Bilbo

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..........

Woud it work like a fugue, starting the cycle an extra beat/bar later each time it loops? Without hearing it, it is difficult to comment.

Try this. Don't look at the neck. Play a C on the A string in half position with your left hand little/third finger. Without looking at the neck and focussing your mind on where the finger is positioned, shift position and play [i]the same[/i] C using the first finger of your left hand. Your first (fretting) finger is now occupying exactly the same space previously occupied by your little finger. Now reverse the process. What you will experience is a sense that you hands/mind/ears are guiding you to the correct position rather than your eyes (which are not that useful at this angle as your line of sight is all to cock). As you start moving around in neck, bear in mind this principle that the fingers should occupy the same space each time and, gradually, over a relatively short period, you will start to fill in the gaps and start to 'feel' where the notes are (you are using your sense of touch and hearing to guide you so 'feeling it' is almost literally true but it is a sensory thing as much as anything else). Over time, you will learn to trust yourself and the intonation will gradually stabilise.

[quote name='AntLockyer' timestamp='1351716427' post='1854653'] Leaves me cold. [/quote] It wasn't supposed to change you life; they only do it for a larf!

And catch this....(Bobby McFerrin is the coolest man in the world (bar me)) [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jmjBXoyugM&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jmjBXoyugM&feature=related[/url]

Have you not seen this.......? (at 3.55, he is singing a third higher Monster player) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLr3bvhu0gs[/media]

What are you people [i]thinking[/i]?

And Yamaha drums.... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPiAWfprCzI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPiAWfprCzI[/url]

I think they are a biy like Yamaha pianos; they have a sound of their own. They outstripped the competition in their day but have been superceded by more 'authentic' sounding instruments. I have an Adamus six string that sounds great and I have no trouble with its stability )I play acoustics siting down and without a strap). Horses for courses, I guess. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44fM6nQlbik&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44fM6nQlbik&feature=related[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_Y7VJGFrFo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_Y7VJGFrFo[/url]

Dave Holland Extended Play Live

Enrico is right. Sight reading is a muscle that you need to exercise regularly. If you don't read for a while, you lose the ability; not in it's entirity and you can get it back bery quickly but it would be a fool who didn't read for years and then expected to hit the mark first time out. I find that my own reading generally starts to come back to speed after a couple of rehearsals. Most bass reading is quite easy (e.g. read the first two bars and then repeat) and you only get tough lines occasionally so it's rarely a total trainwreck but, yes, you have to do it regularly to stay match fit.

It is called serial composition and, yes, it is likely to sound very avant garde! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_composition

Everyday is full of dilemmas. Do I practice electric bass or double bass? Do I practice bass or guitar? Do I practise reading or improvising? Scales or songs? Do I work on playing or composing? Or composing or recording? Do I play music or do I do some more writing/research for my next book? Am I allowed to do any of this or do I have to mow the lawn/do laundry/cook tea etc? How I ever make any progress in any of these endeavours is beyond me. But I do improve, incrementally, and do get things done eventually. And, overall, although I do so incessantly, I shouldn't complain.

Had a couple of good practice sessions over the weekend and identified some learning I need to do. Have been working on Charlie Parker's 'Passport' for 23 years and am nearly there.

I think the criterion is whether you like it more than all the others you have heard