ambient

Stanley Clarke did a nice version of this.

I can't stand them either, yet they keep going on, and on.

Totally off topic; sorry 😊. Isn’t that an absolutely beautiful instrument?

Iklectic? That's not far from Waterloo, though it's more experimental music.

Me 😁

I’ve not really watched any tbh. I will say though that Mark is an excellent player. Personally I’ve never really seen the point in videos like that. It’ll sound different anyway when you play it, you’ll be playing through your amp, your choice of strings and set up. All it shows is how Marcus or whoever sounds when videoed on an iPhone, uploaded onto YouTube and listened back to on a phone, laptop or tablet.

Live at the blue note is good too. I spent I don’t know how many hours transcribing AJs lines from that a few years ago.

Anything by either Steve Lawson or Michael Manring.

Balancing personal life with band life is always difficult. I teach music to children and wouldn't dare have my iPhone out during a lesson, some schools actually ban them because of the camera. I do generally have time to check texts and emails in between lessons and during breaks though.

Utter nonsense about not playing past the 5th fret. That's actually where I do most of my playing.

It works on my iPhone. There was a post yesterday about adverts, I posted a screenshot there of what I see; just two tiny rectangular boxes at the very top of the screen.

Adblock is great.

Even if that work is being used to make someone else money? If it’s used on an advert, in a film, even commercial radio is there to make the owners of the station money, so surely the owner of that music i.e the composer or songwriter or both should be paid for its use.

That has to be quote of the week :)

I wouldn't know where to start, they're one of my favourite bands. There is a book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Theater-Anthology-Recorded-Versions/dp/1480342726

I totally disagree with that. I was only saying on Facebook two days ago that I think the currently creative music scene is the healthiest it’s ever been. Mainly I think due to technology enabling artists to produce music at home, and also thanks to sites like Bandcamp that allow them to sell it. On the other hand if you mean the music heard on mainstream radio then I’m probably going to agree to a point.

I never use it, and will never use it. If I want to listen to a particular artist then I’ll buy their music, preferably from them direct or via Bandcamp.

I read an interview with Sting. He said that he could be playing a cricket bat (might have been baseball bat) with strings attached, once it goes through the pa no one would notice anyway.

UPS, DPD, Parcelforce. Just make sure it’s extremely well wrapped; in a case not a gig bag, metres of bubble wrap around that, then a good strong box, put polystyrene or something soft and giveable at each end too. Definitely make sure it’s fully insured.

It’s interesting and got me smiling. If I do a show on bass then the whole audience will be watching me and would certainly notice if I wasn’t there, as I tend to play solo shows now 😁. To be totally honest I don’t think the average person really takes any notice of anyone in a band except for the singer or the drummer. I did the most bizarre gig about 7 years ago. I was booked to play a New Year’s Eve gig at a club in Leicester. I asked if it was a reading gig or did he want me to learn a set; his reply was a bit odd “neither just turn up”. Anyway I kept in touch with him, a week or so beforehand I asked if he wanted a rehearsal, to which he said no, don’t worry, this is the easiest gig you’ll ever have to do. Come the night I arrive and introduce myself, the drummer is setting up an electric kit, I unload my gear and set up. As we’re about to soundcheck he comes up and turns my volume right down, and signals me and the drummer to follow him backstage. There he let’s us into the secret. He usually plays as a duo with his wife using prerecorded tracks, the venue didn’t want that they wanted a band, we were just there to make up the numbers, essentially miming to the tracks. Nobody at all noticed.