Alun

[quote name='CHRISDABASS' post='334738' date='Nov 23 2008, 10:12 AM']as the topic description says i got my first paid session job today!! its a whole album of pop/electro songs for a guy in the old US of A! (i cant really mention who it is yet) he sends me 2 versions of each track over the internet, one with "guide bass" and one with no bass at all. I then do my bit and send it back to him! it seems pretty straight forward really! it just seems strange that someone wants to pay me for doing something i love! he also mentioned a US tour!!!!! now that would be crazy!!!! so back to the question! how much do you get paid for session work? cheers[/quote] One bit of advice I would suggest is, whatever amount you decide on, make sure it's clear WHEN you'll get paid. I've done a few of these projects and find that producers do vary a little on their expectations of when you might like to get paid As long as everyone's clear about their expectations, it saves awkwardness later on. Sounds like a fun project though - enjoy Cheers Alun

The middle of this has some POG Hammond impressions on bass.... [url="http://www.alunvaughan.com/OMAHP.mp3"]http://www.alunvaughan.com/OMAHP.mp3[/url] All the other nonsense is also the POG

Going to see him in Bristol on Sunday - can't wait

Welcome back What sort of music are you into? That'll give us an idea to base ( no pun intended!) suggestions on. One thing I would say is that, although it sounds like it's frustrating at the moment, don't forget that you used to play a lot and therefore are completely 100% capabale of doing so - it just takes a bit of time to get everything back to where it was Cheers Alun

Bloody hell - I thought I'd seen her before!!!! How stupid am I???

I've had an Alden violin bass for about 2 years and have had no problems at all with it. I have noticed the build quality seems a little variable though - they had a few there and the one I bought was by far the nicest Cheers Alun

That 57 reissue does look lovely..... and I don't own a Precision at the moment

[quote name='Telebass' post='329816' date='Nov 15 2008, 07:58 PM']Have got Notepad 2008, and am working on it...It's the timing aspect that is worst; can sort out the actual notes a bit already. That last site looks interesting - thanks![/quote] As far as rhythm reading goes, I would stress counting the subdivisions eg an 8th note is two 16ths, a dotted 8th is 3 and so on. For sight reading that sort of stuff I sometimes disregard the barlines and think purely in terms of each note's duration so if there was a run of 4 dotted eight notes, I'd be thinking "123, 123, 123, 123"rather than "OK, first note on the beat, second one on the last 16th of beat one, second one on the and of 2, etc". It's not necessarily the "right2 way to do it but I find it really useful for on the spot moments :-) The other thing I'd recommend is getting used to how a particular grouping sounds - so knowing that an eighth and two 16ths is "dun-du-du" like the classic steve Harris gallop rather than reading each note. This comes back to the old "music as a language" theory as we look at a word as a whole, not as individual letters, eg cat instead oif C.A.T - same principle with these rhythms. Cheers Alun

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='329798' date='Nov 15 2008, 07:28 PM']No we are between songs that's the trouble. The guitarist plays a little riff, the drummer runs around the kit and I... stand there and grin...[/quote] Maybe go for a well known riff - Another One Bites The Dust maybe? Most people will recognise that ( even if some don't know where from ) Or the theme from the Simpsons always goes down well! Cheers Alun

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='329799' date='Nov 15 2008, 07:29 PM']Same with me and at the time we are usually playing Signed, Sealed Delivered so I would be interested to hear what I could improvise with for a bar or two !![/quote] If you're vamping the chorus bit, you could try something like.... EDIT - oops, tab has gone odd at the end of the first bar sorry! Should be 5th fret on A and 7th on D - much easier Cheers Alun

Are you playing something when you're introduced or does everyone start from silence? If you are playing a song, what is it? Might help us think of suitably quotable tunes that'll fit

[quote name='beerdragon' post='329634' date='Nov 15 2008, 01:01 PM']Blimey. Victor Brox. he's still going!. he must be about ninety odd now.[/quote] Yeah, he's getting on a bit but still got a really powerful voice and does some great piano and trumpet playing Played some 12 string too. He comes down to Swansea a couple of times a year and it's always a fun gig. Cheers Alun

Nice local gig with Manchester based blues singer Victor Brox. Only downside was another calamity in the life or my car when the passenger window collapsed and we had to strip all the interior of thr door to wedge it back up Oh well, another fun trip to the garage as it looks like something has snapped in the winder assembly somewhere

You can usually pick up a brand new RC20XL for about £150 on eBay ( I did ). I agree that the RC2 isn't great ( too many functions in one footswitch IMHO) but the RC20XL isn't bad at all. Cheers Alun

Pretty dull function in the Swalec Stadium cricket ground in Cardiff for me- arrive at 6, play at 10.40 to resounding apathy Also managed to take 2 inches of paint off my sill on a kerb

