Simon Grove - Plini - Flâneur

[@EricChesek]

Your bass playing is as clean as your haircut.

[@blumenmusic]

That almost-synth-sounding tone in the middle was awesome

[@yikmop]

Totally! Sounds like some kind of bit-crusher on there with a clean signal.

[@juansebastianvillotaparra3361]

ooo that bass sound in Handmade Cities is the evolution of this tone.

[@josephvu1753]

Simon, I am a guitarist at heart, and I've always undermined the role of a bassist within the context of a band (or without a band for that matter). Of course, there are guys like Victor Wooten, Flea, Marcus Miller, etc, whom are highly respected bassists for their contribution to music in general. But after listening to Kind, Handmade Cities, and especially this song, this was the song that got me going out and buying a bass so that I can begin learning. I have a completely newfound respect for bassist. It also got me listening to The Omnific (because you were featured in one of their songs). Thanks for the inspiration!

[@MusicTutorJay]

Mee too, bass is good af

[@sethtastical]

Same dude! Such an inspiration. I find myself enjoying bass a lot more than guitar lately.

[@KrishnaSingh-bh6sm]

Bass is the glue between guitars/midrange instruments and drums. It took me 5/6 years to understand it properly as a guitar player and tbh Nolly, Jacob Umansky, Henriek, Clay & Simon are modern day bass greats imo

[@camdendebruin6667]

Ngl the most relaxed and chill bass player, while playing hard ass parts.

[@simongrove]

Camden D If I tense up, I usually screw up. That or I just fatigue really quickly. Economy of movement is key! :)

[@camdendebruin6667]

@@simongrove Same for drumming. It truly is an artform to stay relaxed while jamming out.

[@tylerjacobson8012]

What a great track. So proggy and jazzy. Your tone is so clean and clear. People need to stop hiding the bass in mixes. This track proves that having the bass loud and clear in the mix can make the music so much bigger and brighter.

[@TheDrummagurl]

Such a chilled guy laying down some solid foundations. Beautiful

[@ledgy69]

Thank you so much for this daddy, you have truly blessed us

[@simongrove]

ledgy69 you’re welcome my son/daughter

[@Terrible_Peril]

Lol notice me, senpai! Hahaha

[@jbsmetal8419]

Got to see you live with Plini once, that concert remains a cherished memory to this day.

[@Mr.Goldbar]

I love how it goes from jazz to djent and back to jazz again! great playing as always!

[@SaintTrinasTorch]

I don't know who you are, or how I got here, but I'm glad I stayed.

[@SamuelWalker11]

the bass tone and these drums!!! wow!

[@Beyond-Antares]

Hearing flaneur I really hope plini collaborates with Owane in the future

[@chuey4090]

LOVE your tone man! This is just so satisfying to listen to/watch. You are a legend in the making 🙏

[@juanchix88]

Simon "Groove"..... so tasty bro

[@joaoldmedeiros]

Simon is bass god! This is incredible 😍

[@michaelmccandless3560]

João Medeiros 🙌

[@danielelise7348]

Another awesome tune,this guy is serious & easily one of the very best from Australia.🔥🔥🇦🇺

[@user-vw7um9vv5p]

Great playing and tone. Definitley has that prog sound.

[@MickZarco]

Simon's playing gives me hope.

[@ianwheeler8764]

Just beautiful!

[@lunbun1471]

Fav bassists

[@FacundoTupac]

Outstanding work as always, Simon. Please tell Mr Plini to upload his playthroughs as well

[@peterzelaya9948]

Man I was literally hoping you were gonna post this playthrough like the day before yesterday. There's nothing like watching the man who made the track play it himself. Great work!

[@_Nony__]

2:16 - O O F Gad dayum!

[@FilipeCanadas]

love your bass sound!

[@sebsourpuss9114]

Oh Simon, you continue to be one of my favorite bass players and what I would argue as one of the most underrated bass players of this decade

[@ModernDayBabylon]

❤️

[@alvarobassworld2550]

One of the best bass players nowadays. Sick tone Simon!

[@josephfragomeni3498]

I’ve been hoping for a long time that you’d make a playthrough for this song. So good, well done as always!

[@130mMer5boc]

My favorite song of their's. Love this perfect.

[@natefuller4258]

Ugh. This is so good. That bass too.. beautiful

[@pablotrejoastorga8554]

Amazing!!!! the sound of the bass is sick And Simon technique is flawless

[@JosephFacer]

Great playthrough and phenomenal tones!

