Bilbo

All sounds a bit bizarre to me but, hell, I like string to be at least a decade old before they settle in.... Maybe I should get Etienne to play my bass for three songs wheneever I need a restring.

A carbon fibre bow from Yita Music (on ebay). And a heavy duty music stand.

Just for reference, I have used Parcel Monkey on the last two occasions I have sent something (bass to Cardiff and amp to France). BOth got there in one piece without any problems. £12 (I think) to Cardiff - £45 to France. Did it all on line and they collected from a place of my choice (in my case, work). Delivery two days later.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='855024' date='Jun 2 2010, 04:07 PM']+1. I'm trying to learn how to bow at the moment, I've found it's a great test of the patience of my neighbours.[/quote] :lol::lol:

Its an old tried and tested methd guitarists use to breath new life int old strings. Personally, as someone who changes strings aboput once a decade, I hate the sound of new strings so I would never do it. It apparently makes them bright for a little while but they get dull again very quickly. Never heard it done with bass strings but why not?

I have spent time looking at Jaco, Percy Jones and Jeff Berlin but eventually figured out its the music that counts not the player. Study music not musicians. It is wonderfully useful to recognise the techniques people use; finger style using alternate, three or even four fingers, slapping, double thumbing, tapping etc but, for me, the important thing is to learn the TECHNIQUE only and not to spend too long with the player a, because you will inevitably fail to sound like them so it is a fools errand and, b, because that is not a way to make great music. Learn the music. Learn what makes bebop work. Learn to play funk grooves. Learn to shred. Learn what chords sound like. I posted something here ages ago about not wasting time learning party tricks like Donna Lee/Dixie/Amazing Grace etc. If you want to play bebop leanr anything by Parker EXCEPT Donna Lee. This is the stuff that will take you places. Learning a load of other players party pieces, however great the original;, will bring you very little return in the long run. THe problem with finding your true path is in recognising that you are already on it.

Did my fourth double bass gig yesterday. Slim Hopgood's Swingin' Hamptons at Isaacs in Ipswich - a tradish jazz band that I do once or twice a year because they are friends - I don't accept trad gigs ordinarily. It was also a chance to give the double bass a workout, Good news? Did the whole gig on double bass and didn't have to resort to the Wal at all. No arm, hand or shoulder pain. No blisters at all (only minimal soreness at the tips of my r/h fore/middle fingers when submerged in hot water) Noone laughed. Bad news Not a great sound through my (flat) Eden amp Loud drummer resulted in a complete lack of finesse on my part and the complete loss of any technique worth speaking of The realisation that, now the honeymoon period is over, I have a mountain to climb to get to the level I want to achieve. Not that I am shying away from that climb; its nothing more that a moment of pathos...

[quote name='Caddy' post='847427' date='May 25 2010, 12:52 PM']Collection prefered, but delivery can be negotiated.[/quote] Where are you based, Paul?

[quote name='Hector' post='849999' date='May 28 2010, 01:51 AM']Learning to read music totally changed my life. I'm not exaggerating. One day, about 4 or 5 years ago, a friend asked if I wanted to play bass in a production of Les Miserables. I lied and said I could read music in order to get the gig. I sweated over that score to learn to read, but when it was time for the show I nailed it. I jumped in the deep end, and it was scary at first. I never thought I'd be able to do it! 5 years later and I am a totally different musician. Learning to read started me playing upright, which is the love of my life. I joined an orchestra and started getting/taking much more gigs, partly because I doubled on electric and upright but mostly because I could read competently. Since then, I've not looked back. 75% of my gigs I play on a regular basis involve reading, and more often than not sight reading (and those that aren't are jazz charts). There are still things that catch me out occasionally, but for the most part I'm fluent. I play with countless different orchestras, big bands, musicals, ensembles etc. I've met so many great people and made so many friends, and become a more rounded, competent and employable bass player. It sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet a bit, which I don't mean to do. The point I'm trying to make is that the one little decision I made all those years ago to get off my arse and learn to read properly has opened up a whole world of opportunities for me. Music is such a huge part of my life, and I love it, but I'd never have met so many people and played so many wonderful pieces if I hadn't learnt to read. It's allowed me to appreciate and enjoy what it is I do on a deeper level than I did before reading. It's made me so happy, and I'm grateful every single day that I get to play bass with and for so many people. I'm busy as feck mind, with my degree on top of gigging, but if you really love something it barely even feels like a sacrifice. I hope learning to read makes you as happy as it has me! EDIT: p.s. I feel the same about having a good ear, sight transposition (ever backed a singer who can't do original keys?) and being able to bash out a bit of piano.[/quote] Says it all. I've got something in my eye....

I can't help with any of teh detail, mate, but woudl recommend strongly that you deal with the reading issue. Not all sessions are studio based; many are live and require on site reading skills (shows, deps etc). If you have paino reading skills, this should not be too difficult a piece of work for you. Get your head down and nail those dots and you will open up a world of work for yourself.

