tauzero

Have you gone into My Controls | Manage Attachments and cleared a few out?

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='1016018' date='Nov 8 2010, 09:01 AM']Who are these two 'really not bothered' peeps? They want rounding up and shooting!!! [/quote] You'll never catch me alive, copper.

I don't let it get to me too much, although I sometimes find myself concentrating too much after a mistake - I don't know how anyone else finds it, but once I start thinking specifically in note terms what I should be playing on songs that I know well and don't normally think about, my playing can suffer a bit. If we make a significant cockup (for any band except the ceilidh band), we will probably talk about it afterwards just to decide whether it was a one-off or whether we need to do a bit more rehearsal on the song. With the ceilidh band, we follow the melodeon anyway so even if she heads off into a different tune entirely (it has happened a couple of times) we'll stick with her. As for the little slips, one of the drummers I play with occasionally makes a slight fluff of a fill, and we will exchange glances (in a good way) when that happens.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='1014314' date='Nov 6 2010, 02:42 PM']Read, schmead. Far better to devote valuable practice time to learning little dance steps, playing l/h hammer-ons so you can wave to the audience, that sort of thing.[/quote] Quite. I'm currently working on a major stage move - for the right hand, replacing throwing the goat \m/ or the peace sign m\/ with the Vulcan "Live long and prosper" sign \\// and it's pretty hard getting into position for that. Theory just doesn't teach you how to set a trend.

I was guitard last night but thought I'd do a little mention of the night anyway... It was an acoustic night (or "nite") in a local ex-night-club. I'd noticed that the line-up had a "TBC" on it so I'd asked if we (Mrs Zero and I) could do a slot if no-one had C'ed. We got it, Emma the organiser asked us to turn up about 8 for a sound check, doors open at 9, first act would be 9.30 and we'd be on 3rd at 10.30. So we turn up (first), get soundchecked, first act (Benji, a guitarist/songwriter who does sing too and Mrs Zero and I know) turned up next and soundchecked, headline act (singer/songwriter/guitarist a bit like Billy Bragg with a neutral accent and acoustic guitar) then turned up and soundchecked. It appeared the second band weren't turning up - they'd texted Emma to say they wouldn't be coming, then that they would, then she couldn't get in touch with them. Then, just after 9.30, when first act had been pushed back a few minutes to allow for them not being there and Mrs Zero and I were planning a slightly extended set, they turned up - four youths and a couple of dads. Benji went on, played till a few minutes after 10 (during which time the second band stood just by Mrs Zero and I, talking very loudly), then the second band got up and plugged in. No sound from guitars. After f***ing around for a while (including Emma asking them if their guitars were turned up), they got underway with a faint sound from one guitar and nothing from the other. A bit through their set (which was sort of hippy-meets-rap), the headliner wandered over to the silent guitarist and pointed out that the volume control on his guitar was set to zero. The other guitarist was gut-wrenchingly out of tune. Mrs Zero and I got up next and turned in our usual immaculate performance There wasn't a big audience, and it was made smaller by the fact that the second band all f***ed off partway through our set. Still, it's the difference between playing to an audience and having a sort of a musical conversation with them. Last on was Harry and his Heartless Sleeve - I'd seen him once before and thought he was rather better this time than he was then. Talking to him afterwards, it turned out that the time I'd seen him before was his first gig. Anyroadup, Emma liked us, Benji and Harry, and told me afterwards that the other band had asked for another gig there and she was, let us say, unlikely to have them back. Plus I should have secured another gig there for the originals band (for which I play bass, so there finally is bassist content). The moral of this long and rambling post is that soundchecking is a bloody good idea, as is not annoying a promoter/organiser. And don't piss around like the second band did when another person at the gig is another local promoter. And word about how a band behaves does filter out to other bands too, so if bands happen to organise a gig then they might have heard about that behaviour.

[quote name='pete.young' post='1012677' date='Nov 4 2010, 10:30 PM']I think the punk band got the sh*t end of the stick - only one minute 20 of their excellent stuff in order to make way for a second turgid Clapton tune.[/quote] "Only"? That's enough time for three Ramones songs! Punks these days just aren't up to it... Every now and again I watch Later. I then stop watching it until I forget why I don't bother watching it.

You don't know about the rattlebird, that shakes its tail feathers making a rattling noise to warn off possible threats? Oh, hang on. Snake. Rattle[b]snake[/b]. As for Chris Squire (who presumably dreams of being promoted to Chris Knight), he had Rick Wakeman (ex Royal College of Music) to help him with the theory if he needed it. Among Yes's contemporaries were Focus, and a lot of musical theory didn't stop Thijs van Leer and Jan Akkerman from, er, rocking it out, baby. Akkerman is IMO one of the greatest guitarists who have ever lived, and certainly the best one that never gets into lists of "50 greatest guitarists".

