Bilbo

Most desks let you turn the phantom power off....... at least that's what I thought.

Being a reader.......

Not learning per se but I am looking at the six Bach Cello Suites at the moment. Great reading practice and great for learning your way around the double bass without looking at your left hand fingering. Its also helping me nail my intonation. Also makes peractising more interesting that running straight scales and arpeggios.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q8Gvwc2GyQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q8Gvwc2GyQ[/url]

Note the relaxed groove. Most people who play this play it too fast and too aggressive and it loses so much as a result. Less is more.

[quote name='dlloyd' post='862151' date='Jun 9 2010, 02:52 PM']Do horn players search for a unique sound to avoid sounding like Charlie Parker? Even jazz guitarists tend to stick to a limited number of sounds... archtop, neck pup, flats, tone down, clean amp. They don't attract a great deal of criticism for going for the Wes Montgomery, etc. sound. Why should electric bassists be different?[/quote] If a horn player sounds derivative, of Parker, Coltrane, Brecker or anyone else for that metter, then they will be subjected to censure. The subtleties of jazz guitar sounds are also subject to scrutiny and anyone who 'sounds like' Wes would be criticised for it (although there is more tolerance for 'neo-classicism' in jazz nowadays, hard core critics and fans alike are looking for new and fresh perspectives not 'classic' sounds). There are always influential players, composers and arrangers etc but being a clone in any of these areas is as unwelcome as being a Jaco clone is in bass circles. In truth, there is a subtle difference between what is a 'generic' sound e.g. a double bass vs. an electric one and what is a personal sound e.g. Charlie Haden's sound, or Ron Carer's or Marc Johnson's or Dave Holland's etc. The question is, what elements of Jaco's 'thing' have found their way into generic electric bass playing and how much of that can a player incorporate into their own playing before they are criticised for being a clone. It has to be a personal thing but, for me, those who obsess over the details in one person's playing are fantasists who need to move on and realise their own potential as an individual musician. You know someone is in trouble when they start to [i]dress[/i] like their influences As Steve Swallow says: 'in order to become a real player, you need to eat your father' i.e. digest your influences and them spit them out and move on. I hear infuences in Marthe but he is no clone.

Been there and done that a thousand times (fortunately not involving third parties in the 'reveal'). Its an occupational hazard of dark room and working with something you can't actually look at as it is around the back. THere is also the one where you are starting a set and you hit the first note and nothing. You haven't plugged your bass in.

I have nothing to contribute to the advice as I have only played two types of string: one I can identify, the other I can't. I guess the difficulty is that, at these prices, few of us can afford to experiment in any meaningful way (I woudl not consider playing a set on one brand three years ago to be a useful perspective to take). Drawing on the experience of others only has limited value as many have only played a small percentage of the available brands/string guages so comparisons are problematic. Personally, I like the Evah's but, having never tried anything else other than the ones the bass came with, I have nothing to relate them to. Spiros are THE brand for jazzers but the opinions on their arco sound seem divided. Everything else appears to be a lottery as few have tried them!! As someone suggested above, I intend to focus on the playing and let everything else come to me over time.

[quote name='grumble' post='860340' date='Jun 7 2010, 08:55 PM']now working my way through Fever and realising what a fscking great song it is ![/quote] Don't be fooled. Its crap. Captain Smith and Pochahontas? What the hell is THAT all about

[quote name='alibabu' post='859730' date='Jun 7 2010, 12:15 PM']I think the music on the 'Faces and places' album ranges from the absolutely brilliant to the somewhat boring, but I don't think Linley plays on the album, the bass duties are shared between Richard Bona and Etienne Mbappe. You can hear Linley Marthe on the 'Vienna Nights' album with Zawinul.[/quote] Sorry, that is the other one I had which I bought specifically to hear Marthe. Got them mixed up. Academic now because I sold both of them...

Boa vinda, irmão

I used Parcel Monkey to send a bass from Felixstowe to Cardiff. It got there in one piece and cost about £12. I can't say any more than that, really. They also took an amp to France for me without any difficulty but that cost £44..

Go see Jakesbass in Aldershot - just down the A3/A31 over the Hog's Back and you are there. He'll sort you out anyway you want to do it.

