Bilbo

Have spotted a couple of errors and will have to reload but haven't got time this week. It may still be of use to someone, though, if they wanted to explore the piece themselves.

Great stuff but I am wondering why so many people? I can only hear what about 40% of them are there for . Seriously, though. Great fun.

Just some guy somewhere ripping sh*t out of a classical piece we all know but can't name. It just makes me want to 'shed my n*ts off

Spill some blood on it and you'll be fine.

Here is my transcription of John Patitucci's pretty solo double bass track 'Long Story' off his Mistura Fina cd. The transcription needs to be viewed alongside the track as time is very loose. As with many such solo bass tracks, the approach to bar lines is quite felxible and sometimes it is hard to figure where they are so you may find that there are some disagreements about my choices of stems/rhythms etc. EIther way, it is a nice study piece. I have not bothered to include the chords as they are pretty simple and diatonic but, with this piece, it is the performance of the piece that is where the magic lies. I am off to try and learn to play it - hard but not impossible It is on Spotify if you haven't got the cd.

Abd the award for the 2011 'Basschatter that starts the most weird threads the most' - Its PETE ACADEMY (cue thunderous applause.....) Sorry, peeps. I often leave home and do not need the toilet until I get home 6 hours later. I am, of course, an android and do not drink liquids.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1203293' date='Apr 18 2011, 09:57 AM']I [i]knew[/i] it!! I did a trio gig last night at The Fox Inn in Bury St Edmunds. It was tenor sax, bass and drums. I have played this venue on an off for about three years with different bands and know the landlord and the bloke she uses to book the bands reasonably well. The bloke approached me about putting something together for last night and I asked him if I could do this trio thing as I had wanted to do it for years. He was a bit 'ooooh, Shelia (the landlord) won't like it' but he agreed to let us do it. Anyway, sorted the line up and set about getting some charts together based on the fact that I would be playing double bass and needed to pace things so I wasn't a spent force at the end of the first (of three) set. Charts done and sent to the sax player and drummer. All set to go when, on Friday at around midnight, I was unloading my double bass from the car and clipped the bridge on the side of the vehicle, causing it to explode into three pieces. So I had to do the gig on electric and most of the charts were inappropriate. I have to admit that I was feeling more than a little nwevous before we started, something that has not happened in decades. So, gieven the forced change of plan, we knocked up three sets of old faithfuls on the day. We were doing funk versions of standards, some hip hop derived stuff (with a hint of reggae), the odd shufffle, some fast 'sh*t off a stick' be-bop, some Latin tunes and a couple of ballads per set. Damned hard work for a trio and a lot of really focussed effort by all involved. More to the point, and herein lied the risk, it demanded something of the listener. The gig was not only a 'musical/artistic' success but the (hard to please) landlady loved it, the punters loved it and we got an immediate re: booking in June. The clincher though came to me third hand from guy who told me that another regular (who really knows his stuff) said it was 'exceptional' and 'by far the best thing [he] had ever seen there'. It had its flaws and I would do some things differently next time but, for a first gig. it felt like a real affirmation. I have always believed that the punters will respond to the energy and the quality of an intelligent performance and didn't need to be spoon-fed 'smooth jazz' or 'the Great American Songbook' to be engaged. What we did last night was 'commercial suicide' in conventional terms and many venues/bookers would balk at the idea of a 'harmony-less' trio but it nevertheless went down a storm. Left with a very big smile on my face.[/quote] Have another gig with this trio lined up in Bury St Edmunds on 10th July. The drummer I used last time cannot make it but I jave got Nic France, ex-Loose Tubes, to do it so it shoudl be ok. I played with Nic once before but it was a more 'structured' setting. I am hpoing that this more relaxed, blowing environment may allow for some creative and exciting stuff!! This is off Nic's website: [i]In 1980 I moved to London to work as a freelance session drummer and started playing with Ian Carr's Nucleus. This lead to playing with many other established London based musicians including Ronnie Scott, John Taylor, Allan Holdsworth, Jim Mullen, Tim Whitehead and Bobby Wellins. International artists included Mose Allison, L. Shankar, Hank Crawford and David Fathead Newman and an appearance on BBC tv with Billy Cobham. I was a founder member of Loose Tubes alongside Django Bates, John Parricelli, Chris Batchelor , Mark Lockheart and Iain Ballamy. By 1984 I had joined Working Week, toured Europe extensively and recorded 3 albums. In 1988/89 I had the great pleasure of playing drums and singing backing vocals with Bill Withers on two UK and European tours. From 1989-95 I played with Tanita Tikaram, involving several world tours and albums. From the mid 90's I played with Antonio Forcione, Ian Shaw, Christie Hennessey and toured and recorded with Tim Garland's Lammas. In 2001/2 I had the good fortune to play with David Gilmour with guests Kate Bush, Bob Geldorf and Robert Wyatt, appearing on the David Gilmour Live DVD recorded at the Festival Hall. I played with Andy Sheppard, Nigel Kennedy and Barb Jungr over this period. I have been playing drums for Terry Callier since 2005. I currently play with Mbawula a South African Township band, and Jazzinho a contemporary Brazilian band. In 2009 I played with the Charlie Haden Liberation Orchestra I have also played for the NDR Big Band and the Birmingham Royal Ballet.[/i] Should be good

