Gareth Hughes

[quote name='Lazybirdpete' timestamp='1404118852' post='2489350'] At the moment I'm struggling to see the particular value of the grade work or the benefit of having the grades given I'm not trying to get into music college or anything like that. [/quote] That's a fair point but I would look at it like this - irrelevant of going to college, the graded exam MATERIAL is worthwhile studying (without doing the exams) because, by the nature of it being graded, you have a marker of your progress. No matter what you study or how little time you have, every piece is studied one note at a time - so time, or lack of it, isn't an issue - it's the quality of the material you're studying. One benefit of the grade material is that there are plenty of examples of folks playing in on Youtube. Search for the title along with 'bass' and you'll get everything from amazingly talented 14 year olds to experienced pros. Good to get an idea of how a piece flows. By no means I'm I saying that the grades are the be all and end all of things to work on, but they simply provide a handy way to progress with material that gets progressively harder. Something else that might help is this: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simandl-Complete-Etudes-Double-Play-Along/dp/1596156368/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404120909&sr=8-1&keywords=simandl+bass+play+along"]http://www.amazon.co...bass+play+along[/url] Not a method but it does get progressively more difficult, and playing along with the piano tracks is invaluable for aiding your intonation and timing with the bow. Also check of Geoff Chalmers great site - http://www.discoverdoublebass.com He has downloadable mp3's of one and two octave scales and arpeggios. All good!!

[quote name='Lazybirdpete' timestamp='1404042112' post='2488682'] I think the answer at the moment is lots of sight reading, learning new pieces and doing as much playing with other people as I can. Any thoughts? [/quote] I think this is your answer - and in doing this you'll be working on the requirements for the next exam. Two birds - one stone!!! Learning a new subset of scales and certain bowing patterns is not taking a step backwards - if it's new then it's doing nothing but adding to your overall musicianship. What you have to learn to get through a certain grade exam WILL make you a better player. In my experience of teaching I've found that the only time this isn't true is when the student does NOTHING but learn the grade requirements. By that I mean they learn the scale up and down, the three pieces and nothing else. Those students are the ones who are just trying to pass the exam and not trying to be a better musician. It sounds like you have the right attitude for learning so in my opinion you should learn the grade requirements as PART of your overall musical journey and not just the only thing to focus on right now as a means to an end.

Quick tip that a mate told me recently is to zoom into one of the tracks - ie: making the time stretch out to the smallest increment - then highlight that track and moving it a millisecond or two forward. The difference won't be audible but the peaks and troughs will not be out of phase. You know you'll have moved it too much if it sounds like you've added a chorus pedal

Nice one. I've done the show a few times. It's pretty easy going - no crazy time changes or arrangements. Have fun!!

Beautiful basses there Norwood. I played a few Xotic basses in Tokyo last year - absolutely immense construction and playability. And the TriLogic preamp is so well voiced IMO. So far I have the pedal. One day I'll have a bass to go around it

In all seriousness - after you've worked through the four songs you've asked them to learn, how about presenting an idea (that you as a band may have worked on already) and seeing what they can add to it?

Earplugs? (Sorry couldn't resist)

Ignore the I'm terrible at it until you're not. Not being sarcy there - bowing isn't the easiest thing to get your head around, but it's also not the hardest. The tricky part is getting the concept, then the practice becomes easier. The concept is to cradle the bow in your hand, not hold it tightly - and letting the weight of your arm move the string. Much in the same way that ones foot is flexible while kicking a ball whilst the strength comes from the leg muscles. (Or so I'm told, not being remotely sporty at all) *edit* - and seriously, ignore the terrible part. Even just bowing for a while, irrelevant of the sound produced, is good for getting the bass to open up. The vibrations are the main thing.

Anytime my upright sounds dull and a little lifeless it's usually after I haven't played it for a week or more. Could be down to a few things - finger strength usually isn't so good after a little break so that could affect tone. Another thing I've found is that after a day or two of bowing, the bass will come back to life quite noticeably. So - KEEP PLAYING!!!!

IWBT - another place to check out is Filthy McNasty's on the Dublin Road. Good singer/songwriter usually plays in there called Pete Wallace, some Friday/Sat nights he has bass and drums with him under the name The Russian Dolls. And sorry about the weather. I've lived here most of my life and I'm still not used to it.

[quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1400969007' post='2458778'] Lets not forget the magical Dee Kyle on sound desk, taught me at Bangor Tech for 4 years. The epitome of a legend. [/quote] DEE!!!!!!!!!! A legend for sure. Last gig I did with Dee, we'd no sooner finished the soundcheck when he was blasting Slyer through the PA. Big smiles.

Still has the Stingray but you'll most likely see him with his Lakland. Don't blame him - he loaned me his Stingray for a recording session a while back - that thing would break your back!!!

Bass or beer

Hey Danny - he does indeed. And does so very damn well. And thru an old SWR combo - gets such a gloriously solid tone.

Hello IBWT - Pleasure to meet you here. For some lovely low end rumblings get yourself down to The Empire on a Tuesday night for Mr. Conor McCreanor and to The John Hewitt on a Thursday night for Mr. Trevor Dyer - two absolutely wonderful bass players and fine gentlemen indeed.

I had the entire contents of a can of Coke empty in a bag that also had a Boss tuner, an EWS Tri-Logic preamp and an MXR Bass Overdrive. I was literally pouring coke out like it was a teapot. Dead for three days then suddenly back to life. There are ghosts in the machine.

Bought an MXR Bass Overdrive from Winston - posted immediately and arrived the next day. Awesome to do business with. Many many thanks.

That is simply stunning. Great job. Thanks for the build pics.

If you have an iPad I heartily recommend an app called 'Musicopoulos' fora mere £2 or so. It's gives a good, thorough explanation of theory basics and then has a practical test at the end of each section to really test your knowledge. Certainly filled in a lot of holes in my thinking.

I played my Eminence through a GK MB150 combo for a little while, though with Kolstein strings, an AptFlex pickup (similar to the Gage) and a Fishman Dual Parametric DI as the other elements in the chain. I liked it but found I missed the presence/air a tweeter gives so had one rigged up to the extension output. As for body - I found the only way to fatten it up was with a proper extension speaker, in my case an Epifani UL112. Certainly helped a lot. You could try borrowing a separate speaker cab, hooking it up to the GK and then disabling the internal GK speaker. That way, you can judge if you like the sound of the GK preamp on it's own. Then try mixing the internal speaker with the external one. To be honest - amplifying double bass is a crap shoot. All the great gear in the world goes out the window if the singer has too much low's in the monitor or your keyboard player can't control the left hand, or cymbals eat up all the high frequencies in the room, or the room sounds like an empty swimming pool, or....or....or....... GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

I've been playing a fair bit of cello lately and love the flexibility/notes available in one position and that's great for classical based pieces, and jazz to a large extent BUT............... I like playing my root's, fifth's and octave and that's a balls in fifth's tuning after a while!!!

With great pleasure I have just received two wiring harnesses for two jazz basses from John. He had the patience of a saint dealing with me and my indecision and the talents of Tony Stark in putting these things together. Couldn't be happier with how everything went. Thanks John.

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