Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

paul_c2

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,428

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by paul_c2

  1. paul_c2
    That's a good recording for a mobile phone - do you know what kind it was?
  2. paul_c2
    Its not just bassists.....
  3. paul_c2
    Interesting comments, and thank-you for going into some amount of detail. I know you said earlier "smaller/medium places", approx what size (in seating capacity or fire limit) are these? And what genre of music?
  4. paul_c2
    As said before, its a training issue. Teaching dyslexic students requires a more considered approach but is entirely possible, indeed professional teachers do it every day. I am not sure how old you are but its possible that previous teachers simply weren't that good; and/or dyslexia wasn't recognised (widely) in the past.
  5. paul_c2
    I've sight-read in alternate tunings such as DADG. Its possible, but requires some concentration! If you see yourself using alternate tunings, then tune into them more often than "once in a blue moon" (which ironically, is played in standard tuning) and get used to being in and out of them. Its like anything else - you are what you practice. French Horn players do it all the time - when you play "stopped" horn, the thing goes up a semitone!
  6. paul_c2
    This is interesting, but its more of an education/teaching/training issue. Some people are able to self-learn quite successfully. Others need some amount of direction - a more formal course. There's a ton of resources online but its variable quality and some people just can't get their head round it, when its on the computer screen. So, there's other approaches such as books. Sit away from a computer screen, read a book and it could be better for you. And some will need tuition of some kind by a teacher/trainer. And of course, there is the issue of age - young kids soak up knowledge like a sponge and find it easy and natural to learn. As you get older, it becomes more challenging mentally. I am sure you could learn, but it might be you've just not discovered the way to learn. If you take the approach "I won't be able to, because ............" then you indeed might not, though.
  7. paul_c2
    Which is fair enough - if you don't see its value, then nobody is forcing you to try learn to read music. In a broader sense though, my advice to an aspiring learning bassist would be to learn to read music, because it will give more opportunities in the future, possibly in genres of music you haven't really considered.
  8. paul_c2
    Of course there is - but the note pitches, lengths and dynamics are important too. You're assuming that the ear-trained, non-reading musician can simply "get" the note pitches, lengths and dynamics, then their "ear-training" makes them superior at being able to apply all the other factors which make up a great performance - phrasing, timbre, etc. In my experience this isn't the case. Also, there is a MASSIVE time saving in being able to get those note pitches, lengths and dynamics quickly - building a base to add all those extra elements. People who can read can do it quicker, and those who can sight read can do it essentially "in real time", without needing to have heard the song before and possibly play it over and over again in their own time.
  9. paul_c2
    They're both good to have but it depends on the situation you're in. In some situations, reading is irrelevant and playing by ear is critical; in others, its the other way round. And its fair to say that neither improves the other, except somewhat vaguely/indirectly. In the scenario I'm in: working with large groups (20+) musicians, with limited rehearsal time to get together and the logistics associated with that, relying on everyone to play by ear would be a disaster. So, everyone needs to read music and its a fast/efficient way to get things done and gig-ready. But I can understand in a different scenario, playing by ear would be the way to do it.
  10. paul_c2
    For a start, wattage and speaker size are (almost) meaningless. My 30W amp with a 10" speaker can often do a better job than the 120W amp with 15" speaker. You'd hope within a manufacturer's same make/model range, that the apparently bigger one could go louder though. It makes sense to only buy an amp once you have a fair amount of certainty in what you need it for, and if your current set up does the job for home use, no worries there, no need for an amp. I'll give the clip a listening later, on a proper sound system (on laptop at the moment).
  11. paul_c2
    Aaaaah makes sense now. In my experience with the smaller end of bass practice amps (only secondhand knowledge - I've not owned one myself but have heard and used them) they're a bit tinny anyway, so (personally for me, IMHO etc etc) I'd always go with a little step up from the 10W or 15W home practice amps and look at something around 30W. But more importantly, try it before buying! I know your question WASN'T "what's a good practice amp" but in the wider sense, what you're asking is similar/related. You're asking if your conventional-ampless setup is able to feed the right sounds to a speaker. Combo practice amps invariably DO feed the right stuff to the speaker....but the speaker itself might not "do it" properly (and it ends up tinny)! In days gone by, the advice was simple - get an amp - but these days, there's so many ways to skin a cat its not so simple. For example, most venues now have a PA of sorts; the rehearsal space might do too; and if not, then if you end up in a band with a singer, somewhere there will be a PA.
  12. paul_c2
    Is this a live setup? Or practice at home? Rehearsals? I'm confused what the context is.
