Hüsker Dü Classic or Dud?

Any bass you hear in that song-- which I just listened to-- is BASS. And it's clear!! Very clear! I could play the fucking song easily. All that noisy treble floating atop is GUITAR!

Unless you're listening to a 96kb mp3 or something, of course.

I can't understand how anyone couldn't hear the bass unless they just don't play instruments and can't clearly differentiate the sounds they're hearing. Put it this way: Bob can't play a drone on ONE fret way high up on the neck whilest simultaneously plucking several notes on the deep end (as if a guitar goes that deep, anyway), so the rolling deep notes you hear are bass.

Why don't you transcribe the bass part toward the end of the first verse and into what I guess you could call a recurring bridge (the "I don't know why you want to tell me when I'm right and when I'm wrong" section) part for me. Every note of it.

You're right, though; it is practically mono!

Tim, you might try getting a record player that doesn't fold into a suitcase and slide under the bed with your stack of Little Golden Books. The notes are not inaudible at all. If I sat and listened, I could easily tell you: A, C#, B, etc. Husker Du would've sounded shitty with a clicky ultra-defined bass tone competing with everything else. You wouldn't know WHAT to listen to. Not right for the sound. This is why it's not a production issue.

Why don't you go ahead and do it, then? I'm particularly interested in the part I mentioned above. For starters.

the meat puppets first EP is so insane. like, they have no concept of how to vocalize/sing at ALL. which is awesome. it sounds like a no wave record. i think some ILXors have said as much before.

it's too bad Husker Du never sounded like a no wave band!

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It's not even so much that it should have been louder. It's just a crappy tone that does not cut through and YOU CANNOT HEAR A LOT OF THE NOTES.

If Husker Du had a fatter deep end, I just don't think it would sound like Husker Du. It would sound thick and chunky.

Bob mostly concentrates on the higher strings and lets the bass fill out the bottom end. He does use barre chords, but the deepness of those chords is totally overpowered by the "bass frequencies" :-)

For a good example of just how LOUD the bass is compared to the guitar, listen to "I Don't Wanna Know If You are Lonely". The guitar is really, really buried behind an ultra loud bass, but it sounds cool. Husker is one of those bands where the bass is so present sometimes you think it's the guitar.

Makes no difference at all
Yeah, it makes no sense at all
Makes no difference at all
I don't know why you want to tell me
When I'm right and when I'm wrong
It's the same thing in your mind
Etc.

And yes, it goes to E minor at the beginning of the "I don't know why you want to tell me" line, and he plays an E on the downbeat, but what is the sequence of notes that follow?

No, he doesn't. It's a lot of chordal playing (open chords a lot, actually, if I'm not mistaken).

First of all, I said "barre chords" and secondly, higher strings are part of the barre chords. A lot of that jangle is barred top 4 strings (skinnier strings), concentrating on strumming the higher strings rather than the deep end "power chord" area. The rest is a lot of slight soloing (I guess you could call it) on the D and G strings with accents on the B and E. But a lot of that midrange noodling goes from open D and G to the middle of the fretboard somewhere.

He plays these a little fancier sometimes than others, adding open strings or bouncing back and forth between the same basic notes, so I'm just going to concentrate on the basic notes:

Walking around with your head in the clouds
B-A-C-G
Makes no sense at all
C-B-G

I don't know why...
E-B->G (interesting little slide)

That's basically it. The stuff is easier to play than to transcribe. And I have to count the frets to find the notes since I play by ear, tab or watching someone. Jam along with the radio and see if those notes aren't correct.

Perfect song for really hearing how the bass and guitar meld is "Something I learned Today." Check it out. Opens with a strong bass line that never disappears so you can hear just how thin and washy the guitar is on top of it. It's one of their best songs, too, so worth a download.

The beginning of the verse? That's not the part I mentioned, but this isn't even right. It starts on G, goes down to F, and then does a little line around C-B-A-G (IV chord down to I) and then to D (V chord).

>>I don't know why...
E-B->G (interesting little slide)

Uh, there's a whole bass line under this section (most of the notes of which are inaudible).

Do you really need me to transcribe this or is it just a challenge? I mean, you can clearly hear it, right? You could figure it out and played it if you wanted to, yes?

I can hear the notes going doot dooty doot and if I had a bass, a room to be loud and some time, I could definitely pick the bass lines out.I think sometimes the notes are not there, because he's playing awkwardly and there really is no note there. There is a specific sequence where it sounds like he would be doing a little 4-noter and two of the notes seem to disappear behind a snare drum, but I think he actually just didn't play those expected notes. He's not a sloppy bass player, but he plays weird at times. Like, he "jazzes up" the odd line.

I really like Crystal off Candy Apple Grey, but most of the other songs just sound like the boring early-90s indie rock they influenced (to my ears).

PS I love lots of early-90s indie rock I'm not dismissing the whole genre just some stuff like Buffalo Tom I couldn't get into at the time

>>I think sometimes the notes are not there, because he's playing awkwardly and there really is no note there. There is a specific sequence where it sounds like he would be doing a little 4-noter and two of the notes seem to disappear behind a snare drum, but I think he actually just didn't play those expected notes.

Saw them in '86 with a reformed Zero Boys opening and it was the first time I was exposed to that ridiculous hardcore circle-dance thing.

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