Bilbo

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1393272133' post='2378149'] No beard, no Bilbo. Don't send any more pictures of your dep, whoever the hell he is. [/quote] That went over 4 years ago, mate. Where have you been?

Why wouldn't you prefer the piano? It is all there. I can't play it but wish I could (clearly not enought oactually TRY!!)! I have one but never got passed a few basic exercises and some chords. In short, I am a s***load better as a bass player than I am at anything esle so that is where my efforts went.

Nothing is universally adored and everything is cool only to a minority (a full stadium fourteen nights in a row is still a minority, when you think about it as a percentage of the listening population). It is just a case of whether that minority is large enough or sufficiently vocal to create the illusion of universality. Ethnomusicologically speaking (say that with a mouthful of Rolos), music has a role in people's lives that is defined by them and their circumstances. For those who 'connect' with Springsteen, or The Grateful Dead, or Phish, or The Enid it can simply be about 'belonging to something'. The music arguably matters less that the baggage that goes with it. In my experience, most widely available music has some merit if you listen to it enough (I quite like the Dixie Chicks, the Stranglers, the Cure etc - I just don't prefer them to the things I REALLY like). I think Springsteen has done some nice stuff, the Ramones I don't like (never 'got' Punk, really - the Stranglers are just a Prog band with swearing). The Stones and Floyd do nothing for me. The Beatles are ok and there are some gems in their catalogue but I have no urge to listen to them and I never got the John Lennon thing at all etc. I occasionally listen to albums listed amongst the 1001 albums you 'must listen to before you die' and mostly find them uninspiring. There is no homogeneity; we all like what we like and can't 'get' everything. It is the nature of the medum. Sometimes it is about what grabs you at a certain point in your life. Marilyn Manson grabbed a certain demographic but most of those kids will 'grow out of their angst' (if they haven't shot up their university and then turned the gun on themselves - :yarrr:). Most of us have a nostalgic soft spot for the bands we loved as teenagers but it all moves on and we change. Hence, those who loved the Ramones in the 70s would not love the Ramones in 2014 just as those who liked Prog the first time around may not be grabbed by Spock's Beard - because they are 50 not 15. I saw Uli Jon Roth and Michael Schenker recently (separate gigs) and was amused by the hundreds (not thousands as it used to be) of denim and leather clad 'dinosaurs' in attendance - those that had hair were grey It really is horses for courses.

It is a case of understanding the process of reading music but in reverse. You know what it sounds like so, by default, you should know what it would look like on papaer. The only thing you need to do over and above the reading part is to be able to recognise intervals by ear and to relate them to theory. If, for instance, your line says root to b7, you need to decide what key you are in to identify the root and what the flat seventh note is (C - Bb, F - Eb etc). It is all about ear-training. It isn't easy but it does get easier the more you do it.

The Rode is being looked at as we speak!! By a genius electronics expert friend of mine (previously fixed amps etc for me)

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1393152870' post='2376642'] It's interesting you recommend the Bach. Please can you tell me, as the cello goes lower than our B string, do these often present a need for a B string? I'm only asking as I currently have a 5 string that I'm thinking of moving on, but I don't want to be shortsighted. It's got a really great neck with harmonics easily played all over. [/quote] Depends on what you are using it for. If its reading exercises, it doesn't matter that much. If you want to perform them, it does. But does the two or three missed notes compensate for the fact that the pieces are being performed on the wrong instrument and mostly pizzicato

Transcribe software. You can slow stuff down without changing pitch. It is not expensive and wotth every penny. http://www.seventhstring.com/

Blues For Alice is easier than Blue Bossa. Sober.

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1393252618' post='2377761'] This one? http://www.audiomasterclass.com/ [/quote] That's the fella.

I did that Audio Masterclass thing. I learned a lot and got a certificate. I do like a certificate.

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1393198431' post='2377358'] I guess thats the allure of Jazz - always chasing the notes that will sound perfect for that moment in time! [/quote] Spot on.

https://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/on-green-dolphin-street A live quartet version of 'On Green Dolphin Street' I did recently (it is only an excerpt but gives you a flavour of what I do with OGDS). Interestingly, I find the tune to[size=4] be a game of two halves; lots of space to develop interest on the pedals but lots of chords on the second eight bars which can tie your ideas down a little (two chords a bar can be difficult to do anything with without sacrificing the harmony).[/size]

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Plugged the Rode into a mixer to a mixer today. Dead as a dodo. Have ordered an new t -bone SC14 to replace it. Not as good on paper but more than enough for the purposes I need it for.

The important thing about walking lines is to relate what you are doing when you are walking to what is happening elsewhere across the piece being performed. I learned early on that learning lines from a book or even from transcriptions by the Greats often does not work because these set pieces, whilst technically correct, are not working 'in context'. It is about recognising what lines in your arsenal fit a given passage; this is something that you need to learn to do in real time, on the bandstand, and can only really be achieved by doing it. Also, a lot of the swing you get from a walking line is in your tone and not just in the notes. Some great lines can fail to work because of a thin sound whilst some massive cliches work astonishingly well because the sound is soaked in swing. A lot of subtle problems exist because lines use the wrong passing notes or start/end clumsily and the only way to get better at this is to keep trying, listening hard to what is going on around you and working on what you are trying to do in that endless quest for the perfect line. What I find interesting is how many times I go back to listen to the Greats and find the lines aren't 'all that' but the intention and swing are so intense, the details matter less than we think. Walking bass takes a minute to learn (what could be easier than straight quarter notes on the beat) and a lifetime to master.

I have options to try but need to get to it.

Yes, I have just seen this package on ebay. No, I don't have the 212. Need to get to the issue this weekend.

This is the second shed of this type I have had built and the last one was bone dry after 10 years, even having lost the roof felt once. It is also fairly sheltered in the send that it is tucked in the corner under a tree that provdes great cover. So far it has weathered storm after storm with no problems. I am not complacent but, equally, I don't lie awake worrying!

I have had it years, mate, so cannot complain. It may have seized up through lack of use since I moved last October!!

Another option is to use any charts you have as exercise to read rhythms (the Parker Omnibook is great for this). Just sit there, without a bass, and read through the charts as rhythms, ignoring the pitches. It helps you focus on the act of reading rhythms across bar lines without the distraction of identifying the notes. After you get better at it, you can start working on the actually reading of dots. Ironically, reading the rhythms is often seen as the complicated bit but it is, in fact, the easiest part of the exercise.

No chance this month. Too much on. Will try March.

I do not know what a 212 is. And it is a Focusrite Platinum Penta Stereo Analog Preset Compressor (see link below) http://www.music123.com/pro-audio/focusrite-platinum-penta-stereo-analog-preset-compressor/188203000000000

Download the Kindle software to your laptop or PC (it is free on Amazon.co.uk). The bigger screen will allow you to view the material better (this is a problem with any book containing staff notation. The images are generally of the kind that doesn't expand when you increase the text size).

The stray harmonics are usually because your left hand is stopping the strings over the 5th or 7th fret and the harmonic is ringing sympathetically. If you are able to use more of your left hand to stop the string (i.e. more than one finger width), that often reduces extraneous noise.