Started on some bastard child of a guitar (4 nylon strings and two steel) but the first 'proper instrument' I owned was a bass. I now have one bass (double bass on its way) and four guitars.

Tone every time. When it comes down to it, getting around the neck is overated. Great in practice rooms and at bass clinics but, on the bandstand, I could probably still do 90% of my gigs if I lost two fingers of each hand

All of the above. Its the same as every other musician's role; to make the music as good as it can be. Sometimes this requires playing but sometimes it requires you to be silent. Your tone needs to be appropriate to the piece and to the genre, your ability to execute musical ideas needs to be impeccable. Most of all, you need to be the best musician you can possibly be. Being a musician should actually remain more important to you than being a bass player. If you work on that principle, you won't go far wrong.

I do agree with Jake in principle but I just wanted to flag up the furstration I feel at the amount of time I have to spend working with non-readers who spend so much time flapping about trying to learn/remember/explain pieces to each other. I reitterate a point I made here before. Writing and reading dots helps you get to the good bit (the playing of the thing) more quickly and, in a wholistic sense, helps you get to play more sophistiicated and complex musics more easily. I guess, as I get older and have less time to rehearse, its a great way of saving time. And, as Iain Ballamy once said to me, 'it takes you places you might otherwise not have gone musically'.

I'm Welsh. Is that the same?

I think I have enough saved so I can afford to look at it. Through glass.

It will do you good. When you get back your enthusiasm will have grown and you will return to practice with renewed vigour. A day off every now and then is good for the soul and helps you keep things in perspective.

A Quick Sketch from this Herbie Hancock Quartet CD. Ron Carter on bass. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quartet-Herbie-Hancock/dp/B0012GMWUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1274693581&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quartet-Herbie-Han...3581&sr=1-1[/url]

If you learn the six scales in all keys: Major Minor Melodic Minor Diminished Augmented Chromatic (NB I do not include pentatonics or the blues scale here because, despite their inherent usefulness, they are only really a part of the other scales and make more sense if you know what they relate to) Everything else (and there is a lot of everything else) comes from that (including Doddy's arpeggios). And, yes, learn to read. TAB is for lightweights

Nice avatar, Jake. Some people thrive on the variety. I can respect that completely. I think for me that its as much the production values that matter as anything. If I am called for a gig/session and its going to be good: good players, good arrangements, good results etc. I can get off on it. I've done some great pantomimes in my time!!

I guess it depends on the session! I can get by with most genres and, if a line is written down, it is generally no probem but I think there is an important point to make here. When I was playing the bass early on, there wasn't THAT much to learn in terms of the different genres. Country bass was not a million miles from rock bass wasn't a million miles from funk bass etc etc. In a nutshell, if you could do jazz/fusion, everything else was easy. I think genre specifics are a lot more complcated now. I can bluff a pop-reggae line but hardcore Dub fans would not think a lot of my efforts. Same with funk. I can get away with it but I ain't Bootsy. I think it sometimes matters more than others but, the straight answer to your question is, I only really enjoy it if I can do it well. If I am out of my comfort zone, I probably won't do that good a job. OK for a one off gig but a recording that will come back to haunt you forever; not so covinced. A lot of it is the sound - I wouldn't know how to get a completely convincing rock 'growl'. I'll leave it to you guys..

[quote name='crez5150' post='843026' date='May 20 2010, 12:33 PM']Well that really depends on a few things Bilbo.... Most local music shops serve a purpose.... maybe most of them will not be able to service specialist interests but most of them do service local tutors for things such as sheet music, Associated Board material, reeds, strings etc.... maybe they won't all be stocking that american/german/Indian Jazz bass you've been searching for... but they have value as a store[/quote] I don't disagree with the principle of what you are saying but as a muso, purchaser of hundreds of books on music theory, musicans, scores etc and as purchaser of recorded music by the bucketload, I never visit my local shops and haven't for years: not because of their pricing structures but because they don't really sell anything that I want/can use. Odds and sods but nothing REALLY important. Can't get the strings I use, the plectrums I use, the leads I use, can't try a double bass locally, can't buy a bow locally, can't buy the music stands I like locally, can't buy a decent bass case locally; the list goes on... I am not saying that there is nothing at all in these shops that I could use, just that it amounts to so little that I can't get excited about their potential demise. When you think about it, having a 'central' supplier like Thomann, GAK, Gollihur etc which can get you stuff at an affordable price means that musicians can also get the benefits of economies of scale normally reserved for food, clothing and furniture. Maintaining little local outlets is an honourable endeavour but I can't see that it reason enough for us to ask ordinary folk on limited incomes to pay over the odds to access the world of making music.

Nice one, Mike. Hope to capitalise on your success in November (PS my Paul Chambers biography is with the editor )

'Local' music shops have served no purpose for me for over 15 years. Like local record shops, they are for people that have a superficial relationship with the industry. For anyone with an even remotely specialist interest, local high street shops just don't deliver anything of value. Its all lowest common denominator stuff.