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[quote name='Toasted' post='155801' date='Mar 12 2008, 10:06 AM']That setup seems eminently sensible, Rich. The only thing you may want to watch is that volume pedals are known for their capacity to leech treble, and cause impedance issues after their own place in the chain. Your own ears are really the best judge. Joe.[/quote] Is this why he has placed it in the middle of the chain? Can someone explain why you would have the volume pedal there?

[quote name='jakesbass' post='155840' date='Mar 12 2008, 10:55 AM']yes there are people who hear and can reproduce that stuff really fast. Speed is not something that impresses me though.[/quote] That's really weird to me, but I suppose if you listen to lots of very complex music you will eventually be making it "in your head" and will want to express that. [quote name='jakesbass' post='155840' date='Mar 12 2008, 10:55 AM']I didn't really, speed is not something I really aspire to in a performance, however having those skills makes all my improvised choices come easily and dare I say it make me sound good, which I don't really want to espouse but the situation warrants it. I get asked to do lots of gigs. So I must be doing something right.[/quote] Is that really the case? You're saying if I were to sit down and play for 10 hours every night, studying all the techniques that are recommended etc, when I got back to playing my nice simple basslines I'd be playing them better? I can see the logic in that, but I just don't think it would happen in practice. I practice my nice simple basslines so that I can play them to the best of their potential, meaning that whatever techniques I may learn, I couldn't improve the way i'm playing them. [quote name='jakesbass' post='155840' date='Mar 12 2008, 10:55 AM']None of the great musicians I know (and I know some phenomenal ones) would suggest that you cram all your practise regime excercises into a given song, really fast. there are those that do, and I'm as bored by their playing as I'm guessing you would be. So to put it straight. I am not suggesting we make music unlistenable, quite the opposite actually[/quote] I was reffering to an "unlistenable" practice regime, not performance. [quote name='jakesbass' post='155840' date='Mar 12 2008, 10:55 AM']Sorry but thats ill thought out, why do you assume that people who have an awareness of all the details of their instruments stop using their ears? I listen hard all the time and knowing theory does not prevent me from doing so. Quite the opposite, by having a large awareness of chords and their relevent scales I have many possibilities of what "works" and I rely as much on my musical taste as my technical facility. Don't kid yourself, you are not ignoring theory. If you play something. it can be described, that is 'the theory' and the whole point of that is so that we as musicians can share that information.[/quote] I'm not saying people stop using their ears. You have pointed out that you have a large awareness of chords and scales, so when you sit down to write a bassline, this awareness will be at the forefront of your writing. I'm not saying that this is a limitation, but it does mean that you're less likely to write something unusual or "original". Just because my playing can be analysed and described by music theory, doesn't mean that music theory influences my playing. I can ignore music theory and play, whether or not there is someone listening and analysing it. I honestly reckon that Jimmy Johnson would still sound as good playing with James Taylor, whether or not he had "the chops" to impress at his solo/jazz/improv/whatever gigs. If he had never practiced enough to get amazingly fast, he would still be able to groove IMHO.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='155798' date='Mar 12 2008, 10:05 AM']What I didn't say is that a lack of technique will prevent you expressing yourself, and neither do I think that, so to me your question answers itself. There is a huge difference between copying someone elses solos and having global harmonic awareness to be able to construct your own on the spot. Whether you listen to modern jazz will make not a jot of difference to anything, Bach and many of the composers of and around his time were improvisors. Last night I did a gig with an eight piece band doing original material, we spent the previous week rehearsing to create our parts as the songwriter gave us frames of the songs. Last Saturday I did a hotel gig in Manchester playing songs from the 20s and 30s playing largely two feels but all improvised to some extent. And thats just the last week. None of it modern jazz. I've spent nearly 20 years doing this, a tiny proportion of the time in modern jazz groups. And as I said before I enjoy, indeed [i]love[/i] it all.[/quote] What i'm saying is that some of these extremely fast, extremely difficult, and extremely impressive improvisations don't sound like something some would have inside their head and want to get out. I don't listen to enough jazz to know that for a fact, and so i'm asking. How many times did you play impressively fast during all of your gigs? I fail to see what's technically brilliant about being able to play basslines to songs, because that's what you're describing to me. I know you're not proffessing yourself as a technically brilliant player, but you are arguing that practicing technique to such a degree that the music you're making is almost unlistenable, will make you a better player, or a more able to improvise player. What i'm saying is that I have never practiced in such a way, and yet I find improvising no problem. I have played with a few different groups where i've had to learn an hour's set in 3 hours or so, but I always just remember the chord changes and play along. If I wanted to play walking bass I would have to practice it, but not until I could do it at 400bpm. Scales and Keys are sets of notes on your fret board. They're useful for putting different parts of music together, but you can basically hear what's right or wrong. Many a time, what's wrong from the technical viewpoint will be right to your ears. If you've just been practicing scales all your life, you might not be aware of a note that would sound great. If you ignore all of this theory, you have the entire fret board to play with, and you can play anything you like, and judge it with your ears and your brain. This is what works for me! This is might a bit arrogant, but only because i'm relating it to myself. I'm sure there are thousands of other musicians out there who play in the same way.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='155684' date='Mar 12 2008, 12:53 AM']I think the one thing that has been consistently overlooked here is that the whole point of good technical facility is to free your playing so that emotion and creativity are [i]more[/i] accessible, it has been mentioned earlier but nobody seems to take it on board, in jazz creativity is paramount.[/quote] I'm technically not very good, but I have no problem at all expressing myself on my bass. I can play anything I want. The only time I want to improve is when my guitarist comes up with something I can't play fast enough with my fingers, but don't want a pick sound for. Is playing these incredibly fast and complicated improvisations really an expression of the self? My guitarist spent a long time learning to play some nuno solos, and he uses that technique in his improvisation, but it's basically just to show off. I suppose I don't listen to enough modern jazz to really know the answer to my question, so sorry if that last comment seemed presumptive.

