WalMan

Back from this weeks dep. A new dep, but there might be more as it went well played both the fretless (which doesn't get used enough) and fretted L2500's & they sounded sweet through the rig - well to me anyway. Another set of songs to learn, most of which I've heard but never played before, so it was fun to do some different stuff. Everything from Van Morrison to Van Halen so a fair old cross section, but nothing to drastically difficult & I am a sucker for a bit of cheese. Nice & local so early bck - though I still need to wind down. Wedding & in a marquee so the sound was a bit ... but it came together. Now then. Wedged up and off to the For Sale section

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1374960405' post='2155348'] As a musician the most important skill is to learn to listen and grow good or 'big' ears. [/quote] Well quite. It's what I relied on for tonights dep, 2/3 of which we hadn't done at the run through session last week so it was watching, listening & knowing nods [quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1374945879' post='2155129'] Done so many covers over the years that a lot of the time i can visualise the chord changes. Play the track on stereo whilst driving and then just imagine where the next chord is. Add to this that if you have a starting key, the minor/major stuff works itself out by just knowing a tiny bit of theory. Some songs are just weird but you get a sense from listening to them and do a bit of a run through alongside YouTube to get it. Works most of the time but have been caught out on occasion. Then i find its best just to stare at the keyboard player and pretend that its their fault. [/quote] Yup playing stuff I've never heard before in the car & I can often visualise changes. Things like the G D E type progression on the guitar (3 2 0 on the neck) just jump out at you

In a thread resurrection this has been bouncing around the cavity my brain is supposed to be housed in recently rying to get a s***load of songs under my fingers for tonights dep. Variously I have used:[list] [*]Initially finding mp3's of the tracks to play along to [*]for anything thats a bit more fiddly try to find the dots (if available) and work with them [*]play along to the MP3's [*]slow down twiddly bits (the bridge in Cee Lo's Forget You?) in Xgear to about 80%(ish) and play along to that speeding up as I get comfortable [*]have a loop of MP3's on a memory stick in the car & listen to them on the way too & from work visualising the neck & positions [*]generally wander round in a semi daze humming basslines (possibly internally but I fear I [i]may[/i] be the loonie on the bus & be a bit more vocal) and again visualising the neck and wiggling my fretting fingers [*]for a few I also sat and charted out the chord / root from memory (not the actual line, just the gist) [/list] That seems to have got them to sink in over the last week. Time & tonight will tell!! Lots of looking & listening to what's going on around me & toes crossed (my fingers will hopefully be hitting the right notes!) Edit - so in terms of the vote that'll be all of them

That's what I'm relying on :-)

[quote name='lazzer' timestamp='1374651866' post='2151228'] Have done 2 different deps the last 2 sat nights.... As I refuse to use a music stand I just wrote the set list in marker & gaffered it to the monitor, with keys & notes next to the titles! Both gigs went very well, I always remember more than I think I'm gonna! [/quote]Yup, I think that's what I'll end up with this time

Well that's one out of the way. Took some notes & managed to busk through the correct song from memory of listening to it on the radio & at parties, having found a completely different song to take notes for - Freedom : Wham was what I should have worked out, Freedom George Michael was what I had worked out ... DOH!!! Dep drummer to work in for a different band tonight, then more to do to get close for Saurday's dep. Like I said - I love a challenge and, more to the point, getting out & playing

...and now, an email with a list of 5 songs I had worked out to be swapped out for 5 more I dont really know at all and will have to have a stab at tonight instead of brushing up on the others Oh happy day I love a challenge me

I have a r/h for the dep this Sat, next day is with my long term lot to run through the set with a (known in the sense that we have variously played with him n other bands) drummer, then the dep. I've been away for a week and only had the dep in the diary for a couple more than that. 30-40 songs in the set in the vein of 'well I've heard them but never played them'. Some a fairly straightforward busk. Son a bit more involved, and I've been writing out bits of notes. Chatted with the bandleader tonight re the r/h and another possible deep later in the year and I made some off the cuff comment like 'if I don't really cock up Sat', which was followed by a comment re a prviou dep having had a music stand & 'not very rock'. Looks like I need my remembering head on! :-) Wish me luck, I'm going in again!! :-)

1. Hamster - 2. Silverfoxnik - BC Rich Eagle, Schecter Diamond P5, Levinson Blade B15, amp & cab tbc 3. Happy Jack - Matamp GT120 with Barefaced stack 4. Bluejay - something left-handed 5. OBBM - Bergantino CN212, Aguilar TH500, A couple of old Fenders, perhaps a Sadowsky UV70. 6. chris_b 7. Clarky 8. Russ - Sei 5-string, Spector 5-string, Markbass 6x10"/Ampeg SVT-7 9. Irvined - Retrovide RV4 and home brew bass pedals 10. xilddx - 1983 USA Fender Jazz / 2010 USA Fender Stratocaster Deluxe V-Neck / POD X3 LIVE 11. Sibob 12. Tayste_2000 - Rickenbacker 4003, Overwater 5 string, [1970s Ampeg B-15, Custom Matamp GT200 MK2, Matamp 8x10], the pedalboard 13.Barneyg42-Status S2 Classic five, Ibanez BTB 6-string fretess,TC BH500, TC BC 2x10, Barefaced Compact and various pedalage! 14. Walman - the usual culprits - [i]though it rather depends on where if anywhere gets booked for the long hols as that is the last Sat of those so I may have to bale[/i] 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

