bass_dinger

I tune my open strings on a Boss TU2, using the strobe setting. Open strings are spot-on (apart from a wavering low B). I then fret the string at the 5th fret and it registers as sharp - the strobe moves upwards, slowly. Of course, I may be only looking at a few cents out, but it is odd to see the tuning is not the same all the way up the fret board. The strings (a £5 set from eBay) are about a year old and are 45 to 125. The bass was set up for a set of Dunlop steels (40 to 120). So, should I simply tune so that the 5th fret note is right? Should I change the intonation? Should I buy a better tuner? Fit new strings? Should I simply not worry?

Oh What a Night. The key was too high for any of our singers, and I did not want to learn it in another key. I wish by Stevie Wonder - right song, wrong key! Since I left, they have recorded the song on bass and ukulele Respect by Aretha Franklin - ultimately, the band was not keen, although it worked when a few of us played it. All of the songs were great basslines, with simple chords, in search of a competent band!

You're a hitman? Shoot me, now.

I am told that the leader does have more PA, but won't bring it along yet, as it is too much kit to move around.

I am in a second, also new, group, in which I am doing more of the admin work. That's fine, because the new group is very capable, and made up of better musicians from my town. And me . . . The Panto group, however, has dumbed-down chords - although I am told that the chords will be corrected later. So, we practice the wrong chords, then move across to the correct version. Currently, the dance moves consist of people walking around in a circle, and getting used to moving while singing. I suspect that the script, and the dance moves, will be tailored to what the musicians can play, and the singers can sing. " . . . . oooh. Snow White is lost and in the woods. Where can she stay tonight...? " "Why not take a train to Waterloo, and stay at the YMCA . . .?"

I think that I want to help them - to support the project. They are clearly enjoying themselves, and I feel that I want to give something back to the community. However, I am not convinced that this is the right group to do that with - I am a bassist, not an arranger or organiser.

We have all been instructed to sell 5 tickets. At this level, it's more about inviting your friends and family along, so that they can see Uncle Bob up on stage. Think "School Assembly" rather than "Music Society Recital"

A Hard Day's Night (in the wrong key, without the iconic opening chord); YMCA (wrong key, without the horn riff at the start)l Waterloo by Abba (part of a medley with YMCA) . . . All songs are started by the leader saying "and a one and a two and a three and a four" regardless of whether the song is a disco rhythm, or the Waterloo "bounce". It is, as others have said, British and bonkers. I am not enjoying it much. I had hoped that the band would give me the opportunity to play new material with good musicians. This is not the case - I was told that I was one of the main musicians, and some of the others are treating it as a strum-along session. I think that I need to get out before my sanity suffers!

Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful advice, and wonderful fish puns! It was helpful to know that I was right to be concerned about the set up and the resulting sound. So, when I arrived. they had already set up at one end of the room. Nevertheless, I was next to the drummer, and the keyboard / vocal amplifier was opposite us. So, we faced each other across the short axis of the room, rather than (as I had been told) the long axis. It was a struggle to hear the acoustic piano, but the electric piano was fine, as was the unamplified flute. The ukulele-banjo was inaudible too. I could not hear the singers at all - and I don't think that they could hear themselves either, if their pitching was anything to go by. It was a mixed evening - I was handed chord sheets about 15 seconds before a song was played, and they were not always accurate. There was an odd mix of musicians - one of the two pianists was warming up by playing Widor's Toccata! The drummer was competent. The flautist could play by ear. Later, a guitarist left half way through, and a second guitarist struggled to find a D chord. The whole group is due to perform a pantomime on 10th December. We currently have no script, and have not decided on the songs yet. I will treat Friday's session as an audition, for everyone (myself included), and give it another week. That should be enough time for the leaders to sort out sound, singers, and chord sheets.

Right now "in the car park, walking towards my car" looks like the optimum spot....

Can I tap into the Basschat hive mind, for some advice on setting up a band? I am off to a rehearsal tonight - we are meeting at a village hall, bringing our own amps, and the singers will be in the audience on the night of the performance. There are two amps - my own 100 watt SWR Workingmans 12, and another smaller combo amp, for keys, vocals, and guitar. No radio mics. Last week we played in someone's house (20 foot square billiards room). At one stage, I could not hear one singer well so I moved myself away from the group to see if it made a difference. (One singer was acoustically loud, and was drowning out the other singer who was plugged into the amp). The loud singer complained that, as I had moved away, she could not now hear me well. Odd - the placement of my amp remained the same . . . An hour ago, I got this message: "Hello Robert. You will be on the stage with Richard the drummer and the trumpet player. Although no Mike the trumpet player tonight. This way you can set your amp behind you so you and us can hear it. We are going to experiment by setting the piano and rhythm guitar at the other end of the hall. Hopefully we can all then hear each other" So, the band is positioned in two spaces. On the evening, they will have a seated audience in the space between the two groups of musicians. The audience will be enjoying a fish and chip supper . . . Ignoring the fish and chips, is this an innovative way of setting up a band, that every other band and orchestra somehow overlooked? Or a clueless attempt at doing things differently that is doomed to fail?

