ubassman

See you there in the 'BC corner' Floyd !

2.26 love it ! Definitely the most efficient change over technique !

[quote name='MandShef' timestamp='1368381250' post='2076335'] Please let us know how it goes, for those of us too far away to attend. It sounds really interesting (I'm jealous). [/quote] Will do Mand ...Bluejay see you there ! Peter

I'm sure you will enjoy it Phil ! Did you clock that theres an online ever expanding library? The App is fast becoming a jam-along-jazz 'fake book'. Norris, there are some good books about full of ideas to link chord sequences , such as a chromatic approach , fifths, tritone substitution, arpeggios, passing notes, rising from below, descending from above etc . Personal favourite are the four books by Steve Mooney - heres a link on E-bay where you can buy the first[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Standards-Blues-Bebop-Rhythm-changes-walking-bass-lines-book-Complete-Set-/220996184759?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3374662ab7"] 3 books as a pack[/url]. Good to work through the concepts which are explained pretty well, then there are pieces in all 12 keys with the concepts in action, you can download the pieces 'including bass' and 'excluding bass' free from Steve's web site which he is forever updating with new material. Great to then plug these concepts and ideas playing along to the iRealB App where you can loop any sequence of chords and try different ideas. Its pretty key to get into good playing habits from the start and learn how to navigate the fingerboard so that you can find any note and lessons are the easiest and quickest route .

If you have an iPad, iPhone android, then get the iRealB App More info at http://www.irealb.com/ Cant recommend it highly enough!

..bump! This monday ( 13th May ) if anyone is in London.

Was listening to Slam Stewart's 'Oh me, oh my, oh Gosh' ( song starts at 30.00) . ...anyone use a similar technique for changing from arco to pizz with the hair pointing upwards at about 30.30? [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUUhOzWQIsY[/media]

Could be either of those MandShef. The sound post is pretty key actually - if you shift it towards the bass bar the bass notes will be increased ...if its too far to the right f hole then the trebles will be increased at the expense of the bass notes . Couple of links which hopefully are of interest ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_post http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HhxCRbygrc

Should be able to hit the 7th with the first finger - just wondering if its a hand position issue and your left hand needs to come more square on so that your fingers are almost parallel to the frets?

MD told the bass brass section to 'listen and follow the way the double bass is swinging' ! ...a [s]good[/s] [b]fantastic[/b] day today !!

Could be a couple of things - some shops will put naff strings onto a bass just to not out price the instrument in this day and age of competition from internet sales. If they put a decent set of strings it would add £150 (or more ) onto the price of the bass. If its not cheap or second hand old strings it could be that the sound post has shifted and needs to a quick adjustment ...but you would hope that the luthier in the shop would do that so as to eliminate the issue before it hits front of house. Don't think that its height related although its true that the higher the strings the more tension is carried through the bridge which makes the top of the bass vibrate more ..my money is on cheap strings !!

Its a bit of a murky world when you get into mixing strings and what works on one persons DB can be useless on someone else's! All manufacturers have information about the ideal string ength of the bass ( the 'mensur' ) between the nut and the bridge and so you will find that for a string to sound its absolute best it will say suit a design length of between for example 104 - 106cm which is typical for a 3/4 ( have a look [url="http://www.daddariobowed.com/BowedProductDetail.Page?ActiveID=4495&productid=13&productname=Helicore_Hybrid_Bass_String_Set__3_4_Scale__Medium_Tension"]here[/url] ). If you have a bass that is say 103cm bridge to nut ( typical of student models so that the fingers don't have to stretch as much ) then you will find that the string designed for a 106cm won't quite get up to its desired tension and won't ring in the way that its optimised for. To make things more complicated you will find that the design data for some strings is for all sorts of other mensurs ( have a look at the Thomastik info [url="http://www.thomastik-infeld.com/upload/TI_bass%20folder%2003_07print.pdf"]here[/url] and you will see the huge range from just one manufacturer ). Bottom line is that if the dull strings are the old ones then bin them. Strings just lose their characteristics after a few months. It could also be a combination that you have a mix and match of strings that are designed to 'sing' at different tensions / string lengths. One sure way of testing that is to crank up the dull sounding string by a perhaps a whole tone and if they suddenly come to life at the higher tension then you will have your answer . I sense that you may be heading for purchasing a new set of strings ( just make sure that they fit your bass !) !

...not a bad thing being a perfectionist , Rich ! Its well worth playing along to a metronome as it develops a different sense of accuracy - the hardest things I ever have to play are slow adagios at around 56 bmp a real challenge in precision and much harder than anything that rips along ( plus the audience has more critical thinking time to hear if you are early or late ) ! I use a metronome App on my iPhone which was free from the App store which has a dial that you can turn to any increment - not that that's hugely important - just to illustrate that a metronome is just a beat box to give you a click track and I would be just as happy with your Korg !.

... most likely that Korg figure that by having a increments of 4 bmp that there will be 1/4 the number of user settings than if there were precise increments going up 1 bpm at a time . There is no musical theory as to why we wouldn't use 125 bmp its just the designers of the Korg metronome have made the decision that the difference in their chosen increments is hardly discernible i.e. doubt if anyone would notice is you played along to a Beatles tempo at 126, or indeed 120 bmp rather than 125 bmp I used to use a wind up 'tick-tock' wooden metronome which at best was only ever an approximation to the written tempo - that sentiment seems to live on in modern design !

