Dont forget cliff burton ;) his tone on ride the lightning was very simmilar to how geddy sounds here... they all had simmilar playing styles...rhythm plus melody and heavy right hand attack...i would even dare to say geezer butler too
I play along with this song, yes this IS Geddy. This proves that an isolated bass sounds quite a bit different than when it's buried in the mix. And no, he is NOT perfect. That's the cool thing about a human bass player as opposed to a sequencer.
Are people still dumb to the fact that these recordings are coming from Rush masters for games like guitar hero and rock band? They are as legit as it comes...
It amazes me that these so called Geddy fans and Rush fans cannot hear that it's EXACTLY what you said it is! It's scary to think some are cursed with ears that can't hear...this is Geddy all day...now and then. all the best brother...peace.
@@westleyp.crawford9758 The dead giveaway is all the things there that you *don't* hear in the mix. The little flourishes buried behind a drum hit or a guitar fill. No one ever catches those in a transcription, not even the best by-ear players. I love these for showing those little bits off, makes a playalong so much more fun looking for the little nuances.
Also the main riff is transcribed wrong everywhere. That alone basically proves that this is the real version because it does the proper A -> G -> E -> C -> B at 1:13 while most transcriptions are F -> E -> E -> C -> B which is what *Alex* is doing. I only learned this when I got the Jammit version and it's been my "tell" for listening to covers of who *truly* listens to the bass part and who just wings it.
Listen to any isolated bass from chris squire, entwistle or anyone and you get something that sounds like this. Thats the nature of isolating different instruments. I love all the crap wannabee musicains that criticize this and try to point out mistakes lol.
>mistakes Considering the man wrote the damn bass part, there is no such thing as a mistake! Every part is 100% what he played. That's true musicianship. Perfect notes are what robots play.
I still get goosebumps when I hear that bass line come in over Alex's harmonics. My first ever rock concert in 1981 at Maple Leaf Gardens. #BrushWithRush
funny thing, check out the tom sawyer bass track. the bass lines in the chorus are way simpler in the chorus chord progressions while geddy sings, but it just sounds heavier with fewer notes and gives the vocals more space. awesome guy!
It's actually not as hard as it sounds. That's the thing about singer-instrumentalists, the instrumental and vocal parts are often fitting together in ways that aren't obvious in the mix, but make it far easier to play. For instance, listen to the part right before the solo (my favourite part of the song, "Well weathered leather...") - what he's singing and what he's playing match up almost perfectly. So it sounds ridiculously impressive, but there's no cross-coordinating rhythms making it surprisingly easy to play and sing together.
@@joshuaboniface I've sang and played guitar for 12 years semi-professional and I found some songs to be very easy and others to take a very long time to work up. Some of the stuff Geddy does is very hard...Vital Signs, headlong flight and many others
The bass melody on the verses like on minute 4:00 on this song are so magical. It gives me a nostalgic feeling that it is incredible. One of the best feelings listening to rush
I learnt this song, what I love about rush is their songs are hard, but that makes learning them so fun, it makes the pay off so much better nothing is better than playing playing along note for note to your favorite songs, you're fucking beast Geddy
I just learned this, he changes the bass notes around even during the verse, constantly, how the hell did he do this in concert? Amazing even more than I thought, what talent these guys had!
This bit is one of my tells for good transcriptions these days (and I mean, like, the professional ones you pay for). If they miss that, they likely missed a lot more.
I absolutely love this song, particularly for the Bass line. And to think that most of the time whilst Geddy is laying this heavy handed riff down... he's singing a melody. Phenomenal! And that outro... Especially when I watch/hear it on their R30 DVD... I just imagine in my head that Geddy is pissed off at his axe... the grit of his tone is excellent!
Love this tune !! It fuckin rocks! Any young bass player should learn it. It's just awesome. It has a cool groove, learnable instrumental and nice places to add some of your own personality .
