spinynorman

[quote name='Wil' timestamp='1349993436' post='1833445'] I don't know about Pink Floyd or Yes, but Genesis didn't start putting out sh*t records until after punk happened [/quote] Maybe I'm being too specific. Punk was claimed to be a reaction to prog rock. All that era was a bit of a blur musically for me anyway. The real question is - if Muse are falling into self indulgence and pretension, what will we have to invent to put a stop to it?

Last time this happened (Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes) they invented punk to put a stop to it.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1349697211' post='1829157'] How would you even [i][b]fit [/b][/i]78 strings on a guitar? [/quote] Surely you've seen those Tenessee brand monstrosities. Just make the neck wider till they fit.

I've now got an 18KG monitor I sold on its way back to me because UPS, or I gather any of the other couriers used by Interparcel, doesn't deliver to BFPO addresses, even in the UK. It's my fault, it's clearly in the terms and conditions, but I haven't looked at those since the first parcel I sent. Even so it seems a bit bizarre to me that nothing in the system picked this up until it went out for delivery, and then its brought back "Refused by recipient". And they don't wait to see what you want to do with it, just ship it straight back. So just a heads up for anyone else who might get caught. I'm hoping the buyer can give me a street address to ship it to, unless anyone knows a courier that will go to BFPO.

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1349862460' post='1831348'] Anybody else do that thing of playing the wrong note then waiting till the next verse comes nd playing the same one wrong again on purpose........ that's jazzzzzzz !!! [/quote] We had a gig in June which was the first for a long time, with one rushed rehearsal. As I hit a glorious sequence of notes in completely the wrong position, I thought "Better not do that again, people will think it's jazz.". And then proceded to make exactly the same mistake three times (and no, not on purpose).

Classical guitarist John Williams, asked what distinguished him from rival Julian Bream, said "Julian needs to practice." I guess that's the difference between me and you lot.

I always enjoy the back seat expert, with some tenuous connection to the business. Like, we'd had some problems with feedback in the first set, but sorted it quickly and the rest of the gig was fine. "You should use SM58s" says the landlord, whose brother in law was a roadie for Showaddywaddy or something, as we're leaving. "You never get feedback with SM58s." Unfortunately I'd packed away the 2 SM58s we'd been using all evening and I couldn't be bothered to get them out.

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1349783960' post='1830401'] That's what I was assuming in my original post. The ashdown combo was fine in the same band - fair enough, our drummer back then was a bit quieter than the one we have now, but I thought that a barefaced midget or a markbass 1x12 would cover it without PA support. I used to use a GK 2x10 and then after that I used a markbass 2x10 and both were loud enough - the barefaced site says that the midget is as loud as a 2x10, so that's another thing to back up my assumption. I am a relative noob though, and this stuff confuses the hell out of me [/quote] I wanted a lighter, more compact rig, but was worried that it wouldn't cope. In the end, I saw the Markbass for sale here at what seemed like a fair price and just took a deep breath and went for it. I still kept my old rig, till I was sure, on the basis I could sell the new one if it didn't work out and not lose a lot, if anything. Unless you can find someone who'll lend you one for a gig, really all you can do is take some advice, do some research, and go with your instinct. The worst thing at first was not having that pile of rock gear behind me. But that feeling reduced every time I made 1 trip to the car instead of 3.

So the landlord comes up to us after the gig. "What I like about you," he says, "is the way you change the set around to suit the audience." We smile politely, wondering where he got this idea from. It turns out the singer was sorting out her bag, and left an old set list lying on a table.

I assumed that people don't notice bass mistakes because they listen differently from me. But now I think about it, in years of hearing other bands, I can't remember ever hearing a bass player make a mistake. So either, when I'm in the audience my ears switch off like everyone else's, or it really is only me that makes mistakes.

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1349159985' post='1822434'] I really want one of those. Like, really! But I don't want to shell out for one if it might not keep up with my band. [/quote] I've got a Markbass CMD121H, which I think is basically the 121P in a taller enclosure, with a 1" tweeter instead of the peizo. The H is light enough that I can carry it one handed (and I'm not Mr Muscle by any means), and the P is 10lb lighter than that. As far as volume goes, I sold the 2x10 extension cab I had because I never needed it. The 1x12 really is surprisingly loud, I've never had problems hearing myself on stage, where ever I'm standing, and no one's ever said they couldn't hear me, quite the opposite if anything. If you did find you needed more, and if money's not a problem, you could always add the New York 121, which is also 29lbs. I'm playing in a rock band with a drummer with a big kit and every cymbal in the Xildjian catalogue, and playing mostly pubs with just backline and vocal PA.

[quote name='phsycoandy' timestamp='1349710461' post='1829433'] That's a sperm! perhaps he produces a few with a microbe of relief. There is another word for this! [/quote] There's a man who knows his cuddly toy biology! Great present for a first grandchild.

There's people on small business forums moaning if they don't conform to whatever is the current flavour at Ebay Borg Central they disappear from search altogether. Not sure how much of it I believe, but it looks like there's some manipulation going on.

I've got a Line6 Backtrack +Mic. The standard Backtrack is only really useful for 1 instrument, but the +mic version has a built in microphone. Basically you switch it on and it starts and stops recording based on how much noise it hears, and saves each section as a wave file. Needs to be placed carefully to get reasonable balance, but I've got pretty good results from rehearsals and gigs. Mono, but only cost me about £30 on eBay.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1349637427' post='1828587'] That's not really eBay's fault though, eh? [/quote] Actually it may be. Ebay have messed around with the search function a lot. Particularly if you leave it on Best Match, you'll get what eBay wants you to see, which will be predominantly Power Sellers, and a lot of those are in the US. I mind the US sellers less than all the China and Hong Kong ones. As you can see from the TV adverts, eBay now see themselves as a global on-line version of Debenhams.

Ironically, one of the things The Beatles were criticised for in their later years was over-reliance on pastiche, which is a polite term for ripping off. There was a bit in Sgt Peppers and the White Album was full of it. Talking of Neil Innes, now there's a legend, the real masters of pastiche were the Bonzo Dogs.

Haven't we seen this before? Dealers put up the ad to take advantage of a free listing day and add the details later.

The Microbe of Relief

I was 10 in 1962, so my teenage years were punctuated by Beatles releases. I couldn't deny that they achieved mass appeal, helped by brilliant promotion, and wrote some nice songs, helped by clever arrangements, but it was always pop. Which is fine, there's nothing wrong with pop, but it isn't, whatever William Mann said, Schubert. I've just seen, on a Beatles fan site, a remarkably good summary of how I feel about them. They represent " a nice, cosy insurance company friendly version of what youthful upheaval should be about.". Hence my comment about The Stones. They're rarely comfortable, whether its Mother's Little Helper, Under My Thumb or Brown Sugar. That's why I'm still listening to Stones songs.

[quote name='hollywoodrox' timestamp='1349459088' post='1826676'] Im More interested in the rolling stones 50 year aniversary [/quote] Me too, now we're talking about a band that wrote songs that are still worth listening to.

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1349370893' post='1825437'] Love the Ramones version. [/quote] I rather like that. Thanks.

Our singer wants to do Somebody to Love. For "the original" I suppose I should go back to Grace Slick and The Great Society.