bluesparky

Ahhh good, I'm glad I'm not alone (it's far too often that I post something like this and there are either no replies or a few people saying "huh?")!

Ok, here's a strange one. Whilst playing along with a particular track (YYZ by Rush - Trinity College's Rock 'n Pop syllabus version) I keep having to check my email because I usually play the music via my computer mixed intot my headphones. There is a certain bit during the first "verse" which must be a random harmonic in the guitar part (or something) and it sounds just like Apple's BING for the new mail notification. It's taken me a while to realise this after I noticed I had to keep stopping and checking my mail but nothing had arrived... I can now ignore it when I play along but I do notice it and give myself a wry grin when I hear it. (I must remember NOT to do that during the exam....). Also, i remember playing along to Queen's "was it all worth it" and time and time again distintly "hearing" my mum calling my name and "turn it down" just as the song exits the big orchestrated bit in the middle. It took me a few times before I realised it was something on the track not her yelling at me! Does anyone else know what I'm talking about / have anything similar?

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1418716457' post='2632505'] It's patchy, some of it works very well other bits aren't so good, definitely worth a listen though. [/quote] Ok, cheers. I'll check it out. Thanks

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1418485072' post='2630604'] Here's the mash-up album that's on. [url="http://www.neilcic.com/mouthsilence/"]http://www.neilcic.com/mouthsilence/[/url] [/quote] Ah great, thanks for that. I'd posted the EJ / SOAD mash up on facebook a while ago and it went down well. I didn't realise it was from an album. Is it of the same quality as this track?

[quote name='NoRhino' timestamp='1417776065' post='2623863'] I called last week. Will be nearby next Friday so will go in and look at the embarrassment on his face if he hasn't phoned by then. I'm a trusting kind of man so will assume he's really trying hard to please a customer. [/quote] Fingers crossed it all arrives soon. On a vaguely related topic, yesterday was international lighting day. 5th December = 5/12, DMX is an 8-bit protocol so has 512 channels. That's one for the REALLY geeky techies out there.

[quote name='NoRhino' timestamp='1417194572' post='2618126'] Thanks Mike257 and Bluesparky I'm waiting on the call from my local shop to tell me we my unit arrives. Looking like Tuesday now. Then I'll dive into the world of DMX. Looks like fun. Thanks to everyone who contributed. [/quote] No worries If you've any questions about DMX or the technical side of lighting etc, please feel free to drop me a line.

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' timestamp='1416137780' post='2607175'] I have a transcription somewhere - message me here if you'd like a copy. Stuart [/quote] Thanks Stuart, in fact I think I sold the III sides guitar book to you! I bought the guitar transcription book after being so stumped and annoyed by the particularly awkward bit of the middle section of cupid's dead, the bassline is close enough to work out what I needed!

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' timestamp='1416080571' post='2606739'] Coincidentally, I've been writing a book of advanced study pieces for bass guitar this year. I realised that I had a bunch of challenging lines that I use to keep my technique in shape, and I decided to turn them into full pieces. If you're interested, you read about the book here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/coming-soon/advanced-studies-for-bass-guitar.html"]http://www.basslinep...ass-guitar.html[/url] - it's being released next year at the London Bass Show. Stu [/quote] Yes, I'd seen on social media somewhere you've been working on that. I actually made a note to keep an eye out for the book when it's published.

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' timestamp='1416080571' post='2606739'] I've always used etudes or study pieces in my practice and I continue to encourage my students to do the same. Also Pat Badger's line on Extreme's 'Cupid's Dead'. Stu [/quote] Cupid's Dead - another one for me! I transcribed the middle bit time and time again trying to get the bit where the guitar / bass riff appears to be in a different time signature to the drums.. That annoyed me for pretty much my entire university life!

