cheddatom

How do you find out tour dates? There's nothing on Myspace

Flea's a great bassist and I love his stuff with Mars Volta. He's just a bassist though isn't he? Les is something else IMO.

[quote name='pantherairsoft' timestamp='1327598415' post='1514037'] Cool. Lemme know what ya' think. [/quote] What did you use to record it? The compression is way over the top so I can hardly hear vocals or drums. Some great bass sounds though!! I have a Zoom Q2 camera and the audio on that is ace. It auto-levels itself - rather than just squashing everything above a certain level, it brings down the gain and maintains that level for the whole set, rather than jumping up during "breakdowns" or the like.

just get an EQ pedal or pre-amp to match the thunderbird to the active bass you like the sound of

Just bought an SFX Loop Logic from Al. Not only did he very kindly hold the item for 2 weeks while I waited for my monies, he then got it to me within 48 hours of payment! Excellent

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1327590552' post='1513865'] And I'd add that on bass guitar in particular - more often than not - technically difficult music sounds bloody awful. [/quote] Only if you've got one of those Limited Range Basses with only 4 strings.

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1327585907' post='1513762'] Can we just challenge this idea that non-musicians do not appreciate technical ability! Punters are generally very impressed by displays of musical virtuosity as long as it is presented in an entertaining way and they are not constantly beaten over the head with it! [/quote] yes, but it's the "tasteful" playing they won't appeciate I played a gig with an amazing drummer recently, and we kept on reminding him to absolutely let loose at the gig, really almost over-play. He totally did and i've never heard so many positive comments from non musicians about a drummer.

ooooh, cool, will give it a blast through the mixing-rig at home (I have a nice sub).

My best acheivement in terms of bass playing is a bassline I wrote a couple of months ago - one note played in a slightly unusual rythm. This is a perfect example I think. I've tried explaining why I love this bassline so much to non-musicians and they just don't get it. Several people have even said they can't hear the bassline! Bassists would deffinitely get it, and hopefully appreciate the "taste" of it, even though it demonstrates no technical ability what so ever and will never stand out to non-musicians.

I really need to get to one of these gigs to see it in action

I record and mix a lot of music. In the process I generally found that I would use different bass tones for different sections of songs, and so I bought pedals to re-create this live. Also on occasion where there is "room" for it, I like to add extra creative bits - phaser, envelope filter, wah, delay, whammy. It's all just to add to the texture of the band. If your band has only 2 dynamics: verse and chorus, then you're not going to find room for much other than a few different tones. Some people change their tone using the tone and volume pots, but personally I don't find that easy to do consistently, or dramatic enough for the contrasts i'm after.

If anything which alters "the envelope" (not sure what you mean there?) confused the rhythm, then no funk bands would use envelope filters? Why would pitch effects work on guitar not bass? (thinking of chorus specifically). Have you ever used a delay pedal and set it to be in time with the peice you're playing?

I'm not sure what you mean about the switching method. I'd guess it's the same as the XP300 in your sig (very very jealous!!) - one switch to bypass, the other to scroll through 6 presets. Personally, if I want polyphonic harmonies with perfect tracking and tone... i'd rather play the chords. I play 6 strings so maybe that's easier for me. I use the whammy for octave down and up, pitch bend, and the low pass filter/wah which is very funky.

I have the XP-100 and prefer it to the WH-4 in terms of tone, but the tracking is basically the same. I've not tried the pitchfactor - sounds ace!

deffinitely try the filter both sides of your dirt, it's very subjective. I have a choice of fuzz after filter or OD before or after it on my board.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1327066217' post='1505928'] True, but you won't give a f***. [/quote] Then it's settled! Has anyone made findadealer.co.uk yet?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1327065486' post='1505919'] Heroin. [/quote] yes i'm thinking of going down this route but that might give me more time to spend thinking on these matters

I work longer hours than most people at my workplace, and probably do 2-4 hours of music "work" every night too. If I have the energy to stay awake and worry about my ethical choices surely those who go home after 8 hours do too? Also, how is "just do the best you can" any sort of solution? How do people go through life ignoring the fact that they're (largely indirectly) harming other people, animals, the whole planet? I'm sure I used to manage it but no idea how?!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1327059258' post='1505764'] No. The poor are unconscious and the rich sleep warm, secure and guilt-free. [/quote] I disagree!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1327058704' post='1505741'] Agonising over this stuff is the preserve of the middle-class. [/quote] I'm probably classed as "middle class" but I have zero disposable income and almost zero free time. I tend to think about this stuff late at night. Do poor and rich people not lie awake in bed at all?

I had a bit of a crisis of ethics recently. I can't reconcile my thoughts and opinions with my ignorant actions. I don't want to abandon the lifestyle I love, but I honestly feel like a sh*t person for carrying on regardless. EDIT: If you chose to be ethical about one aspect of your life, isn't that an insult to the areas you're ignoring? Buying ethically sourced coffee might feel a bit better, but by driving a car (or using public transport) you're hurting the envirovment, not to mention indirectly funding some pretty nasty middle eastern regimes. Just by paying tax I am paying for people to be killed in wars I think are ethically wrong.

can't you move the strap button around and attach the strap to the headstock like with an acoustic guitar? That might move the nut closer to you

yeh you have to chose one soundcard to use - monitor out of the Zoom when you want to use that. I quite fancy one of these but I rad through the manual and it doesn't store loops offline

You'll need to tweak the patch at gigging volume, and hopefully while you're rehearsing with the band so you know how it sounds in the mix. Going from headphones or a practise amp straight to a gig isn't going to work IMO.