I'll have some of that :-)

As a boy I learned piano and trumpet to a reasonable level along with which came theory exams. Taught myself guitar by playing along to records - starting with Electric Warrior - and the Beatles songbook. The theory is pretty much gone, but I still prefer to write the gist as dots for deps rather than the dreaded TAB, which I find more difficult to read than dots anyway! Was complimented for leaving space, but that may have been more to do with lots to learn and not enough time

Right now whoever will have me Alibi 70's rock covers Epsilon assorted prog covers Neither play much so the chances of you catching either are slim to ball & more likely to be depping

Nowadays not nearly often enough. Years ago when we were doing originals, all the time. Very rarely was there a gig without at least one or more new numbers. There's always the ones you 'have' to play, but variety is the spice of life. Somewhat sadly i have had more enjoyment at recent dep gigs where i have had to be on my toes for stuff outside my comfort zone, than the 'drudge' of our standard covers set

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1372696223' post='2128730'] I wasn't even aware of this solo album though I'm not a huge Flower Kings fan so their side projects tend to pass me by (I have some Karmakanic though) and liking what I'm hearing so I may have to tracks this down on Amazon or somewhere. [/quote]Kaipa is another of his (along with Transatlantic of course) Another of the FK solo projects that I like is Hasse Froberg Musical Companion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjCttSp_3_Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXcehjVzk2w

Ah no, they're generally OK. A couple of doors up have a party and band in the back garden every couple of years. Now then, lets get the full rig running

[quote name='tonybassplayer' timestamp='1372682770' post='2128454'] Surely the opposite is true. If you have a good PA set up with bass bins etc why not all scale down the back line and let the FOH handle the volume and dynamics and keep the on stage sound lower. [/quote]...'cos I don't like what he does to my bass sound A few years back I went the whole hog and for a while ran a Bass POD xT Pro into the PA and relied on monitors, but then the others muttered about not 'feeling' / hearing the bass and so slowly gear onstage crept back in until I'm now running the Streamliner 6 & Barefaced S12T, occasionally with a volume pedal in the loop, and am happy with the sound, but am running the master on the amp at barely tick over (which always makes me wonder how others can run the STM 9 at gigs). The PA is generally good kit, but sometimes (most times) there is just sooooo much of it, it seems ridiculous for the sort of venues we are doing (generally pubs) and can be a tad embarassing as more & more stuff gets piled in - particularly at a 'new' venue, added to which it takes so long to get up and running. A couple of months ago we had a gig at a new place and the sound guy was pre booked and couldn't make it, but put together a smaller rig to cover us. Now that night from my point of view went a lot better overall sound & level wise, just a pretty basic bass bins & tops on poles to handle vox & the kit. Used to get compliments for the sound, but somewhere along the way in recent years something has happened & I am not so convinced. Perhaps it is just my subconcious pushing me to branch out to something new after decades with my mates in this lot (which I am doing with a second & at one point third part time bands + deps), but I don't want to lose that all the same. Sorry I'm turning this into a 'Dear Marge' corner!

Just bouncing through stuff on iTunes while working at home and came back to this [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMvGXofavpI[/media] May have annoyed the neighbours ... windows open & turned it up loud

[quote name='tonybassplayer' timestamp='1372575326' post='2127236']Are you really sure the FOH is bad ?? It's not easy to know that when you are on stage and I have played plenty gigs that sound poor on stage due to room dynamics etc that people out front said sounded superb and really well balanced.[/quote] [quote name='WalMan' timestamp='1372595835' post='2127489']I need to listen to the recording - done for the drummer due to dep with us next month - but sadly I fear so. Comment by WAGs yesterday suggests probably it was not great. [/quote] ... and yet there you go, not nearly as bad as I feared. Still think we're dragging too much sh1t to gigs and should let backline handle more of the light & shade (if that is something we can achieve with the set) and not have the PA roaring quite so much

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1372622816' post='2127844'] Yep, much better than I expected after Nick quit. If you like a bit of modern prog also check out Big Big Train's 'English Electric vol2' which came out this year. I think that vol.1 is a better album but that came out back end of 2012 so technically doesn't count. [/quote]Had that off eMusic a while back

[quote name='tonybassplayer' timestamp='1372575326' post='2127236'] Are you really sure the FOH is bad ?? It's not easy to know that when you are on stage and I have played plenty gigs that sound poor on stage due to room dynamics etc that people out front said sounded superb and really well balanced. [/quote]I need to listen to the recording - done for the drummer due to dep with us next month - but sadly I fear so. Comment by WAGs yesterday suggests probably it was not great.

"Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep" by SPOCK'S BEARD has seen pretty constant rotation since it arrived. The boys didn't disappoint once again.