hiram.k.hackenbacker

ChangesTwoBowie will be playing Riga in Southend on the 7th of November. The address of the venue is: Riga Live Music, Upstairs @ O'Neill's, 119a High Street, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1LH. Tickets are £8 and are available either through the link on the Riga website or from me via PM. It would be great to see some of you there.

All valid points once again, but I would like to say straight up that I'm not going to invent any circumstance that gives the impression that I'm otherwise engaged or unavailable. I've been straight down the line with this and have told him how it is. If he bails because he can't be bothered to have reasonable discussion around it, then it's all on him, not me.

So I've spoken with the guy in the band who this gig request has come through and it didn't go particularly well. I've basically said I'm not travelling all that distance for an early afternoon slot playing to two blokes and their dog with no expenses covered. I'm reasonably happy not to profit out of it if it's a decent evening slot, but I'm not going to do it at a loss (barring the leave issue). He said he couldn't go back and negotiate without knowing the band was definitely available. The term conditionally available was lost on him. I feel bad for the rest of the band as they are truly lovely people and it turns out that not all of them knew about the gig anyway. Essentially I've put the ball in his court and made it clear that if he pulls the plug its on him, not me.

I'm seeing a few of them later, so I'll have a chat and see what develops.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1441012073' post='2855229'] Question : Do you want the role of being the regular bass player in this band? If the answer is "yes", point out to them that you play more often than the "regular" and give a condition that if you play this one You become the regular and the other guy becomes the dep. [/quote] I don't think I need to point that out. They know already. My view is that it's his band. He helped get it off the ground. I would step in full time if he left, but that's as far as it goes.

Very good points raised by all and I thank you. I haven't spoken with their regular, but I'm sure he wouldn't turn it down unless he genuinely couldn't make it. He plays all over the country in a well regarded tribute act. The deal with me is that he bails if the phone rings as long as I can backfill. It's worked very well thus far. This band is a very enjoyable one to play in and they are all close enough friends that I socialise with them outside gigs, so it's a tricky one. It just turns out that the sole wind player's brother is on the organising committee for this little outing, so you can see why this one grate's a little :-)

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1440978697' post='2855125'] So you are actually considering driving 250 miles and taking leave to do a gig as a favour for nothing? I wouldn't even have the balls to ask someone to do that, let alone expect it! [/quote] It's not expected as it's an enquiry only at this stage, but everyone else is on board apparently. I enquired whether it was paid or not, expecting what the answer would be and was told it wasn't as it is a "free to the public, not-for-profit music festival". This is despite having a "known/name" band as a headliner this summer. I'm sure they didn't do it for free!

The regular bassist for a band I dep for is unavailable for a freebie music festival type gig they have been offered next summer. It's a fair trot away for a freebie (250 mile round trip) and as I work shift work, I will also have to take a nights leave. I've done freebies for them before, but they've been close and have landed on a day off rather than a work day. I have a feeling that the band see me more as the regular than the dep as by the end of this year I will have played more gigs with them than their regular. I'm normally an "anytime, anywhere" type player, but this type of sacrifice for zero return is beginning to wear a little thin. Do other bands who employ the services of deps pay them no matter what, even if it's a freebie?

I bought Sam's TC Electronic Blacksmith from him. We met up half way @ Bluewater to exchange. A very easy transaction and a thoroughly nice bloke. Thanks again

Our web site has now been updated with some audio files. Two more tracks from the same gig have been mixed, so as well as the aforementioned Stay, you should now be able to hear Ashes to Ashes and Rock'n'Roll Suicide. Here's the link - http://www.changestwobowie.co.uk/sound.html

I still can't get my head around how I avoided coming into aural contact with Clutch sooner than I did. Given that they have been together now for nearly twenty five years and have had a album out every two or three, the first track I heard was the live pre-release of Earth Rocker..... http://youtu.be/vYcbEidtK5c That was as a result of seeing a photo of the band on one of those Live Nation ticket promo emails. There was something about that photo that had a relaxed air of confidence that said we are what we are and we do what we do, take it or leave it. I've been hooked ever since. From Track 1, Album 1 it's all good to my ears. Roll on December. Tickets for Shepherds Bush in the bag already. Can't wait.