[@mikematthews5890]

Sik bassline and killer tone bro!

[@BestBassTab]

Just got better n better as the track progressed!! U r a freaking animal

[@sonatedaquiTFM]

man u got one of my fav bass tones. so clean

[@magusking9215]

Had to replay 3 times that part at 2:16 - blew my mind. But then so do all your play through videos. Highlights parts that hit different on the records.

[@kit_rowe]

Awesome playing as always, Simon! I'm currently trying to learn your parts from Selenium Forest and Electric Sunrise, do you use that "slappy fingers" technique in them? Sorry if the question's not exactly relevant to the video, I can't quite separate dry bass from effects by ear just yet and wanted some kind of guidance. PS: your guys' concert in Moscow in November last year helped me get out of a prolonged period of crippling depression, so, uh, thanks!

[@simongrove]

Paul Pianoff Selenium was MIDI Bass on the album by Plini before he had a band. That technique you’re talking about is something I started doing about 10 years ago to try and find a tonal middle ground between slap and pick. It’s very important to focus on applying very explosive power with very little moving distance in order to keep your hands and arms in good physical condition. I use it in handmade and basically anywhere I want to sound aggressive. Hope to come back to Moscow soon! Love that place.

[@kit_rowe]

@@simongrove Thanks for the explanation! Hoping I'll be able to catch you guys again if you return :)

[@amalnahan]

Great and Awesome playing Sir 😍😍😍😍🤘🤘🤘🤘😘

[@subpatterns7297]

So damn good!

[@wherethewavesareborn4997]

Fantastic work Simon. This EP is brilliant from start to finish

[@martinselen4705]

Amazing as always Simon! Would be cool to see how you dial in your bass tone for live with your helix! Greetings from Norway🤘🏼

[@dexterbassist8126]

Love your playing Plz cover Plini-heart too..!!

[@catstudent1]

Man this is a really cool song. Just finding out about plini and love it. Also your bass playing is amazing. Thanks for the music and inspiration.

[@GarethFerguson]

Great playing, you should upload more often mate!!

[@dennychaos]

Everything about this is just so damn good! Thanks for the constant inspiration

[@davidsegura2193]

Need more vids. So good

[@rinaberman7686]

I was hoping you'd post a playthrough of this. Thank you!

[@markopolo2224]

amazing work

[@Thorntreed41]

beautiful, what a great tone man!

[@nickdiioriomusic]

You have blessed me father❤️ sounds great as always my dude!

[@AjaxJP]

Simon "Perfect Beard" Grove

[@Brockoshikesandmusic]

Awesome brother I’m a guitarist of 15 years just started playing bass for a Band on the side your videos give me mass inspiration dude , as much as I love guitar I have found a new love for bass shit is cool as fuck

[@casperbrndstrup2496]

Really Nice playing! Love to see the ease at which you play. Do you count the time, or do you feel/know where the beat is? Myself I've noticed, count only when learning the songs, and as such it becomes much more of a felt thing after a while. Hope to see you on the road soon! Best regards from Denmark! PS. So thankful you've put your speccs in the video info! Do you play in alot of different tunings with Plini?

[@maXXer00]

End is like 🤩

[@BestBassTab]

Great tone n feel mate 🤘😉👍✅💯

[@GawrshDarn]

Good lord! Grove groovin

[@francofranchi776]

Fantastic, geniale

[@brandonlbartlett]

amazing! dude its been such a pleasure to discover plini, and everyone who's involved in the making of this amazing music. thank you rick beato! dumb question. volume and tone for each and a blend control? I'm a guitar player who just recently bought my first bass, so taking extra interest in it for obvious reasons. your tone is unreal!

[@MaxAntsiferov]

First time I see someone using a 5 string with a "standart" tuning with added high B

[@samuelkilik8233]

this is sooo gooddd

[@TTinari]

You're incredible.

[@semaszarateolivares6372]

Yeah men, desde México 🖖🏻🧿

[@dettwideo]

Imagine what he will Sound like in ten years…….(!)

[@PechImplicados_1512]

Simon hola soy de Perú... Me podrías decir si ese sonido que tienes podria hacerlo con una Zoom B9.1ut? Mi gear es algo barato pero amo tu sonido de bajo es tan sólido!!!

[@dustincrabtree8589]

So when are we bassists getting the Archetype: Simon Grove plugin from NDSP?!?!

