Hi, everyone! Let me share with you my heavy symphonic metal band 🤘ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bzBtMBNz-t0.html Your support is much appreciated ❤
I love hearing the little imperfections: the fret buzz, the clicks, the occasional tempo increases or drops ... it’s beautiful. If a track is too polished, it loses so much of its warmth and humanity. You can really hear the compression working overtime, too!
Those imperfections aren't actually imperfections, they are part of Steve's playing style which of course is made to sound messy in order to be heard along with everything else. Up The Irons!!!(this is coming from a bass player)
hey Robbie! around the same time for me, drums. I started w/ WHO tunes around '80' some pop rock (the Knack, Foreigner cheap trick early on in late '70's). but once I discovered Maiden, well, you know. you start a Maiden tribute band call me, haha.
@@dgodrummer8110 It lead me to make my family the Band. My Brother and my Nephews. We are Half Dead. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GPuEmg-Qa50.html
Found steve harris a year before with KILLERS, I started playing guitar because i knew i could live 3 life times and never be in the same ball park as Harris. He was so good i gave up before i started lol
I really love getty lee, as far as rock goes, but man... steve harris was just ....... no words. Each has their place and time i know, but listening to this isolated track,... and remembering listening to the songs growing up,.. maiden were just doing stuff on a different level from everyone. Metallawho?
Imagine that, he sounds like a human! Not a machine. Slight timing issues here or there and you can see the changing of tempo here or there but sounds so good and so alive. That's what makes these older albums so good compared to the quantized garbage of today.
Yes because these are probably generally recorded in just one go and so those little mistakes can be heard, and because they're so small they actually become the spice that makes it sound alive. Now imagine a "modern" studio tech "fixing" all the notes in pro tools to hit at the same time and cut away all the dynamics as they do today, and you'll lose all the live feel from it and could just as easily have built the song from a bunch of boring samples. No human players needed, if you mix them, move them and tune them into a "modern" blob of sound.
The bass is too physical to get it perfect on a precision with heavy gauge strings. Unless maybe you are some guy like Marcus Miller. But Jazz Bass is definitely easier.
you know what makes Steve Harris a legend? You can take all of this mr. perfect from youtube who can only recreate things that this great man have done over 40 years of his career. If you pick the greatest recreator of Bruce, Steve, Nico, Dave, Adrian, Janick you will have... nothing. Bunch of guys who can play things from other creators. Steve wrote most of things in studio just before recording, got that? The didn't have computers and all this modern directors of sound and still all of their old albums ROCKS! You can hear real human playing, not some equlized corrected sound by computer. I love alll of this imperfections that combined with Bruce's and others imperfections gives PERFECT songs. I'd rather listen to old music than this new plastic metal that sounds almost the same with every band. BTW imagine this young guy who is main author of most of their songs including lyrics. Unlike the other bands he wanted to write songs about poems, most important books for his nation, history, myths, movies. I still can hardly understand how people can't see this amazing work of Steve Harris, not only his skills to play day after day concerts for 2,5h with frequency about 5 countries in 10 days and his galloping rythm of bass playing and building the greatest backgrounds for greatest guitas solos in history of metal music. Yeah, keep fucking about "oh, I hear some imperfections!", that's hillarious.
As a guy who started playing bass and drums in ‘71 when I was about 6 (long story) I’ve discovered great writing is a far more rare and difficult than playing well. I can play Harris and Geddy stuff all day long, but can I create great, legendary music? Nope.
Probably the most difficult of his basslines, I agree... But, as a fan of Steve since I was a teen (now almost 51 🙄), I really cannot choose a favorite bassline! There are so many... And all of them are in the 80's albums (albums that are all masterpieces, from the self titled first album to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son 😄), because later he changed his style partially and he has become more simple. With all due respect, I much prefer his old style, with all those little solos in the end of 2 Minutes to Midnight, or in Another Life, or in Prodigal Son and in Strange World, or in the slow part of Stranger in a Strange Land. And the bass intros like in Wrathchild, Innocent Exile, Killers, The Clairvoyant... The bassline in Powerslave, especially when the song slows down... Charlotte The Harlot... Invaders... I must stop now 😆 or I will name a lot more titles! Of course, he is still good... But I appreciate much more his work on those old albums. Greetings from Italy!