[quote name='DanOwens' post='1012685' date='Nov 4 2010, 10:37 PM']You'll see mine and BigRedX's posts have common themes. Reading both of these and (if you're serious) MIDI for the Professional [[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/MIDI-Professional-Paul-Lehrmann/dp/0825613744"]CLICK[/url]] will make you an expert![/quote] Dammit, that's just cost me a fiver...

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1010889' date='Nov 3 2010, 03:15 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Indie-Bass-Guitar-Rickenbacker-/120642590525?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c16dbd73d"]Indie with bizarre finish.[/url][/quote] If you put it down on a kitchen worktop, you'll never find it again.

[quote name='elephantstone' post='1012229' date='Nov 4 2010, 04:06 PM']does the synth player having two synths affect this plan, or is it a case of just getting a feed from both synths into a headphone amp that can take 2 inputs and feeding it to the headfones?[/quote] Small cheap mixer with headphone output? You should be able to turn that up somewhat.

Left hand - I can have them up to 2mm before they start being an issue but I'll probably have cut them before then as 2mm is too long for guitar. Right hand - I've just measured them. 3mm, and that's just about the right length. I don't pluck just with the nail, I pluck with my fingertip but the nail is definitely involved because if I break a nail, my playing with that finger is thrown right out.

I started on guitar, and still play it (doing a gig tomorrow night, in fact). Went to university, put a band together with another three students in our hall of residence, and sort of got relegated to bass. After dropping out of university, didn't do anything for a while, then when I moved to Tamworth I put up an advert saying "Lead/rhythm/bass guitarist available". Got recruited as bassist by one of the local bands, and that has been my main instrument ever since - I'm definitely a better bassist than guitarist, though I enjoy doing both.

[quote name='elephantstone' post='1012106' date='Nov 4 2010, 02:35 PM']Yes it does have a headphone output.[/quote] Just plug some headphones into the headphone output then. See if that's any good for the drummer. If not, you'll need a different approach, but (assuming someone's got some headphones) this experiment doesn't actually require any equipment to be purchased.

[quote name='elephantstone' post='1011874' date='Nov 4 2010, 11:52 AM']Am i right in saying that we could take a lead from the midi output of the synth plug it into some sort of headphone amp then in turn to quality headphones???? would this be the right solution or am i completely wrong?[/quote] No, not from the MIDI output, that will be outputting MIDI signals. Has the synth got a headphone output?

I've just found an article on the subject - [url="http://content.yudu.com/A1pppt/MIPNOV2010/resources/30.htm"]an interview with Chris May about the Aspiration series.[/url] But dammit, they don't exist without pictures...

Little? I'm 175cm and nearly as much in circumference...

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1011674' date='Nov 4 2010, 08:53 AM']I've just read through some of the original post with Janek getting slated. I honestly don't think he deserved it.[/quote] He does come over rather differently in real life than in print. There's something in the way he writes that makes him seem rather egocentric, but he doesn't seem at all like that in real life - more like someone who knows he has accomplished things and is proud of them but not boastful about them.

<waves hand> Could I be next please?

What's parking like round there?

Looks aren't the be-all and end-all to me, but I will ignore just about any J, P or MM shaped bass. I like the swoopy look - Ritter, Sei Flamboyant, that sort of thing, and to a lesser extent the Peavey Cirrus and Grind. Playability does trump all though - when I bought my Thumb, it was because it was the most playable bass I'd ever picked up, though it looked rather odd to me (after a Hayman 40/40 and a P).

I've never tried doing a key change. Must give that a go sometime. Looks like the Vocalist Performer needs you to set the key, judging by the little blurb on it on Digitech's website. I have no knowledge of it.

Ashdown Superduperfly head Tech Soundsystems 4x10 for rock gigs BFM Omni 10.5 for small intimate gigs (needs sorting out to stop it farting though) GK 200MB (forerunner of the MB150) for ceilidh band rehearsals in the pub, though I have used it for bigger gigs too

If it doesn't know the key, the only harmonies it can generate are 5ths and unison/octave (if I've got my theory right). The 3rd changes according to the chord, which will depend on the key. You're not setting the key so it can juggle your original note (not unless you want it to, anyway). You adjust the mix - separate controls for guitar (if you're using it), main vocals, and generated harmony vocals. The manual is [url="ftp://ftp.digitech.com/pub/PDFs/Manuals/Vocalist_LIVE4/VL4%20manual%2018-0477-A.pdf"]here[/url] - that will give you a better idea of the capabilities of the unit. Saying all that, the price seems to have rocketed since we bought ours. I'm sure ours was sub-£300. At least the VL-2 (two harmonies) is still around £220.

Yes, with no instrument plugged in you can set key (note and major/minorness). It's worked fine for us (Mrs Zero and I, with her singing into it and me guitaring), and also in the club band I used to be in.

I generally take a spare - it's a Hohner Jack so it's as compact as a guitar. Haven't actually needed it but it's not much extra to carry.