ambient

I suspect a lot of the sound is Bakithi Kumalo. Just my opinion of course. 😊

I did a lot of gigs for a country band about 5 years ago. I was using a 6 string Zon, no one batted an eyelid. I played the right notes, the right way, and it sounded ok, that's all that mattered.

If it's a specific model then there will probably be a Facebook group.

What about a local carpenter or cabinet maker? I had my dad's friend who's a cabinet maker drill holes in my Overwater and fit a pair of flush mount Dunlop strap locks.

I am odd, I celebrate my oddness, and I absolutely love solo bass. As I said before, it's down to the performers ability and their repertoire.

Just get a good basic sound. Maybe for Motown songs roll the treble off, play nearer the neck, use your thumb rather than fingers. You can achieve a lot of tonal changes without messing about twiddling knobs.

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1500989666' post='3341523'] Interesting stuff. I like Vantage Point. [/quote] That's actually my favourite too. I started that one off.

I can'r play with a pick to save my life. At uni it was one the techniques I really struggled with, once in an exam it flew out of my fingers and landed at the examiner's feet . I admire people like Anthony Jackson who are great pick players.

This was a fabulous thing. The line-up was electric double bass and effects, electric guitar, me on 7 string electric bass, effects and laptop, and there were several synth players using a variety of synths and strange effects. Everything was totally improvised. Not to everyone's taste I know, but it was brilliant performing. [url="https://soundcloud.com/proxyphonix/sets/bristol-ambient-ensemble-17-06"]https://soundcloud.com/proxyphonix/sets/bristol-ambient-ensemble-17-06[/url]

Not to everyone's last I know, but there's usually a nice mix of artists performing. I'm playing at the Sonic Imperfections event in London at the Montague arms, London [color=#1D2129][size=4]SE15 2PA on Tuesday 8th August 2017.[/size][/color] [color="#1d2129"]​On Sunday 13th August I've been invited to play at Surrey Vaults in Bristol.[/color] [color="#1d2129"][/color]

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1500845555' post='3340618'] There are many benefits to musical training, but I would say that the one thing that it doesn't provide is fluency! [/quote] Yeah, OK . He says, laughing hysterically 😊.

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1500845555' post='3340618'] I'm afraid that I don't agree with that at all. You won't hear anyone more fluent and and who makes playing look effortless than Pino Palladino and he had no 'conventional' training. Same with Billy Sheehan, Jeff Beck and countless others. There are many benefits to musical training, but I would say that the one thing that it doesn't provide is fluency! [/quote] For every Pino and Billy there are thousands of others who never really achieve much. What Pino et al have is talent. Much like people who go to college and study music, the audition for some of these is a nightmare.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1500818268' post='3340339'] As brilliantly illustrated in the video above ^^, a great deal of the expressivity comes from the interplay between the instruments and the song, the story, the lyrics. Even in classical 'orchestral' music, there is an underlying story, with its ultimate expression in the form of opera. The music, in the majority of modern music, is a support for the text, with much meaning stripped away without that all-important part of the ensemble. Try thinking the words, and their meaning and feel, while playing, not just the notes of your instrument. Sing along, if you can; that, in itself, is good practice. Just my tuppence-worth. [/quote] This is a brilliant reply . One of my students is 79. He has no ambition to play with people, he just loves learning to play, and playing. We're looking at melodies, particularly those from standards. The guy's a huge fan of Frank Sinatra, so he's learning to play the melodies from a lot of the Sinatra songs, and a few Beatles songs. I keep telling him to sing the song to himself as he's playing, make a connection between the notes he's playing and the song. Phrase them like Frank would. It's feel that's lacking in the OPs playing, from what I understand anyway. Like I said earlier, how the notes are played, not what they're played on. Just mechanically playing the notes wont sound right. This is why classically trained musicians are so good, they don't actually just mechanically play the notes. Get up and dance, sing the song to yourself as you're playing, move about, get the 'feel' of the music, the spirit inside you. Often when I play, maybe jazz or whatever, or my own stuff, I close my eyes, and visualise the music that I'm playing. For jazz, which really is best played on an upright acoustic, I imagine I'm playing one, I think deep, and woody tones. Maybe sounds weird, but it works for me.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1500793108' post='3340146'] Bass really isn't a solo instrument. [/quote] Bass makes a fantastic solo instrument. It's down to the player and their repertoire. [quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1500746027' post='3339970'] What i have found over many years is that musicians who play in orchestral type situations play exactly what the music tells them to and in perfect timing. That's great for what they are doing. Put them with guys who don't read manuscript and they are out of their comfort zone and don't generally blend with jamming musicians. Its the same when non readers are put with properly trained musicians they will also be out of their depth to a degree. They don't feel the music in the same way. I find they are more clinical in their playing. [/quote] I think this is a very much used and factually incorrect statement. I play very often with a group of musicians who are all classically trained, they're totally able to improvise, in fact they're some of the best improvisers out there. They're not held back by any lack of theoretical knowledge, or by any lack of technical ability. Many non-trained musicians I've played with always fall back on the same trusted and often cliched lines and riffs, lacking the knowledge to play anything else. The classical musician's technical ability is also phenomenal, they've spent years honing their skills, so they can play whatever is put in front of them. They don't get the chance to go away and practice it at home, or watch Youtube videos. A lot of playing a classical piece is down to the musician's skill in interpreting the chart. That's what makes one person's performance different to another musician's.

Very similar in colour. Nice!

It's down to how the notes were played, more than on what.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6et43dGZWrc"]http://donaldwaugh.w...content-wrapper[/url]

Nice! I love solo bass, bass can be a beautiful solo instrument. I tend to arrange stuff for myself, just using chord melody type playing. We had a module at uni which focused on solo and ensemble bass, more than one bass that is . I've done what a wonderful world, Steve Lawson does a nice version of this. I've a few Sting songs, Roxanne, the shape of my heart, the usual jazz things, autumn leaves, fly me to the moon etc. I'm probably cheating a little, as I use a 7 string bass for these. The Bach cello suites really lend themselves to solo bass too.

[quote name='GazWills' timestamp='1500404907' post='3337544'] Mr. Black Eterna would be a good shout. Used to have one, lovely shimmer on it, and lush reverb without it. huge decay... [/quote] This is what I use, it can be a little over the top on extreme settings though.

Ibanez build some amazing 6 string basses. One of my students bought one, I couldn't believe it when he told me what he'd paid for it. There's a used one currently at Bass direct that looks nice.

A friend of mine from uni teaches in Norwich, he's an amazing player, and very experienced teacher. His name is Marcus Gooda [url="https://www.facebook.com/Yachtsuk"]https://www.facebook.com/Yachtsuk[/url]