BassTractor

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That can never be a good thing. Maybe it's better for you to accept the levels of your abilities, and to not try and cram a lot of new stuff into the short time you have left. You be the judge of this of course, but the way I see it you risk working yourself up to a stress level that is not going to contribute. As several have said: they want you. Try and tell yourself you're worth having. All the best! bert

Same here. However, expectations and prejudiced observations can play a major part. Not accusing anyone, but definitely IME.

Awkward maybe, but in total I count that as a good thing because performing in the same surroundings as where the learning took place is regarded as an advantage. Before my audition for music college, I found out where the audition was held, and got them to allow me to practice in that room. (added advantage in my case in that it was on pipe organ, so I got to study the characteristics of that specific organ before deciding on things like tempos, registration, etc.) As a general starting point, and I do take your stress seriously, I think it's good to keep realising that ACM staff deal with aspiring new students on a yearly basis, and they will normally do their part to make you feel at ease. They don't expect too much. All the best! Bert

True story, if you believe bassist Ray Shulman of pop group Simon Dupree & the Big Sound - later to become prog band Gentle Giant: SD&tBS: "Reg, you were great when you were depping with us! We're gonna leave the pop bizniz and will change the shape of music to come with a new band. Wanna be our keys player?" Reg: "Nah. See, I wanna work on my solo career and wrote this hit song: <plays/sings "Your Song">. SD&tBS: <snigger, snigger> Reg: "Also, I changed my stage name. It's Elton John now." SD&tBS: ROtFLOLPTS. Without Reggie, Gentle Giant became a huge success, and sold at least two thousand three hundred and forty four albums over ten years. As to the question in the OP: Yes, my friend Ernie and I (Bert) famously created the acoustic duo "Bert & Ernie". Really alter egos, mind: in real life, Ernie was the Bert type and I was a true Ernie.

King Crimson in its Double Trio version had both Tony Levin and Trey Gunn on Chapman Sticks and Warr Guitar. Dunno if that counts, and can't remember exactly how the instruments were used.

Ha! Just now I learned that the plural does have an 's' at the end.

Norton Internet Security in Chrome both says it's safe, and let me visit unhindered. Haven't tried other combinations. But ... Trojan? I guess your browser protection mistakes them for the Greeks. Greece has a slightly better song than the UK this year. I think this warning will last only a few more hours. You'll be OK.

You are not gonna believe me in this, but: Gentle Giant's otherwise fantastic bass player Ray Shulman sings a wrong note 😱 in the fugue-like vocals of this beejooteeful track called "On Reflection":

Nah. - "I couldn't have done that at all, but if I could've done it, I could've done it a lot better." Modest realism keeps ya sane.

There is a recording with me on it ...

Exactly. Probably a good idea to not draw too strong conclusions from one little remark made under specific circumstances. Though I do recognise that some indifferent people will answer "Anything!", I too could be found to say it - given the right setting.

I'll listen to anything and like really everything. Yes, I have great taste! 😁 That said, several posts in different threads by @zbd1960 could nearly have been written by me, me coming from a strictly classical background and then having accepted more and more music into my life as the decades passed. Today, just as I'll listen to Bach but (nearly) not to Vivaldi, I'll listen to Penderecki but nearly not to Britten, to B.B. King but not to Freddie King, to Little Big Town but not to Hank Williams, to Metallica but not to Slayer, etc. etc. As to the neuroscientific angle, I know very little and thusly am very sure I'm right ( 😉 ) in thinking that for most people, musicality as well as exposure as well as neurotransmitter combinations play important roles.

Ah. I'd overlooked that possibility. Thanks for mentioning. The Micron already had the vocoder, BTW, but the Miniak offered better UI, steel pot shafts, a better set of presets and a microphone. Some say that it also was redesigned internally so it should live longer, but I haven't seen this confirmed. All of this of course has relatively little to say for the original question of the OP, which I tried to answer before the OP saw new possibilities in other directions. I maintain the Miniak is a beast, as is the Blofeld Keyboard. Whether someone is served by their vast capacities is another matter.

Not wishing to try and sell you a Miniak, and I don't know the GR55, but one thing I know in-depth is that the synth engine of the Miniak is unparallelledly advanced in the price bracket. I read the GR55 has 900 PCM presets, which IME probably means the individual sounds can be tweaked to some degree. Then if you like those presets, your needs are covered. The Miniak OTOH does have 500 or so presets, and as I said initially these are a travel through hit history, but the Miniak's real power is in that you can build the exact sound you need - either from a preset or from scratch. Not everyone's cup of tea of course, but very, very, very powerful. (Me, I bought an iPad editor app for it, thusly evading the Miniak's user interface - though before that I programmed from scratch on the unit itself and that worked more than fast enough when I got used to it.) Of course your needs, or the OP's needs, might be met better with another box.

Can the software do this on a note-by-note basis depending on the chord structure? I'd imagine it technically possible by now, but is it done?

IMLE, no hassle at all. Bass kept on its leash, and fretting arm stretched over bass neck - unless bass is "hung" very vertically. As to what to buy, instruments exist that contain gazillions of presets that can be regarded as a travel through the history of hits. These can be modules, requiring a MIDI keyboard, or stand-alone instruments with built-in keyboard. One example of a great one, bought used, is the Alesis Micron, which later was bettered and re-released as Akai Miniak. You won't find better for the money, but its user interface with few knobs and buttons needs some getting used to. The Miniak in this is already much better than the Micron. A more expensive alternative, exactly as unique for the money, and again bought used, is the Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard. One should get the "Keyboard" version rather than the tiny module, for several reasons. It's less of a travel through hit history, but IMHO makes up for that through a very powerful synth engine. There may also be examples in the class of instruments that bewilderingly is called "keyboard" or "keyboard instrument". These are the often cheap instruments that beginners buy when wanting to start playing keyboards. They'll have built in rhythms as well as auto-accompaniment, and in the cheap end of the market sound incredibly cheesy. If you go that way, then maybe get a second-hand Yamaha, as they're the most secure brand to buy. Then get one that was 1,000 quid new or more. Roughly. Of course you might be able to find a model from another brand that's equally good. It's just that Yamaha have been consistent.

😀 True dat, but I hide behind the parapet of "novelty" as there is a certain novelty aspect to Würm - at least as seen from the hill of traditional rock. I mean, we have just learned that Maurice Ravel came first! 😉

Huh? Do you mean Sheila's "Spacer" by any chance ("he's a spacer, a star chaser" etc), or "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" by Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip? Or does Sheila have a "Starship Trooper" as well? This got my interest as reading your post I thought of "Starship Trooper" by Yes. Its "Würm" part might fall in the novelty category.

Ha! Didn't even remember that, and referred to a really recent thread, but I'm struck by the level of general wisdom expressed in the thread you linked to. I wish I was as smart as myself.

Quite understandable. I grew up with it and hated it thoroughly. Then something happened. Maybe it was my stroke. 😀

Twas essential info for those not yet aware of these things. Good you posted it.

Recently mentioned in another thread, but stuff like "Livin' it Up" by Bert Kaempfert. Easy Listening in style, incredibly cheesy, and still just wow. Also this Mantovani thing called "Charmaine". ...and since I now speak of what is essentially ballroom or lounge music: almost the complete output by Max Raabe, with songs like "In meiner Badewanne bin ich Kapitän" (in my bathtub, I am the captain 😀 )

No no no no, no no no no, no no no no, no no no no, no no no no, no no no no, no no no no, no no no no Superma'an ...

Laurie Anderson: "O Superman (for Massenet)"