TimR

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1456942468' post='2993873'] But surely this must be the definitive live version: ... [/quote] Superb. Only problem now is I'm going to have to learn how to use a pick.

In the UK the money is in band 3 and band 4 will be full of dreamers who either get out and play or who implode on the Tuesday before their first gig.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1456937658' post='2993798'] Whether we like country or not band number 2 is the only real established band with gigs and the eopportunity to make some money. Blue [/quote] Not in this country it wouldn't. You might get a few barn dances but over here we have Celidh bands with callers.

Thought there would be a simpler way.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1456842035' post='2992791'] I use a Mac. Thanks for the suggestion though. I've got until mid April, but want to start on it, just for my peace of mind. [/quote] The fonts are held in the Font Book. Otherwise open your word processor and look through the installed fonts. You should be able to just type the symbols into the word processor and cut and paste.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1456840600' post='2992755'] Thanks for all your suggestions, I'll check them out. I've got Sibelius, and use it for regular stuff, but it's not really designed for the more avant garde stuff like I'm asked to do for this assignment. [/quote] Assuming you're using PC. Have a look at your Character map. It should have all your fonts in it. You can just cut and paste from that into your drawing package.

Just use photoshop/gimp etc. There are plenty of Notation fonts around to download. I'm sure an early version of Sibelius installed one on my machine. http://www.fontspace.com/category/notation .

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1456828307' post='2992545'] Ah, don't assume that the artist knows how it's supposed to go Seriously - the recorded performance may have been improvised, yet gone on to be definitive in the eyes (and ears) of the audience, so that's 'how it goes'. [/quote] I'm now worried that I will now have to buy a 5-string before I'm allowed to play the live version of Comfortably Numb to an audience.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1456823791' post='2992486'] There are plenty well known songs that would sound completely lame if you just "follow the chords", to pick some random ones out of the air - Tears of a Clown, Run to You, Rio, and the cant-be-arsed-to-learn-it-properly brigades eternal favourite for butchery All Right Now, and then you can throw in for bonus points pretty much every song by Level 42, Rush, the jam and various other bands with notable highly stylistic players, and oh yeah Comfortably Numb (apparently) ... [/quote] That's not exactly the 'vast majority' is it? The skill comes in knowing when it can and when it shouldn't be changed. Arguing that a serie of notes in one run is wrong, one that in all probability the original artist didn't even think about when they played it, is a complete waste of everyone's time. .

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1456782190' post='2992307'] Personally, I don't think that it is interesting enough musically for it to make a difference! [/quote] I suspect you're right. And Pink Floyd probably only keep it in for the fans as a classic song. I only picked up on it because we're going to play it and I wanted to get some ideas for beginning and ending it.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1456778055' post='2992244'] We have to adjust quite a lot, because there are only 3 of us, so if the group had more to start with then it tends to feel a bit empty, so we fill it up a bit more (where that is needed). If I am doing a cover, I learn exactly how the thing goes, then we go and practice it, and we move it around a bit until it becomes our interpretation of it. If we can do anything with it, it stays, if not it goes. Some of the songs are close to the original, some are quite a way away. If anyone wants exact, there is a generally a juke box in the corner. [/quote] Whereas, we'll go away with 4 songs. Spend an hour getting the bare bones down. Return and busk through them a few times each and get a feel whether it will work or not. Go away and learn the solos and any significantly important parts. There is more than one way to skin a cat. We all have busy lives and aren't really interested learning tunes note for note that we may never play. I've done that too many times in other bands. Communication and experience are the key. .

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1456782426' post='2992312'] I still want to know the answer to this! [/quote] With a basic bass line, the bass steers the whole song. It has a profound effect on the sound of the chords. You can change the inversion depending on your note choice. You can change the mood by playing an ascending line to make it uplifting or a descending line to make it more sad. We play harmony as well as bass. By legato, I'm thinking probably more single long notes that ring under a whole melody line. Maybe legato is the wrong word. In the Pink Floyd example I posted, Guy doesn't stick to that bottom B, occasionally he'll play the top B. I think it makes a big difference. I have nothing against 5-string basses. In the verse it sounds spot on and had Waters had a 5-string no doubt he would have played low B. It's only an example. I'm not hung up on it. Just don't think it fits that well.

I have a 2B as my spare. It lacks bottom end but it's a very smooth bass with low action and built solidly. Bought new around 1987.

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1456770005' post='2992096'] We'll have to disagree. If you can't be bothered to learn the correct notes which notes are you learning? Imaginary ones? Do you miss the ones that take too much effort? [/quote] The vast majority of bass lines follow standard musical theory. There's very little need to learn anything other than the chords. The rest are just passing notes and filling.

