Vulfpeck bass ace Joe Dart joins his bandmate on Wong Notes to chop up all things bass, from how he developed his “voice” to his favorite practice regimes.
This time on Wong Notes, Cory is joined by his Vulfpeck and Fearless Flyers copilot Joe Dart. Wong doesn’t waste any time, diving in by asking Dart, by now renowned as a modern bass wizard with flawless fundamentals, how he developed he signature voice on the bass. As Dart explains, it came from listening to players who had their own distinct voice, who sound like “they’re singing a part within the song,” he says. These “philosophers of the low-end,” like Flea, imprinted the value of total intention and feeling in every note, as if any single one could be your last.
Dart throws it back to his first bass—a Samick—and remembers how it’s ridiculously high action was like weight training for the rest of his career. He still likes his strings suspended up higher than most, which allows his “brute force” slapping. Wong and Dart trade notes on practice regimes, and Dart offers advice for young players: Learn your scales, sure, but most importantly, “play with as many different people as you can.” Plus, Dart breaks down his differing approaches to instrumental and vocal tracks.
Later on, the bandmates ponder the mental trap of the social media comparison game, and wonder at how algorithms impact which music rises to the top of the heap. What does Dart hope to remembered for? With any luck, he’ll have works as iconic as his grandfather’s, Israel Baker, whose violin playing you’ll recognize not just from collabs with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, but some of the most famous film scores and TV show theme songs.
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This 35th Anniversary edition honors the Ernie Ball Music Man design used by some of the world's most iconic bassists, including Flea, Tony Levin, John Myung, and Phoenix of Linkin Park.
Unveiled in 1987, the Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay 5 set the standard for the modern 5-string bass with its robust low-end, tight, punchy sound and ideal 34” scale length. This 35th Anniversary edition honors the timeless Ernie Ball Music Man design used by some of the world's most iconic bassists, including Flea, Tony Levin, John Myung, and Phoenix of Linkin Park.
Over its 35-year history, the Music Man SR5 has undergone several significant design changes. Under the leadership of Sterling Ball, the Ernie Ball Music Man R&D team have implemented industry-leading innovations that are now commonplace on most modern 4 and 5-string basses.
“An Anniversary bass celebrates things you do at the beginning, things you do in the middle and things you do at the end. Hopefully you can create an anniversary bass that incorporates all of these eras together… I think we got it right. I’m so proud of how this came together”.
Ernie Ball Music Man: The 35th Anniversary StingRay 5 Bass
The 35th Anniversary StingRay 5 is limited to 225 instruments in a single humbucker configuration, and 25 instruments in a double humbucker configuration. For more information, please visit music-man.com.
The YouTube metal nut attributes this Waking the Fallen song for getting him glued to guitar and introducing him to the dark, melodious undercurrents of combining the harmonic minor scale with chromaticism.
Nik Nocturnal is a solo metal artist from Toronto, ON. Creating content ranging from reactions, reviews, covers, meme content, and even original metal music. Check out Nik's YouTube channel here.