Vai and Sheehan in the David Lee Roth days ( although not in Vai's solo band where it just didn't work for me) Joe Pass and Niels Henning Orsted Pederson or Ray Brown Jimmy Johnson and Allan Holdsworth Any Iron Maiden line up Cliff Burton and James Hetfield All the Motown and Stax variations

In fairness, Bassday was the same weekend as it was last year and was booked a long time ago. Cheers alun

[quote name='jacko' post='327478' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:11 PM']I was disappointed with Hadrien's set, not just because of the music but because his sound was so muffled. Same with Janek's tone - are they getting that tone deliberately?[/quote] I must admit I didn't think either was particularly muffled, not much treble but still defined and easy to make out every note. Their tones are quite similar to a lot of players from the ( I may get flamed for this) "Matt Garrison school". Cheers Alun

[quote name='aceuggy' post='327068' date='Nov 11 2008, 08:17 PM']I've been playing bass now for a few months and go weekly to a tutor. My tutor is a great guy and I get on really well with him, but I can't help feeling that I'm not really learning how to play. He is a guitarist, who also plays bass and my sessions with him are getting a bit repetitive. What I mean is that he shows me or asks me what I would like to play i.e. a tab. We go over it a bit and then I take it home and practice it. The following week, provided I've kind of got it down we have a little jam session and then the same thing happens again. Now whilst I enjoy learning new songs and jamming with him is fun, he's not really showing me any technique, so I don't feel like I'm really learning how to play the instrument. It could be that he thinks this is all I want, and to be honest I'm not exactly sure myself except I can't help feeling I want more than this. Maybe a bit more technical know-how. Not sure this is making sense, but where do I go from here?[/quote] Hi. My honest answer would be to look for a teacher is a bassist and explain that you're starting out and need guidance on technique, etc. There is definite benefit in jamming and learning songs but it must be balanced, in my opinion, with guidance on HOW you play not just WHAT you play. Cheers Alun

I'd go for pencil too - used it on my fretless when I started. Haven't used it on my upright as I have an NS Wav which is littered with dots As a result, I've got used to the positions and am reasonably accurate now on regular upright. Cheers Alun

Thanks Jake, much appreciated Cheers Alun

What a fun day. Great to see Ped, Urb, Pris, 6stringbassist, Janek and anyone I've forgotten As 4000 says, I too probably wandered past loads of people not knowing who they were ( seeing Machines' pics I realise I saw him and BigRedX at various points in the day!) I had a great time. Richard Bona far exceeded any expectations - one of the most stunningly beautiful solo performances I've ever seen and a fascinating question and answer session. I really enjoyed Hadrien personally, especially the barely recognisable arrangement of Message In a Bottle I actually preferred seeing him with his own band rather than the house band like last year - his pianist was phenomenal. TM Stevens was superb too, although I wasn't too keen on the guitarist and second bassist if I'm honest. The guitarist in particular, while a great player, seemed to think it was his gig at times. I've seen Yolanda and Janek a few times before and both were great as always. Dave Marks also proved he's still one of the most melodic bass soloists in the UK today, as well as being a great teacher. Zoltan Dekaney's upright masterclass was very interesting too, if a little tricky to hear over the slapathon coming from the trade stands. His solo pieces also awe inspiring. Any negatives? A couple - the bass trio who started the event on the Boom stage suffered from possibly the muddiest acoustics of all time and some very dodgy intonation ( more than likely due to the poor bloke not being able to hear himself) and I felt that the blues singer who opened the theatre gigs was good but out of place. The song with Stevie seemed a little awkward, they seemed much more comfortable as a guitar and vocal duo ( the guitarist was superb incidentally). I would rather have had Stevie's trio or one of the bands who were on the Boom stage at the end of the night personally as it would have been more "bass". Some lovely gear about, including a stunning second hand 6 string Shuker, but nigh on impossible to hear what it sounded like over the constant rumbling as each stand seemed to try and outdo the next in terms of volume. I did get to have a quick go on the new Delano equipped Marleaux at the end of the night when it was quieter and that really is a lovely sounding and easy to play bass. I left just as Matt Owens' trio was starting on the Boom stage as I'd been up since 5.30 and was flagging a bit but had a great day Roll on next year!!! Cheers Alun

[quote name='Rayman' post='325123' date='Nov 9 2008, 08:57 AM']What time are the doors open?[/quote] I believe 12 o'clock

The new Corts seem nice, espcially the one with the cutaway. Cheers Alun

[quote name='urb' post='324935' date='Nov 8 2008, 07:15 PM']gonna take my Sei[/quote] Hi Mike, I may need to demand to see that Am already in Manchester, making my traditional weekend of it - currently abusing the hotel's wi-fi Cheers Alun