I don't want to be hater but...

To me the real issue is joining in where there is a bass player.
More than one bass in a jam in most cases is a no-no.
Maybe if the bass players know each other and practice together it may work.
I have played in many a jam with a washtub player. Most of the time as long as they are close in pitch it is ok.
What is really bad is when they have no timing. I have also heard some where the sound is over powering.
Most of the time the bass frequency is so low it will blend in and add some nice bottom to a ukuleles.
Bass adds a lot to ukulele jams, otherwise it can be like a choir with all soprano voices.
 
SailingUke said:
I have played in many a jam with a washtub player. Most of the time as long as they are close in pitch it is ok.
Click to expand...

That's just it. "Close in pitch" is the best you can hope for.

SailingUke said:
What is really bad is when they have no timing.
Click to expand...

I actually saw a video of a ukulele group with a washtub player who was plucking the string on beats 2 and 4. It was sort of an unintentional reggae groove.:rolleyes:

- Steve
 
One thing about the gutbucket is that it is really good for bending notes. And hitting the exact note is often NOT what you want to do in a song -- jazz and blues singers often slide up to a note, and sometimes intentionally leave it just a shade flat. And consider vibrato, a much richer sound than hitting the exact note.

In my book, the washtub bass is a legit musical instrument, perhaps just waiting for a virtuoso to confer that legitimacy.
 
I always view the washtub as a percussion instrument, whether they are plunking a big string or smacking it with a shoe. Once you take that frame of reference, they are easier to accept in the ensemble.
 
I was at that jam session and observed the whole thing. All of the musicians playing were either professional or professional quality musicians. A few people took out their ukes, but when they listened for a few minutes, they determined that this jam session was too advanced, and put their uke away. About 15 or 20 of us just listened for a while, enjoying the great music when the "attendee" showed up with her washtub bass and unhesitatingly started to try and play along. It was clear she was having a great time and was oblivious to her "boundry violation." She just wanted to have fun and as far as she was concerned, the Jams at the festival were for everyone to join in. It was unfortunate that her feelings got hurt, but no one was actually "mean" to her. As Steve said, she went off to another jam session and proceeded to have a great time. It's good to remember that there are players at all levels at Uke Festivals, and that sometime folks want to "Jam" with a more advanced player (many of us see that as a great way to learn), but, yes, finally my point......The Aloha Spirit Must Prevail" Just My Opinion!
 
Hey Steve, I am an upright bass player ,now uker. I have uploaded 2 tunes using my upright and hope to do more. check out my channel, If you get a chance, check out my channel! - FLOYD A.
 
Well, time for me to season and eat my words. I didn't BRING a kazoo to a jam session, but a gal at our table did, a whole bag of them, and passed them out to each of us at her table. We got pretty silly, but nobody complained. Don't think I'd make a habit of it, though. The darn thing is still in my case...
A jam session is about having fun, I think, but there is such a thing as etiquette, too. Try not to mess up somone else's good time.
 
In defence of washtub...

Feel the need to weigh in on this one.
Here's some evidence that - in the right hands (which admittedly could be a rare thing!) - a washtub bass is more than a "random pitch generator"

Wack on some headphones and listen to the bass solo from 1:36 - very tastefully done with lots of musicality I'm sure you'll agree?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR1WIfnpbVU

By the way - digging the barnkickers!
 
tommyrot said:
Feel the need to weigh in on this one.
Here's some evidence that - in the right hands (which admittedly could be a rare thing!) - a washtub bass is more than a "random pitch generator"

Wack on some headphones and listen to the bass solo from 1:36 - very tastefully done with lots of musicality I'm sure you'll agree?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR1WIfnpbVU

By the way - digging the barnkickers!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliment about The Barnkickers.

I listened to that video clip, and while he does do a decent job of playing the melody during his solo, most of the pitches he plays during the accompaniment are approximate, and accompaniment is a bass players #1 job. If you were to listen to that and imagine a double bassist playing those same "notes", you would think that the they didn't know what they were doing. To say that a washtub bass player is doing a god job because they come close to hitting the actual pitches 50% or even 75% of the time is just lowering musical standards for novelty's sake in my opinion. The uke has it's share of novelty value in some people's eyes, but I see it as a legitimate musical instrument and there are plenty of great players out there proving it.

- Steve
 
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That dude on table spoons brought more to the music that day than some people I've known could bring with a full kit.

John[/QUOTE]


That's such a good line.
 
Steve, no respectable Bluegrass band would use anyhting but a real stand-up (double) bass....
 
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