@@DannyBoi2112 the thing is that Harris is a beast at leading the music with the bass. He really drives it. In Metallica it's more James Hetfield the engine.
@@DannyBoi2112 I’m on the “disagree” side as well. Aside from the innovative stuff he was pioneering with the use of effects, and soloing, A whole lot of what he was actually doing can’t really be heard on the studio albums. When you start diving into listening to isolated bass tracks is when you really start going “WOW!”
in those days, they didnt have computers like today, and it was mainly up to the sound engineer to mix everything, mistakes were made, nothing you can fix in the mix.
I regularly listen to my own isolated bass tracks and see people arguing over whether Steve is sloppy or not and both sides seem so adamant that the other side are idiots. Imperfections are great and without them and tempo variations, we have what we see today in music. Many times a lifeless and overly quantized performance. if you try too hard to have no imperfections at all, you may wind up losing the feel that makes the entire thing so great.
agreed! I'd love to hear a Maiden tune after having each track digitally quantized. Compare the feel difference. That would be telling. Now take RUSH, I'd bet those tracks aren't quite as "sloppy" as a Maiden track. Does it make it better? not to me, just different. Very different. I love both feels/sounds/bands. and the many feels/sounds/bands that are in between or just as varied. I went thru metal, into fusion/funk, jazz/latin, studied drumming hard during the whole Dave Weckl era in late '80's early '90's. I studied Dave Garibaldi's TOP grooves. But also got way into Bill Berg's drumming with Flim and the BB's. Raw, recorded mistakes, driving. I once blew a new drum teacher's mind when I told him Bill Berg was a big influence of mine. He had grown up seeing Bill play live in the Lawrence KS area. Flim wasn't a big name band, and most folks never heard of Bill Berg. Years later when playing instrument al funk/jazz with younger players that grew up with Nirvana and the grunge sound, go figure, they told my feel was too tight and accurate. They wanted me to "sloppy up" my feel. This was when Medeski, Martin & Wood was on the scene. I listened to that drumming style and it made me ill at first. Then later I became accustomed to hearing the sloppy drumming sound. Most poignant thing I learned in music school is "no technique is better or worse, techniques are simply applied to create a different sound on one's instrument."
As a bass player myself and having idolized Steve's playing over the years, I can say I'm so glad to hear that he's human and there's notes missing everywhere! No matter how you slice it though, still a drop dead great player!
It's amazing that while I listen to these isolated bass tracks, I can headbang along and in my mind, I can hear every guitar riff and drum beat. Steve's bass playing is really the guts of every Iron Maiden song.
On the subject of whether or not these are the originals - sure they are. You can hear the little fret clicks and changes in touch here and there that you can hear on the original albums as well, so if they're not, someone is a perfect impersonator.
This takes me back to the early 1980s when I had a friend who was a keen (and self-taught) bass player and Iron Maiden fan. I remember him struggling to play Steve Harris bass lines, and I could see the concentration in his face.
I’ve noticed having been a Harris mega fan starting when I saw them in ‘82, To today, and being a bassist for 45 years, That Steve really started changing his playing style/structure starting with the “Number” album. The first two albums really had more of a turbocharged punk feel, And from the third on is when he really got into the triples. In the world of bassists, The man was AND still is a monster!
Since I was a kid I always wanted to be a rock star but hearing Steve Harris actually made me try to do something about it. I didn't do it obviously but I've never stopped playing since!!
