TimR

The problem with the written word is that you don't always get the emotion or subtext that the writer intended and can easily superimpose your own emotional state into what has been written. I was accused of being 'patronising' the other day. How on earth can you write in a patronising way? Certainly a lot of discussions I had in OT have seemed like deliberate trolling with one or two posters seemingly keeping 'debate' going just for fun by playing devils advocate. It's easy to get drawn into these topics. A lot of those type of topics always reverted to the posters twisting the subject on to their own pet subjects. Which became a bit boring. Also, with some posters seemingly being here all the time, what is just lively discussion between people who hold opposing views, can be seen by others, who maybe aren't here so often, as quite aggressive arguments between the same old posters. If I've ever been involved in a proper 'argument', I think maybe two or three times since I've been here, we sorted it by PM when we realised things were getting confused. And usually it was just confusion. People leaving? Maybe some people felt that their friendly discussions were being seen by others as unfriendly arguments? There was a lot of heavy modding going on a few months back. Some of it I couldn't see why. Or maybe I've just got a very extremely think skin PS. OT posts don't count in the post totals.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1426953008' post='2723944'] ... I'm not sure if I'm just indoctrinated to soul and funk or the music just isn't that good. the real feeling i get is that the music just doesn't inspire me to play. sometimes it does with certain songs, but only in parts. maybe I'm answering my own question. the band is drums, guitar x 2 and bass. i tried to introduce this guy who is a keys master, and i got a 'no, not now maybe later". i just want some chords behind the music. I'm talking Billy Preston type stuff. ... [/quote] You need to identify which tunes are inspiring you and why. Maybe it's tunes that the rhythm guitarist is playing sustained chords under. Something that frees you up a bit. Maybe it's what the drummer is doing. Two guitars and a keys player? Good luck with that! I played in a band with two guitarists I 'had' to make changes to what they were playing. Often they were doubling up but not good enough to be even close to each other. It sounded awful and pointless.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1426864190' post='2722899'] Cheers for this Tim...I've been trying to find somewhere to rehearse in St Albans with little success. The only thing I can find is The Pioneer which charges £20ph...sent the details to drummer and guitarist. [/quote] Mill Hill Music Complex might be good as well if any of your guys travel out from London on an evening. Although I haven't been there for over ten years. I used their bass cabs and if I found a problem when we went in I just asked them for a swap. They used to lend amps out so had a few lying round. They're still going. That means something.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1426858912' post='2722804'] A previous band I was in used to rehearse at Magnet in Nottingham. Normally it was a great place with decent gear, although we only ever used the PA in the room and brought all our own drums and backline. However one day we had reasonably well known local band Six By Seven in the room next to ours. They were so loud that we could hear them over the top of all but the most raucous parts of our songs. In the end we gave up and went home as we simply couldn't hear what we were doing well enough for the rehearsal to be of any use. [/quote] You should have gone in and spoken to them about your Four By Two project. 😄

It's amazing what a little bit of advertising does. We've played gigs with no posters up but I've heard people, who've been walking past while we were loading in, say they would come back. And I've seen them in the audience. These are people who would have walked past and stayed in another pub all night. Top tip, take your own easel and posters, turn up around 6pm and put it up outside pub. You'll get a lot of 'passing trade'.

Does no one check out the studio and have a walk round before they book? My locals (Hertford/Welwyn area) are: FarmFactory Graphic Nature The Practice Roomz Although I don't think I've been to any in at least 5-6 years now. Probably longer.

[quote name='MarkW' timestamp='1426783505' post='2721938'] Once, in about 1990, I was kicked out of a band audition with the words "And don't come back until you can play" ringing in my ears. I haven't progressed much since then... [/quote] Something like that happened to me a few years ago. I found some better bands with people who could actually play drums properly.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1426717441' post='2721319'] ... I don't know what I would sound like playing with real top shelf folks, never seem to be able to network myself in with those world class types. ... [/quote] It's music. Again it's a confidence thing. What are they going to expect you to play that's any different to what anyone else is going to expect? In my experience, if you can play a solid line and lock in with the drummer, you've done what's expected. Flashy solos are all well and good but in most situations no one is going to expect the bass player to take the lead.

A lot of playing is a confidence thing. Couple that with a desire to improve and a willingness to put yourself into situations that will test you and you'll always be improving. I've played some pretty horrendous bad notes in some pretty big venues. Nobody died. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." .

Nope. No idea what the guitarist is doing at all. I've played piano, violin, tuba. How do I know what the guitarist is playing? I listen hard. That probably goes for all instruments.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1426458349' post='2718286'] What if it's NOT a big budget gig? Would you put on a mediocre show and do half-assed rehearsals..? [/quote] Yes. There are two types of performance. It's music so it should have a certain amount of spontaneity. If you over rehearse a tune until it is tight, the solos are note for note, the endings are exactly the same etc, the banter between songs is rehearsed, it (IMO) begins to get sterile. You see this in corporate bands all the time. If you are playing a corporate gig you need to get to this level of sterility. If you are playing a pub gig you need the music to breathe so the rehearsals have a different slant.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1426319411' post='2716833'] The key to a successful dictatorship is having faith in the dictator. The dictator wants me to play bass. It's not so they can micro-manage what I play. It's because they trust me and know whatever I do will be right. If the dictator is making bad decisions, time to go. [/quote] I think the title dictator implies some negative connotations. When we think about dictators we think about Hitler, Moussolini, Saddam. Whereas both Hitler and Moussolini were elected democratically and once in power changed the law to become dictators. Usually there's only one way to get rid of a dictator... Anyway I prefer the term band leader. Usually in any group of people one person will end up making the final descision. If you look round the band and feel nothing ever gets done unless you push them, say something that gets something done or are the one who ends the endless debate by making the final descision for them - then you're the leader. It's just that they haven't worked that out yet

