TKenrick

Glad you got something out of the post! Just re-read your original post and this jumped out at me: [quote name='j1mu5' timestamp='1494180747' post='3293857'] I'm currently having lessons every other week which give's me something to work on but feel like I could do with a template or guide to ensure I'm maximising my practice time. [/quote] Without wanting to pass comment on your lessons - about which I know nothing - this is really an area that [i]any[/i] teacher should cover sooner rather than later; it stops you wasting time (and money) and ensures that they don't spend lesson time recapping too much content from the previous lesson. Everyone wins. If a teacher can't outline some clear and effective strategies for practising that are directly applicable to you then, well...

Have a read of this, which summarises most of what I've learned in 17 years of [i]trying[/i] to get my sh*t together: http://www.freebasstranscriptions.com/2014/02/02/7-steps-to-better-practice/

Something old, something new-ish: Bob Babbitt's groove on 'Inner City Blues' Grooving with harmonics: Squarepusher - 'Iambic 9 Poetry'

Here are some thoughts about GAS and how to manage it: The full article is HERE Here's some Herbie Hancock: Groove of The Week #42: 'Palm Grease'

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1491938430' post='3276680'] It seems to me that there are those who can't read who argue "there's no benefit". Has anyone who has learned ever said "it useless, I wish I'd not bothered"? [/quote] This is one of the finest posts I've seen here. Nail, head, hit.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1492008032' post='3277144'] My piano teacher got bored of me saying - "but it's the same note" [/quote] That implies that your piano teacher's explanation of this was [i]sub-par[/i] to say the least...

If you play any E and play a C# [b]above[/b] it then you've gone up a major 6th regardless of which string or fret it's located on. If you play any E and play the C# [b]below[/b] it then it's still the 6th degree of the E major scale and is referred to as 'the major 6th' within the key even though technically you've gone down a minor 3rd to get to it (a minor third being the interval that you get if you invert a major 6th). It's important to differentiate between naming a note according to its function within a key and labelling individual intervals within a melody or bass line. If you play the open E string followed by the highest C# possible on your bass then you're still playing the tonic followed by the 6th degree of the scale, the functions of those two notes remain unchanged even if the 'distance' between them on the fretboard is different. EDIT: After writing the above I went back to practising and realised that adding the following might help... Identifying notes by their function versus labelling the interval between them: Let's stick with the OP's choice of E to C# (9 semitones, definitely a major 6th) and imagine that we're playing these notes against the I chord (tonic, 'home', 'key chord', however you want to label it) in each different key: In the key of E the functions of the notes (their position in the scale) are the tonic (or root, or even just '1') and 6th. If we change keys and move to A major (A B C# D E F# G#), E to C# is [b]still [/b]a major 6th but the E is the 5th of the scale and C# is the 3rd. Changing keys again to D major (D E F# G A B C#), E to C# is [b]still[/b] a major 6th, now the E is the 2nd and C# is the 7th The same interval viewed in different harmonic contexts will have a different function, but the distance between the notes remains the same. Apologies if any of this is unbearably patronising, but I wanted to provide the most complete answer possible. Articulating this in writing is a bit like trying to give swimming lessons over the phone, but hopefully this clarifies things rather than adding to the confusion!

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1491924909' post='3276536'] See, for me that's not clickbait. 'Clickbait', as I understand it, is about enticing people to click on stuff for the sake of generating advertising venue (from click-through fees). [/quote] It seems that I have a different view of what constitutes clickbait in this context - as I see it, videos with titles like 'The ONE scale that you need to know' or '5 EPIC practice hacks' are all about enticing as many views as possible by using a carefully selected style of language to appeal to the broadest audience possible. To me, at least, that seems like clickbait. Please note that none of my comments are intended to pass judgement on the [b]content [/b]of that video or any other - Scott has done an [i]incredible[/i] amount for the bass community both in terms of the academy and all the free content that he produces. Ditto for Janek.

Right on cue... [sharedmedia=core:attachments:242808]

[quote name='MisterT' timestamp='1491776936' post='3275337'] Have you noticed the trend now to clip the videos up? They delete the unnecessary frames, probably keeps interest and packs more into a shorter time for people with shorter attention spans. [/quote] This is also an editing trick to weed out any footage that isn't up to scratch - maybe they've gone off on a tangent, flubbed their lines or said something contentious that seems too severe at the editing stage (at least that's how I use it...). Bob Reynolds (a superb sax player) has a long running vlog, which is full of great advice spliced in with footage of him doing mundane 'real life' things like driving his kids to school and I always find it a pain trying to skip through the dross to get to the good stuff. I was really enjoying the Janek vlog up until he started timelapsing his therapy sessions, but each to their own.

Hi Thomas (and anyone else who might be interested) I've suffered from and successfully rehabbed playing-related tendonitis as well as other injuries in the past so have a massive interest in posture and ergonomics for electric and double bass. I wrote my dissertation on tendonitis and RSI and have run workshops on injury prevention for bass students at ACM Guildford. I teach in SW18, not far from Earlsfield station. Let me know if you have any questions! Tom

[quote name='dand666' timestamp='1491380062' post='3272497'] Nice. Have this at a gig coming up. Although they've changed the key [/quote] Damn singers!

Almost 3 years late to the party, but I've never had to gig this until recently and found that I enjoyed it more than anticipated (mainly due to gratuitous octave pedal usage): [media]http://youtu.be/MXxs67toUmc[/media]

An unlikely example of great envelope filter usage (and generally filthy bass playing throughout): http://youtu.be/MSXP8jQZWT4

How to 'fake' synth bass using an octave pedal on Clean Bandit's 'Rather Be: Transcription link is HERE

[quote name='JohnR' timestamp='1489945012' post='3260998'] A massive thank you from me for the great work and generous share. [/quote] Cheers John, means a lot to get such positive feedback!