Geddy's big two influences on bass guitar are Chris Squire (YES) and John Entwhistle (The WHO). You can hear that on a lot of RUSH songs. Geddy is a Great Bass Player !!!
+Lynn Mason Really? is that true or urban legend? what are the odds for that to happen? and who could live with themselves knowing they had and pawned Geddy Lee's first bass ....lmao sucker!
Oh okay, I get the story now...lol he bought his first bass at a pawn shop,I thought that the first bass he ever owned was lost sold or stolen then one day walked into a pawn shop and seen it hanging there up for sale..., with an additional cigarette burn on the head stock.....lmao can you tell I'm a drummer?
Absolutely correct! A play a 74- 4001 Ricky. I play DR-High beams, run it through the Tech 21 Sansamp RPM. I bi-amp, overdrive and compress the bridge pickup and run the neck pickup clean. I do use a sonic maximizer stereo signal, run to two separate amps. And yes that bridge pickup is exactly how you hear it on this track. It's a thing of beauty! Now even after 35 years of playing, I could never hope to match Geddy's proficiency! All of that grind, clank and fret-buzz does sound fantastic in the mix! It does sound quite different when isolated.
The Overlord Of Procrastination THIS guy ?? It’s Geddy fucking Lee. Chris squire and entwhistle cant sing and play moog with feet while hitting these bass notes. Only Geddy Lee can do this and I wouldn’t be surprised if Squire and entwhistle had posters of Geddy Lee on their bedroom walls
Thanks for doing this and posting. I'm a bass player and it hard sometimes to be spot on when the other instruments are playing. Brilliant. Thanks Again your star Lynn From Scotland
This is definitely the original track, from beginning to end. Isolated tracks ~ speaking to my own recordings, especially ~ very often, never sound all that flattering by themselves, but within the mix, sound great. Also, when all the parts are mixed, certain notes can sometimes be heard (or, are implied), even if they weren't played. The drums (especially the bass drum) also plays a huge role in complimenting the bass, such that it may sound as though there's ie. an extra pluck of the string
One thing I notice in listing to this is that he's shoving the strings into the pickup covers/surrounds. You can sometimes hear an out-of-tune high note right on the attacks and the pitch of that note is always the same but only for each string. I like being able to slam the strings into the fretboard like that but I lower the pickup(s) enough so that doesn't happen.
You can tell by this time, Geddy started going mono out rather than Ric-O-Sound. I did the Ric-O-Sound thing in the beginning but it got old real fast with the gear hauling and possible points of failure. I go mono into my Line 6 POD HD500 and can get this sound no problem, hell just rolling back the neck pickup gets the Signals tone very easily.
This is def. Geddy playing, just a different track that they recorded. All bass tracks sound sssooooo much different when isolated from the guitar and drums.
It doesn't sound any different to me. It sounds just like Ged's distorted bass in 1980. It sounds like this when I play the song, too, only he is more fluid and precise than me (duh).
You guys are kidding me... This is Geddy Lee. His Rick tone on Moving Pictures was this exact tone, this is just a little more overdriven than you are used to hearing. He used the Jazz bass on other songs on this album, but not this one.
I have a 1975 Rickenbacker 4001 and can say that the bass used here is a Rickenbacker. You cant get that tone out of any other bass. The growl and punch is a signature tone unmistakeable to Rickenbacher
Keep in mind, that Rock Band tracks ARE NOT the same the originals. The songs are usually have a bit different mixing: for example, ANY fade out endings are removed and songs end naturally. So this track may have some hearable differences.
I wish had figured out when I younger and playing on stage that a tiny bit of overdrive or distortion can make the bass cut through the mix like Geddy does. Now it's part of my tone.
So can we get Geddy to do a commentation as he listens to this? I personally saw this happen live not with Rush but with Ed King from Lynyrd Skynyrd as he listened to the isolated Bass track of Freebird... And yes, Ed, not Leon played bass on the cut that made the album! He pretty much said it was too busy and he definitely would have used the "less is more" mind set if he could do it over again.
