TimR

I'm not so sure. The general public are pretty good at recognising really bad playing/singing as we see on the X-Factor. The really bad acts get short shift. There are quite a few that can get by and these are the people that generally we as (good?) musicians are fairly quick to criticise as being quite bad. A lot of people don't listen to live music, most listen to that sterile pop music that has had all the drums quantised and all the vocals auto tuned and sub bass added to the bass guitar. You find that function bands that spend lots of money on sounding like the CD tend to get paid more than the pub bands who, although very tight and excellent musicians, don't sound like the CD and play music instead of the latest 2chord wonder by Dizzy Feet feat iHo.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1339443767' post='1688647'] What did the singer say when you rang her to clarify what she meant in the email? [/quote] Seriously. You have called her haven't you? You've had over a week.

[quote name='jaydentaku' timestamp='1339965060' post='1697017'] I particularly like the way that Flea is the first thing you see, yet he isn't actually included. Which is fair enough, but Daft Punk and Interpol (?) is. awesome [/quote] I quite like his efforts on You Ought to Know - Alanis Morissette. Sp? 10 greatest bass lines? What makes a great bass line? I'll YouTube all those tunes tonight as I don't recognise a lot of them by name

It's hardly a family life if you're not there is it? In my 20s I worked as an engineer US, Canada, Europe. Would get a couple of weeks notice where I was going next then off for 3-6 weeks at a time. You can sustain a long distance relationship, but the more engineers, oil rig workers, cruise ship workers you meet you start to see a pattern. Alcoholics, divorced - on third or fourth wives, etc I didn't really want to be part of that. It's a young man's game, or a single man, or an older man whose kids have grown and the mortgage is secondary. If the money is there then the women will stick around. Probably a cynical view but, hey!

I've been playing the SR400 for 10years. Gigging a couple of times a month. No problems.

They one I had suffered from extreme neck dive. But that was about 12 years ago and I've not seen anyone comment recently on this. I liked the fact you don't have to play a open E and found most of the time with a 4 string my default hand position is the bottom 5 frets whereas with a 5 string it's first finger on the 5th fret.

Check your house insurance you should have some sort of basic cover there. Watch that you're not excluded because the band could be described as a business activity.

I think that anyone who has worked hard to become very good at their profession makes what they do look very easy. Be that carpenter, engineer, or musician. Most people see someone doing something well and it looks easy. How many people have said to you "I wish I could play an instrument. When I was younger I started to learn ....... but never stuck with it. " So I think people know it's hard and takes a lot if work but think because they're enjoying listening and dancing then you must be enjoying playing, so why would you want to be paid?

Relax your plucking hand, don't dig in too hard and don't forget to breathe.

.... the brake pedal on a BMW X5. Never seen anyone who has worked out how to use one properly.

[quote name='P-T-P' timestamp='1339671502' post='1692319'] Easy solution. Hand them your personal date sheet and say, "Fill this with gigs and I'll happily be a one band man." [/quote] It doesn't matter how many gigs someone is offering I'll never strap a bass drum to my back and learn harmonica!

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1339508563' post='1689501'] Neither, should a been A flat. [/quote] A flat? No. I'm a bassplayer not a bloody saxophonist.

I usually say "Thanks, glad you liked it. Thanks for coming. Are you a bass player?" Then get into a massive argument over why I don't play a fender and whether the second note of the fourth bar in the third song should have been an E or a G#.

I've joined bands on one premise then the band leader has changed goal posts. This results in all sorts of changes in line up. The classic is where you join a band who only want to gig once a month. You say fine, I want to gig a few times a month so join another band. The first band then suddenly take off and the band leader sees money to be made. Two or three of the others say that they don't want to gig that much and disappear while your commitment is questioned because you are not able to commit to more than the one gig promised. Ideally your comeback is if the band can guarantee additional gigs on a regular basis then they become first priority and you'll get a dep for the other band if gigs clash.

Festivals have changed. In '88 80,000 people went to Donnington, in '89 107,000. It was a one day event. It took us 2 hours then to get out of the car park. There were hundreds of coaches though they came from all over the UK. I don't remember many kids, I don't remember many people over 30 either. Mainly people between 18 and 30. The mud both years was bad and most of us will remember the tragedy in '89. Too big, too expensive, too wide a demographic and too long.

What did the singer say when you rang her to clarify what she meant in the email?

