z***@yahoo.com
2006-11-19 22:05:57 UTC
"Harris has been influenced by other bass players such as Chris Squire
of Yes, John Deacon of Queen, Mike Rutherford of Genesis, Geddy Lee of
Rush, Andy Fraser of Free and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Martin
Turner of Wishbone Ash, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, and John
Entwistle of The Who. One of his all-time favourite bass players was
Pete Way from UFO, who was said to influence Harris' playing style
greatly"
First on the list is Chris Squire. Not to mention that there are very
few rock bands in which the bassist plays LEAD bass. For example - Yes,
Who, Rush and Iron Maiden.
"Steve Harris is often considered among the best and most influential
heavy metal bassists. He frequently writes bass lines with a 'gallop',
a pattern consisting of three rapid notes - one eighth and two
sixteenths - which he plays with his first two fingers on his right
hand. Before playing, Harris often greases his fingers, to make such
'gallops' easier to play, as shown on the bonus DVD for the A Matter of
Life and Death album. Besides this he is very adventurous on the bass
and and plays intricate accompaniment in many of Maiden's songs. He
also uses power chords, which are relatively unheard of on bass, on
several songs. Harris has also stated that he never uses a pick and
that he never warms up before a show."
"Squire's bass playing is noted for being aggressive, dynamic, and
melodic. Squire's main instrument is a Rickenbacker 4001, which he has
owned and played since 1965; it was the fourth Rickenbacker 4001 ever
imported into Britain from the United States. This instrument, with its
warmth and distortion, is a significant part of Squire's unique sound
which is achieved by a technique known as 'bi-amping'. By splitting the
stereo signal from his bass (which divided the signal from the pickups
into dual high and low frequency outputs) and then sending the low
frequency output to a conventional bass amplifier and the
high-frequency output to a separate lead guitar amplifier, Squire
produced a tonal 'sandwich' that added a growling, overdriven edge to
the sound while retaining the Rickenbacker's powerful bass response.
Squire (who is self-taught) was also one of the first rock bass players
to successfully adapt electronic guitar effects such as tremolo,
phasing and the wah-wah pedal to the instrument."
So Chris Squire added electronic effects to his bass. Steve Harris...
not to be undone added synth to his bass too.
"In the album Somewhere in Time, Harris made his first experimentation
with synthesised sounds, playing the bass synth (later on the Seventh
Son of a Seventh Son album referred to as 'string synth'). He has also
done so on subsequent albums, although it has not featured as much as
it did on Somewhere in Time."
So did one of the most high regarded progressive rock band give birth
to one of the most highly regard heavy metal band of all time?
"Although Iron Maiden was a metal band influenced by Deep Purple, Led
Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, UFO, Yes, Wishbone Ash, Apocalypse, Queen and
Judas Priest, the earlier music had undoubted punk overtones."
of Yes, John Deacon of Queen, Mike Rutherford of Genesis, Geddy Lee of
Rush, Andy Fraser of Free and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Martin
Turner of Wishbone Ash, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, and John
Entwistle of The Who. One of his all-time favourite bass players was
Pete Way from UFO, who was said to influence Harris' playing style
greatly"
First on the list is Chris Squire. Not to mention that there are very
few rock bands in which the bassist plays LEAD bass. For example - Yes,
Who, Rush and Iron Maiden.
"Steve Harris is often considered among the best and most influential
heavy metal bassists. He frequently writes bass lines with a 'gallop',
a pattern consisting of three rapid notes - one eighth and two
sixteenths - which he plays with his first two fingers on his right
hand. Before playing, Harris often greases his fingers, to make such
'gallops' easier to play, as shown on the bonus DVD for the A Matter of
Life and Death album. Besides this he is very adventurous on the bass
and and plays intricate accompaniment in many of Maiden's songs. He
also uses power chords, which are relatively unheard of on bass, on
several songs. Harris has also stated that he never uses a pick and
that he never warms up before a show."
"Squire's bass playing is noted for being aggressive, dynamic, and
melodic. Squire's main instrument is a Rickenbacker 4001, which he has
owned and played since 1965; it was the fourth Rickenbacker 4001 ever
imported into Britain from the United States. This instrument, with its
warmth and distortion, is a significant part of Squire's unique sound
which is achieved by a technique known as 'bi-amping'. By splitting the
stereo signal from his bass (which divided the signal from the pickups
into dual high and low frequency outputs) and then sending the low
frequency output to a conventional bass amplifier and the
high-frequency output to a separate lead guitar amplifier, Squire
produced a tonal 'sandwich' that added a growling, overdriven edge to
the sound while retaining the Rickenbacker's powerful bass response.
Squire (who is self-taught) was also one of the first rock bass players
to successfully adapt electronic guitar effects such as tremolo,
phasing and the wah-wah pedal to the instrument."
So Chris Squire added electronic effects to his bass. Steve Harris...
not to be undone added synth to his bass too.
"In the album Somewhere in Time, Harris made his first experimentation
with synthesised sounds, playing the bass synth (later on the Seventh
Son of a Seventh Son album referred to as 'string synth'). He has also
done so on subsequent albums, although it has not featured as much as
it did on Somewhere in Time."
So did one of the most high regarded progressive rock band give birth
to one of the most highly regard heavy metal band of all time?
"Although Iron Maiden was a metal band influenced by Deep Purple, Led
Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, UFO, Yes, Wishbone Ash, Apocalypse, Queen and
Judas Priest, the earlier music had undoubted punk overtones."