thepurpleblob

23 minutes ago, HazBeen said:

I’ve had more than a few of these over the years I have to admit, from beer throwing idiots (ruining pedal boards), to 2 band members fighting on stage (I know), to someone groping my now wife/then girlfriend and me stage diving on top of him knocking him out..... ah, those were the days  

Moral of the story, drink and drugs aren’t good for you.

Somebody groped my wife at a gig and SHE beat the crap out of them and threw them clean out of the front door. I know my place 😄

Used to... well, I used to be a percussionist in orchestras, theatre bands, brass bands and so on. I was never a very convincing kit drummer. 

I think it was a really good grounding for playing the bass. For one thing I can read music and for another I seem to have a very good sense of timing. 

Unlearning having to read everything from music and learning to play by ear was a nightmare though. 

Yeh - had a few close ones myself. 

Have also run up against the theory that, "no matter what we don't involve the police".  You might want to play there again...

What are you talking about? Bass players don't move! It's the law 🤣

You can buy a really nice Jazz bass for about 300 quid. After that it's ALL diminishing returns - we all know this. You're paying for small things that cost loads and add little. 

My go-to bass is a USA Lakland. It was bloody expensive. Do I think it's better because it is or because I know what I paid so convince myself it is? 

I have a five string (USA) Lakland and it's both very light and sounds amazing. The down side is that at well over £2K it was far too expensive. 

However, all round it doesn't leave me unable to get out of bed the next day due to a locked-up back so it was probably worth it. 

9 hours ago, Les said:

We bolt our front lighting to the top of the PA speakers, many plastic cabs these days have resessed nuts on top, presume they are for flying them.

Works well and cuts down on stands. 

 

I'm not sure which I like better... that you have Jah Wobble on guitar or that you come from Wigan and actually do wear flat caps 😄 

9 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

So, just to confirm - are Bryan Adams covers back on the table?

Too soon?? 😖

I bought maple syrup last night... just because I can 😈

1 hour ago, dlloyd said:

Where are you having the problem? Is it playing with a band? Timing? Or tone?

I Shot the Sheriff is not an easy song in its Bob Marley version (Eric Clapton's is a bit easier!) It's super-busy. Bill Laswell made an interesting observation about Familyman.... he's locked in mostly with Bob's vocals. 

The key is to listen to a lot of reggae. It follows a lot of rules that blues based music follows so people think it's easy... but unless you know the music inside out, you're going to sound a bit fake... One thing to get used to is the one drop (not universal, admittedly). The drummer does not place emphasis on the "1", which might give you trouble... you just have to get used to that.

It's timing. I don't feel entirely comfortable. It's hard to explain - I guess my brain isn't wired up the right way.

On 06/12/2018 at 19:20, StringNavigator said:

I'm not at all surprised by the smell of smug superiority and self-entitled retaliation. After all, has not the entire world from America to  India to Africa suffered under barbaric Colonialism at the point of a gun? "Collecting" artifacts from other nations under the guise of Archeology to make money and stealing music and culture from other nations to make money is an old family tradition, innit...? Being insular can often make one myopic and preclude understanding, as they stumble blindly along the same sin trodden path of their ancestors.

Anyone in the world can play European music. That is not Cultural Appropriation in spite of fools who try to turn the argument. Because they never invaded, enslaved or appropriated Euro culture. But to witness a young well-fed Euro musician cavorting around a stage in dreadlocks with jerk chicken in one hand and a guitar in the other shouting Jamaican patois and trying hard to copy Caribbean music like Calypso, Ska, Reggae and Rock Steady is the very definition of Cultural Appropriation. It's truly an embarrassment, innit...? It's "in the blood" of some and the DNA of others to regard the culture, aspirations, freedom and even lives of people of the Caribbean to be somehow "owned" by them; the Smell of Smug...

If Reggae was fair game for Britz, they would not have to seek instruction in how it should be done. Do you need to ask how to play a Beatles tune or one by the Bay City Rollers? No. Because in those two cases you are not stealing someone else's culture.    

We had a case in Canada recently, of an European artist who made a career out of copying Innuit Art. Once the Innuit brought it to light, patrons ceased to buy it. Thousands of people realised the extent of Cultural Appropriation. It was high theft. Mass production of Innuit Art by Europeans with the profits going elsewhere. I guess millions still cannot understand. It's like trying to tell a European lad in 1776 that slavery is a high crime...

