Dad3353

Clip these on to re-centre the pa cab if it's turned..?

Coincidence; I posted a Roy Harper video here just the other day..! Time for a resurgence of the style..?

To me, it's all one; simple, repetitive, complex, strenuous, whatever... I have to be 'in the zone', concentrated, relaxed, listening, all of the time. For drums, there's nothing more potentially boring as hearing someone learning and executing the 'rudiments', playing for hours at a time just the sticking of 'mama-papa' on the snare, to a metronome, then going over the variations of 'chabadoo' on the hit-hat, and lots more. It's the equivalent of playing scales and intervals, then chord tones chromatically up and down the neck of the bass and/or guitar. One has to be enjoying it, and concentrating on doing it right, for there to be any benefit, and life's too short to spend any of that not inconsiderable time and energy if it's just a chore, or to be done whilst watching a film. For my part, I can't really imagine being able to do any of it at all if I'm not consciously focusing on it. Disclaimer : I concentrate on doing the washing-up as best I can, or putting on my socks, too. I may be alone in this.

Heh heh..! I've just asked Our Youngest if he'd be willing to play one of the bass lines..! Great minds, or what..? Our Eldest could indeed play guitar, but would it fit this here Mickey Baker stuff..? Hmm... Might be worth a shot. Can't be any worse than different to Lenny, Shirley.

I'm struggling with this, as I don't know how to play 'songs', so have nothing really to 'cover'. I've decided that my version of the Mickey Baker exercises from his method book is as close as I'll get, but it's proving to be more tasking than I thought, and much more difficult than simply composing my own stuff. I hope I get something ready before the guillotine, though. I had advice from Our Eldest last night on EQ and Fx for what I've got down presently. Apparently my hearing is properly 'shot'; I can't hear the cymbals after he EQ'ed my drum track, saying that they were deafening, and he suggested 1db adjustments for reverb 'wet' levels. For me, the minimum is 3db to hear any difference at all..! Oh dear. I think I'll be clear of any risk of plagiarism, though. Never mind; onward and upward, it'll all come out in the wash, in for a penny, etc...

As a drummer, playing in a variety of styles, one has to be comfortable with the notion of passing quite some time with basic 'four to the floor' drum patterns, as quite a lot of rock/pop music has this at its core. There are often enough occasions where a sly hi-hat lift at a judicious moment can punctuate the proceedings, or surreptitiously sticking a 'three against four' rhythm to a ride cymbal, to vary the 'pulse', can be worked in, so there is no place for boredom, as long as the audience are not disturbed in their enjoyment. A whole evening of more complex stuff (SOAD, Trust, some Bowie etc...) makes one appreciate the more basic patterns, when they are suitable; it becomes less pleasurable when the drumming is unnecessarily complex, or just simply 'odd' (Muse..? There are others...), where one is obliged to metaphorically fit square patterns into round holes, though. Simple is fine, complex is fine; a healthy mix is best. The essential is that it be appropriate for the music and the occasion.

And there's your drummer thinking 'I'll concentrate more on what the bassist's playing than on what I'm playing. Then my arms and feet will take care of themselves..!'

I'm a drummer. I've done gigs, and depped gigs, on bass. Everyone danced, everyone enjoyed their evenings. I usually got asked back. No kittens were harmed. I'm a drummer. Mistakes..? S'what makes it fun..!

By definition, 'problems' have 'solutions'. If there's no solution, it's not a problem, it's a 'fact', and one doesn't resolve facts, one accepts them. It's a fact that, try as one might, on occasion, there will be missed, duff, wrong notes. This is normal. One practices to reduce these to a minimum (and sometimes there are none..!). Striving to improve things is fine, and laudable. Obtaining perfection is not the objective; just 'as best as possible' is fine. Do not treat this 'fact' as a 'problem'; there is no 'solution', by definition. You're doing fine if you at least recognise that there are occasional mistakes. Carry on.

It seems to have survived the fire. When is the re-fin due..? ...

And then you wonder why you get ousted..! ...

Some copies are bought by the unsuspecting as 'original', paying the retail price (or close to it...); these are a loss of sales to the original makers. Others are bought at 'knock down' prices, and are known to be fake by the buyer, who would not, probably, have bought an original in any case, so no loss of sale. These latter may be 'damaging' to the reputation of the original maker if they are shoddy; often enough these fakes are, indeed, as good as, or better, than the model they are copying, at least from a player's point of view. There are 'fake' Rics out there that are searched for as being better than a real one (and are now even more expensive to buy..!). Just sayin'.

For those with pedal boards, Fx, Class-D amps, cables, mics etc... Use an accordion case for all of that stuff. No-one will nick that. ... Probably.

Bu...bu... but... That's got five strings..! ...

You want headstocks..? We've got headstocks..!

And the winner is... @Jean-Luc Pickguard..! Here, then, is your Winner's Certificate (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2024_11.pdf ... which look like this (but bigger, of course..!)...

I tried that, once, but didn't like it, so I stopped. ..

Some things are retained longer than others. I remember very clearly that, at the age of two, I blew into the top of a pepper pot, to unblock it. I've not done that since..! (At my next birthday I'll be seventy-five...).

Yes, OK, the way you dress is your concern, but how do you stop the amp from vibrating off the amp..? ...

The first gig, late '60s, was with a few school chums of a younger brother, I played 'bass' using the low strings of my newly-acquired Hofner President into a Watkins Westminster combo. The repertoire was rather 'folky', with a couple of 'originals' (composed by Martin Spicer, who gave his name to the Martin Spicer Band...), notably the Apple Tree Warbler song, with the predictable chorus of... 'I'm a merry little Apple Tree Warbler' 'Who warbles in the apple trees all day.' 'It's because I'm a merry little Apple Tree Warbler' 'That I'm so happy and gay.' We followed this with our version of the Airplane's 'Fat Angel' and a rather Grateful Dead-inspired instrumental that went on for quite a while. No drums, just acoustic guitars and my 'bass'; I don't remember there being any sort of PA or such, just us grouped into a corner of a pub opposite the tube station, Hounslow East. I think we got paid £5, and left the publican and his clients rather bemused by what they had experienced. It didn't take me long to decide to play drums ...

Be wary about using cheap hifi monitors for playing, even at practice levels. They're not really made for 'raw' bass going through them, and may not sound so good whilst playing, and possibly forever after. Better a cheap bass combo for practicing, and spare the monitors. Just sayin'.

Major scale, minor scale, in a couple of keys and good to go. ... (Just kidding; there might be a little more for one or two. )