The first single from new album Psychic Warfare is up on You Tube. I know the guys played it, along with others from the new album, during summer festivals, but it's nice to hear the studio version. There's a really nice groove going on in this one and I can't wait to hear the rest of the album. http://youtu.be/X8cmbmwFAl8

[quote name='Mr Arkadin' timestamp='1438378182' post='2834181'] Stay is f***ing brilliant. I would pay to see you just to hear that, so keep it in the set. Now if you could pull off Sue (Or In A Season of Crime) I'd be mighty impressed (probably not a crowd-pleaser that one). [/quote] Very kind of you Mr.Arkadin. Stay is going to stay. We have had conversations around Sue, but as you say, it's not without its problems. I think the only bar to us giving it a go would be getting our collective heads around how we would do it, not if we would do it. We decided early on that we would try and throw a curve ball in each set we do. For this gig it was Dead Man Walking and we're working on the it's replacement. I don't think its Sue's turn just yet though.

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1438246858' post='2832791'] How did you record it btw? [/quote] It was taken straight out of the desk into a Mac. The problems we had were that it's not the biggest venue in the world and the drum kit was right on top of the main vox so there was a lot of bleed through. On top of that, the drummer also does backing vocals so had a similar issue with his mic. The kit was captured using only two overheads and a bass drum mic. The rest of the back line was fairly straight forward, but it was time consuming to get to something we were all happy with. Thanks for the kind comments. My wife says that Stay is not one of her favourite Bowie tracks, but we all love playing it, so I think it will be a permanent fixture :-)

It's taken a while to get this done due to various issues around the sound files we had from this gig. The recording was very much just for posterity and not intended to be used by us for any sort of promotional effort, but it turned out so well we thought we would have a tinker around with it to see how good we could get it. Anyone familiar with the Bowie catalogue will know that this song has been performed in various guises over the years. Our version is a heavy nod towards the BBC gig from 2000. Given that it was our very first gig, I'm fairly chuffed with it. More songs in due course. [url="https://soundcloud.com/warren-byatt/stay"]https://soundcloud.com/warren-byatt/stay[/url]

[quote name='alibabu' timestamp='1435142541' post='2805832'] I think you maybe misunderstood me. I was not suggesting you had a problem with slapping per se, but the combination of slapping and changing key. At least on the 5 string basses I have tried (and own), the sound is quite different when slapping the same note on the E-string and the B-string. I also think it is a bit strange to judge whether a key change would "work" or not, based on an mp3 that has been key shifted that much. Try it out with the band, and see if you can make it work together, altering voicings on the guitar and keys to match the new key will probably help a lot. a. [/quote] Ah, yes I did. There might be a bit of that in it, but it's not my real issue.

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1435145881' post='2805893'] there are some songs that no matter how hard you try they sound SH** if you change the key. Its because in the original key the player goes for what sounds best using what notes are strongest.(you know this anyway!!) in said song I have dropped the E to a D to play this a tone down.That works. I too have tried it in other keys and cause apart from these two, I'm with you there; its doesnt work any other way unless the whole band change the approach.(and then this is only if the other band members are good enough musicians capable of doing so) Its loses its balls and identity if you want to stay true as poss to the original. its not just you that sounds rubbish as a result but the whole band. Its embarising and depressing when you get this. If all can agree : drop the tune or get another singer. No you're not being a diva. You can hold up your end of the deal and its not you causing the problem. If the singer is mature enough musically speaking they will happily look at something else? [/quote] +1. It's hard not to come across as an awkward bugger, but I do find this sort of situation a compete buzz kill. Keyboard players for example are notorious for not "getting it" as they just can just flick a switch and be done with it.

