Bilbo

Great arrangement.

I'd rather eat my own liver.

Is it just me or has anyone ever talked to these luthier guys about hazards of branding for an international market? Or do they know ?

As some of you will know, my double bass has been poorly for a month or so and I am picking it up from the luthier's tomorrow. In the intervening period, I decided I would do something I have wanted to do for years but have never had the time. I have several trasncriptions of John Coltrane's saxophone parts on his legendary LP 'A Love Supreme' but they were all Bb parts. I have wanted to put them into bass clef for as long as I can remember having them and have never got around to it. Well, this month 'off' has provided the opportunity to do it at last. So, here is a bass clef version of Coltrane's saxophone playing on what is arguably one of the greatest and most influential jazz albums of all time. The transcription comes in 4 parts; Acknolwdgement, Resolution, Pursuance and Psalm. I have gained so much insight into this piece from the process of transcribing and listening to the album with the charts in front of me has revealed more and more detail about how deep this stuff actually is. I can't begin to explain how intense this stuff is. I am studying it but it feels like its almost a months work every two bars. Anyway, I hope someone finds a use for this. If not, I still win because I am in bass clef heaven!! NOTE this is the saxophone part [b]NOT[/b] the bass part. Some of it is playable on the bass but some is unplayable and more useful for study rather than performance. Some of the saxophone parts are phrased using wierd saxophonic idiosynracies which do not translate to a stringed instrument so I have to acknowledge having claimed at least a little poetic licence at various points in the transcription (mostly in Pursuance).

I know its not Dave Holland but it swings and I am certainly pleased with it in terms of where I was a year ago.

[quote name='Hector' post='1227647' date='May 11 2011, 03:26 PM']Sounding great Rob! How long since you first started on upright? Some disgustingly short amount of time I expect...[/quote] I borrowed a bass from Jakesbass in December 2009 and got my own last March so say 16 months? The lines I am playing are not that different to those I would have played on the Wal so all I really had to do was learn the mechanics of playing the double bass and to build the stamina (still working on that). It also helped that a short while before this session, I had my bass set up properly (it was set too high before). It all came together at that session.

[quote name='bassace' post='1227653' date='May 11 2011, 03:32 PM']Yes, very good bass playing although your drummer a bit careless with the cymbals at times. Only thing worries me; I understood from your posts that you were terribly cutting edge and had a downer on 'The Great American Songbook'. So why Witchcraft? Glad to see that you're not above doing what the rest of us do.[/quote] I just played the gig There's the me that I want to be and the me that I am. They are not necessarily the same thing.

You're all wrong. Its a kind of blue.

[quote name='purpleblob' post='1227301' date='May 11 2011, 11:22 AM']I'm not suggesting it's bad to revisit old ground otherwise I would not have commented. Sorry, I thought my overuse of emoticons would demonstrate my comment was toungue in cheek but possibly not [/quote] Fret not, old chum. My response was mostly tongue in cheek also albeit with a serious intent.

New track recently recorded. The bass is recorded through a K&K pick up and a Fishman Platinum Pro and simulatneously through a Rode NT1A microphone. I am quiet pleased with the results (more tracks to follow when they are properly mixed). [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=135296"]Witchcraft[/url] My bass has been out of commission for a month (see above) but I am getting it back on Friday in time for a trio gig on Saturday. New bridge and soundpost. Can't wait.

I have a different problem. I go up to a stranger and say 'Hi, I'm Bilbo' If they are the person waiting for me, its 'Hi, nice to meet you'. If they are not, the response is: 'Funny. You are taller than I expected'.

Its hard to play a double bass with your foot on a monitor. I also think it is pertinent to note that the rebellious 'smash the gear up in a fit of pre-pubescent pique' thing doesn't really work when you are 47, overweight and playing Lush Life. That rebel without a cause thing was started by the likes off Jerry Lee Lewis in 1849 and is a bit tired now anyway but watching it done by middle aged old farts who drove to the gig in a Volvo with a 10 plate is a bit sad. Even if they [i]are[/i] called Iron Maiden.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1227205' date='May 11 2011, 10:00 AM']Bilbo - I thought you played jazz with no smiling allowed? ;-)[/quote] Interesting point. I did a gig recently that I referred to in the 'last night's gig' thread. It was a sax/bass/drums ftrio and it was a monster gig. The audience loved it, the landlady loved it and we loved it. It was some pretty heavy stuff and demanded a lot of the audience but they responded positively to the energy (not volume) coming off the band. The thing I wanted to mention here was that one of the people in the audience was another sax player who I play with a lot and, in earnest, he said to me at the end 'you enjoyed that, didn't you? I have never seen you smile that much in all the years I have known you'. The landlady also said that she coudl see we were enjoying ourselves and the positive energy created by that alone was enough to engage people. I was smiling entirely unconsciously because it was a reflection of what I was feeling, not because it was the 'cabaret' thing to do. Most folk can see the difference. So, if you come to see me play and I have a face like a slapped arse, you can rest assured the music is not happening

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1227216' date='May 11 2011, 10:06 AM']If I wanted to stand still and bore peoples socks off I'd play jazz [/quote] Fcuk off....

