thisnameistaken

[quote name='jakesbass' post='680451' date='Dec 10 2009, 05:47 PM']It's all been covered so the only thing I'd add is a term. The notes you refer to are called 'compound intervals' because they broadly (but not strictly In chord spelling) come from outside the first octave of a scale. The particular type of note and 'it' in combination with other notes make for great variety of expression where chords are concerned and an intimate knowledge of what makes a chord or scale sound like it does is the path to freedom of expression where playing is concerned.[/quote] Jake: Are you saying that knowing what intervals sound like is, like, super-important, then? Because I've got a pretty good ear for that stuff (it's about all I'm good at) but I'm still a fairly rubbish musician, IMO. What's the next-most important thing I should be learning? I never know what's worth learning and what isn't.

[quote name='wulf' post='679936' date='Dec 10 2009, 09:34 AM']I suspect that the reason the majority of music teaching starts with C is that this it is the root of the only major key with no sharps or flats. What that doesn't answer is why C got picked for this honour.[/quote] Yeah I would've phrased my question better if I hadn't been so drunk. Anyway, I'm quite pleased that so far lots of people who know lots about music theory have responded but none of them have the answer. Makes me feel a bit less thick. Funnily enough I did a load of reading about temperaments a couple of months back so I knew a lot of the boffiny stuff above already. Go me!

This feels like a really silly question but I genuinely don't get it. If you're going to name the notes after letters of the alphabet, why would C be first? Or does all this relate to some other alphabet?

That's pretty much how I play anyway. Never realised until my mate made me play Guitar Hero and I couldn't do it.

[quote name='Rowbee' post='679798' date='Dec 10 2009, 12:55 AM']I've just started playing with a reggae\ska band where it's clear to me the drummer hasn't a clue how to play those styles, so I totally feel your pain. I'm afraid my solution is going to be a him or me scenario though - perhaps you're not quite at that point yet.[/quote] It would be a foregone conclusion in my case, given that the drummer is the guitarist's twin brother. I like them though, we sound good on other tunes, the drummer and I also pair up for backing vocals and that also sounds good, generally things are good it's just these two tunes. I'm not even 100% sure it's the drummer to blame actually. I think the guitarist may have demoed the songs to him with a beat on there and he's just trying to reproduce what the guitarist gave him. Either way it sounds like I need to tell them it's wrong. Thing is I see a lot more of the guitarist and I'm alright with telling him if something's sh*t, but I don't see the drummer as much so it'll be a bit awkward. Oh well.

[quote name='Basska' post='679776' date='Dec 10 2009, 12:10 AM']I tend to do both, so I find that i'm more impressed by what the fretting hand is doing. The reason asked this question in the first place is because I tend to find I get more interest from people when I'm not using a pick (even tho I am doing the same thing as I would with a pick) and it makes me wonder![/quote] I did once get a compliment from an older player in an established band when I was a wee nipper, who said I was the only bass player in town he'd seen pick with fingers, and he went on to learn how to do it himself because he was a bit ashamed. I suppose it's because upright players don't play with picks and we all feel a little bit like cheats compared to them.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='679726' date='Dec 9 2009, 11:24 PM']My view on active v passive: at the LOW end of the market, I find I feel more 'connected' to my instrument with a passive, it seems to respond more to my fingers where a lot of cheap pre-amps choke the sound. This helps develop good technique where your fingers do the work rather than dialling in a tone with EQ and is a good thing for the future. Once you know how to control your tone with your fingers, THEN active basses become useful.[/quote] I agree you're often forced to change your picking style / position more with a passive bass because you can't just dial in more / less of something with the twist of a knob, so you learn more about how to coax different sounds out of a bass. My first three basses were passive so I've never really thought about it, but it's a good point well made.

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' post='679749' date='Dec 9 2009, 11:46 PM']Micro Q tron, but i also have an fx25, fx25b, bottom feeder, and Digitech BSW i find the EHX to be the greasiest filter i have tried.[/quote] Yeah for that up-sweeping funk filter sound, the Q-Tron is right on the money. I still miss mine a bit but TBH the filter in the Squeezer does a pretty good job of that too. Although the envelope follower has a steeper fall-off, a bit like the way the DOD FX-25 feels.

If it sounds good I dig it. I grew up on the old '70s post-punk bands so I like the sound of a P played with a pick, but 99.9% of the time I play with my fingers (I don't really play in rock bands).

