lozkerr

Judging by their expressions and slack bobbing about, the dancers aren't exactly impressed either. That really is dire.

Aye. I hated the stuff. I was actually very grateful to for ditching it. I know, I'm a bad person 😧 But I was very young, m'lud.

Hi Si, Many thanks. I've installed it OK and you're right - it doesn't make any difference to JamKazam. I think it's a problem with JamKazam, as the crackling and noise I was getting there doesn't occur with Cubase or Audacity. I'm still fiddling with settings, but if I can't get it to behave I guess we'll need to try something else. The volume's pretty low though, but it seems to be a Mac-specific thing - I've just tried it with my work machine running Windows 10 and it's plenty loud enough there. From a root around tinterwebz, it seems to be a common problem on Macbooks when you try to use self-powered USB audio interfaces. It's not the end of the world, though - if all else fails, maybe a separately-powered USB audio interface taking signals from my Boss JS10 might be the way to go. It's a twin-channel job, with separate volume controls for mic and bass. Thanks again! Laura

You're a star, Dad. Thank you so much! No idea why I couldn't find it earlier. Thanks again!

Hi folks! I'm looking for the Mac version of the Focusrite Control app for my Scarlett Solo. We're having problems getting it to work properly with JamKazam and apparently running this app alongside it is supposed to improve performance and reduce latency. "But my dear girl," I hear you say, "why not just download it from Focusrite's website?" I tried guv, really I tried. Off to their webshite I went. Gosh, it's changed a wee bit since I was last here. No free downloads now - you have to create an account. Oh well, here we go. Name, email, password, unit serial number.... uh, what's this? When did I buy it? That was a while ago so enter a random date. Which country did I buy it in? Jeez, are these nosey jackasses looking for attempts to procure munitions? United Kingdom, obvs. Where did I buy it? Dawson's Music in Leeds IIRC, so let's pick 'Geetar CenTER'. Duh. Eh? Bundle code? BUNDLE code? What sorcery is this? I've moved house three times since I bought this thing and I haven't a clue where or what the bundle code is. Let's try some gibberish. Nope, not valid. No software for you. Go direct to jail, do not pass go, do not collect the app that could make the difference between you sticking with the Solo or throwing it in the bin. Sod this for a game of soldiers. Change account name to Rosemary West from Samoa, email to Fosters_NastyPasty (at) non_existent_domain save changes, step away from the keyboard and indulge in some pleasant daydreams involving Focusrite's marketeers' heads and a heavy door. I could understand all this palaver if we were talking about heavy-duty software, but this is a wee app that just controls a USB interface. Fuxake. So here I am. Does anyone have a copy of the Mac version of the app I could have? I shall be forever in your debt! Many thanks, Laura

I've come to expect that, sadly. I was looking for the lyrics to a couple of Ellen Foley songs a while back and every site I tried had the same howlers ("'cause that's a cruel mental start" instead of "'cause like the moon and the stars") for We Belong To The Night and only the first line of Night Out's second verse. Which also had a mistake in it. I eventually found the correct lyrics in a Jim Steinman archive.

I've just had a crack at playing along with your song You're Gonna Play Bass starting on fret 8 of the B string and the difference in tone is amazing - the fatter notes cut through really well. Plus, I have quite small hands, and the 8-bar chorus riff is easier up there.

I had the same problem when I started on the five. I got round it by repositioning the root of each scale on the B string and once I'd got that into my head, I started learning a couple of completely new songs in that scale, so there would be no clash of muscle memory. It worked. I don't suppose this is an original idea, but my discovering it certainly was 😉

Welcome, Han! Always good to see another lass on here!

Couple of pics. He did a lovely job.

I got Chris McIntyre (www.mcintyreguitars.com) to do it when I took it to him for a setup. He made a hardwood rest that fitted over the pickup and replaced the stock screws with longer ones.

I have one too - bought it as a travel bass for the weeks I spent in London. It's great for that, although I'm sometimes asked if I have a rifle in the gig bag! I had a luthier make a thumb-rest for the neck pickup - the low profile makes it easy to miss and I kept muting the B string instead of landing on the pickup. The neck dive is a nuisance standing up, but I don't find it so much of a problem sitting down. I fitted a strap extender too and that helped, but didn't cure it. All in all, it's a nice little workhorse. Can't see myself gigging with it, though.

I guess that's kinda understandable - someone who would have been 26 and in the prime of life in 1966 would now be 80 years old. Hm, there's a depressing thought...

Again, in no particular order: Peavey 20-channel mixing desk, 2,200 watt PA with HK subs and tops, eleven lights, two twin-tripod lighting bars, DMX controller, Canon digital camcorder, several miles of electric string, at least a dozen songbooks, Saramonic mixer for the camera, Stagg EUB, case and bow for the EUB, Macbook, phantom power supply, memory card for an old Boss jam station, singing lessons and an Eden WTP600. Which is yet to arrive.