[@JoeHamilton]

Super sick dude.

[@xx2]

amazing playing... Can i ask about hum from singles? U do have Hum right? What u doing with it ... using some pedal against hum?

[@natanmagalhaes6070]

WOOOWWW>.....nice!!!!!!!!!!!

[@kuiper03]

How are you liking the strandberg? I want either a dingwall or a strandberg, do you favor one over the other?

[@Tangalang22]

Well I think your first question is budget, and the second question is what you're looking for

[@kuiper03]

@@Tangalang22 Well the strandberg seems to be light and really ergonomic but the dingwall seems to have a better sound

[@Tangalang22]

@@kuiper03 dingwall pickups are my favorite. Dingwalls are probably quite comfortable in their own right and an ng2/3 is $1000 cheaper. Kiesel is another good option for headless and can be more affordable than both depending on what options you choose but the fan isn't as wide which isn't as favorable for tuning low and again not the dingwall tone. I'd go with dingwall but idk what you need

[@sirkraken5140]

Get a dingwall combustion

[@maaxwell6774]

So cool! Do you like the Strandberg or the Dingwall NG-2/3 more? I think the Strandberg looks really sick but I dont know how its tone compares to the Dingwall sound (havent heard enough of the Strandberg yet).

[@simongrove]

They’re different beasts. I think it’s something people should start paying attention to more with basses. Everyone can point out the vast differences with a Tele, Les Paul, Strat and something modern like a super strat RG-ish thing, but basses all just get lumped together in almost direct competition with each other haha. The Strandberg is a little faster and shredder because it’s not as big as the Dingwall and is a little more ergonomically focused, part of the famous piano-like Dingwall tone comes from its scale length, it feels and sounds like a monster in your hands. All great things to have but suuuuper different.

[@maaxwell6774]

Maybe someday I'll have them both... 😅 I'm still quite the bass guitar beginner especially concerning prog and metal music in general, so it doesnt really make sense to get such an expensive instrument yet. But the sound and the feel of the Dingwall is so nice... (tried it out in a music store a couple of months ago)

[@IveGotAMatch]

2:27 don't think you can just throw in the lick without us noticing it. I hope you gave Adam Neely his royalties!

[@simongrove]

IveGotAMatch definitely not the lick. I’ll keep my royalty money ;)

[@IveGotAMatch]

@@simongrove Hah, alright, how about you keep your money and give us a Grove x Neely collab instead eh?

[@DasOmen02]

haha sorry man, no matter what you were intending on doing, that's the lick :P it was used very tastefully though!

[@simongrove]

DasOmen02 theoretically and rhythmically speaking, it’s not “the lick”. Transcribe my line and “the lick” and you’ll noticed a drastic difference haha.

[@DasOmen02]

it seems to be following the "i ii III iv ii VII i" movement of the lick, only now in (what seems to be) Locrian mode (key of Ebm and sounds like the run resolves to F), so yeah I'd say it's the licc :P edit: oof that F is actually an Ab sORRY PEOPLE WITH PERFECT PITCH so that actually places it in the Dorian mode, i believe

[@charliecarrot]

Super Grove! I mean, groove!

[@devinaxtman6171]

Have you ever tried Bartolini? Wondering what the difference between them and the Nordstrand's are. Looks like these have some good high end to them.

[@barmetler]

I really want to get one of these headless basses at one point... be it .strandberg, kiesel, lefay, I don't know yet. All are too expensive though

[@IvanBassist]

Sick playing as always! Which camera/lens are you using to film?

[@simongrove]

IvanBassist Sony a6000 with a 20mm pancake lens

[@samuelviden7412]

Was this bass used for the entire record? I love the sound.

[@simongrove]

Samuel Vidén no I didn’t have the boden at the time I was recording Sunhead. It is an incredible sounding instrument though! I love it!

[@samuelviden7412]

@@simongrove The LeFay sounds incredible, too. Great playing on your part, of course.

[@saifmufti7512]

Hey Simon, great playing as always.. but let me get this straight right, you are using Elixir Strings - Gauges (low to high) 105 - 85 - 65 - 45 - 32 so you are buying 6S bass strings and applying it to the 5S Bass? and skipping the low B?

[@simongrove]

Saif Mufti you’re pretty much correct, except I just buy a 4 string set and a single C string (elixir sell single c strings which really helps!)