Donkey's years ago, some friends and I were staying with a guy in London who was Gary Moore's guitar roadie. The others knew him from school but I had never met him before that weekend. He came over as a bit of a name dropper, to say the least. We went out touring the guitar shops and went into one (Andy's?) and he sauntered over to the counter and exclaimed to the guy stood behind it: 'Hey there. I am Gary Moore's guitar roadie. Can you recommend anything I can use to clean Gary's guitars'? Stoney faced assistant responds 'Pledge'. Three teenage guitar freaks run out of the shop in a fit of juvenile giggling.

Not read whole thread but does anyone know of any recordings Clutterbuck has made? I hear his youtube things a lot but don't know what he does when he is not on a trade stand?

Being 18 months into this double bass malarky, I am interested to note how all players seem to be working desperately hard to find 'the' sound; new strings, adjustments to basses, new purchases, new pick-ups, pre-amps, amps and so on. Whilst I understand the urge to search in new players, this tendency doesn't seem to stop with experience. I read on Ken Smith's site that there is a feeling that the prohibitive cost of a 'good' bass (£15K +) means that we are all working with compromise to some degree or another and that, over time, we seek tio improve our sounds incrementally, despite knowing that it will never be the perfect tonal experience. Now my concern is that, the hardest thing about searching for something like this, is that most of us wouldn't recognise it if we found it and that, if we did, we would carry on tweaking and tampering and lose it again. My own feeling is that the sound should serve the music and, whether you sound 'huge' like Ray Brown, brittle like Mingus or elastic like Ron Carter, as long as the music is good, the actual sound of the bass is not that important. I listen to lots of bass players and love the sound of some and like other less. What is interesting, however, is that the great sounding basses are not on the records I like and the crap sounding basses sometimes are. I love the sounds of Marc Johnson, Scott Colley, Dave Holland or Charlie Haden but am less enamoured with those of Carter, Pederson, Eddie Gomez, Cecil McBee or Mingus. But if I came out sounding like the latter 5? I could live with it

You are probably right, Myke. I am probably overreacting but, having played ther twice several years ago, I have to say that it feels a bit like a meat market. I don't like the vibe at all. The turnaround of bands is too quick (no decent set up time/soundcheck etc) and, bearing in mind they give their time for free, more than a little disrespectful, IMO. I never even heard anyone say 'Thank you'.