The feedback loop is good for making noise between songs, or at the end of a gig. In my band we do some atmospheric stuff in the middle of some songs, so it's cool for that too.

Why do you want the volume pedal in the middle? Surely you would get the same effect with it at the start negating the need for any clever wiring? I would want OD just before delay, but you have no other dirt to go before your modulation, so if you like it there fair enough. Apart from that it looks sensible etc... I'd love to play with that board, although I would miss another distortion or two!

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='155396' date='Mar 11 2008, 04:33 PM']I kinda like that![/quote] You chin-stroking widdle-wonder!

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='155375' date='Mar 11 2008, 04:05 PM']Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!! It's happening again!!!!![/quote]

[quote name='Roady' post='155268' date='Mar 11 2008, 01:20 PM']Theres also another Jr model coming out soon that will let you control the blended amount with an expression pedal...[/quote] That sounds cool!

They're not quavers if they're not original cheese flavour!!!

Yeh, I know, sorry, I didn't mean to go round in circles. I was kind of just commenting on the sheer quantity of mates some of you guys have. Our good friends will turn up, but that's about 20 people at the most, maybe another 5 or 10 family.

What the hell is that you're holding in your avatar?

There are different words for the same and different things, so this is a bit weird to talk about but.... You can use a loop/switcher to kick in or out several effects at a time. So, if you had a wah and a OD that you always used together, and quite often wanted the option of turning them both off at the same time, you would buy a loop. I like to switch between two effects settings, each of which consist of 2-7 pedals, so I use an A/B loop switcher. Basically, if you feel the need to do some switching you can't do at the moment with your feet, you will know exactly what kind of looper or switcher you need.

dood sold me a CA amp and the deal all went swimmingly! Cheers!

How does anyone have time for that amount of practice?!? I suppose I have other priorities, but, if I was Janek's (for example only) girlfriend and he was practising 10 hours a day, I think it'd get to me. 10 hours bass, 8 hours sleep, 6 hours actual life? I suppose I spend 8 hours at work every day doing something I don't enjoy, so if I could do something I love for 10 hours a day and make a living.......... Still, I can't imagine sitting playing the bass for 10 hours. I never play for more than an hour really, unless it's with my band.

[quote name='acidbass' post='154644' date='Mar 10 2008, 03:50 PM']It's not to everyone's taste[/quote] Zing! Carry on Bass Chat!

I've got a TE 18" cab that's somehow broken. I'm sure it's an easy fix. Are you a DIY type? Want to buy my massive cab?

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='154629' date='Mar 10 2008, 03:33 PM']And make sure you don't get sand in the vaseline.[/quote] I thought we were going to use marmite?

No idea, can we see a transcription or is that illegal?

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='154598' date='Mar 10 2008, 03:07 PM']Sad but true.[/quote] Yeh

[quote name='BOD2' post='154591' date='Mar 10 2008, 03:02 PM']Getting back on topic, Janek's article was about practicing for modern improvisation - quite specifically.[/quote] This topic has morphed out of your control!

[quote name='mcgraham' post='154574' date='Mar 10 2008, 02:42 PM']I would say that is an entirely real and plausible issue we face as improving musicians. However, I would like to point out that technical ability on its own is transparent; it is not creative, it is not egotistical, it is not proud, it's just ability.[/quote] I don't agree that technical ability is transparent. I'm not sure about the actual brain functions and etc, and it would be interesting for someone who knows to come on and post? But, I thought of learning the bass like building up a set of habits. I would play the same scales over and over again, or practice the same hard/fast riff. Especially when improvising, I would have a few little "runs" that i'd like to do, and I could play them in whatever key and sound semi-impressive. Obviously the idea is to build up an infinite number of habits, creating a sort of infinite creativity. Anyway, that didn't work out, so now every time I play something i've heard myself play before (unless it's a song i'm working on), I stop and play something else. I don't know if i've explained this very well, but what I mean is that technical ability always comes with the bagage created by the learning process.

I had a quick listen at lunch time ehre at work. My speakers are crap so maybe I should check it out at home. It's quite cool. I went on your myspace to hopefully download some music to listen to in the car but your songs aren't available. Is there anywhere I can get them?