Since picking up the DB, I have found myself watching old videos and focussing on the r/h plucking techniques. There are a lot of players that only really use one finger on their r/h (Mingus, for instance) but many that use 2 (Dave Holland, Paul Chambers, Scott LaFaro) but some of the one finger players are playing quite rapid passages with ease. In my own experience (such as it is) I am finding that it becomes easier with practice. I started with a very 'electric bass' like technique but, as I have practiced more systematically, I have been able to focus on a more conventional r/h technique with increasing success (still not ripping it up but there is time yet). I do think that, maybe, one of the issues here is in recognising the need for patience and to allow your skills to develop. I also find that I use about three or four r/h techniques (some good, some bad) when I am gigging, if only to compensate for a lack of stamina. But it is getting better slowly.

[quote name='Rich' post='859123' date='Jun 6 2010, 06:28 PM'] How so? I hear no Jaco in Cottle's playing.[/quote] I agree with Faithless. I have seen Cottle several times (and have a couple of cds somewhere) and have found his playing to be derivative. Not just Jaco but lots of Jeff Berlin and several others also. Great player but not a unique voice. A journeyman craftsman but not a great artist. As for LM, I bought Faces and Places to hear him and, whilst there are always 'wow' moments in relation to Zawinul's grooves, ultimately, the music is frantic to the point of unsettling and I find it represents musical excess of the worst possible kind. Clever, spectacular but ultimately emotionally sterile.

I don't practice the electric bass at all at the moment but feel completely natural playing it. I don't find I am inadvertently transferring fingering spacing from the DB to the Wal. What I have noticed is that I am more focussed on my intonation on electric than I was before and I was pretty much nailing it then so that's a good thing.

Did a lot of DB practice yesterday and then a gig on electric bass. Feeling a bit sore today, handswise, like when you have been shifting bricks all day!!

I am listening as we speak to Edgar Meyer's Unaccompanied Cello Suites performed on the Double Bass and am loving it. Has anyone any recommendations for other arco recordings by top drawer players. Classical preferrably, solo would be good. Not a lot of great arco jazz out there (Stewart and Chambers excepted).

Just been through a major transaction with Nicolas and he has shown himself to be a man of honour. You can deal with him in confidence.

[quote name='iamthewalrus' post='857470' date='Jun 4 2010, 05:15 PM']I won't be playing in a pit band any time soon but it would be nice to play all the stuff in my bass books [/quote] I think that is one of the most important aspects of this. It is a great way of maximising your practice time and getting you into the learning material andout the other side.

[quote name='BenTunnicliffe' post='856787' date='Jun 4 2010, 02:23 AM']Bit of a rant but for me going through the Jaco stuff I got a nice basis for technique, insight into improvisation, rhythm, harmony and individualism but breaking out of that was equally beneficial in different ways with both these processes being hugely important to me.[/quote] You've hit the nail on the head, Ben. Study improvisation, rhythm and harmony and not Jaco and the student will get to where s/he needs to be a lot quicker.

Some nice ideas floating around there, Ben. And your bass sounds great. Di or mic?

Actually, I interviewed Ron Carter for my Paul Chambers biography and he played with Mingus on "The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers" My God. I did it in 2!!

I was listening to a Mingus download this morning and got to thinking how many degrees of separation woudl take us from me to the great man himself. The quickest route I could find was: Me Stan Sultzman (did a gig with him in Jagz in Ascot once) Dave Holland (played on Kenny Wheeler's 'Flutterby Butterfly' with Stan Sultzman John Scofield (played with Holland in the jazz 'supergroup' ScoLoHoFo) Charles Mingus (Scofield played on the bass players LP 'Three or Four Shades of Blue' Or Me Nigel Cyril (a drummer from Newport in Monmouthsire) Courtney Pine (Nigel played with the saxophonist once) Branford Marsalis (Pine played on Branford's 'The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born' Herbie Hancock (played on Marsalis' Renaissance LP) Miles Davis (featured Hancock in his second great Quintet) Charles Mingus (played with Davis on several recordings in the late 1940s/early 1950s How quick can you get there...?