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1435143564' post='2805849'] Can't imagine you ever being anyone's bitch mate! Sounds like you made your mind up, can you song swap with another bassist? Too many ways to skin this cat, see if you can roll with your gut feeling. [/quote] No mate. Swapping isn't really an option. The songs are set in blocks. I'm playing the first two blocks of four, having a long break and then coming back for the last block of three songs, which is effectively the encore, with 10+ players and a show choir. Thinking about it, the MP3 I've been given is a pitch shifted live version and there's a lot of crap going on in there that I could do without. This possibly adds to how bad it all sounds overall. I'll pitch shift the studio version and see how I get on with that.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1435140886' post='2805804'] Get one of the other bassists who isn't feeling so precious about it to do it instead? It's a song in a different key. No-one dies. As an aside, we shifted "Midnight Hour" quite a long way for Mrs Zero, from E to B. I pitch-shifted the track in Audacity for practice purposes. It sounds like Pinky and Perky. Excellent. [/quote] I'm not being "precious" about it, I just think it sounds sh*t.

[quote name='alibabu' timestamp='1435140873' post='2805803'] Here is another version, still just as funky imo, no slapping and a different key (although not THAT different). But I assume the main reason for your concern about changing key was the slapping bit? [url="http://open.spotify.com/track/23KyI5QURNl9LGA7LlDWYj"]Tracy Hamlin – Never Too Much[/url] a. [/quote] Nope. Not concerned about the "slapping bit". The song prior to Never Too Much is the Graham Central Station version of Feel The Need.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1435137822' post='2805760'] How can you say some key changes are OK and some aren't. IME the singer's limitations will always be worked around at the expense of the other musicians. That's the way of the world. Our job is to make it work. I feel your pain, but I wouldn't quit just because of this. I'd think of it as a different song and work out a different bass line that approximated the record. But I'd have to do that anyway as I don't slap. On the other hand, I am at an advantage because I play a 5 string bass, so I could drop down (to Eb I believe) without problem. [/quote] The fact that I would have to play it on a 5 is immaterial as I own and play a 5 regularly. I am not and never will be a singers bitch. They're just another musician at the end of the day. I'll accommodate a small shift in key, but not at the expense of the song as a whole.

I have a feeling I may have overthought this or perhaps I'm being too sensitive on the whole issue, but I would appreciate your comments. I'm doing a show later on this year for which we are due to start rehearsals for next month. I have eleven songs to perform, some of which I am familiar with already, so time is not an issue. Other bassists are handling the rest of the show. Of the eleven songs I'm playing (with various lead singers), there are a couple that I wouldn't normally give the time of day to, but it's for charity and I've knuckled down anyway, so they're pretty much sorted. Then we come to Never Too Much by Luther. The MP3 I have has been dropped by four steps and sounds just dreadful to my ears. Clearly no thought has been given to how it's going to sound with the band as a whole. It seems to me that consideration has been given for a singer who can't sing it in the original key and nothing else. It's not a particularly demanding bass line, but for me, it's absolutely ruined in the key they want it done. I just know if I say anything it will be a case of "Nah, it'll be alright", but here do you draw the line? I'm not against changing key to help singers get in range for some songs. I do it all the time in my main band, but I think there are some songs that should'nt be messed with and/or certainly not by this much. It's starting to eat away at me that no one even bothered to say "I know we've dropped it significantly, are you OK with it?" before it was supposedly set in stone.

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1434561466' post='2800814'] Will you be doing a review when it arrives? [/quote] I'm rather hoping it will be this good.... [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP_eX2jhw6E"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP_eX2jhw6E[/url] ....I'll let you know if it isn't!

....and it's on it's way! That was jolly quick

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1434449494' post='2799611'] I just got my notification too! Typically enough, it's not come at the best time- earlier or later would have been more convenient, but as you say, if I don't jump now, I'd potentially be looking at another long wait in future. It looks top quality and super useful, so I'll be ordering mine too. [/quote] Ha ha. No, these things never crop up at the right time. Just had to shell out for an out of hours vet visit, plus an overnight stay for said hound. We've also just come back from a weekend hammering the credit card in Devon. Never mind, I'm sure the pedal will be worth it!