I had this old 'Yorkshireman' friend that used to go clubing in London a lot. Salt of the earth type; very much in the line of 'what you see is what you get' and completely unaffected by popular culture. He once told me a story that made me laugh (I was told this the day after this incident happened). He once hooked up with this group of people and spent the evening socialising with them and having a lovely time. He was sat next to this young Black woman and was getting on fine (no snorting, he's Gay) and the conversation turned to the world of work. 'So', says our man, in broad Yorkshire accent. 'What does 'tho' you do for t'living'? Young lady responds 'I'm a singer in a band'. 'Oh, aye! What's t'band called' 'M-People' 'Never heard of 'em'.

Noone makes any money? None of the PA companies? The marquee rental people? The food/drink retailers? The local car parks? The local pubs? The bus/train companies? Seems to me that everyone makes something except the musicians. As for free exposure for the acts; I have never heard anyone get a gig because 'we saw you at MitP'. Its not all bad; its a nice day out for families, possible exposure to new music etc but I am not convinced that the event is all altrusim.

I find the event a tad exploitative and won't play there,

[quote name='dove' post='1267633' date='Jun 13 2011, 06:11 PM']Thanks Bilbo,I have come across Gedo but can only get a german version of the site and I emailed them a few days ago with no response??[/quote] They have an ebay shop or you can translate their German pages on babel fish

Saw Jeff with Vital Information at Brecon years ago. It was video'd by the BBC and went out (I remember watching it and seeing myself yawning in the front row - it had been a long weekend ). Monster player.

I would recommend a lesson or two just to get you started. The double bass is a different animal to the electric and, if you are not careful, you can do yourself harm by doing it wrong. I did and it cost me 10 years and a whole lot of pain. I accept that it is expensive but it is important to get basic technique right in order to prevent CTS/tendonitis/tennis elbow/long term problems. You don't have to get into weekly lessons for years, just a couple to set you up.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1265284' date='Jun 11 2011, 07:43 PM']Ask Bilbo for what songs he refuses to play. Learn them and you'll have half a nights worth [/quote] Sad but true. Although, I will add, the OP knows arpeggios. At most jam sessions I have been to, most players would think arpeggios are an Italian starter. Or those small fishy things they put on pizzas? I recommend the 'go along and watch' option first and you will get a sense of whether you are ready. A lot of the 'must know tunes mentioned above are thiungs I have never heard at jam sessions so there is clearly some regional variation and I guess this also varies venue to venue. If you are just wanting to 'have a go', speak to the band leaders ans tell them where you are at - if they can't find a niche for you, they are not doing what they are there to do.

Just ot add to the confusion, try Gedo Musik in Germany. Similar stuff to the dalers you have already mentioned. I started a thread here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=93958&st=0&start=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...t=0&start=0[/url]

20+ years of gig bags with no 'incidents'. Got sick of hard cases when traveling on the tube in the late 1980s.

I have a Wal (£740) and a double bass (£1400) and 4 guitars (Gibson ES175 (£1500), Adamus 6 (£1000), Takamine CD132SC (£1000) and an Antoria w. nashville tuning (£150) - that's £3650 on guitars and £2,140 on basses. What am I thinking? But how can you let those lovely guitars go?

[quote name='ficelles' post='1264034' date='Jun 10 2011, 03:34 PM']Not too difficult (he said arrogantly)... just watch where he puts his thumb to get the forced harmonic from the 14th position A, in each case about 1cm forward of the pickup poles. 1st octave from near neck pickup, second from bridge. There's a 5th harmonic between the two of course. I'm finding my right hand "flamenco" fingernails make it easier btw although I am wearing holes in them through doing it! ficelles[/quote] Your first 'false' harmonic is always halfway between your fretting hand and the bridge (usually 12 frets above your fretting hand) and then divided along the string at the same nodes as per the open string (7th, 5th, 4th and 3rd frets and the same distances from thw bridge at the other end. In a nutshell, the point where you put your thumb moves up and down as your left hand moves up and down.