...are you saying that you have a complete set of one manufacturers strings that are not as loud as using a different full set of strings from another manufacturer, or are you saying that you have a mix and match of strings on your bass? In any event , a Graphic EQ won't do anything as specific as isolating the frequencies of just one string - the EQ will affect all strings. Quite a number of people mix and match and you may have to do quite a bit of experimenting if thats the direction you want to go in. ...are the strings all brand new (old strings can be shockingly lifeless and dull !) ? ...what was idea behind mixing and matching ( if thats what you have done ) ? ...did you look at the design length comparing the bass mensur with the design string length in choosing the strings ?

Buying a double bass is just like buying a car (interestingly enough they are pretty much valued about the same according to the spec ):- [b]Spending around £40,000[/b] ++ buys you a 'head turner', the porches and Ferraris of basses, the instrument we would buy if we won the lottery. [b]Spending around £10,000 [/b]buys you the most amazing instrument that we all aspire to own one day [b]Spending around £1,000 - £3,000 [/b]where its at for most bassists [b]£500 -£1000[/b] buys you a workhorse but don't expect it to drive quite like a £10k machine [b]£300[/b] maybe about the cheapest 'run around' that you will get , may have cracks, breaks, be a bit clunky - but hey you only paid £300 ! [b]£100?[/b] Question - what would you expect the performance and quality of a car that you bought for £100 ( clapped out, about to fall to bits, hard to drive, beyond economical repair, etc) ...well expect the same from a £100 double bass ! You may be better off spending your £100 on hiring a reasonable DB and giving it your best shot with a half decent instrument !. Good luck with it !

Here's Tim 15 years ago when he was in young musician of the year - not bad playing I suppose ...for a youngster ! ( the Bottesini at the end...makes me feel like my efforts on the DB are the musical equivalent of playing 'Twinkle Twinkle LIttle Star' ! ) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGrkoYQy_pg[/media]

Have you ordered the Michael Moore yet? (if not I can lend you my copy). He uses the concept of identifying a target note for navigation, good backing tracks to play along to ...but you need to be able to read in treble clef.

[b]Who: [/b][color=#0000ff]Matthew McDonald [/color] [b]Why: [/b][color=#0000ff] Principal bass of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Visiting Professor of Double Bass[/color] [b]What: [/b][color=#0000ff]Masterclass[/color] [b]Where[/b]: [color=#0000ff]Royal Academy of Music on Monday 13th , 6pm- 9pm [/color] [b]How much:[/b] [color=#0000ff]Free![/color] Anyone else going? [url="http://www.ram.ac.uk/events?event_id=1863"]More Info [/url]

[quote name='Owencf' timestamp='1367594908' post='2067404'] I don't think the fuzz would mind if it was in the original containers Although on that thought tiny containers packed with a block of resiny stuff does sound a little suspect [/quote] Small 'Can-a-Bass' Resin?

[quote name='fatgoogle' timestamp='1367577462' post='2067095'] ... for the last three weeks ive been rosining up once a week at rehearsals with the other players nymanns and i must say using such a little amount of rosin has really helped my playing in terms of actually getting the bow to do all the work and really learning how to get the most from the bow. [/quote] +1 ...'less' is often 'more' with some rosins. I think its really a case of settling in with a brand and getting used to it. Took me a good while to figure out whether a lack of bite on the string was to do with too much or too little bow tension, application of the weight of the arm, speed of the bow, the directional pull on the string, angle of the hairs ... or whether more rosin needs applying. When I first started bowing I used to cake it on thinking that rosin was like some magic potion ...now I use it perhaps every three /four days / once a week ...and I practice a lot !

Hmmn ...maybe I will just have to get one of these for my summer hols! ( my long suffering misses has gotten use to me taking a acoustic bass guitar away but this could be a whole lot more fun !). I was really surprised when I went on the link to the site that it actually sounds like a real double bass ( interview on German Radio ). [media]http://www.claus-freudenstein.de/de/media/minibass_radio.mp3[/media] Torn as to whether I should go with the smily face or the funky green version !!

A good while back, I did a long weekend Jazz course where in turn we had to do an improvised solo or 'walk' over an 8 chord progression . One of the guys in the group who was the most technically proficient orchestral player and who could knock spots of any of us just said ' ...but how do you know what notes to play???' The 'walkers' explained how they linked chords with patterns and harmonic connections whereas the soloist pretty much all said ' ...just hear the changes!' For me that was a defining moment - when you are playing someone else's dots its a very different kind of musicianship needed than the sense of exposure when playing jazz - bit like climbing a rock face . Pushing the comfort zone, confidence in ones own ability, focus of whats going on around you, spur of the moment inventiveness and commitment , taking a risk or two knowing that if it failed it could go seriously pear shaped . Loved the summary Bilbo ...we are all 'moths' and jazz is the 'candle' !!

...trouble could be that if you go to the Martin's shop you will go in with the idea of wanting a bow and may come out wanting one of their basses!

Would be really interested to see what a Metropolitan is like too - seems to have really positive reviews and I have been toying with upgrading ...but haven't managed to find a UK importer yet. At around £700 ...yup I'd want to try before I buy !! Let me know if you track a supplier down !