[@roberthofmann932]

@@simongrove Hi, I have an additional question! Do you order the extra long version of the 4 string set? It looks like the 4th and 5th string of the long scale elixir strings are too short for the strandberg boden :( The strings get thinner before they reach the 0-fret. Thanks in advance! Ps: I really liked your recent URM podcast intervew! :-) Love your work! Keep it up!

[@m.rupakganguly1]

Man, u r fav❤

[@rafaelfreitasmusic]

Sounding sick as always, Simon. If you have the time, would you mind sharing which specific plugins/pedals/hardware you used for your main and your synth tones? Thanks! Happy touring!

[@isaacpolanco609]

HI Simon, Awesome song, arrangment and performance. What Cameras are you using? Thanks!

[@halcyo]

I see the bass listed as a Boden "prototype". Is this more like the Standard or the Prog version of the bass as it finally was released? It sounds incredible- modern and cutting, but also has some nice fat ass on it too.

[@jovandelavara2078]

Do you plan on writing out some sort of transcription book out for this album since there is already a drum and guitar transcription?

[@jacobpotts7954]

This is awesome! Also, nice bass 😁🤟🏻 what model is it?

[@proddreamatnight]

When 1:21 hits ahhhhh fuck yeah

[@mjafar]

NEAT

[@mik-kosma-guitar]

😍

[@lukequincey7187]

This is such a killer track! Awesome player. Does anybody know who’s playing keys? It sounds like Cory Henry. 🖤❤️🖤🎸🙏🏽🤘🏽

[@hades429]

It’s a keyboardist named Anomalie I agree very similar to Cory Henry

[@lukequincey7187]

@@hades429 Thank you so much. I will research

[@javierherrera8782]

Hey groovie please do a sea of suns playthrough. I will comment it a lot so you can make it :)

[@Empyrean55]

One of my favourite songs from the album! Does this count as a cover?

[@ConstantineRizakis]

Your playing is like spreading peanut butter to a just-baked slice of bread.

[@jrdissjau7395]

this is amazing..

[@POLUSHIT]

SOLO "sunhead" plis.

[@svartirsandar934]

Wao!

[@julien.biardeau]

Sweeet

[@cumdogmillionaire_69]

can some pls tell me how on earth can I get that bass synth tone in the middle

[@simongrove]

Luke Shinton hahah it’s an extremely complex and unforgiving patch I made on the Helix. Good for slow to mid tempo grooves, not good for anything super fast. Fuzz and Ring mod is your friend on this sound.

[@ashplaysbass]

How do you get the synth tone?

[@Neuri]

Slick pie..

[@natefuller4258]

Okay so like that fill at 2:16 - was that a shape that you were used to or did you have to get that up to speed? Who came up with that line, Plini? Anomalie?

[@simongrove]

Nate Fuller it’s a common thing for me to track bass after almost all instruments have been recorded, it allows me to embellish things without stepping on anyone’s toes and play the supportive roll of a bass player. So Anomalie played the solo and for this video I thought it would be kinda fun to try a unison line with that lick he played. I ran over it a couple of times to get an idea of how to outline it, but it didn’t require a ton of drilling.

[@gurg4130]

I love the tone. How is the pickup blend?

[@simongrove]

Raging Noorp great! This thing sounds like a really sick modded Jazz/P bass. Loads of growl and depth with both blended, bridge can do the jaco thing great and the neck is super smooth.

[@Cheezeeeee]

@@simongrove my question's kinda noob, but how do you change your sound? Like from that Crunchy to some sort of Synth then that meaty bass.

[@Muglinnor]

@@Cheezeeeee i think is post-edit

[@Cheezeeeee]

@@Muglinnor owwwwww! Okaay! Thanks man.

[@fairgame3421]

Do you write these basslines or does it come together from everyone?

[@simongrove]

Fair Stryfe for Plini’s stuff it’s a combination of things. Obviously Plini writes the song, so as a bass player I should follow his chord changes for the most part. Sometimes he’ll write a particular bass part if he really has something in mind for a section, but most of the time whether he writes a bass part or not, it’s pretty obvious what it should be doing. Any embellishments or solos etc I come up with though.

[@fairgame3421]

@@simongrovethanks for replying, and for sure those embellishments are what makes these pieces so great, the tone and movement of the basslines you've posted are by far some of my favorite of all time. Handmade Cities specifically is #1 for me, so thank you for playing music!