ambient

I quite like their cakes.

It’s effecting bigger bands and artists too. I’ve seen Fish, Steven Wilson and Marillion complaining about it recently. There’s obviously all the visa/work permit, carnet and trucking expenses. You also have to pay VAT upfront on all your merchandise at every border you pass through. You claim it back later, but that’s potentially a massive initial outlay, especially if you’re doing 7 or 8 countries on your tour. You’ve also of course got to pay someone to organise that, keeping records etc. Still, if it means we can have more powerful vacuum cleaners then I guess it’s worth it.

No, it effects people in the EU travelling here too.

A friend of mine has some gigs in Germany. He’s had to pay £300 for a carnet for his pedalboard. VAT upfront for merch at every border, carnets for some gear. Trucking hit by cabotage rules. It’s bound to effect touring, in both directions. I’m fortunate that I’ve qualified for an Irish passport courtesy of my gran being born in Cork. I will still be effected if I travel to gig, because I’m UK resident.

I bought a Dwarf last September. It’s an incredible device.

You're expecting to fail at it, so you do. It’s a self-full filing prophecy. You know you can play it, you’ve just got to convince the ‘other you’ that you can. The author of the inner game refers to it as self 1 and self 2. Good luck with it.

Exactly! Copying without knowing the what or whys is a little - in my opinion - like painting by numbers. The time and energy you expend now will save time and energy later on.

I didn’t go along the grades route myself, though I had lessons for years, and bass was my first instrument on my BMus course. I did a Rock school instructor course module in the final year at uni. Some of the more advanced grades would require some serious practice to accomplish. You can buy the books from Amazon, it might be worth getting one or two and read through them, before deciding if they’re for you. You might also find that you’re playing songs and styles of music that you don’t have a connection to. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but how serious do you want to take it? Have you got time to devote to it? It might just be better to seek out a good teacher and study with them.

Madonna: ‘last night I dreamed of some bread rolls……..a young girl with eyes like potatoes’. I mean, what’s that all about?

It was built in Italy by a luthier called Ẹnrico Pasini. I believe he did work for Fodera.

I only have one bass.

My one uni’s music dept uses Slack. It works OK, you can message one another, set calendars, share files etc.

They’re really nice instruments. This guy builds them. https://m.facebook.com/andrew.taylorcummings

Same with me. The only time I’ve ever taken a spare bass was when I did a month on a cruise ship. It spent the whole time in its case in the cabin.

The Mod Dwarf is fabulous I’ve been looking at them for ages. I’m a solo bassist, it’s perfect for what I do. This is my current rig. A Darkglass compressor and element that I use as a preamp. Then the Dwarf.

Control - switch on/off virtual pedals on my Dwarf boards. I’m currently using my MacBook to switch them on or off. These are examples of my virtual pedal boards. I think I’ve settled on a Morningstar pedal.

I’m looking for recommendations for a midi foot switch for my Mod Devices Dwarf. I’ve seen a few people using the McMillen Softstep, which is too expensive and too complicated. I was wondering if anyone could recommend something please? The MeloAudio midi Commander looks like an interesting contender, has anyone any experience of using it?

If I did lend them an instrument, it would be on the understanding that they either provided their own strings or bought me a new set.

It depends. To a total stranger no, but then again my instrument isn’t a normal bass. Though I did offer to lend it to a friend recently, I know he’d look after it.

Porcupine Tree release a new album pretty soon.

A bass. It’s how you play it.

My prediction for the UK’s entry. FullSizeRender.MOV

Thank you. I’m hoping to find some funk or RnB to offer the students a choice of song to work on.

There’s a few things I learned years ago that I still remember: the opening bars from Teen Town for example. Other than that I don’t know any songs or bass parts. Memorising parts just seems a bit pointless and time consuming, for me at least anyway. If I’m ever asked to play something specific I’ll just transcribe it and play it from a chart.