a producer, and when we record a track, we record four takes one after the other and then the job is to decide which is the best take. I’d been with Fender for a long time, and doing a Marcus Miller Squier model didn’t sound so exciting to me, so I decided to try this, not knowing that it would get so big. “They didn’t walk around with five basses and say, 'For this song, I’m going to play my blahblahblah…’ They were connected to their instrument and their voice became that instrument. His latest Blue Note album Afrodeezia, released earlier this year, is an incredible achievement on many levels. I draw a parallel to when the “Great American Songbook” era ended and rock & roll came in and stripped music back down to its core elements. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Plus since the promoters and halfwits at the radio stations here in Chicago always trot out the same tired acts its nice to imagine I'm at a Marcus Miller show. As rappers and DJs began adding live musicians to create more energy onstage, those musicians were required to respect the minimalist vibe. Marco De Virgiliis got in touch with me, and he said the reason he began making bass amps is because of an old interview where I said I was looking for an amp that reproduced my bass sound without coloring it too much.
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