Yes, I totally agree with you! It has been the same for me since I started with bass, 35 years ago. There are albums that I learned from start to finish and I enjoy to play those songs still to this day. Mostly old albums! Steve's basslines, as Geddy's and Geezer's... I will never be tired of them! 😆 Greetings from Italy!
As a drummer this really opens my eyes and ears and helps ...i can hear/feel the drums even though they are not there. Omg ancient mariner !! What can you say... just fantastic .. they are all fantastic. Up the Irons
That's true. You really can feel the drums. Weird that. I don't get that from many isolated bass recordings. Shows how well they coordinated, even at this early stage.
It sounds like these are all original steve harris bass tracks to me. His speed on the bass is crazy , and I loved that he never played with a pick but got such a distinct sound. Even if some of these arent the orignal tracks they are all helpful to learn these songs on the bass. Thanks a lot man
part of his distinct sound is = Treble set mid to high ... middle eq's set high , and bass set to high. Compression lot and lots of compression. the compression reduces the shrill-ness of the fret clanking (that is shit is real shrill with out it). that said he also uses high gain pick -up in his bass seymor duncan Sp-3's and 4's are suitable pick ups for getting this sound they also make signature pick ups for him that are outfited on his signature fender basses. if you got a cheap squire bass sure go ahead and throw some on it , if you got a 500-1500 dollar fender bass though DON'T it will greatly devalue you bass to change any hardware on it. something to consider for if you ever plan on passing your bass on as a valued colectible or plan on resaling it when it hits vintage age of 25 years . If you don't care go for broke on it though US fenders come with pretty damn good pickups already. if you do change hardware on your bass , make sure to keep the original hardware cared for not just tossed to the side or out as you can keep the value up if you also have the original hardware to hand over with the bass as well. one exception , Leo Quan Bridges will up the value of the bass as those bridges are not manufactured any more are are geting rarer and rarer all the time. I put a Leo Quan Bad Ass III bridge on my 1995 us fender (had to be a BAIII and not II , because the 3 has string through body like the 1995 us fenders had)
Bow down before the god of bass, poor mortals that you are, and consider yourselves happy and blessed that He deign to grant you the privilege of hearing His omnipotence at work 🤘🤘 On a more serious note, this guy has always impressed me since I was a kid, and he keeps doing it ❤
I recently recorded bass for my band and I was really upset with some notes being slightly louder than other and sometimes not in the tempo. Listening to those tracks and reading all those comments saved me from giving up on bass forever.
Steve, Cliff and Geezer taught me to play bass even if they are unaware they did. All three have a HEAVY finger style I cant avoid using myself. One of the biggest pitfalls of that heavy handed style is the chaos element of the random sting clacks off the fret board. Right hand can be in perfect time but if one of the strings clack and isnt were you are expecting it to be, you have an unintended noise recorded at the very least if not a slightly or completely missed note.
I play bass, although I’m a beginner and play with a pick, I find this style of playing genuine. I’ve tried to play like Steve does, but I cannot. This is actually pretty cool to listen to. I like how the bassist can grab you in any song
Thank you Matthías for this wonderful channel. I've learned from ’Arry how to play the bass, but also how to treat people. He's such a nice and no-nonsense chap. Now it's actually the isolated bass tracks of the Killers album I'm most interested in - it was incredibly innovative and fresh in 1981.
I realized that I have been playing accents and more notes than Steve Harris actually plays. Evidently I have been playing the combined effect of drum fills and some guitar parts in my right hand.
Well, this is how i'd like to hear music recorded more nowadays. With feel. Almost all music today is recorded to the grid with a million overdubs just to get "a perfect" take. This takes the band play out of any music. A perfect take and real musicianship really is getting all instruments in the same groove. That can't be achieved with all intruments recorded separately with just a click track. Band play FTW...