[quote name='Clarebear68' timestamp='1456761938' post='2991971'] IMO, unless it's a tribute act, then it's all down to artistic choices ... and as long as both the band and the audience enjoys it, isn't that what really matters? I used to play in an 80s covers band and we'd often spend weeks of rehearsals getting a song as close as we could to the original and the audience wouldn't really notice and then we'd play a punked up version of something like 'Walk Like an Egyptian' ... as far from the original as you could get (even had a male vocalist) and they'd be asking us to play it 2 or 3 times, they liked it that much. [/quote] Yes I've been there too and it's seriously painful. Especially when one person insists everyone else gets it exactly right and then decides to drop a middle 8 because it's too tricky and they can't be bothered to work on it. Learn the chord structure, the melody and the form. Most songs are pretty simple, going into minutiae about what the exact original notes are seems OCD. .

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1456687132' post='2991454'] Yeah, but also just cos everything else lifts doesn't mean you should. Contrary motion, counterpoint etc all valid musical devices. I'm not saying you're wrong as i've never listened to the song you are on about. But musically i like things moving in different directions. [/quote] It's just during the chorus. 1:38 on here. http://youtu.be/vi7cuAjArRs

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1456678508' post='2991308'] I'm sure David Gilmour would have said if he didn't like it!! [/quote] Maybe. But he's not a bass player and it's a live performance.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1456655501' post='2991014'] I don't know what you're all listening to, but I'm listening to Guy Pratt playing a 5 string status with Pink Floyd in 1994. Sounds like perfect 5 string bass playing to me. [/quote] It's the last note of the verse. Everything lifts into the chorus. Except the bass. Just because you can play a note doesn't mean you should.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1456601072' post='2990683'] It differs from the original in two places, I think - in the first instrumental he goes from low B to the A G F# E run down, and in the choruses, the second time through the D A D A he plays the low rather than the high D. The bit in the instrumental sounds wrong to me, I can see the logic of what he's doing in the chorus though as in that part the melody rises from D to A rather than falling. [/quote] It's the last note of each verse that's wrong, the vocals lift going into the chorus.

Many players over-obsess about getting the parts exactly as per the original.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1456503843' post='2989787'] Maybe... although Mr Gilmour seems like a no-nonsense guy and I don't imagine he'd hesitate in reining Guy in if he thought it necessary. The thought of using a newfangled five-string might not have occurred when recording the original! [/quote] The original was written and performed by Waters. There are plenty of songs I play E on the seventh fret as that's the direction that the melody is leading. When you play legato notes under a melody, your note choice is very important.

Guy Pratt plays a 5-String on Pulse. In comfortably numb he has gratutitously overused the bottom string. Don't know what note it is but all the chords and the melody line ascends - giving the song a lift, while the bass note tries to drag the song down. That's not an accidental wrong note, that's a bad choice. IMO.

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1456408593' post='2988687'] I've always thought of covers as interpretations of other people's songs. I don't try to replicate what somebody else has done and don't listen to songs much before we try them out. I play what I think fits and then have a proper listen to the original. Guitarist does the same and we sometimes prefer what we have come up with. Some bits have t be spot on of course. I once played in a band where the guitarist (who was a complete control freak) once said to me "The bass part doesn't go like that" to which I replied " It f***ing does when I'm playing it". I think tribute bands need to be as close as possible to the original, but covers? Would be bored stupid trying to get everything note for note. [/quote] Quite. What did musicians do before recording was invented?

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1456179686' post='2986429'] The interview was a good 25+ years ago so my memory isn't great, but I think this was in the context of the band are good to go, but Mr Bowie might get the verses wrong, forget the words, etc. and how o keep the show running smoothly when that happens. After all, with his history of drug abuse it was probably a wise contingency. [/quote] Sure. Maybe if you've put a band together just for a tour and they're not used to playing together you might need to discuss a general 'understanding' between everyone. Maybe which tunes you stop and start again and which tunes you just carry on regardless. However, I suspect there is a huge 'control' factor going on with a lot of the stars. I played with a bit of an egomaniacal keyboard/singer/songwriter, the amount of micro-managing he did to each song was unreal, and totally unjustified IMO, but then it's his show and he's paying the players. Different strokes etc...

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1456078468' post='2985182'] Re LED heat. I love that LEDs give off virtually no heat. As I get older, I appreciate cooler stages. Having said that, it took me a little time to remember not to look directly at an LED light. Going temporarily blind adds an entertainingly random element to my playing. [/quote] I used to have some colour bars that were incredibly bright. I try to get them as high up as possible. I plugged a leaser in once and then pushed the stand up while it was on. Got a face full of laser effects as it went past. Thought I'd done irreparable damage to my eyes!