At 5:29 on this the bass goes "diga dum", but in the original studio version it goes "diga da, diga dum". Also, at the very end on this he starts to repeat the A, F#, G, D pattern, but the studio album has him changing to playing what Alex is playing. Not saying it isn't Geddy, but it differs for whatever reason.
I am not a Rush fanatic but I have always like this tune. As a prog rock style bassist, I was intrigued with the bassline but too lazy to learn it. This recording makes it much easier and I have learned it verbatim. The burning question. Is this Geddy Lee? It sounds fine when I play it along with the original recording but I haven't perused both recordings to pick out the anomalies.
red barchetta and camera eye are the rick. they sound similar up high, but when you get down bottom his rick sound has more growl, which you can here in this song big time. he blends the j bass sound with the lots of overdrive to give it that bite (as much as it can). The rest of the album is j bass. his sound on the j bass now covers all of their material pretty well
@tdelamont I would also like to add that this is probably only out of the bridge pickup of his rickenbacker. Which would explain the very trebly bite which isnt assss prevalent.
Ged's tone is very harmonically dense. Almost sounds like each note has an octave above playing at the same time. That comes from using a brighter sounding bass. (Rick or J). With new strings, distortion, and plucking the strings to death. Hence why the 3 piece sounded so big even live.
after spending many hours trying learn this sucker, I can tell you that the fret buzz you hear at 5:24, is also on the recording. This definitely is Geddy, and is also the beautiful sound of a Ric.
@Nikkodemis I agree. There's a certain "pumping" sound that comes out of a Ric in the higher register and I never heard it on the recording, but assumed that was the distortion. Without the rest of the mix in the way I can really hear those higher notes, and they have a much more even attack in that range. I have a vintage '73 4001 and a Squier VMJ (which felt and played identically to the Geddy Lee Jazz model next to it in the store), and this recording was done on a Jazz.
One of my all time favorite bass lines and Ged is in my top 3 - Whoever played this track nailed it, but I'm sure its not Geddy. I dissected this bass line for content, feel, tone and phrasing years ago, and this isn't Geddy playing.
@JoviBlink Sorry. That isn't a Ric. I have a model made in '73. Go listen to the isolated Subidivisions track -- that is unmistakably a Ric. This is a Jazz. When he hits the high notes like on the G string above 7 you would hear those notes sounding boomier, and the distortion would get fatter. This is a more even sound across all the notes like a Jazz.
@Scepple The Rock Band version of this song is actually Rush, not a cover. And that's definitely Geddy. I've scoured over this song for decades, and what is on this track is what is on the album.
This is very interesting and INDEED Geddy. I was sceptical as well and so I have on my PC the Moving Pictures album and so I thought if this is not Geddy then I should be able to play them at the same time and hear the difference between the playing. Well, after some trial and error I got them to sync, and guess what, It is indeed Geddy Lee's bass part. Try it yourself. And by the way, if you ever get the chance, Play with your band and record only your bass part, you won't beleive its you.
Yeah, this is the one. I think we just aren't used to hearing every fingernail scratch like this, so it is throwing some of us off. Or threw me off at first, but then all the years of hearing & listening for that bass took over. This is it.
@snapascrew I read an interview with Geddy where he was comparing his Rick tone to his Fender tone. He said Red Barchetta was recorded with the "Ricky" and Tom Sawyer was recorded with the Fender. He thinks there is an obvious tonal difference between the two bass tracks, because of the two different basses. I really can't say I can tell the difference.
Just so we're clear the Rock Band stuff is based on alternate takes and not the exact album cuts. yes it is geddy. no it may not be the precise cut, but it is geddy on his rick in 1980.