Those bass lines proves that Steve Harris is the greatest heavy metal bass guitar player (after Cluff Burton of Metallica who died in 1986), and one of the best bassists worldwide. His two-finger galloping technique in so unique and makes him one of the most influencial bass guitar players today. All bass guitar players should follow the traces of Steve Harris. An example for all bassists today and tomorrow.
Flight Of Icarus is one of my favourite IM songs to play on drums, glad they were included. If I had a dollar for every time my step-mom yelled "Can you please take a break from all that banging!" back in 1984 while I jammed along to Piece Of Mind (My personal favourite as it introduced me to Nicko McBrain) I'd be as rich as Steve.
All these years I thought I didn’t sound right when playing Maiden songs….who knew I was doing it right!! Although I can’t play at the speed anymore. Still don’t know how Arry does it!!! Total badass!!!
Ohh...dachte erst fake....ist echt sehr ungenau gespielt....ich als langer Fan von Steve's Iron Maiden und selber am Bass tätig.Aber ich kenne die Songs so gut ,das ich zum Entschluss gekommen bin Steve spielt das tatsächlich so.....(ungenau)....das nennt man dann eben Groove...:-) Naja ,fühle mich bestätigt...ich handhabe es selber so.Wenn es möglich.Einzig das gemeinsame .....Aber ist schon erschrekend wie ungenau Steve spielt. Aber egeal hauptsache es Rockt..und das hat Herr Harris schon immer unter Beweis gestellt.I love Iron Maiden und grössten Respekt an Steve Harris.Sein Bassspiel hat mich beflügelt...i love it.
To me Steve will always be the best, thanks for sharing this. There is one song that should be here: To Tame a Land, a shame, I´d love to hear that one like this.
I'd have to say Steve is my favorite bass player; so much virtuosity. Most bassists aren't doing this kind of stuff, in fact you can barely hear most of them in the mix. If you listen to Maiden songs with Steve's parts removed (I have), they are lacking big time! He adds a lot. 🎸
I'm about 41 minutes in, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, it's pretty loud for 10am. Anywho, I live next to a city park, there's a bench about 15 feet and a picnic table about 20 feet from my living room window, there's always people out there, anyone sitting there is going to listen to what I'm listening to. Some dude has been sitting on the bench, nodding his head, tapping his fingers and toes for about 20 minutes. Not sure if he knows what he listening to but he seems to like it. Okay, gotta have a toke now.
è veramente cazzutissimo!! i suoi errori qua e la mi fan capire che posso sperare anch'io di combinare qualcosa di buono, ovviamente mai al suo livello. Grande Steve! Grazie.
What a variety of tones. I loved the rich, warm P bass tone in the very first cut. The tone off Number of the Beast sounds more like a solid state rig. Maybe it wasn't but it doesn't sound as warm. The bass on Flight of Icarus sounds hollow and muffled in comparison, though it works in that song. Other tracks sound brittle, clanky, very bright. Then on the very last track, Wicker Man, a return to that rich, warm tone! Brighter than the first track but the warmth is back. Good tone is in the ear of the listener. These are just my preferences.
Too bad that there are no isolated tracks from their second album, Killers. Steve's bass tone on that album is one of my favorites; it really stands out in the intros of some songs and the basslines too are great. He really was busy in songs like Prodigal Son and Another Life. Greetings from Italy
@@sergiodambrosio363 go listen to the bootleg of england tames 1982 .. you can definitively copy the songs , also the maiden england (1988) bass + vocals only , the "killers" version is out of this world
Doesn't sound like he's changed much of his overall tone, over the years . It sounds like it progressively gets more clarity and slightly more treble-y thru the albums but what do I know, I'm not a bass player . Up The Irons!!
love the flammed notes on intro to run to the hills, never heard that before. and oh my, how that bass line sounds much better with the band. I think he invented the bass/guitar gallop feel as far as I know. Cheers to Steve.
Super sloppy when isolated, but absolutely flawless in the context of the record. The difference between a bedroom player and a stadium filling metal legend
