Bilbo

I've got sunshine in my stomach....... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M58wE8GTGp4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M58wE8GTGp4[/url]

A Love Supreme with a back beat! Marvellous lack of reverence!! Enjoyed it, Mike.

Here are four of my own tunes peformed by my trio [b][i]trio[/i] East [/b]featuring Myke Clifford on sax and Russ Morgan on drums. Not perfectly executed (sax player was reading) but a useful indication of the direction of travel of my embryonic composing!! [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/at-the-end-of-the-avenue"]http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/at-the-end-of-the-avenue[/url] [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/cant-you-hear-the-thunder"]http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/cant-you-hear-the-thunder[/url] [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/low-men-dancing"]http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/low-men-dancing[/url] [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/caustic"]http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/caustic[/url]

Amateurs practise until they get it right. Professionals practice unyil they can't get it wrong. Drummers practice until the pubs open.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2AeNjQiRLc[/media]

I think some are ok and many aren't. All it needs is careful consideration. But, yes, some videos do more harm than good,,,,, [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0shO4tv6vGs&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0shO4tv6vGs&feature=related[/url]

Here we go. When I saw the photos, my over-riding impression was of clowns; the mask being pulled off by Freddy (a Kiss mask, if I am not mistaken) was a little clown-like, the second 'skull' image was surprisingly clown-like despite its intentions and Saville presented himself as clown-like in his dealings with children/the media. So I was left with this sense that clowns are often not what they seem and whilst we, as adults associate them with fun and laughter, many children are afraid of them.....there's a reason and, to my eyes, that reason is evident in the images we were working to. So I open the piece with the 'la, la laaaa, theme from Jim'll fix it (first 8 bars although it is reharmonised with a minor feel so may sound 'odd') which morphs into the Scooby Doo theme. After those themes are developed, the 'heavy' part of the piece starts (reflecting the second 'skull' image) and the three themes come together in the closing stages. I have to say that this is probably the most sophisticated composition I have ever done using Cubase etc and there are faults (some of the levels are slightly askew due to glitches in my software and, for some reason, the bass sound I used (Midi) didn't come out in the final mix (ironic, eh?). I stress there is NO bass guitar or double bass on this tune, it is midi orchestra, various other midi instruments and guitar (Gibson ES175 through Pro Co Rat and vst amp simulators). It's nowhere near perfect but I am pretty pleased with it. [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/theres-a-reason"]http://soundcloud.co...theres-a-reason[/url]

Dave Holland 'Extensions'

I used to take a pile of books to the reading festival and was always disappointed when it was all about music.

Hondo II Precision copy 4 Aria SB700 4 [b]Wal Custom Fretless 4[/b] Washburn Status headless 4 Status Energy 6 Status Energy 5 [b]Gedo Musik Double Bass 5[/b]

I am pretty much there, just some details to tweak over the weekend. Really enjoyed this one.

Supertramp!! Some great songs over the years (my fave was Sister Moonshine) Steve Kuhn Trio - Mostly Coltrane

That implies I am a good composer Tell you what. Anyone who objects can turn mine off after 5 minutes!!

That's that hair split..... There is certainly a sense that some musicains (Hancock, Monk, Jarrett etc) have earned the right to smack the keyboard with their elbow/head/any part of their anantomy. If that's all someone can do, then the credibility of the technique as an artistic choice is compromised.

I have finshed the backing track and now only need to add some lead and a little bit of rhythm guitar and I am done. I have an issue that I would value your collective thoughts on. My 'process' for composing has been to map the piece out using Sibelius and the create Midi file which I then used as a skeleton for a Cubase audio/midi mix (this methods allows me to get a decent feel in the drum part without having to programme every nuance into a Midi file 'longhand'). When I wrote it in Sibelius, which took several hours over a few days, it was less than 5 minutes long (only a few seconds or so). When I transferred it to Cubase, I realised that the piece worked a [i]lot[/i] better if I slowed it down. So the new, better version (70 bpm instead of 100) is now six minutes long which takes it outside of the time stated in the 'brief'. My options are to fade it early (which is a pisser because I love the ending) or to cut out one section and join the two remaining bits which is an editing nightmare because the ends of the bars in question are subtley different and would require time to 'tweak' that I haven't really got. So my question is, given the circumstances outlined, can I get away with a 6 minute tune?

There is a book called Alexander Technique for the double bass player or something of that sort which I found helpful as it looks at a whole body approach to managing the physical demands of an instrument (Ethan Kind is the author - but that is not his real name which is Nobby Fishcake)

Of course, there is an argument that not everything can be written down. Or you coudl write it conventionally but allow the conductor to 'prompt' tempos/loops etc so thjey overlap. Djangon Bates did something like this with a bicycle driven Orchestrion(I kid you not).

[quote name='Wil' timestamp='1352131372' post='1859122'] stomp on my tuner to find out what the note is if I'm not sure, [/quote] Never heard of that before!

You can get away without it or it can be the most important tool you have; it depends on what ambitions you have as a player. You will need to make a decision based on your chosen path. If you stay with a covers band and are happy putting together one new song every month oro so, you can get away without it easily. If you are in six bands and running new tunes every week, you woudl be better off learning it. Personally, I am a staunch advocate of reading and would recommend it even if you don't read on gigs.

I am using the jim'll Fix It/Scooby Doo idea (themes not whole passages) but they are both reharmonised and are all but unrecognisable. I don't think anyone would recognise them unless they knew

Canteloupe Island, Watermelon Man, Moondance, Green Dolphin Street, All The Things You Are, The Shadow Of Your Smile, Yardbird Suite, All Blues, Mr. PC, Blue Train, Work Song, Milestones, Freddie Freeloader, So What, Impressions, Doxy, Oleo/Anthropology (both rhythm changes), All Of Me..... I think I'm going to throw up.

I was in a pit band for Grease once. Found the material very derivative (can't listen to the links above in work). May just be familiarity breeding contempt; YTOTIW was number one for about 12 years when I was a kid.

I can't do the sitting down thing at all with a double bass. It feels completely unnatural.

I am thinking..........