peteb

Without wishing to resurrect the occasionally amusing but generally futile Playing by ear vs Reading thread on the Theory & Technique forum, the following is a quote from that thread by dlloyd on jazz: [quote name='dlloyd' post='480486' date='May 5 2009, 10:52 PM']Jazz used to be fun, it used to be dance music. It became more of an intellectual pursuit during the 1940s/50s when bebop musicians realised there were some neat theoretical tools to add dissonance to dominant chords. That in itself wasn't a bad thing... But when rock and roll appeared and people stopped listening to jazz, lots of people found themselves out of work and it (the first real 'American' artform) got preserved as a university course. One that was largely taught by those who never got bebop in the first place.[/quote] I think that he has pretty much hit the nail on the head there but obviously many people here still see jazz still as a viable proposition so what do they think?

[quote name='simon1964' post='480167' date='May 5 2009, 05:45 PM']Not in a Jazz, but I've put EMGs in my bog standard Precision and it sounds great. The biggest issue is likely to be where you put the battery - will be worth checking whether you will need any routing.[/quote] I've did the same on my 70s P bass many years ago Always sounded great, a bit of a pain changing the battery thru!

[quote name='Doddy' post='473605' date='Apr 27 2009, 07:08 PM']For what it's worth-I've just done 3 weeks worth of gigs which involved quite heavy reading,where as for the next few weeks everything will be learned by ear. I personally think that you should learn to read and develop a good/quick ear. However if you choose not to,that's fine-more work for me. [/quote] You can develop a good/quick ear without learning to read, that’s the whole point If you are going up for the type of gigs that require heavy reading skills you need to learn to read – if not you can get by with a ‘good/quick ear’……

Of course, when I say "learn from him" I obviously mean "rip him off blind"!

You are always going to come across someone who is better than you every now and again - that doesn't reflect on you or mean that you can't play If the guy with the 66 Pbass is really good, it means that you have the opportunity to watch him at close quarters and learn from him.....

[quote name='ARGH' post='468868' date='Apr 21 2009, 06:02 PM']ahhh..the birds in lycra years...its making a comeback fella!! AND BIG HAIR!!![/quote] There's probably some towns up in the North West where they are still waiting for it to happen first time round!

[quote name='LWTAIT' post='468873' date='Apr 21 2009, 06:06 PM']i think they both are and aren't. somtimes i think some people care so much about being technically good that they forget what music is about - being fun to make and listen to. so in that way, they are opposites. but also theyre not opposites because you have to be technically good to play good music (not necessarily good at deep theorey, but you have to be able to identify when a certain note doesn't sound right, and also need good technique, be able to get a good sound etc. which i'd all class as part of being good). it's a balance, really.[/quote] Yep, I pretty much agree with you there – you do not need to be a virtuoso to play a great music and some great players are tedious beyond words to actually listen to! However, a band does need to be able to play together to some degree….

[quote name='WILD FROG SHOT' post='468509' date='Apr 21 2009, 02:06 PM']Doubt this will be the last time but, once again, music is not a competition. There are technically bad players in all generations; is it really a crime for younger people writing their own music to be below par? At least they have time to develop and improve. Surely it is more of a "lazy" crime to play solely in a covers band. +1 on the comments that bands should act as a unit rather than a group of individual fret-w***ers. I cannot really comment on nu-metal; wasn't the point to remove the face-melting solos and add some hippity-hop to get some groove back into heavier music? Also didn't it open up Metal to a new audience of kids who weren't the sad greasy-haired B.O. fuelled loners at school /adults (that never grew out of it)? Arguably, isn't being technically good (as in near-perfect theoretical knowledge and knowing what one "should" play here and there) and having "standards" the complete polar opposite to what music is supposed to be about?[/quote] NO, being technically good and having "standards" is NOT the complete polar opposite to what music is supposed to be about – if you truly believe that then I really hope that I never accidentally have to see your band play! Music is absolutely NOT a competition to see who can play the fastest or most technically, etc but the OP was suggesting that young original bands these days do not play as a unit as well as their counterparts from 10 or 20 years ago, regardless of the quality of the performance of any solos (or fret w**king as you prefer to call it) - and if a band can't perform their own music to a reasonable standard then who will be able to appreciate the quality of their material? And as for “the sad greasy-haired B.O. fuelled loners” – you obviously were not around in the 80s when there were always plenty of women around rock clubs and their main complaint was always that they could never get near the mirror the following morning!!