  13. paul_c2
    Was going to answer too but its all covered in the link.
  14. paul_c2
    You'll probably know if reading is beneficial to you. There's no harm in NOT learning to, if you won't need it. If you're able to efficiently communicate musical things to others without it, great. I say probably, because you don't know what you don't know. It sounds like you play in one particular genre - nothing wrong with that - but some bassists cover many genres, some of which require reading to be truly accessible.
  15. paul_c2
    So true, and true for many other aspects of musicianship. You are what you practice.....If you perceive reading as relatively important, then you need to make time to practice it, to be able to progress. And if time is limited, you need to be sure you're spending it wisely, or having some direction eg a teacher giving positive input. A teacher can't do it for you or help you find a unicorn but they can guide you and provide a useful pathway to follow.
  16. paul_c2
    Green Buses Always Drive Fast........hang on, I'll rethink that one!
  17. paul_c2
    Last night we played what I consider to be our biggest gig so far, Telford's Warehouse in Chester. Its a well-known music venue in the local area and it was packed last night, it was for a special birthday party but it was open as usual too and looked full to me (which was a relief! I'd promised we'd bring in a decent crowd). Also this was the first with proper mic'ing up, PA with high volumes etc and earned us decent money. The band was really well prepared and played brilliantly, everyone seemed to have a good time and the feedback so far is good too. Some of the logistics were "interesting", there were 17 of us after all!!! As seems usual to post, here was last night's setlist: Opus One Get me to the Church Corcovado Fever Blue Moon In the Mood A Little Blues Please Big Bad Handsome Man Singin in the Rain Never Loved a Man Leap Frog Rock Around the Clock Happy Birthday INTERVAL Birdland Valerie Sir Duke Ain't no other Man Music To Watch Girls By Tequila Geno You know I'm no good Tainted Love Little Brown Jug Copacabana Don't Ever Think too Much
  18. paul_c2
    The placing of 2 subs together doesn't give a 3db boost - BUT it does prevent "power alley". (Google if you want to know more - I can't think of a simple way to explain it!!!!!) I think the +3db comment is due to its placement on the floor, which allows the floor to interact and reflect the bass frequencies - proximity effect. Further boost also occurs if its placed near a wall, or near 2 walls ie in the corner of a room. Its a handy little thing to get more volume but only in the bass frequencies, it tails off as the frequency rises.
  19. paul_c2
    I'd have thought this question is more driven by the science/facts than the "artistic" interpretation of what might be perceived as sounding good or not. If your PA can produce a fairly flat (or tweaked to be flattering) output, at the required/desired sound pressure level, in the environment or room you're playing in, without subs, then you don't need subs. If its not "doing it", or you're ending up going with 4, 6 or more mains, then perhaps some of those speakers ought to be subs so you are able to get the best out of the mains without needing to worry that half the power is going to a bass frequency that a small fraction of the band's overall sound (a small, but important, part though). So it becomes almost a question directly linked to the size of the venue. Above (say) 300-400 seater venue and subs are going to be the efficient way to do it. Fortunately I'm in a band which doesn't need to worry too much about the PA. We're relatively quiet; and putting to one side the outdoors events this summer, haven't needed to play anywhere bigger than ~200 yet. And I think if we did bigger, we'd simply either rely on the house PA or hire kit in, rather than need to invest in PA stuff too much. So the PA equipment we DO own is mainly for rehearsals (in a very echo-y, not-too-big hall) but can do smaller venues with no worries too.
  20. paul_c2
    Don't underestimate how valuable that is.
  21. paul_c2
    So it can't be customised on a per-subforum basis?
  22. paul_c2
    I think there's always going to be imperfections when 1) we're using crappy Invision forum software 2) trying to adapt a discussion forum into a classifieds listings service. For example, why not have a filled in form, then make posts "live" for (say) a week, then they are either renewed as still active, if not they automatically go into an archive (and are not editable). Is it possible to simply disallow editing of the subject title and content of the post (say after a few hours, to allow for corrections), that way the info would be preserved and there is no possibility of a seller deleting the information once an item is sold. It could be marked as sold some other way? (For example by the seller posting that its sold).
  23. paul_c2
    You don't need to use the same tuning as the guitarist. My main concern would be needing to adjust the nut; then needing to replace the nut to revert to EADG. I use DADG quite a lot, if I need to hit that low D or Eb. I'd not really bother with anything lower.
  24. paul_c2
    I guess its a case of either finding others who are exactly the same page as you; or being more tolerant and understanding of each other. If you all have different ideas of the direction the band is going in, and you don't know what direction others want, it won't end well.
  25. paul_c2
    The "sort by likes/greenies" thing is great for technical questions/answers but its better to sort by date once it becomes a discussion thread.
×
×
  • Create New...