I'm still standing. But that's because I already had everything that I needed last year.

I am currently enjoying The Eagles in concert. I am also wondering why the bassist changes his bass between songs - they all sound the same through my £45 Freeview Plus box, and hifi . . .

A plea for a bass guitar. A friend from another church is looking for a bass that he can buy, to give three or four eager guitarists a chance to become a church bassist. Does anyone have something suitable? My own church had 4 basses* at one point, but they were all given away to churches that needed a bass guitar. * and no other donated instruments at all. Very odd.

Not Fade Away. That's sad news.

OnSong. It allows us to share images of a music score, or transposable chord charts. One of the quirks is that D with an F# in the bass is shown as D/Gb - not so bad when it is one chord, but a nuisance when B felt and E flat is shown as A sharp and D sharp. There is probably a fix, or an option, but a band mate runs the application. We use single PC with OnSong on it, and a video splitter sending the image to 5 additional monitor screens. The PC and monitors are a fixed installation, however, so it won't really work for gigging.

Sounds advice. I have the same book, and for some of the notes, it really is a case of working out each one at a time. When I started to read music, I figured that it was an alphabet with perhaps a dozen letters - very manageable, given that I had mastered a 26 letter alphabet while still at primary school! I still struggle with timing of notes, but note reading is now possible.

Perhaps the issue is that you are listening to the livestream, and they are listening to the in-room sound. You might want to suggest that they listen to the livestream. If they still can't hear the problem, then that's the issue.

Check the instrument connection cable. Clean the sockets - are they dirty. Check inside the amp for rodent damage. Check that the power socket has power. I have seen three of the four happen, the latter after my parents had replaced a fridge-freezer unit.

Yes - that is why I wondered about a musical analysis of the song, and the singing. It sounds "precisely" bad - a deliberate half-sharp here, a glissando though the note there, and some exactly flat singing elsewhere. Each verse seems to have the same repeated errors. Like Les Dawson, someone would need a deep understanding of music theory to produce something as unmusical as what we are hearing. Add to that a competent arrangement, some choreographed dance moves, and a well-edited video with a story, and it is beginning to feel like an exercise in marketing bad music.

I can hear that it is out of tune, but not why it is out of tune. Is it the odd choice of chords that gives a sense of discord? Is she singing microtones - so, singing in between two conventional western notes (C half-sharp, say?). Is it the use of glissando, that has her singing a sweep of notes that move towards, then past, the right pitch? I am genuinely curious - if someone could analyse the song, and say what the notes are, I would be educated.

I can't work out if this is an example of your church playing lots of old songs, or lots of new ones. . . . As for masked singing, I too got the chance to sing - a previous bassist wanted the fun of playing with the previous worship leader for half of the set, so I was part of the pew-ballast for the day! Great fun.

If it has taken two years to get to that level, maybe the bass (or music, or indeed, clapping their hands while counting to 4) is not for them? A two-year audition and training programme is generous by anyone's standards, so perhaps the leadership might decide that they won't be using certain musicians and singers going forward. I get that different churches use the music team for different purposes - some make it their shop window, and one of the draws to the services ("come and hear and sing along to a wonderful live band!"); others use it as a form of service and involvement, and one of the draws to the services ("come along and take part in a live band!"). If the congregation and leadership are happy with a lower level of competency (but greater involvement), then I applaud their decision. However, it seems odd that the better musicians in the congregation are having to humbly take a back seat while trainees with no real skill are involved, often for years, yet showing no improvement. Could churches that uses a range of abilities, take three or four of the better musicians, and play a set for the leaders? That will allow them to see and hear what is possible when the right people are in the team. Of course, they would also need to be willing to remove most of the existing team from the rota, which is a big step. Maybe we can show the leaders that the local church can play well and that the problem is too many beginners. In general, I mentioned this predicament to my wife. She said that, if she wanted to join a Mercy Ship, and travel the world performing surgery, there would be an expectation that she would be medically qualified, and not learn on the job (and still be getting it wrong 2 years later...). Church music does not have to be rubbish (but it often is). So, finally, just for fun, here is a 1 4 5 6 song, to show what can be done with passionate involvement, musicianship, great sound guys, 50 singers, a fat bassline, and a few key changes! So good, that it makes me cry...

Allowing everyone to sing in the congregation allows even more people to be part of the worship . . . !! I do wonder why people want to serve, yet don't seem to show a passion for excellence (or even, a desire for competency). We had the same issue with musicians and singers who were coached and carried by the then-worship leader. Ultimately, however, they did not understand the need to improve, and when the time came for a new worship leader, he could not use them. Sadly, part of the blame lay with the previous leaders - rather than telling people that they needed to improve, they were instead turned down in the mix, and kept on the rota. So, the message that they received was that they were good enough to be involved previously, but now, they are not. I wish that I had @Big Rich's patience with other musicians!

Perfect for transporting sub-woofers.