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How the hell did Mark play like this?


Strobber

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40 minutes ago, Olidamus said:

If you played, you'd know that Mark is really not that great. Mark plays mostly root notes on bass with little variation. I have never had a single desire to learn a single "bassline" of his except Cheshire Cat because most of it is such a complete bore.

So yes, it is very easy for half the board to have a better technique than him. It's not his bass playing skills that make him great. It is his ability to write songs. While learning an instrument can be tough and take a lot of dedication, people who play are a dime a dozen.

Yeah well John Feldmann says Mark is one of the best bassists of all time mr. know-it-all Oliver!

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1 hour ago, Olidamus said:

If you played, you'd know that Mark is really not that great. Mark plays mostly root notes on bass with little variation. I have never had a single desire to learn a single "bassline" of his except Cheshire Cat because most of it is such a complete bore.

agree 100%. if i want to challenge myself, i throw on some ALL / descendents. karl alvarez...now that's some bass lines.

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35 minutes ago, Olidamus said:

 

LOL, did he seriously say that? Great, now I can add that to my list of things that make that guy an absolute joke.

Oliver don't be a dummy.
Mark is a professional bassist and would play circles around any bassist here...deep down you know that. 
Same as Tom.  They may not have the dexterity and technical skills we perceive as "great" but they are pro musicians in that
(maybe more importantly) they can play in proper timing better then most on the earth.  
Im not saying Mark is Jaco Pastorius and Tom is Paul Gilbert but they are way better then we think.  They just think its funny to suck as they pointed out.

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14 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

agree 100%. if i want to challenge myself, i throw on some ALL / descendents. karl alvarez...now that's some bass lines.

Mark's a very average bassist in terms of technique. However, I could care less about "chops" - creativity and cleverness are much more important. Unfortunately, he's also not very good at that. Most of the time, anyway.

But the multiple bass tracks on "Always" are incredible. Actually, he did some interesting stuff all over the Untitled record. And California seemed like a step forward in many ways too.

Really, the best bass skill Mark has is knowing how to play something simple, but just different enough from what Tom or Matt is playing. That's the talent. And he deserves props for that. 

And at least he's not an annoying bassist. There's nothing worse than a tacky bass line that just doesn't fit the song and seems needlessly complex or otherwise awkward. He steers clear of that.

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7 minutes ago, CrackedSkye said:

Oliver don't be a dummy.
Mark is a professional bassist and would play circles around any bassist here...deep down you know that. 
Same as Tom.  They may not have the dexterity and technical skills we perceive as "great" but they are pro musicians in that
(maybe more importantly) they can play in proper timing better then most on the earth.  
Im not saying Mark is Jaco Pastorius and Tom is Paul Gilbert but they are way better then we think.  They just think its funny to suck as they pointed out.

Do you play?

Because this is not really true. Anyone here who plays  with a bit of rehearsal could easily get the timing down on their songs. I can play along to Blink tracks in perfect time.

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10 minutes ago, BigOilyMenInBlack said:

Mark's a very average bassist in terms of technique. However, I could care less about "chops" - creativity and cleverness are much more important. Unfortunately, he's also not very good at that. Most of the time, anyway.

But the multiple bass tracks on "Always" are incredible. Actually, he did some interesting stuff all over the Untitled record. And California seemed like a step forward in many ways too.

Really, the best bass skill Mark has is knowing how to play something simple, but just different enough from what Tom or Matt is playing. That's the talent. And he deserves props for that. 

And at least he's not an annoying bassist. There's nothing worse than a tacky bass line that just doesn't fit the song and seems needlessly complex or otherwise awkward. He steers clear of that.

I think they thing that makes a quality bass player is being able to come up with a bassline that is both complex when it needs to be, simply when it needs to be, but fits the song.

I have never really heard Mark play much more than the root notes of a power chord (A few examples aside)

 

This, is worlds ahead of anything Mark has ever done.

 

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16 minutes ago, BigOilyMenInBlack said:

Mark's a very average bassist in terms of technique.

yes. notice i wasn't commenting on mark's ability or lack there of. i simply said that playing along with him is not challenging, and i mentioned a bass player who challenges me.
so really, i'm not saying anything about mark at all. only about my own bass chops (and lack thereof).

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2 minutes ago, Olidamus said:

I think they thing that makes a quality bass player is being able to come up with a bassline that is both complex when it needs to be, simply when it needs to be, but fits the song.

I have never really heard Mark play much more than the root notes of a power chord (A few examples aside)

 

This, is worlds ahead of anything Mark has ever done.

 

I agree - he's no Sir Paul. Still, I don't hear many blink songs where I wish they had more complex bass lines. It's just not really that kind of music. Subtleties are much more important.

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2 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

yes. notice i wasn't commenting on mark's ability or lack there of. i simply said that playing along with him is not challenging, and i mentioned a bass player who challenges me.
so really, i'm not saying anything about mark at all. only about my own bass chops (and lack thereof).

For sure. Wasn't trying to argue or "correct" you, just chiming in with my thoughts. And I agree about Alvarez (and Tony Lombardo!) as a killer bassist.

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He's technically an average bass player but I don't think he ever really intended to be anything more. I'm sure if you were just jamming with him he could perform more complicated stuff but in blink he really doesn't have to. He's been playing none stop for like 30 years.. Of course he can play more than just power chords. Using blink songs as examples of his actual skill level is not necessarily accurate. 

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35 minutes ago, Champ182 said:

I know it's cool to kinda tear down your idols and stuff but I mean does it really matter how "technically" good he is? He's fucking awesome at what he does, which is write and play Blink 182 songs.

I love Mark and I've always been a big fan of his bass sound but there is nothing wrong with saying that his basslines are generally uninventive and his technique is pretty poor. Hasn't stopped him writing awesome songs but as a stand alone bassist he leaves a lot to be desired.

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