I see you've pasted them above, but for future reference, you can follow @threadreaderapp, go to the end of the threader and reply '@threadreaderapp unroll'. The account will roll them into a single PDF, which you can then either download if you sign up to their site, or just display in your browser and print to PDF.

Not free, but I've been having lessons from Ellen O'Reilly over Skype for a while. As she's a singing bassist, she definitely knows her stuff and she's a really good teacher. She'll push you, though. https://www.ellenoreillymusic.com/ if you're interested. We started off with singing scales backwards and forwards - doh-ray-me-fa-so-la-te-doh for major and doh-ray-ri-fa-so-se-li-doh for minor. Play the scale on your bass and sing along - that'll keep you in tune. Try switching between major and minor going up and down. It can trip you up, so take it easy. Also, make sure you practise standing up. Then find a simple song that'll fit within your range. The genre doesn't matter, as this is a vocal exercise. I'm currently working on the Pretenders' I'll Stand By You. If you pick one you know well, watch you don't try to imitate the original - I don't sound anything like Chrissie Hynde but I caught myself trying to do so. You need to find your own voice. You'll also need to work on your breathing. As @Cuzzie said, you control it from your diaphragm rather than squeezing it into your throat. I had some training a long time back and some of it's still there, but Dena Murray's Vocal Technique (ISBN 978-0-634-01319-5) has been a handy refresher course.

Yes, of course. Thanks! 😊

If you've gone in that time from complete n00b to learning songs and, crucially, being self-critical about it, you've done very, very well. Big-up rispek, and I hope you really enjoy your journey. You'll get a lot of satisfaction out of discovering what you can achieve on the bass.

You could pop an MP3 in here if you're happy to distribute freebies, but TBH I think you deserve a few quid for this. I've been listening to it on and off throughout the day and I'm still giggling at the lyrics - they're so true to life. I've had a few ideas for a pi55-taking video, too. If you wanted to distribute paid-for copies via SoundCloud, @PunkPonyPrincess could help you out - she's put out a few singles there. I particularly like (I Don't Want) Your Germs. If you wanted to send me a high-quality MP3 via PM, could I slip you a fiver via PayPal?

Deffo a plus point - it's always good to learn from someone who walks the walk. My bass tutor is a gigging pro and I'm currently bribing Ellen O'Reilly not to laugh while she tries to teach me to sing and play via Skype. Experience definitely helps. I thought Dad was a little harsh, but he did echo a point that occurred to me too - learning exclusively via tab can make it harder to progress beyond a certain point, unless you're happy just playing along to your favourite songs. Nothing wrong with that at all - we all want different things in our musical lives. It definitely makes it easier to know where the notes are on the fretboard and how scales work. Even if you don't read the dots, seeing fret 5 on the E string and instantly knowing that's the low A, fret 6 is B flat, fret 5 on the G string is C and so on makes it easier to progress than relying on the numbers. I hope your tutor's helping you to master that relationship - if he isn't, he really should be, even if it's starting with just a simple major scale.

@Nail Soup, is there a purchase / download option on there? This song's cheered me up immensely.

I like this. A lot. I didn't have bass pushed on me - I chose it. It just felt right - I'd tried one of those screechy things with too many strings but it never really resonated with me. Then, far too many years later, I picked up a bass and knew instantly that I'd found my instrument. What I find amusing is watching the guitarers shredding in the spotlight oblivious to the fact that their bassists are driving their performances...

Neither can I. I find tabs as meaningless as Sanskrit. I'm glad it's no just me!

@Woodinblack beat me to it. Don't beat yourself up if you can't memorise a tab, which may not be accurate anyway. That also applies to those in books and published scores - I have quite a few where the dots are a fair way off the original recordings. Unless you're in a tribute band, where different rules apply, the things to remember are (a) stay in the right key, (b) stay in time and (c) hold the pulse and drive the song. That's the crucial thing - in fact it's more important than memorising every foible or mastering a tab that may have been put together by someone with a tin ear. I learnt that the hard way when learning Losing My Religion. The tab I found had some weird syncopated phrases in it which threw me completely. Although they may well have been faithful to the original, it became apparent from listening to the CD that apart from the middle eight, intro and coda, the main pulse was 'one, two and three four, one, two and three four' throughout with a slight variation leading into the chorus of 'one, two, three and four and one, two and three four'. Once I got my head round that, I could drive it quite hard and still keep in time. Remember - if it sounds right, it is right.

This is how I do it, at least for simple and repetitive basslines, by breaking the song into phrases. Sorry it's a wee bit blurred - camera wouldn't focus properly for some reason. This one has five phrases, and I learnt each one separately. The pencilled notes show the running order, with the 'v' indicating where the verses are in case I get lost. As there's so much repetition in this song, I learnt the riff and chorus first, and then the ending, bridge and intro in that order. Took a couple of days or so.