The site has had another facelift and is still having its 'back end' done up... New transcription and play along video of Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now': http://youtu.be/OFRUtk69FOU Transcription pdf is HERE I also put on my Big Girl Pants and did my first ever gear review, demoing the much-hyped Noble Preamp: http://youtu.be/YsuuPfxFXvA

Another High Action Club member here (whoops, starting to get a little too much like Talkbass...). Although there are some proponents of low action/light touch who do great things, I can't get on with it at all. [quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1488833527' post='3252256'] I've always needed my strings a hair off the board, it seems like every bass I pick up has what I consider a huge action, and I just don't get how people play with any fluency on them!? Super low for me [/quote] I always have the opposite problem - I try other basses and feel like everything is choked and there's no 'room to move'!

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1488795911' post='3251749'] Top work both with the review and the the playing videos. [/quote] [quote name='Kevsy71' timestamp='1488800468' post='3251803'] Yep terrific review and love those funky tracks! [/quote] [quote name='sk8' timestamp='1488809543' post='3251923'] Great review. Can't wait to get my mitts on mine! [/quote] Thank you for the kind words on the review gents, much appreciated. Completely agree that the Noble is more 'vintage-ish' than being an authentic reproduction of vintage tone, but it had a number of features that made it more practical for me to purchase compared to other similarly (over)priced preamps. I'm keen to try the Motown DI when (or, more accurately, [i]if[/i]) funds allow.

I'm no Ed Friedland, but here's my attempt at a review of the Noble for those who are curious. Recorded examples with jazz and P bass with various EQ settings, overview of features/specs and honest feedback from using it 'in the field' over the last 18 months: [media]http://youtu.be/YsuuPfxFXvA[/media] Examples of the Noble in a full band mix (signal path was bass>Noble>desk, nothing else): [media]http://youtu.be/WW6_XDJTME8[/media] [media]http://youtu.be/FLIEZuRcoZc[/media]

Any more detail about the actual part - what note values are you playing at that point? In terms of articulation, you could interpret it as being the mid-point between playing staccato and playing the full note value; this is easiest to play when you're dealing with crotchets (although it depends on tempo, obviously!). I hear Anthony Jackson play what I'd term 'slightly detached' lines, where each note is strongly articulated but not staccato, the notes sound full but there's a bit of room between them. Check out his line on the chorus of Chaka Khan's 'Clouds' (from 16 seconds in): [media]http://youtu.be/xADrCKYUE[/media] And again on 'Our Love's In Danger' (from 16 seconds in again): [media]http://youtu.be/_SkCsW90g0U[/media]

I went through this exact situation when I started playing upright, having been an electric-only player for 10 years; I found that having thicker calluses on my right hand fingers changed my tone when I went back to electric and it wasn't to my liking. For me, it accentuated the high mid frequencies and I definitely felt that my tone was 'scratchier', even on a dead-sounding p-bass with flats. For a while I really disliked the sound of my own fingers which is a disconcerting thing, to say the least. Experimenting with different EQ settings and right hand placement helped to remove some of it - I don't really know if it 'fixed' the problem or I've just got used to it. So yeah, I feel your pain!

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1486378415' post='3231174'] I'd be interested in using one but the price is prohibitive. In saying that if it was your main 'sound' and did a lot of live and recording it would make a lot of sense. Big warm tone, pedal board friendly etc. I had considered selling my main pre to get one, I play about 40 gigs a year give or take and if I sold my main pre the Noble could replace it. Be interested to hear what its sounds like into a power amp. I'm supposing it could drive a power amp I'll pop over to the Noble site for a read! [/quote] It's a big investment, and I held off for 6 months before taking the plunge (the exchange rates was also more favourable when I bought mine). I do lots of gigs where I take public transport and don't need an amp so the noble was a good fit for my requirements. It should be fine with a power amp, I tend to bypass the EQ on my Aguilar head and effectively use it as a power amp. [quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1486388219' post='3231300'] Haven't gone hunting for clips, but the ones on their site are terrible, just some live recordings with a noisy crowd. I'd want to hear comparisons with a bass going in to a regular clean DI vs this to convince me. [/quote] I'll see what I can come up with as far as reference recordings go...

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1486330561' post='3230978'] Funnily enough, the bassist from the band at my mate's wedding in October had an upright, Noble pre and Aguilar amp. If that was you, thanks for letting me borrow your amp for the few songs we played!!! [/quote] Ha, that was almost certainly me - I can usually be found lurking in wedding venues with an upright most weekends. Either that or somebody has cloned my setup... The wedding was in West Sussex, right? Sorry that we didn't get a chance to chat, I wanted to quiz you about your pedalboard!

I've been using mine for about 18 months and although I try not to rely on specific pieces of gear I really miss it on the rare occasions that I'm on a gig without it. What does it do? In short, it allows me to take a lightweight class D amp (Aguilar TH500) to a gig and make it sound like I'm playing through a big old tube head. The 9v power outlets are also a big plus if you like to run pedals on the gig - the only drawback is that they're not isolated so you can't use a standard voltage doubler cable for 18v pedals. At almost every gig I get band members or sound engineers coming over and asking 'what's the black box?'. Singers using IEMs have commented that the bass still sounds 'fat'. I have a regular gig in a hotel on upright, one week I left the house in a rush and forgot the Noble... At sound check the sound engineer pulled me over and said 'look how much I've had to do to your channel - usually I can just leave it flat'. I've used in on a few recordings and it comes across really well - the EQ is great and it's one of the only pieces of gear that I actually use the treble control on. Is it much more expensive than other DIs? Yes. Is it worth it? For me, definitely. Compared to Sansamps, Radial DIs and the Aguilar Tonehammer DI this is vastly superior.