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1426262619' post='2716340'] I wouldn't even entertain the thought of joining a band that had a dictator. Work is bad enough, i don't need it outside work. [/quote] I'm not sure anyone means that kind of dictator. I've found it works best if everyone has their own job to do. Eg one person gets gigs, another sorts logistics, another sorts advertising. Trust each person to do their job with a decent brief from the rest of the band. Too many cooks...

Democratically elect a leader.

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1426242751' post='2715990'] Does a plumber charge differently based upon the amount of water which will flow through the pipe? [/quote] That old plumber analogy. But yes. He does. We have some pretty big pipes where we work. 1200mm diameter. The 'plumbers' get quite a lot of money.

Yes. I used to work on £5 a head for the function band. Organisers have a budget and select their band accordingly. There's always a minimum fee which depends on the event. Obviously if it's a big ticketed sporting event you have no idea what the organisers entertainment budget is but if it's a 40,000 people event you're obviously not going to charge £200k. Bear in mind if you hit a problem then you will probably have to find deps or a replacement band. Depending on what you've agreed. Those deps/bands will want some money, especially if it is short notice. .

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1426237645' post='2715880'] This is Ron Tree at a recent Hawklords gig.....he doesn't use music stands either. [/quote] Is that the Jeremy Clarkson petition?

I think as musicians we also suffer from confirmational bias when we watch a band. I've often come away from gigs thinking the band I've just seen have played loads of the tunes we play. In truth it may be 4 or 5 of 60+ tunes.

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1426165830' post='2715111'] I really dont think this is an untruth. I've been asked to play songs from the 60s and 70s at quite a few auditions - generally I dont get as far as the audition if thats what they want to play anymore but its not long ago I was playing Cant Get Enough, Sweet Home Alabama, Twist and Shout and Credance Clearwater Revival songs on a regular basis. Most of the songs on the list were hits before I was born. [/quote] I suppose that depends on what else is in the set. My current band sent me their setlist and suggested some tunes to learn for the audition. The tunes they suggested were the standards because they knew I would already know them. I learned about 60% of the setlist anyway and we played some other tunes. Which impressed them more than if I'd turned up and played Brown Sugar. I played in a 'function' band for a few years that wasn't getting any gigs because of the the selection. The drummer wanted to play 'different' tunes to what other bands played. We added a load of classic tunes and a load of chart tunes and all of a sudden started getting gigs. What I'm saying is that there may be bands out there with setlists full of overplayed corny classics, but I'd be surprised if they're getting band members or gettin out and gigging. You need a careful blend and I think the 'oh god not this tune again' reaction is mainly coming from muso's who've possibly played that tune too many times rather than audiences who've heard it too many times. Eg. You may have been in a band who played Brown Sugar at every gig for 5 years, however, the audience will have only seen you play it a handful of times. There will be some overlap, but all bands won't all be playing those same 100tunes. .

Suddenly, as if by magic... <xylophone>

[quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1426106574' post='2714564'] ... [/quote] Fair enough. But this is a very temporary (less than a day?) installation with a floating ground. Powering 3 small amplifiers. A very common situation. It's all covered in the IET link I posted and there should be instructions with any generator. The only possible difficulty I can see is tying the generator earth to the generator neutral. There is no way to ground the generator earth and I don't see any practical or safe way of bonding the entire trailer, even if anyone considered it to be necessary.

http://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/39/portable-generators.cfm?type=pdf

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1426098679' post='2714417'] If this were true, none of the equipment would work. ... [/quote] It's AC. The earth is for protection only. The earth is not a conductor.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1426086327' post='2714198'] So this would not earth the current then? [/quote] Don't worry about 'earthing' the current. You're trying to stop a dangerous voltage difference happening. When a bird perches on a high voltage line it's voltage rises to be the same as the high voltage line. It's not a problem until it somehow manages to have one foot on the ground and the other touching the live wire. Which is impossible for the bird.

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1426072612' post='2713977'] ... My covers band is deliberately avoiding the "classic", we're absolutely aligned with #84, except Hard to Handle which we should have dropped by now. Black Crowes version is only 90s though.... All the other songs are pretty much late 90s onwards, successful chart tunes that everyone should recognise. ... [/quote] That version is 25years old! I keep reading people saying ''far too many bands" and "everyone" is playing all the old favourites but then claiming their band is different because we play more up to date tunes. Then cite 90s tunes. So who is it that's playing all those old tunes that no one wants to hear? Seems it's none of us here on BassChat! I'd say we must be pretty representative of 'most bands'. I'm sure this is just another one of those untruths we like to repeat.