Dear friends, here is my cover for part ii of Fly From Here – Sad Night at the Airfield.
For this track I had to use my 5 string Warwick.
Interesting fact that Chris’ Tobias has an extended range not only low-wise but also high. That repetitive high F sharp that Chris plays on his first (D) string corresponds to a 27th fret! Even my Warwick has “only” 26 so I played it on the G string.
I really like this bassline. Many details and slight nuances are hidden because of the kind of mixing that was made on this track. I hope that I didn’t miss too many… and that you will hear better how Chris thought of the different passages on an apparently simple chord progression.
Then there is that middle bass solo with a Chorus effect , almost sounding like a “detuned” vibrato.
Other interesting aspect that I found was the amount of editing that was made possibly by Trevor Horn. I tried to illustrate with the video what I perceived from that post-editing. Not like common “rock” productions – It seems that bass notes are chopped and used elsewhere without necessarily wanting to “disguise” so nobody notices it. In other styles this is very common to do… Trevor Horn maybe was here responsible for this editing. I think it suits very well the album concept… it’s not too different of what they did with Close to the Edge, only with new technology and musical context.
Well I hope you enjoy the clip. Happy Easter to all.
Miguel Falcão (miguelbass) 
Great as usual, Miguel!
Thanks for all the interesting background as well. I always learn something new about Chris or his technique reading your descriptions. Thanks for a most enjoyable video.
All the best,
-Mike.
Dear Mike, thank you very much, as always, for coming by and comment on my releases. It’s rewarding to know you enjoyed it! All the best.
Great cover Miguel, you beat me to it!
When i tried to learn the song when it was released i never really heard the high F sharp Chris was playing in the recording, also the slow strumming around 1.50 was played in B?, I thought it was a normal E ^^’ (or am I wrong?)
It´s also sad that Benoit had to leave, I really liked that guy and felt he had a good stage presence when i saw yes for the first time last year! He will forever be remembered with Fly From Here!
looking forward to what comes next, best wishes!
//Jonathan
Hi Jonathan – if you look at the videos of this song from the current tour you will see Chris does the high note much more audible than the studio version. Also, he plays it on a 4-string bass but with extended scale, meaning the low string is a B (and not an E). Thanks for watching and commenting! All the best.