musicbassman

Drinks on amps? Did a rather posh jazz gig Saturday before last and as we started the last number the restaurant owner, who had possibly had a drink or two herself, came up behind me on stage and proceeded to stand 4 champagne flutes on my amp and then rather unsteadily fill each one with Chateau whatever. I motioned for her to stop but she just smiled and pointed to the bottle, mouthing "No,no, this is really good stuff" I was completely distracted from my playing, expecting the very worst to happen behind me, but miraculously we all survived.

I'm sure all BC'ers must be feeling really sorry for all the pro musicians out there - they might have just about survived the last lockdown and been limping along since then, but tonight's announcement might be the final straw. And also all the support crews that worked with them..... not so easy to 'retrain' when it's the only life you've known. And even if Covid is beaten or becomes just another virus for us humans to deal with, it'll take many years for the live arts in all their forms to fully recover.

OP here - again. Sorry this has ruffled feathers - that wasn't the intention. I'm not that kind of guy. You're welcome to reread my comments again, but to summarise I said that I thought it was awful (still do) and then added "Other opinions are available" In other words, it was just my opinion I then added the further point about how little control an individual collaborator would have over the finished product, and it must be a bit hard for them if they really didn't like the end result - possibly very disappointing after all the hard work and effort they'd put in to add their contribution. That's all folks. Peace and love etc. 🙂

OP here. The point of the post is that although each musician may work very hard on their part of the collaboration they're ultimately putting their name on something where they had no control over the end product. These collaborations are all dressed up as great multi disciplined efforts, but maybe really they're more about the ego of the presenter/producer. I'm sure Alba Armengou wouldn't have wanted to have her name on this when she heard the end result.

Well, here's yet another multi musician lockdown collaboration, this one apparently put together by a guy called Freddi Sturm. It came up in my Youtube recommendations for some reason. Loads of instruments, everyone trying very hard, but I think the end result is utterly awful. And quite how he managed to get the uber talented Alba Armengou to appear on this is beyond comprehension. Other opinions are available.

Well, that's how I read it, for some reason. 😮

Oh no, not this topic again! Every few months someone revives the straight/curved debate, and they just need to remember what Gene said about this when he had the first curved strung bass specially made for him: "Well, I don't play the bass with straight fingers, so why shouldn't my strings should be the same as my fingers - curved" Here's the opening lines of Rarfer Friytnt's notoriously difficult bass piece *Straightjacket" which Gene was struggling with when he came up with the original idea:

I use a pick about 10% of the time (Jim Dunlop 1mm) and for certain rhythms a pick is really pretty essential to get the right feel. Take this, for example:

Interesting discussion. I only dabbled with a DAW briefly about 15 years ago, so I'm now completely out of touch with what's going on. For an absolute zero knowledge newbie like me, could someone explain why no one's mentioned the PC specs necessary to run something like Reaper? This was a big deal back then, so could I assume that these days any standard supplied soundcard would be up to the job?

One of my all time favourites: There's an abominable snowman in the supermarket, He's down by the peas and the, carrots Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, taking a sharp knife to the penchant for pretentious prog rock lyrics in the '70's

I've only managed 2 gigs (outdoor) since March. And now I've got 2 gigs offered - but they're both on the same b****y date! Sods Law. One is a dep with a club band, other is a jazz type gig in a new restaurant venue (good luck with that in the current climate 🙄 ) I've passed the club gig over to another local bassist who hasn't had a single gig this year, poor guy. Pleased to be able to offer it to him

Joe Dart ? 😁

Bass player: "Bass and drums are a symbiotic relationship of love and respect. No one needs to lead or follow because we are reading each other's minds. It is a beautiful thing" Drummer: "You queer or summat ?"

Joined a pro band years ago - the guitarist was a better vocalist than the vocalist, and a better drummer than the drummer. He had amazing natural rhythm and at any break in rehearsals would lay down great improvised funk lines on my bass, which made me a little embarrassed at the time ! But being a guitarist, he just didn't know when to stop - he could play an amazing bass line but it would have little to do with the song, or play an amazing drum fill but it would sound more like a short drum solo. Mercifully, he was more disciplined when on guitar and would play to suit the song. A modest but very clever and talented guy, and I learnt a lot from him. Always useful if you're lucky enough to get to play with someone really talented like this.

Just found this posted on Reddit, a bit harsh maybe....

Beautifully phrased silky smooth bassline. That sounds like a P with the tone rolled ALL the way back !

Wise of you to leave your cat on guard duty when you have a bass with that much mojo sitting around 😊

Well, here's Trevor with a pick and some famous mates discussing whether Mark O'Toole ever actually played the line as it was finally arranged on the record. And then he plays it.

It's Reddit, mate. Click on the picture. You have to wait a moment or two so clip can download before it will play, then click on the picture again. Should play, but be warned, the volume is a bit loud. The playing's 'spectacular', so worth it !

There's just so much to listen to now - new bands, old bands you overlooked, bands revisited after many years, musical styles and cultures you didn't even know existed........ I could find something worth listening to 24 hours a day. So much music, so little time 😲 This morning it's been music by Caroline Shaw (composer) followed by some old Toots and the Maytals !

I see the article is dated 8th September, but it would appear to have been written pre Covid. It's full of so many presumptions about 'office space', 'shopping centres' and similar, but haven't events overtaken these ideas for quite a while now ? I should think that being a landlord with a commercial property portfolio in central London must be about the worst possible investment to be stuck with right now. Both my son and daughter work for separate large organisations in Central London (500+ staff each) and both organisations are now planning to quit Central London altogether in the long term. Obviously not a scientific survey, but maybe you get the idea....

And of course, this: Stop sniggering at the back.

It's not April 1st, honest. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54041568