jakenewmanbass

I chat to Jimmy Johnson, (lucky enough to call him a pal really, have met him a few times) and have asked him several questions about different aspects of playing. I asked him last year about trying to give specific sounds to a producer as per their requirement for a session, he came back with a load of advice including some pics of an old P bass a studio had hired for him, they had placed a cloth under the strings near the bridge to get a thumpy sound, he said it was not really his sound but he was happy to give 'em what they were after. I've spoken to him several times about playing with James Taylor and Allan Holdsworth and sent him recordings that I've done for advice. He (Jimmy) is a really lovely helpful guy, very humble and in my opinion one of the worlds great players at the moment.

Could it be to do with the length of the wave?

I've always found that a little common courtesy and treating engineers like people with an equal interest in making the night go well works wonders. If you make an enemy of crew by being in the least bit prima donna like then you get what you deserve, which may well make for an uncomfortable ride. I have met careless and arrogant crew, but rarely.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1370225012' post='2097827'] Oddly enough, I don't think Zappa was ahead of his time. He was doing what Spike Jones was doing 40 years earlier. [/quote] From the point of view of the quality of the playing and the bells and whistles then you're right there's not much new in it, but to couple delivery of entertainment of that quality, with such a cutting through the crap social commentary set him apart, and elevated him, in my mind, to genius status.

What Bilbo said, A7 b13 also has an unaltered 5th whereas A7+5 (or#5) doesn't ps I'm thinking of the #5 in an augmented context ie a dominant 7th augmented chord.

NIce one Garry, I spotted this too. Unusual to see this being done like auditions... perhaps they see that they can avoid a fixers fee? I'm sure they'll be inundated.

I had an antoni bought for me which lives in the van of one of my bread and butter gigs. I changed the tail piece from metal to an old wood one I had and it sounded loads better in my view. The metal gave a sort of clanky top end to the strings that I really disliked. The wood really softened that, so with a set of silverslaps it now sounds pretty thunky and woody, which is perfect for that gig. Lots of fast 2 feels.

Hi Matt, nice work. 2 suggestions. 1. You could use a key sig (even though it's a blues) of F to save writing Bb's in everytime. Personal choice, but reading accidentals all the time can be tiresome. 2. Use quavers instead of those odd triplet things and just state 'swing feel' at the top of the chart. Anyone worth their salt will know and naturally feel it to swing the quavers. Those triplet markings are a computerised 'missing the point' thing.

Doddy (member here) is in your area.

Nice one Rob, some very nice players amongst that list. I did a gig with Vasilis a couple of months ago.

lovely feel...

I guess it depends on what you want to sound like, if you learn a ton of licks you'll sound like you know a ton of licks. If you learn to improvise properly so that you can play your ideas then it will sound less lick orientated. The difficulty is that to really absorb the idiom you need to know a lot of phrases and generic sounds, so in some ways you might need to pass through the 'lick' stage on your way to coming out the other end sounding like you have valid ideas and are able to execute them. It also depends on whether you are talking about walking through changes or soloing, if you can't yet produce a stonking walking bass line on II V I changes then there is your starting point. So to answer your question directly, when walking through changes, I know a lot of conventions but I like to try and hear (therefore execute) new ideas.

Steve's a dude, it's going to be serious dude quality gear... Yay for your idea Steve! Hope it goes a storm. Jake

I think Sting is a national treasure where songwriting is concerned, love the Police.

one tip... before doing any stretching of muscles, make sure there is moderately elevated blood flow to the area... so kind of warm up before you warm up if that makes sense. Stretching cold muscles can be counter productive. Shake your arms Lightly and quickly clench your fists (really rapidly) Vigourously rub the whole length of your forearms to stimulate your skin and warm your muscles. Do bicep curls but without weights All this increases blood flow, blood carries oxygen and glucose and other essential nutrients for proper muscle operation. (contraction and relaxation) Increased blood flow lessens the risk of injury. NOW you may stretch Grasshopper!

It's biggest use today is to allow for comps and edits, so that 'best bits' can be used to create a take. Tempo (or metric) modulations can easily be written in to a click track, following them is less easy, but is done often by experienced players... It might be a bit shocking for your sensibilities if you are not used to playing to a click

TUUUUUNNNNEEEE!! great playing!

If you can find Roger Dawson, you won't go wrong he is a master, and very reasonably priced in my experience. Last time he did work on my bass it was in Greenwich.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1365353044' post='2038410'] Thanks for all the comments all were very useful...interestingly, in god knows how many years of playing, I have actually never been told to tune up to the note rather than down to it...it makes perfect sense but it is something I never knew...so thanks for that little gem. [/quote] YW I discovered it in a studio, where my bass at the time was dropping flat by the end of the songs I was recording, it was the engineer that told me of 'tune up' meaning exactly that.

This might seem a little obvious but tuning up (not down) helps, always approaching tuning from below the note. The saying exists for a reason, if you tune down to correct pitch you open the coils on the machine head slightly and they can then slip to a flat sound. This happens much less if you drop below and tune up to the desired pitch, tightening the coils as you do so. Bit obvious but worth a try maybe.

Had a few slots open up chaps if anyone fancies a refresher...

weren't 1966 jazz basses made in 1966 and of wood and stuff, as opposed to this one which appears to have been made of pixels alone??? and recently at that!!

EU rules are in the process of being changed and Airlines are being forced to accept instruments (up to a certain size) as hand luggage, don't say the Musicians Union does nothing for you...! I'm not sure what the position is as of this moment as I only heard of this recently so it may well not be in force as I type, so check check check before you check if you get my meaning

It's a pisser innit and Apple are shitbags for this sort of stunt. It's why I'm still on Leopard.

[quote name='Wylie' timestamp='1362595446' post='2001926'] I didn't mean to suggest above that it's all numbers or that you can simply slot scale notes into your playing. Endless noodling is certainly possible, but studying and using modal scales (or any scales) helps you find not just the right notes, or the notes that work, but the notes that will help develop your style of playing, or your approach to a tune--what I would call the emotional aspect. I can find what works emotionally in a tune, but that is quite often related to the scale and chord tones, and combinations of these. Without a framework, the emotional side of my playing can be just that: emotive. [/quote] I was also not suggesting that you were an advocate of noodling It's just one of the things I've struggled with myself and been witness to with colleagues and students of mine alike, for my own part I don't start to feel like I really know a sound until I can come up with (and sing) melodic ideas that use a harmonic device or structure. So I hope it didn't seem like I was criticising the other comments, I simply meant that real internal knowledge of a sound, seems to me to produce the nicest playing. When you come across players that are steeped in a sound and have a vivid musical imagination then it really can be lovely. edit It occurs to me that I should add that experimentation and becoming familiar with a chord or scale is a crucial part of the process.