The Precision bass is probably the bass reference tone and I have read of session players saying that many producers always ask for that particular sound If you read the Guy Pratt book, he says that Gilmore wanted him to play a P bass when he joined Pink Floyd

Sass Jordan (Rats period) - Tony Reyes, Carmine Rojas among others

Beefy Cool idea – should be lots of fun and you WILL improve, if only because you will be gigging more regularly! I’m assuming that you will be looking to play pubs rather than corporate / function type gigs, which are more hassle and requires much more work, more initial investment, dealing with agents, matching stage outfits, etc (but on the other hand will earn much better money). You will need a decent quality vocal PA with plenty of headroom (i.e. is loud enough) – spend your money on good quality speaker cabs and amps with sufficient power rather than a fancy desk. I would suggest that at most venues you will have vocals and a little drums (bass drum and an overhead) thru the PA and rely on backline for everything else. This generally works better for smallish venues than trying to put everything thru the PA. Therefore you will need a decent quality stack (minimum 300w) with something like a 4x10 cab. The best idea is to work out what type of audience you will be playing to and pick a set that they will all know but without too many blindingly obvious songs that every other band does. Don’t be afraid to throw in a couple of slightly more obscure choices – these may not go down as well as your very well known ones, but will be the ones that certain people in the audience will remember and make you different from all the other bands on the circuit and help to build a following. I could suggest a set for a hard rock audience, but I’m guessing that’s not what you will be aiming for somehow! The good news is that pub audiences love Oasis, so you should be OK there! Gotta go now and get a shower before setting off for a pub gig tonight………….

One last thought about Jeff Berlin – he should definitely get himself a woman, or at least a mirror! No one should go out in public, let alone on stage, dressed like he does......

[quote name='51m0n' post='453561' date='Apr 3 2009, 05:54 PM']I know what you mean, his tone even weirds me out and I'm the polar opposite of you tone wise. His playing sometimes seems a little too clinical and overly clever for me too (probably I'm not intellectual enough to 'get it' - whatever), although it is brilliantly executed. He looks like a very middle aged American tourist, and some of his statements are totally nonsensical to me. Yet I profoundly respect his ability to get to the nub of what he is trying to say. Also his musical knowledge is clearly way beyond mine, so it would be stupidity incarnate to just ignore him (as if you could). I thought his entire Talkbass thread was superbly executed on his part, the exact right amount of humour in his responses, and a really good effort to defend his position on things. I certainly agree that to be a really good bassist you need to be a musician first, but a lot of the other stuff he comes up with (the usual: metronomes, warm ups, fretless) I disagree with. His school certainly teaches what he preaches and is excellent at producing really top quality pro level players. The weirdest thing I think I've heard from him is he considers Billy Sheehan to be the best rock bassist in the world. Now just the fact that Billy S. knows virtually no theory, harmonic or otherwise, and cant read a note would suggest that Jeff would really not think that of him. I really struggle to get my head around that! (For what its worth I tend to agree with Jeff on that point too, esp after hearing the Niacin stuff)....[/quote] Agree with all that – sh*t hot player, awful music, talks both a lot of sense and a lot of crap! One thing that I will say about Jeff Berlin - I don't get the impression that he is a delicate little flower who will run off in a strop if someone has a go at him! I thought that he handled the talkbass thing really well, but I got the impression that he was a touch disappointed that no one really challenged him. I get the idea that he is definitely not afraid of an argument.....

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='453568' date='Apr 3 2009, 06:00 PM']I'd do him too.[/quote] Would never have guessed that about you!