[quote name='purpleblob' post='1227138' date='May 11 2011, 09:19 AM']Ah the old "bassists shouldn't solo" thread. These seem to come round every couple of months. Without reading everything, have we been through the anti slapping, anti tapping, anti chords on bass, anti bass with more than four string (although maybe a low B is allowed in certain cases) phase yet ? What about the higher than the tenth fret is out of bounds thing, has this one come up yet ? I'm guessing fret w**kering or similar has been mentioned by now ? What about, if you want to solo then play guitar instead ? [/quote] Nope - we had got to 50 posts without anyone mentioning the stuff you listed. And, as for a thread that appears every fortnight? I can't remember the last one and I am here pretty much every day. It is not unreasonable for a forum with a constantly moving population to revisit issues that have been touched upon before. The new members may have something to contribute to the debate or find something of use to them in conceptualising their playing and even longer standing members may have come across something that they want to share. I'm off to start a thread about the benefits of reading.

'Strike a pose' :bleuch: Most stage antics/moves are as cliched as most of the music being played. If punters want that kind of thing, they won't be at my gigs.... A simple smile goes a long way.

More journeyman double bass playing from a relative newbie. This brought a real smile to my face when I heard it. I almost sound like a grown up! Not perfect (they never are) but a step forward from where I am sitting!!

[quote name='Johnston' post='1225840' date='May 10 2011, 08:47 AM']Sod off the lazy bugger should tune up like the rest of us You whats really annoying. When the keyboardist won't de-tune like the rest of us [/quote] I once worked a gig with a piano player who only played in C but changed the tuning on his keyboard for every song. Needless to say, I didn't play with him twice.

I play Jazz. I don't need to tune up.

Did a gig in Enfield when I was 17 (heavy metal band). The roof was leaking onto the stage so I did the gig stood on a beer crate surrounded by a great big puddle with the power leads gaffa'd to the top of the amps. When I think back, I must have been insane (or probably just 17)!!

I was walking the dogs the other evening and got to thinking about bass solos. Why are they there? What is the purpose? What’s the best way to put one together? What renders a solo pointless? What makes it integral to the piece being performed? I was thinking about saxophone and trumpet solos and how they generally deliver a more satisfying listening experience. The ability to sustain notes, the ability to manipulate them one they have begun, the dynamic and frequency range of the instrument etc etc. The bass, double or electric, has many of its own characteristics that, wihlst they don’t mirror those of a horn, can certainly provide a similar range of detail and textural interest. But, here’s my point, most bass solos don’t have that range. Most of them seem to come from an ethos of ‘ooo! look at me go’. I can play with unusual parts of my body! I can play a zillion notes an hour! You can’t catch me….’. All a bit juvenile and immature. Most bass solos, to my ears, seem to exist to offer an attempt to out do the next guy, to impress the technicians etc. For me, one of the most beautiful uses of the bass to provide a solo theme is Weather Report’s ‘A Remark You Made’, a piece which is actually very easy for even a learner bass player to play. Stuff that’s hard to execute often offers very little musical satisfaction; just a little party trick to showcase the players chops. Edgar Meyer’s Bach Cello Suites are pretty pure in their intentions and, whilst being bloody hard to play, aare just pretty melodies. There are many other great examples but so much of the stuff we hear from the players that are often the most highly rated exponents of our shared instrument is really clever but, ultimately, futile. When you get past the chops, there’s often not a lot there.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1225876' date='May 10 2011, 09:31 AM']Oi!!!! That's not a bass! [/quote] Not fair. It has a narrower range than half of Dood's basses?

I have these also if anyone wants them and is disappointed because someone else got there first for rmorris' copies.

10,000,000 string players can't all be wrong. I have to say, I do smile when people say 'wow! its a fretless'. There is a tacit assumption that fretless players are in some way a cut above fretted players. Its nonsense. The 'additional' skills required to played fretless over fretted bass are about 1% of the whole package. The big issue is learning to listen to what you play rather than to assume that becasue you are on the thrid fret, you muct be in tune (I have heard plenty of fretted basses played out of tune. A fret is no guarantee!! ). If you can't hear what you are playing on a fretless, you may experience problems. However, IME, if I can't hear it, noone else can either so it matters not a jot Don't be frightened of it. Its not hard. Just different.