To cut a long story short, whilst continuing to further my musical education I came across a piece described as being an etude. Some dictionary definitions of an etude are: "a short musical composition for a solo instrument, esp one designed as an exercise or exploiting technical virtuosity" "a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity" "an instrumental musical composition, usually short, of considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill." Is there anything that you guys would consider to be a "bass" etude i.e. a classic piece of bass playing or a bass piece of considerable technical difficulty that you've had to study for ages to master and nail it note-for-note and that you're proud of being able to play - not necessarily in public, but maybe simply for your own pleasure? It needn't be a universally difficult track that everyone struggles with, just something that you personally have spent a considerable amount of time working on in order to master it. For me, When I was younger I had a book of Bach's solo pieces by Josquin Des Pres. After that I spent ages on Jaco's Portrait for Tracy, Led Zep's Lemon Song and then Jaco's Donna Lee. Currently (once I've taken the Trinity college exam I've entered and finally stopped having to practice YYZ!) I'm looking at the Yellowjackets "Man Facing North". I've always been a fan of the track and I know it's going to be a mission but I'm looking forward to working on it. I also have a book called "Excersises and Etudes For The Jazz Instrumentalist" by J J Johnson which has a wealth of pieces to have a bash at in future too.

Another hardware interface for DMX from a USB output is via a website http://dmxking.com/ There's a wide range of items from a single DMX universe out to artnet to DMX which will give you a huge amount of possibilities. Their prices are really good too, but there is one snag - they're based in New Zealand so the shipping & import duty can be a bit of a sting in the tail. Their stuff is fully compatible with a range of software including the Chamsys platform mentioned above. The gear is surprisingly top quality and customer service is very good too. I bought a few ArtNet & USB interface items from them earlier this year but I was fortunate enough to have an Australian leg on the tour I'm currently on so I had them shipped to the company that was supplying the rig when we were in Oz a couple of months ago which meant the shipping was pretty much minimal and zero tax. It may be slightly out of the scope of the OP, but it's another option to be considered especially as the Chamsys software is free for both Mac & PC (it's also easily possible to setup a computer / PC tablet wireless system using simple ArtNet equipment so it can be operated from front of house / anywhere if you want to show off!).

[quote name='jrixn1' timestamp='1415145948' post='2597298'] I think "Blue Rondo à la Turk" does have a quaver conversion, although it's unrelated to the 2+2+2+3 grouping of 9/8. When moving from the head (9/8) to the solos (4/4), you switch with 3 quavers = 1 crotchet. It's about 1m50s into it: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKNZqM0d-xo[/media] Another example of a conversion is "Killing in the Name": from the intro to the verse, about 40 seconds in, it converts with 2 triplet crotchets = 1 crotchet. (I don't know how you'd formally notate that...) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWXazVhlyxQ[/media] As a contrast, here is an example of a "non-conversion" (i.e. "quaver = quaver"): [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPdaQDSlp9c[/media] The composition is mainly in 6/8, although the third bar is in 3/4 and the fourth and fifth are in 4/4. All quavers are the same length as each other -- but I'd argue it's a lot harder to tap your foot along to the Metheny transition than the RATM transition! Another, different example I can think of is: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU70hNzHZRY[/media] Technically, you have "crotchet = minim" at 1m14s and again at 2m44s -- where each time, the chord progression goes round twice as fast as before. Then the reverse at 3m22s and 4m22s. [/quote] Interesting, thanks for that, I'll check them out!

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1415038444' post='2595985'] There are lots of the 'aids' to reading that do not 'do' anything but simply exist to 'remind' he reader that s/he's on familiar territory. A similar one would be when an accidental is written in brackets to remind you that the key signature requires it to be sharp or flat. [/quote] Too true, when using Sibelius it really annoys me when it sometimes corrects a note which was either flattened or sharpened in the previous bar and it puts the correction to the previous accidental into the current bar to remind you that it's "business as usual" again.

I've received a reply from the examination board in answer to the same question, and they say: "The quaver=quaver markings are there to inform the performer that the quavers in the new time signature are the tempo as those in the previous time signature." I've not come across the need for this notation before - I just assumed that the stated fact was the norm, even when the time signature changes.

