December 1996 Bassasaurus Newsletter
Volume 1 Issue 7
The Colorado Bass Newsletter
A Chat with Victor Wooten
Interview Part 3
In this, the third installment of my chat with Victor, we cover such subjects as Jaco, philosophy and the strange relationship between music and Spanish.....
R: A lot of melody?
V: Melodies and rhythms, yeah, I'm so much of a rhythmic player, where Oteil is so melodic, you know, my strong point is more the rhythm, 'cause when I was a young guy, young learning how to play, where a lot of people were I guess, you know, because of Jaco, listening to horn lines and learning all that stuff I was listening to drummers and learning drum solos on the bass.
R: All the rudiments and applications?
V: Yeah, and now I'm trying to go back and re-learn all this melodic horn stuff that all these bass players are playing, that's fascinating. But I would say I'm more of a rhythmic player, you know, at this point. R: Yeah, that one rhythmic flamenco type thing is cool.
V: Yeah, that's kind of hard for me to explain 'cause I never thought about that, I just started doin' it. R: One of those " Don't think - Play! " kinda things?
V: Right!
R: What about this Yamaha Midi pick-up with the breath controller.
V: That's a brand new thing, a brand new pick up that Yamaha has come out with, I was lucky enough to get one of the first ones, it's not even out yet, but Bela and I are testing it. And it's the first time they've made one for bass, where you can just take a pick-up, put it on your bass and all the sudden you're midi. It's great. So, yeah, it has a breath controller on it, and with the breath controller it's very cool, 'cause you can just breathe that note out. A new thing by Yamaha, very cool.
R: Is there anybody you'd like to jam with and haven't yet?
V: I'd like to do some more playing with Dennis Chambers, there's some other drummers that I'd like to play with also, there's a bunch of guys, Vinny Calutto who's out with Sting, he's a great drummer, and there's Kenwood Dinard, he'll play a snare with one foot, he has a pedal that hits a snare, he'll play kick drum, and play with one hand and put another hand on the keyboards, or he'll play both hands on the keyboards, amazing drummer, he's just a great drummer, but he can do all this, all this dexterity. I'd like to get to play with Steve Vai too, I'm a big fan of Steve Vai and a big fan of Frank Gambale, I'd like to play with those guys. R: Any other future plans?
V: I've been doing some dates with a drummer named James Blair, J. D. Blair, he's actually the first voice you hear on my solo cd. He's a great drummer, so we've been going out and doing some dates, just bass & drums, in support of the Show of Hands C.D. so , we have a few more dates coming up, and I'm just taking my time right now working on another record, slowly putting it together.
R: Any "Bass Philosophy" or advice for other bassists'?
V: The main thing is just to have fun with it, you know, realize that that there's' no rules. But, anything you do long enough, you'll get good at it, if you do it honestly, whether you have a teacher or not. A lot of people who want to learn things, like say they want to learn something that I've done, you know, they wait till they can find a video or wait till they can meet me and I can teach them or whatever, but, you know, like I learned from my brothers when I was a kid, you get the, you learn the most once you sit down with it and figure it out yourself, you know, really figure it out yourself because you're gonna figure it out in a way that works for you, and then by the time, you know, I get to meet you and show you how I do it, then if it's different, then you have two ways of doing it, you know, so really work on things yourself and don't wait for someone to show you something.
R: Or don't wait for someone else to do something, then say "I coulda' done that".
V: Yeah. Yeah! But the fact that anyone else does something lets you know that you can do it also. But go ahead and do it, have fun with the instrument, make good music, you can do it.
R: Are there any other players techniques that make you go "Hmm"?
V: Um.. Well the way Steve Bailey does his harmonics, his artificial harmonics is very intriguing, so I've worked on that quite a bit. I'm still basically, for the most part do the techniques that I do and work on them a little better, I can't do any of them the way I'd like to do them yet. The thumb stuff and the tapping stuff I don't, my right hand's really not that good with the tapping, you know, I know how to use what I have very well, but I want to get more fluent with that and I'm really just trying to work on the theory so I can have more of a be-bop type of feel, you know, and add that into a style.
R: Where are you picking up your theory? Books?
V: I listen to the records, I listen to the guys that do it. Same way if you wanted to learn how to speak Spanish, the best way to do it would be to listen to a guy speak Spanish, go to Spain, you know, go to Mexico..
R: Immerse yourself.
V: Yeah, exactly! Put it on while your sleepin', all that stuff. So I listen to it. See, if you learn it from a book, it's just like a language, nothing wrong with O.K., but say you learn Spanish from a book and then you went to Spain, you would speak with an accent, you'd know the words, but you'd speak with an accent. It's the same with learnin' jazz or be-bop from a book, you don't get the feel. Feel is not something you can get from a book, you have to let that, like by osmosis, just, you know, grow into you, so that it can come out of you.
So, it's just like moving to a new town, all of the sudden you start speakin' like them. You know that's exactly the way it is, so in learning a style of music, it's just like learning a language, you gotta' pick up the accent and everything.
R: Do your hands ever hurt?
V: Nah, I play pretty relaxed, you know, I exercise quite a bit, I just try to keep my whole body in shape. A lot of people ask me do I warm-up my hands and stuff, I more so try to warm-up my whole body 'cause it's all connected ya see.
R: Yeah, try to get your mind workin' as well.
V: Exactly, so true.
Thus ends this interview, hope you dug it and if you did, go see the cat! Thanks Victor!
Roberts' Ramblings
Some Thanks & Ect.
O.k., so I gotta do some splainin'! First I gotta thank my 'boss' Roger P. for getting this program and letting me use it to fabricate this bassthing, couldn't do it without him!
Thanks to Skip at ACE on S. Nevada for making sure I had a recording device for the interviews, thanks my friend. (They get some cool tapes down there - & other things - check 'em out).
Also, I need to thank my contributors, especially Mr. Steve Brown, 'cause if I didn't, you'd sometimes get just a half a Bassasaurus - and you know filling that is!
Also a big thanks to the local clubs that currently display this newsletter, free for their clientele, places like The Gardens, GIGS niteclub and others, my thanks to you all.
I have been getting numerous requests for set-up info, parts & repair info and manufacturers addresses, I suggest Stuart McDonalds' Guitar Shop catalogue for parts, the Elderly New & Used catalogue for older instruments and The Guitar Buyers Guide for any new instrument manufacturers information & specs. See ya next time - Robert Lee
BASS ADS
Yes, these here are some free ads, so if ya got bass related something's to sell, trade, borrow or buy, send a postcard to the address below with all the info and your phone # and it will appear here as if by magic, and yeah- we'll run it as long as you need us to.
Bass Repair, Set-ups and Technical Advice
All types of repair & assistance available at very reasonable rates. Trouble shooting, technical specifications and documentation available. Why let another day go by when you can get that instrument feelin' it's funkidoobiest! Page (719)385-1406 and enter your # plus " *88 ".
2 Basses For Sale:
Fodera "Monarch" 6 string, will consider partial trade for quality 5 string, O.B.O. Custom made Hill fretted 4 string, Pedulla MVP type body style, EMG pickups and more, all reasonable offers considered. Page Robert at (719)385-1406.
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Copyright 1996.