Englishman in New York
Yes another Sting tune! I love the guy, what can I say? I picked this song as a reason to bust out my Electric Upright Bass (EUB). I’ve recently restrung it with nylon-wounds to make it a bit easier on the fingers. (I’m still learning how to play it).
As far as the song goes, it’s a relatively simple jaunt through 3 chords for most of it. The melody, subject matter, and arrangment make this tune so great. The soprano sax is lovely and I can’t imagine the song without it, same goes for the piano. Both improvised parts if I recall correctly.
The bass on this one is classic Sting. Relatively simple with improvised fills and licks to enhance the melody/arrangement. The walking bass line in the solo section is definitely the work of a man who has studied his jazz. Check out those chormatic approach notes!
I recorded this on my Palatino EUB with Presto nylon-wound strings. I used my Markbass Compressore with my usual settings, the volume level is similar to an electric bass. I DI’d out of my Tech 21 VTBASSDI with the drive dialed back and a slight mid and treb boost. I added a little compression and reverb in Logic to give the feel of an acoustically recorded double bass.
Thanks for reading. If you like the song, make your own video and tag me on social media, @jproudbass on twitter and instagram.
Till next week.
Jonathan Proud 