Oscar South

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='214014' date='Jun 6 2008, 06:33 PM']Me either. And judging from what I witnessed at the bass bash, I play harder/dig in more than most...[/quote] Same, especially when jamming I completely abuse my bass and probably put more strain on the high C than any other string. Also I've got sore fingertips from playing too much many times and actually drew blood by wearing through the skin in my early days but the only time I've ever had a blister was when I only took my upright bass to our uni practical lecture and practice afterwards to find that we were pretty much only practising 'Reach' by S-Club Seven (thats what you get when you let the singers pick the songs to learn for next weeks lecture : /).

Alesis SR-16 machines are pretty good for performing, I've used mine live a bunch of times. Footpedal controls for tempo, start/stop and to hold the sequenced song looping on the current bar or programmed phrase for extended solos etc., they are maybe a bit retro but the sounds are still good quality and the interface is excellent and very intuitive (oh and they aren't very expensive).

[quote name='paul, the' post='211658' date='Jun 3 2008, 11:36 AM']Not all these links may be working. [url="http://rapidshare.com/files/10038454/Real__Book_Bass_Vol_1.pdf"]http://rapidshare.com/files/10038454/Real_..._Bass_Vol_1.pdf[/url] [url="http://rapidshare.com/files/10048063/Real__Book_Bass_Vol_2.pdf"]http://rapidshare.com/files/10048063/Real_..._Bass_Vol_2.pdf[/url] [url="http://community.livejournal.com/bass_players/361931.html?style=mine"]http://community.livejournal.com/bass_play...html?style=mine[/url] [url="http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/Jazz/transcriptions.html"]http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/Jazz/transcriptions.html[/url] [url="http://stratofede.bloringa.net/post-834748.html"]http://stratofede.bloringa.net/post-834748.html[/url] [url="http://bassko.blogspot.com/"]http://bassko.blogspot.com/[/url][/quote] Found a CD of Mingus songs with isolated bass/everything else , Thanks.

I just check the contents pages of BGM and BP in WHSmiths whenever the new issues come out and buy if there are any articles I'm interested in.

Hey, I've for a good few years now left behind the concept of riffs, preferring to write in the context of following chords and using countermelodies, I've written some good riffs now and then by accident but I've decided I want to get back into riffs as a compositional tool. I can still remember all my old creative methods (the generic 'hear it in your head first' way, the 'noodle untill a happy accident occurs' method and the 'pick a rhythm and build up the notes a step at a time' route) so I'm going to re-explore those, out of interest how do all of you riff-writers out there find your own inspiration?

Another interesting thing to do is to get new sounds into your head is to take all your basslines and play them backwards or all the intervals upside down (or both), can come up with some interresting stuff this way.

I set my EQ up to best suit the acoustics of the venue and play with the timbre through technique and effects.

I think a 3 band on stage and 2 band parametric on the board is good enough for most cases, since a lot of the time the soundman takes an un-EQ'd signal anyway, plus tone controls on the bass for tweaking on the fly. I use an MXR M-80 as a DI box so that I can use the 3 band EQ on that to affect my entire signal to get 'my tone' and then sort out any problems onstage with the amps EQ settings. I personally wouldn't pay a lot of money for a separate EQ pedal.

This is a 2 step process, all you need to do is to get the music into your head and after that learn to play in on your bass. As is usually the case, the answer here is ear training, transcribe a bunch of basslines or improvs of bassists you admire and would like to work into your style and take every opportunity to improvise yourself, jam with friends as much as you can and put the radio on or your playlist on shuffle and just jam along with it. This is one of the most fun aspects of playing to learn, I wouldn't recommend any books on the subject, its something that just comes to you in time if you give it the right 'environment' to grow. Theory won't really help 'directly' at first (the more things to think about, the less room for actual expression) but after growing more comfortable with theory and improvising it'll improve your playing subliminally, I've heard theory described as a paradox in that every musician tries to learn more but also to forget it all while playing, I find this very true.

Tower of Power - What is Hip? Another obvious one for fingerpicking.

Another obvious one is Parallel Universe for fingerpicking stamina.

Bump. Deadline extended to 10th June.

This is extended I guess, 10th June. I still plan to get a piece done for it heh, hopefully we might get one or two more entries.

I have that book, its pretty sweet and really helps your playing if you want to play countermelody style lines in a Paul Mccartney fashion. I'd say that Pauls bass playing is far better than his songwriting too and the text in that book is also a really good read.

Obviously Geddy or Entwistle.

[quote name='Jase' post='206995' date='May 27 2008, 12:58 AM']Not sure I agree with you there Oscar, although Sheehan is known for his solo's, techniques etc, I think he is also an accomplished "bass player" and is without doubt capable of the supporting role, understands song and melody....c'mon, he's got to be one of the most respected bass players in Rock music.....I don't think it's fair comment to say he's just a technician [/quote] Of course (aside from being self a confessed 'theory illiterate'), but from what I've seen of him when he does get his turn in the spotlight he just does all his technique stuff, I really do love a shameless show of technical ability but thats just all I've seen of Sheehan, maybe I need to look into him more to see what he's really about but technique alone just doesn't keep my attention.

Cheers. The rapidshare anti-script tests are actually getting pretty hard lol, took me a minute or two to work this one out.

[quote name='Jase' post='206302' date='May 26 2008, 01:34 AM']What don't you like about it?[/quote] I was kidding really and I do have a lot of respect for his playing, but I'm not too fond of how Sheehan's style emphasises technique over musicality. I'm a big fan of advanced bass techniques but I prefer artists who perfect them and look for ways to make them original and above all musical such as Michael Manring and Jean Baudin. As far as fast ensemble bass playing goes I'd rather listen to Geddy or Entwistle who both do/did all that and so much more, with so much more musicality to what they play.