[quote name='mrdirtyrob' timestamp='1339170670' post='1684868'] I have to say I don't agree with you. I agree that getting to know existing tunes and developing your theory knowledge etc. can be helpful but it can also be a limiting factor. I once had a fascinating conversation with a guitarist friend of mine who said he sometimes wished he could write with as much freedom as one of his bandmates (who was totally self-taught), but he couldn't [i]not[/i] think in terms of theory. As with everything, each to their own. There's rarely a 'best' way to do anything, just a way that works best for you. [/quote] I think you missed what I was saying. I'm saying that making up lines is one thing, but making up lines that don't fit with what others are playing because you don't understand how the bass fits with everything else is another. It's not just bass players that do this. Keys play over bass lines, drums fill over vocal lines, guitars add root bass notes etc. There are lots of fundamental bass line approaches. Root. Root with passing notes to next root. Third or Fifth note of chord depending on Inversion. Stay on Bass note while chords ascend or descend and change quality. Double melody. Counterpoint. Play main riff. +others... Once you understand the various roles of the bass then you become more free to mix and match and usually you get more understanding for gaining more experience of playing other types of music (ie don't stick to one genre or only play originals)

[quote name='jaydentaku' timestamp='1338848362' post='1680112'] Once, I had total arse failure, 20 mins before the gig. The toilets where sub ground level (no phone signal). Band thought I had done a runner. I appeared about 3 minutes before we went on. Then one of my cables died, but I had a spare. It was our first gig. [/quote] I always take a couple of spare arses to every gig. I keep one behind the drum kit and one in front of the guitar amp.

IMO It's where a lot of young originals bands go very wrong when they say they're an originals band and "We don't do covers." Music is a language like any other and you need to learn the basic words (musical phrases), study the language and know whole sentences and how to use them before you try to make up your own new words. If everybody is speaking at the same time in different languages you get chaos. When you know someone well and understand what they are saying then you can get to a point where you are finishing their sentences. Sorry. All a bit esoteric for a Friday afternoon.

I've got bass fretboard addict.

I don't come here to be liked. What about a rating scale from 1-5 then I can ignore everyone with low rating as obviously their opinion won't really count. Anyone who doesn't get rated high enough can't sell anything.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1338934988' post='1681497'] Quite surprised about what? It's clearly possible to safely play a gig outside in the rain if appropriate precautions are taken. Bands do it all the time. The obvious precaution is to prevent electrical gear from getting wet, and that would include all plugs and socket strips, but that doesn't mean an electrical cable itself is dangerous when wet. As for RCDs not providing 100% safety, I know what you mean about the current/time curves and physiological variability in the reaction to an electric shock, but that's getting into fairly rarified theoretical territory. A bit like worrying about being electrocuted by testing a PP3 battery with your tongue. For the vast majority of healthy people, RCDs will provide perfectly good protection against fault conditions - unless you try really hard and insist on connecting yourself across the live and neutral conductors! After all, RCDs specifications are not approved by the IET wiring regulations for nothing. I wouldn't be too concerned about playing in a (dry) tent with power from a single-length extension cable plugged into a house socket fed from an RCD-protected circuit. [/quote] Which is ideal world conditions so I think you've missed my point entirely. In the real world you turn up having been told you're playing in a marquee only to find a small gazeebo with water running underneath the sides and forming puddles in the grass. The drummer plugs his fan into an extension lead that he has mended with insulation tape after the rabbit has chewed through all the insulation. The keyboard player is having to play with his foot on the mains lead of his keyboard to keep the flex from pulling out of the plug. The singer is complaininig of getting shocks from the PA because someone extended the mains lead using a 2 pin lawn mower plug and socket that they had lying around. But no-one has to worry becuause you're using an RCD. Granted if you play in a regular band with the same guys using the same kit week in week out you can be pretty sure your kit is good but quite a few of us don't. Those were only a few of the situations I've been in. Not including the two extension leads mentioned earlier. None of it IP68 rated and not even a plastic bag wrapped around where they're joined. Add the red mist that descends on someone who has spent a lot of time and money organising the gig and insists you set up a quickly as possible and people will do the most stupid things.

But lozz, are you playing covers or are you getting paid to play originals. There's a fine line when you're playing originals with pay to play. When I played originals in the late 80s we hired a few halls and sold tickets to our friends. We just about covered hall hire and PA hire. We managed to get friends to man the door. The first time we learned a few lessons. 1. The band that was supporting us ran off with their ticket money leaving us to pay everything from the share that was left. 2. When we started to play, the guys manning the door came in to watch, leaving the door unattended and loads of people just walked in. After that we had a few other problems with drug pushers and gatecrashers which in the end made pay-to-play a less expensive option. So long as you're not getting ripped off, it can work well.

As I say, it's not new. We were doing it in the 80s. The biggest problem we found was that, even if you bring loads of people and 'sell' loads of tickets, the promoters were unable to count accurately. The link to the MU shows you what to look out for. Advertising costs. Take your CDs and T-shirts and sell them at the gig make more money.

Definitely, but I think there is enough going on in those tracks without having to add 'tasteful licks'. Thinking more about the jubilee concert, it would gave been a sound engineer and monitoring engineer's worst nightmare. Artist after artist doing one tune, just get the mix right halfway through the song then it's on to the next.