Who is the bass player on Seinfeld?

You know that slappy bass sound that led you into each scene? Is it a keyboard?

 

Good question, but you should have phrased it:
" What's the deal with that slappy bass sound? "


https://triviahappy.com/articles/six-surprising-facts-about-the-seinfeld-theme-song

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Wolff_(musician)

 

Most likely played on a Korg M1.

 

I bet it's The Drake...

 

I always knew it wasn't a real bass on the Seinfeld cues.
You can't bend notes like that on a real bass guitar!

 

Hate The Drake!!!

 

Probably not, but you could achive such reults with a type of midi bass guitar setup too, i suppose.

 

True. But the chosen notes sound like a keyboard riff more than a bass.

 

I love the Drake!

 

Mulva?

 

The fake slap-bass interstitials kept me from ever watching an episode of Seinfeld.

 

Nope.....it's someone with very strong fingers......

Man hands!

 

This is getting ridicurous!

 

Dolores?

 

Quite obvious that it came from the Korg M1.

 

My Roland U-20 has a popcorn bass preset that sounds exactly like the Seinfeld theme.

 

There is one of the seasons' boxed sets that has a bonus feature with the guy who did the music for the show where he talks about the theme.
He also talks about the very brief period where there was a vocal group scatting along with the bass scene intros.

 

his name is Jonathan Wolff. he gave an interview to vice earlier this year in which he confirms the theme was played on an M1. (in its entirety, as far as I can tell--not just patch 46 'slapbass,' but also the horn stabs.) Wolff also implies that he programmed the slap bass sample himself and states outright that there was no use of slap bass outside a funk context before he recorded the Seinfeld theme, so take along some salt if you look it up.

 

As a bass player, it is a pet peeve of mine that people actually ask if I can play the "Seinfeld thing". I usually tell them to go ask the keyboard player.

 

Try this:

"Well I could, but it's slap-bass style...which means I'd have to slap you with my bass. You sure you want me to do that?"

 

Nice! I gotta use that one. If they say yes, getting slapped with a bass hurts a lot!

 

It's Newman. Only someone with those chubby metacarpals could take those heavy bass strings on a ride like that. What do you think he's doing when not (un)delivering mail or running bottles with Kramer? Practicing bass.