[quote name='bnt' post='205520' date='May 24 2008, 01:12 PM']Only just seen this - let me try a quick version: When you do the 5th & 7th fret harmonic thing, you're tuning the strings to a ratio of 4:3, a perfect 4th harmonic. 5th fret harmonic = 1/4 string = 4x frequency (2 octaves) 7th fret harmonic = 1/3 string = 3x frequency (octave + major 5th) However, on an [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperament"]equal temperament[/url] (ET) instrument like the bass, for the ratios to add up correctly over the strings, each string needs to be 5 ET semitones apart. That is close to a perfect 4th, but not exactly the same, in terms of the frequency ratio between the strings: Harmonics: 4:3 = 1.3333 ... = 4.98 semitones * 5 semitones: 2^(5/12) = 1.3348 ... Say you have a 6-string bass, so you do that 5 times (B1 -> C3 = 25 semitones), and compare results: Harmonics: (4/3)^5 = 4.214 = 24.9 semitones * 25 semitones: 2^(25/12)= 4.238 The error in ratios is about 0.5%, which might not sound like much, but if you convert the harmonics figure back to semitones, it comes to about 24.9 semitones*. If you follow the harmonics method exactly, the High C will be about 1/10 semitone [i]flat[/i], which is definitely audible. The error might not be much per string, but it compounds, like interest on a mortgage. On a 7-string (30 semitones), the error climbs to 0.12 semitones. ps: maybe the extreme example of a theoretical 13-string bass would help: Intervals = 12 x 5 = 60 semitones = 5 octaves between low and 5 strings. 60 semitones = 2^(60/12) = 32 = 2^5 = exactly 5 octaves harmonics: (4/3)^12 = 31.7 = 59.765 semitones*. "quick version", eh? * to convert frequency ratios back to ET semitones, the formula looks like this: 12* log2(f), where "log2" is the "base 2 logarithm of f" = 12*log(f) / log(2)[/quote] Cheers, this is pretty interesting. When tuning by ear I use fifth fret to open string now, I only use harmonics when I need to quickly bring a rogue string back in tune if it goes out.

Another one I considered was Tears by Rush with a lot of the guitar stuff worked into the bass, but I don't think I could handle the vocals.

[quote name='OldGit' post='205032' date='May 23 2008, 03:22 PM']Stick to good tunes with well known melodies. Trick tapping and sophisticated jazz solo stuff won't bring in the cash. Do the Beatles songbook and anything else the general public can sing along to ... happy peopel pay more so keep it happy and "up" Abide with me may limit your takings somewhat ... Take 5 might swing it [/quote] Heh, yea I stick with more well known songs to arrange for open mic nights and stuff, for this busking thing its mainly just to keep me entertained over summer so I'm going to find a balance between stuff I specifically like to play and stuff that the general public will like more, I'm not really too worried about money. Going to do 'In My Life' as well as the sped up piano solo should work great tapped on bass.

[quote name='BassBalls' post='204787' date='May 23 2008, 09:34 AM']Are you busking already? If so i might have seen you playing in Kingscross tube station? There is the same person every sunday doing playing some really nice pieces on a 5 string yamaha of some kind i think? He has some good tapping skills too. If its not you, there is competition! [/quote] Not me unfortunately, but I think I'll have less bassist competition in Lichfield or Chester . [quote name='allighatt0r' post='204818' date='May 23 2008, 10:11 AM']I have a photocopy of Abide with me somewhere, i could dig it out and scan it in when i have some free time if you would like? I saw a guy with some bagpipes in one tube station, i can't for the life of me remember which one, but i remember that, to my ear, he wasn't playing anything musical at all, he had the technique down and could make all the right noises, but he just seemed to be playing random notes I'd say Take Five would be a great song to learn for busking, it's something anyone would know, if you could figure it out.[/quote] Yeah that'd be great if you could, take five is a good idea too, I learned all the bass/piano parts tapped and worked out all the melody/sax solo for bass in the past and can perform it with a looper, just need to figure out how to play it all at the same time .

Yeah I love classical music, actually I can add Fur Elise (yeah yeah overplayed , I didn't take piano lessons so I still like it) to the potential list as I started learning it ages ago. Do you have your arrangement of Claire De Lune in sheet music or did you just work it out on your instrument? Actually I reckon I could add Cello Suite 1 prelude to the list too, thats probably well known enough to get away with. Cheers for the help!

Since theres now a battery powered bass amp (Roland Bass Micro Cube RX) and also due to the fact that I've got about 5 months (waaayy too long) of summer holiday to kill before I can go back to uni I've decided to take up busking. I want to do it solo without accompaniment so its just my bass playing (EADGC tuned 5 string) and below-average vocal ability, I want to get a set of about 5-6 really solid pieces ready at first (can just keep playing the same things as people will be coming and going) then I'll add to that. So far for repertoire I've got: Yesterday played 2 hand tapped, Original song with a dominant tapped bass part that can be performed solo. Potential additions: Frosty Acres (Jean Baudin) Vanishing (Jean Baudin) Lemon Tree solo bass arrangement (copied from the guy who did it on youtube) Mad World solo bass arrangement Can anyone suggest any solo bass tracks or songs that'd lend themselves well to a bass/vocals or just bass arrangement? I'm pretty competent at most techniques (fingers, pick, slapping, tapping, natural or artificial harmonics, chordal etc., no double thumbing) and an ok arranger so those limitations aren't really too much of a big deal. Thanks for any advice .