I'm sure it was quite intentional for most bands lending tracks to Guitar Hero and the like, to provide alternate takes (when possible), rather than coughing up the ones that made it on the albums. They were probably smart enough to realize that people would start ripping tracks and posting them here. All the more reason to not provide the original track(s) if an alternate can be provided instead. That's certainly what I would do. In a away, it's kind of cool. I like hearing alternate takes. It helps me learn what types of takes the stars discard and which ones they keep.
***** You are correct. The isolated tone of instruments is quite different than what you hear when the band is included. This is totally Geddy and original. That little extra buzz is what helps the bass tone cut in the whole band setting. Guitar Hero had the budget for the masters after the 3rd game and Rock Band always had them. Hell people were throwing their masters at those games when they realized the incredible exposure to a younger crowd it was giving them.
Noah Stern I didn't say the buzz wasn't real and I KNOW they record different takes. I just heard Neil say so. I also didn't say it wasn't Geddy, I opined that it is not the take that is on the record. If you are going to pick at my comments, at least pick at what I actually said.
@jndlee92 After listening to this for the first time, I have to say this does appear to be Geddy indeed, but I would suggest that it may be a bedtrack or alternate trial version of the original. People are correct about the outro solo, at 5:30 there is a trill missing from the original recording. Also, the outro, as it fades, Geddy mimicks Alex's guitar line in the original. There is a flubbed note at 2:25 as well. No producer, or Geddy would let that get by.
This one isn't the exact album track. There's the sour note at 2:24, the fret buzzing at the end during Ged's flairs, and there's only one triplet instead of 3 in that same part. Interesting that multiple versions still exist after all these years. But what's interesting is that some extremely small details that only a dork like me whose played this hundreds of times and listened to thousands of time would notice do exist on both this and the album. Little nuances that would be impossible to duplicate from take to take. So I think the final album track is a cleaned up version of this with the sour note removed and Ged re-recording the flair at the end to eliminate the fret buzz and also adding the extra triplets.
1. He used a rickenbacker in this song, there's a video interview where he talks about it. It also sounds nothing like a jazz bass 2. Not sure if this is the original bass track
@gravl1, yes it's a Ric, the tone is obvious, but it's not Geddy. If you know this song that well I figured you would know some of the obvious mistakes. It's great and very close, but there are some telltale signs that it is not Geddy or the original Red Barchetta track.
I love the isolated bass tracks, helps me to realize I'm overplaying and Geddy in fact plays less that I do/have been, less is more, even at his level. Secondly I was surprised that I did in fact learn it correctly, I just love playing RUSH tunes! Cheers to all!
Ged was my main reason for getting 2 ricks (4001 v63 and 4003) but I have to go with this being a Jazz. No Rick Ive had or heard has that raspy bottom end like this even if run thru a tube pre-amp. My rig included Hartke 7000 amp - Tubeworks Bluetube preamp - Sonic Maximizer - midiverb III - Hartke 215XL for lows and 415XL on top . Ive only played American Jazz basses and owned a Squire Jazz once which was just awful and didnt last long. Doesnt truly matter since I love both Rics and Jazz!
Many are saying in these comments that he’s playing a Rickie. I’m quite sure he recorded this playing a Jazz. And it sure sounds like one. Love Geddy’s playing. I've got a Geddy Jazz and a Jetglo Rickie, and Geddy's sansamp with a tube head, and both basses can drive this tone for sure. But the Jazz most closely resembles this tone. Both basses are superb, and we love Geddy for his incredible contributions to music, and his iconic bass playing.
If I recall correctly, Geddy played a fender on all songs on Moving Pictures except for this song and the bass fills in YYZ, where he used his Rickenbacker instead.
Interesting. Would like to read that interview. 4001 is difficult to EQ in a studio. Thanks for the response..at least we both can tell it's Geddy! No one has an attack like that.
I'm telling you, Red Barchetta and The Camera Eye are the Rick tracks. He said 'I think' after talking about Limelight and the Rick. I can be proven wrong but until then, this stands.