We've got two songs in progress at the moment with weird beats, that our guitarist (who wrote them) wants to play in a reggae-ish style. But the drummer (who I actually really like and he's usually right on the money, plus he sings) is doing weird stuff! Weird I tell you! And I'm having a horrible time trying to fit these beats he's doing. First one's not so bad, but the snare's on 4 (there's a bass drum beat on 3), so it's difficult to do anything reggae-sounding with that. Next one is worse, fairly measured tempo, somewhere around 90bpm maybe, he's playing a big accent on the one, and then... nothing, practically. I asked him if he could pick it up a bit and he's started playing snare on the 3 during the chorus but the verses are still limping. That almost makes it harder for me because it's two such different feels and nothing really dividing them, it's hard to pick it up for the chorus. Am I being creatively weak here? Would it be defeatist or obnoxious to just say "If you want a reggae feel you need to put something on beat 3"?

Hmm. I tried playing this the other day and... well, I couldn't do it. I don't usually slap (phew, found an excuse) but it's that 16th note bit that gets me - I can't seem to sync both my hands accurately enough to play that. Great line anyway.

Er... Well there's the filter on the Bass Micro Synth but that's more an ADSR-style sweep than envelope-following, interesting though and it sounds like no other filter I've used. I've also got a Bassballs that I usually use in conjunction with the BMS to make it sound dirtier and more gutteral. My main filter was a Meatwad and I still use that for manual sweeps with an exp. pedal or as a static low-pass filter, but it got superceded for envelope duties when I got my Octavius Squeezer. The Meatwad sounds great, but there are so many different things I use filters for that I ended up just programming a ton of patches into the Squeezer and using that instead. That's it for me - I managed to get down to four filters and all my filter GAS is gone.

Yeah I'm using an OC-2 too. It does one sound, fortunately I really like that one sound.

[quote name='silddx' post='679099' date='Dec 9 2009, 02:32 PM']I'm in Leeds oat the Weekend, if I get time I'll see if I can nip into MG. Is it near the railway station?[/quote] Not far, it's round the corner from the Corn Exchange. Five minute walk from the station. [quote name='waynepunkdude' post='679098' date='Dec 9 2009, 02:31 PM']I was in Briggate the other day, it's very modern down there.[/quote] IIRC Alpha Music was way down the bottom, on one corner of the bridge down there.

Could it have been Alpha Music? I think they were down the bottom of Briggate somewhere, I forget exactly, always had a couple of huge Hammonds just inside the door that they were never going to sell... They moved to York, by the train station, and a year or so later closed down.

Sad thing is when Music Ground were round the corner by the train station it was a good shop. Always had a good selection of basses (I remember playing a Pedulla or two in there), good prices, staff were friendly and helpful. I don't know what happened when they moved, if they were bought out or what, but things changed quite quickly and I wouldn't go in there now.

[quote name='Linus27' post='678246' date='Dec 8 2009, 06:10 PM']You wanna tuck that lead up and around your strap as oneday you will tread on the lead and pull it out of the socket. Probably be mid bass solo [/quote] I trod on my cable the other day in rehearsals and pulled the whole control plate off my Jazz, screws bouncing off the floor, very embarrassing. I'm always picking on our guitarist over his poorly-maintained Strat so he was pleased as punch!

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='678364' date='Dec 8 2009, 07:50 PM']+1 for a positive outlook on life [/quote] I have trouble making arrangements for two weeks in the future, never mind three months. I don't know why I've just never felt confident about long-term plans. If you can call two weeks long-term!

I could get hit by a bus tomorrow so I don't know. I'd like to come if I can though.

Great story and I think it's cool that you went ahead and bought it anyway despite the budget deficit. It's a very pretty bass.

That thing with the lipstick pickups looks ace!

[quote name='PaulWarning' post='677999' date='Dec 8 2009, 03:03 PM']the French call everything he or she, so yes it's wierd[/quote] Apparently the Germans call children 'it' - until they reach a certain age they aren't credited with a gender.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='677881' date='Dec 8 2009, 01:58 PM']I've played a few really nice Vintage basses and there was a killer Stagg Jazz in my local Crack Converters, the headstock logo is horrible though! Probably the exception rather than the rule but those brands do produce some good P and J variants.[/quote] Weird. I do occasionally pick them up in guitar shops thinking that I might eventually come across an unusually good one, but I've never found one that felt like they'd finished building it.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='677688' date='Dec 8 2009, 11:25 AM']that's bloomin' cheap for a '72J [b]from Music Ground[/b].[/quote] My thoughts exactly. Stick another ten noughts on it and it would look more like a Music Ground price. Don't trust those bastards, Wayne.

My basses came with names from the factory. One's called 'Jazz Bass', the other's called 'Thumb Bass'. Saved me all the trouble of looking through books of baby names. Try looking on yours to see if it's the same, on mine the names are near the end, on the bit that you play cymbals with.