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1414767658' post='2593133'] Don't panic it's one of those things that's easier to do than read. Just start counting quavers a bar ahead of the signature change and you'll be fine. Oh, and practice the rhythm without the instrument in your hands, one task at a time. Oh and 9/8 is also known as compound triple, so conventially it's grouped into 3. [/quote] Cheers, thank you. It's easy enough (well, for me anyway) to play and the "feel" of the track flows well - I'm just confused why the notation is there if it simply indicates the same as before!

Thanks for the replies - I hope I've not sparked too much of a lively debate about it. On top of posting here I've contacted the examining board to see what the "official" answer to my query is, I'll let you know what they say!

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1414708862' post='2592647'] Does it come with a waistcoat? [/quote]

Hello all, I hope someone can give me a bit of assistance with this one. I've noticed in a particular piece I played recently (6:00 by Dream Theatre - Trinity College Rock and Pop Bass Grade 8 piece) that there are directions above the stave which don't really make sense to me. The start of the piece is in 4/4 and the tempo is crotchet = 100 After the intro, and also later in the piece the time sig changes to 6/8, 9/8 & back to 4/4 several times but each time there is a note above the stave of quaver = quaver. I'm unsure as to what exactly this is trying to say. I assumed that quaver = quaver notification indicates where the "beat" is (i.e. to differentiate between simple / compound & duple / triple / quadruple time etc). Would I be correct in thinking that the same indication in different time signatures would indicate a different "feel" / beat from the norm by emphasising the beat on unusual notes, or is it suggesting it's played in "straight" temp (i.e. not swung) or something that I'm missing entirely? Why is the same notation (quaver = quaver) used for several time signatures which have their main beats in different places? There aren't any other performance notes relating to time signatures or feel in the piece. I dunno! I'm all set to take the Grade 8 exam (all I've got to do is wait for the next set of exam dates to be released) and I'd like to think that my music theory knowledge is pretty good but I know in my waters that when they come to ask questions about the theory side of the pieces I'm playing they'll ask me about this and I'm not sure what I'll say back! Thank you for any help & advice.

[quote name='leroydiamond' timestamp='1413894156' post='2583194'] Any chance of you sending me the tab of this song? [/quote] Sure, PM me your email address and I'll send it over In the next day or so.

Yup, I went. I handily had a day off in Glasgow yesterday and they managed to sort a pass for me. It was good to see the again. The 3-piece horn section certainly gives the sound a bit of beef!

Hmm, I had LOTS of single effects linked together with a fantastic box of tricks called a Gig Rig, however occasionally the levels were all over the place, patch & power leads failed and a couple of stomp boxes didn't quite work with each other as i wanted. Also, the case with all of the pedals in was REALLY heavy so I sold the lot and bought a Boss GT-10B. It is great, handy, sounds good and very flexible but the quality of each individual pedal & effect isn't quite up to par (but still very good). I'm happy with the compromise of quality against ease of use / handy to have everything in one pedal but every now and then I do lust after some of the individual effects I had. Saying that, I don't really go to town on my effects, they're subtle and not over the top so there's not much to go wrong. For me, it always seems to be the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Great find, thanks.

[quote name='mep' timestamp='1413046836' post='2574510'] Are you still looking for a transcription? I once covered Hole Hearted in a duo, does that count? [/quote] Sure! I remember doing more than words at a gig whilst still at school (I didn't play it however I did have to teach our guitarist how to play it) and doing Decadence Dance & Cupid's Dead at Uni - I think they were wasted on the audience!

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1413035833' post='2574383'] Yes you did thanks very much! However, we made such a pigs arse of it we gave it up! [/quote] Ahh, that's a shame - great song though, great band too! It must've been fun trying though? Actually thinking about it, I don't think I've ever seen a covers band do an Extreme song before, pity! I did do a couple in a band at Uni but that was MANY years ago.