Bands I've been in, when considering repertoire, have taken a pass on I Shot The Sheriff knowing how foolish it would look on stage. "Whee! Look at me! I'm a Reggay Man!"... European tourists in the Caribbean DO NOT want to see Europeans playing steel pan or Calypso or Reggae. That is fact, not opinion. However, they can buy a steel pan and take it home for personal enjoyment. But don't try and perform in public and turn a buck out of Caribbean music. Or any other people's music.

Speaking out on Cultural Appropriation is not racism. Hiring Euro lads to play Reggae is. Why can't you hire people who are of the culture you are trying so hard to assimilate? Multiculturalism never ever meant that you could turn a profit by selling other people's culture. Go and play a Jig or copy The Beatles in a look-alike band. Reggay is the culture and religious belief of millions of people living in the Caribbean. It's not just a Pub song for someone's  drunken enjoyment.

 

I'd rather not get into this but you're talking so much sh*t that I just can't let it go. 

So called "cultural appropriation" is a perfect example of being offended on the part of somebody else. I don't know who you are but I'm going to bet you are some reasonably well-off white person. You have no right that I can see to dictate who should or should not play Caribbean music. I make no pretence to "pass myself off" as a Caribbean person - I'm a fat, bald, old white bloke. I play it in appreciation, not to mock or to pass-off or to pretend I am what I am not. 

Most complaints about "cultural appropriation" are a nasty example of left-wing politics going so extreme that they have become indistinguishable from far right politics. This needs called out for what it is.

However, this isn't what I asked about. I didn't ask for your opinion. 

2 hours ago, musicbassman said:

It's not being 'unable to work' social media, purpleblob, I'm not a complete luddite! 

It's the information harvesting that I ( and apparently many others) have a natural aversion to.

But if people on here really think this might be where I'm missing out, then it could be a price I'm prepared to pay.

I didn't imply that you are - but a lot of people into music can be. 

Just be careful what you type into the damn thing. If you don't tell it then it doesn't know. Avoid all these personality test games and that sort of stuff. 

You're too fussy. I do understand but go out and play in some crap bands. Or sub-optimal anyway. What's the worst that can happen?

But some of these iffy bands turn out to have a decent drummer who knows someone whose looking for a bass player and so on. Put yourself out there. 

Join Facebook.  I'm not massively younger than you but I find it a PITA dealing with musicians who can't work social media. It's where bands live these days - it just is. 

I've played for nearly 20 years (even though I'm now in my mid-50s) and have never learned to improvise. It's also a small matter of frustration. 

But it's just stuff... I can't slap or play with a pick either but I'm pretty confident that I could learn if I really had to. There are are only so many hours in the day. 

My day job is the same. I work in IT. People ask me to look at their home computers. No chance. I haven't a clue about Windows. I work with big servers and Unix stuff all the time and have no great need or desire to branch out. 

Thanks guys.... if nothing else, I'm finding some great new music to listen so 😎

1 hour ago, aDx said:

Have put early rehearsals on YouTube. Very rough.  Lol

Adrian Cain rehearsals

Will post gig when I find out where... Eek!  Other bass players scrutiny.  Scary!

 

You can spot them. It's those guys leaning against the wall at the back with their arms folded. 😂

I live in Scotland... we don't have cultural appropriation. We just play music we like. Sometimes it comes easily, sometimes there's some effort involved. Sometimes it's a disaster 😂

Also happy to help... can work a soldering iron, meter, etc. etc.  Capable of doing setups most of the time. 

Happy to help.

In the Clyde Valley, south west of Glasgow

This is clearly a similar issue to my inability to play that "baggy" 90s stuff (e.g. Primal Scream). The basic problem is not taking enough drugs 😂

AND... I now know that song is called "54 46" 😉

It all started with a cover of I Shot the Sheriff... 

I can play the notes. I can even play them more or less in the right place. But it sounds rubbish. I just don't have the feel at all. 

Solutions appreciated. Yeh - I know it's a bit of a stupid question

It always makes me sad... I've never exceeded the status of average on the bass and I've never really been without a gig. Lucky I suppose. I think as long as you're getting out there and doing what you do... that's the important thing. 

My Lakland Dual J... in a non standard colour apparently

Does anybody actually buy Gibson basses. I can't remember the last time I saw someone playing one...

A Vibrophone.... I always wanted a Vibrophone 😫

Autumn Leaves? 🤔

Checks YouTube... nope, never heard it before. 

This explains a lot!

I'm sure I've told the story... I once went to an audition where they didn't want to give me a list of songs. "They are all standards".

Needless to say, not a glimmer. Not even the slightest recognition of any of them. 

Valuable lesson learned.