Huw Foster

UK bass player

Support me on Patreon!

Hi everyone,

I hope 2021 is shaping up to be a better year than 2020 for you. My resolution this year is to make more video content; whether it be playalongs, solo bass arrangements, live loops or tutorials.

Eventually, my aim is to be making multiple videos every month, but it takes a lot of time and effort to ensure the quality remains high. I’ve put together a (very silly) trailer to show how small monthly donations via Patreon will help me achieve that goal.

If you want to see more bass videos from me, it would mean the world if you signed up to pledge a monthly donation. There are a few tiers with a variety of rewards, so whatever seems the right amount for you – any amount would be greatly appreciated!

Here’s the link to my page on Patreon, where you can read about each tier in more detail.

Thanks in advance!

Huw

Posted on by huwfoster in Basslines, Playalongs, Promo, Solo bass, Synth bass, Transcriptions, Video

Anderson .Paak – ‘Tints’ bass playalong

New video! Another fan request over on Patreon. If you’d like to make requests for videos like this, download resources for my tutorial videos, or if you just want to support me in general, please consider signing up. It would mean the world to me!

This was fun to transcribe and put together! The verses have a unique sound – I’m pretty sure the bass is programmed, and it sounds to be quite a picky tone on the samples used. To recreate that sound, I employed Bernard Edwards’s “chucking” technique.

The chorus is a different story. It’s a typical-sounding Moog synth bassline played by Pomo (as far as I can tell from the liner notes). I used 3 effects in my chain to achieve that sound: Octabvre, You’re Doom (both made by 3 Leaf Audio) and Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus. Check out the latter part of the video to see the settings in more detail.

Enjoy! And don’t forget, you can get the transcription in tab and standard notation on this very website.

Posted on by huwfoster in Playalongs, Transcriptions, Video

Chaka Khan – ‘We Can Work It Out’ bass playalong

I’ve always been a massive fan of Chaka’s cover of ‘We Can Work It Out’ from What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me. Greg Phillinganes absolutely laying it down on synth bass! Thanks to Cesar Baron for requesting this on Patreon.

I’ve had a go at recreating the synth sound with a handful of pedals. In the video I do a full rundown of which pedals I use, and the settings.

I’ve also done a full transcription of the bassline, note-for-note! Head over to the transcriptions page to get the tab or notation.

Let me know how you get on in the comments! And if you’d like to make requests for anything like this – playalongs, tutorials, transcriptions – please consider signing up to support me on Patreon!

Huw

Posted on by huwfoster in Playalongs, Synth bass, Transcriptions

The Beatles – ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ solo bass cover

In this time of reflection, at the end of a turbulent year, we should give thanks to D major for just how well it translates to solo bass. Open strings! Harmonics! A third thing! D major, you’re the MVP, and we’re blessed that Paul McCartney chose you to write this song.

I could start by saying that I was inspired to do this arrangement in a flash of inspiration; that the lyrics really spoke to my urge to get back to basics in a year dominated by technology and screens. It would be completely untrue, but I could still do it.

Continue reading →
Posted on by huwfoster in Solo bass, Video

The White Keys – UK Garage medley

IIIIIINSIDE!

At the very beginning of lockdown, The White Keys hatched a plan to do a couple of those ambitious-multi-camera-everyone-at-home-in-a-little-video-box videos. And here’s one of them!

We’ve been doing this UKG medley for a few years now, but we’ve never had a good promo video for it. With more than enough time on our hands, lockdown seemed like the perfect opportunity. It still took a while though!

Continue reading →
Posted on by huwfoster in Promo, Synth bass, The White Keys, Video

Usher – Yeah! (funk cover)

OKAAAAY

Everyone’s been doing those live at home videos during the Covid crisis. Goodfoot have finally got in on the act.

This cover of ‘Yeah!’ features 11 musicians, took ages to put together – I did the audio and the video edit – and features a rap about yoga.

Enjoy!

Posted on by huwfoster in Goodfoot, Video

@samsonjatto x @huwfoster low volume remix

Samson put this clip on Instagram yesterday, so naturally I went mad and made a 1-minute low-volume remix.

If you’ve read this far, I’m gonna assume you’re interested in how I made it!

Drums: I put Vulf Compressor on this, and put an auto-panned delay on the snare, using Soundtoys plug-ins for the panning and the delay. Seeing as the drums were a single, mono track taken from the Instagram video, I had to use a gate set to open on the frequency of the snare to actually isolate it. I’m glad it worked!

Continue reading →
Posted on by huwfoster in Audio, Instagram, Video

Chaka Khan – ‘Move Me No Mountain’ bass playalong

I’m really enjoying having the time to transcribe and record some classic basslines. I’d been meaning to work out some of Anthony Jackson’s lines for ages, but I knew it would be tough, and (spoiler alert) it was! Those 16th-note fills are relentless.

This is from Chaka Khan’s album Naughty, released in 1980. I only got into this record relatively recently, although I’m really familiar with the follow-up What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me, which boasts many of the same session musicians. So many iconic players – Anthony Jackson, Marcus Miller, Hamish Stuart, Michael & Randy Brecker… It’s worth a listen if you don’t already know it!

My unofficial new year’s resolution is to transcribe every one of these videos, and this one’s no exception. Click here to download the dots.

Recording notes: I used my Anaconda UJ5-E bass for this, tone only slightly rolled off, both pick-ups on with the 3-way bridge pickup set to the 70s jazz bass position. As always, I ran the signal through my Cali76 compressor and Noble Preamp, and added a bit of Vulf Compressor in Ableton.

Video notes: The film effect is an iPhone app called 8mm. It’s a bit much, but I like it. It makes sterile GoPro footage a bit more interesting!

As always, let me know if you have any thoughts or questions in the comments below.

Posted on by huwfoster in Audio, Playalongs, Transcriptions, Video