TimR

[quote name='51m0n' post='972450' date='Sep 30 2010, 10:35 AM']OK, so a bassist isnt a musician? Thats daft, to be a good bassist you first have to be a good musician. Every comment on here about what makes a bad bassist also applies in the more general sense as to what makes a bad musician, since all bassists (good or bad) are to a lesser or greater extent musicians. .... Personally I often find that the situations I'm tlking about the bass mutes itself! It literally does nothing for the track. 'Muting' it is unnecesary. There must be occasions where a bassline ruins a track, but I actually think this is rare as the rest of the band usually get to tell the bassist to stop being so daft! ...[/quote] Correct, but I will clarify exactly what I mean by muting. All musicians must be aware of note lengths. It's not just related to bass players. It's something I've noticed amongst bass players AND rhythm guitarists. Often they will leave the notes ringing until they play the next note. Often this is not a problem but will destroy the feel of a song and make the song sound cluttered if notes are not kept to their proper length. This may be a self taught thing. My son (6) is learning trumpet. The first thing he is doing is practicing playing quarter notes. With a trumpet you have to keep blowing right to the end of the note or the sound stops and you must stop blowing or the sound continues. With a bass or any plucked instrument you have to mute or you end up playing a dotted quarter note or worse...

[quote name='Bassassin' post='972268' date='Sep 30 2010, 12:49 AM']Schoolboy error - no they won't. Two of them will attend, while Peart stays home moping around and writing interminably dull, long-winded & self-important books about how much he hates this awful, awful job he has, and how much he prefers riding around on his motorbike. Jon.[/quote] Well he is Canadian. You DO know his history don't you?

[quote name='Conan' post='972359' date='Sep 30 2010, 09:18 AM']Let's not forget that not every member of this forum has been a member since the start. There are many of us who have never partaken of "the AC argument", so to stifle their input seems rather rude and unfair. Again, I'm not a massive U2 fan (I used to be, back in the eighties though). I like the simplicity but solidity. I like his tone and how selective he is. If fans leave a gig or switch off your CD and they are singing the bass line - I guess you could say that you are not a "bad bass player". A lot of this is motivated by jealousy I guess The "I could be doing that job" mentality...[/quote] Because this is the "What makes a bad bass player thread", not the "Adam Clayton is a bad bass player thread". I think he was cited just to spice things up a bit as any mention of U2 does in any thread. The thing about playing 8ths is they may not look very exciting or, to the untrained ear, sound very exciting on their own but its all about the groove. Are those 8ths on the beat, behind the beat, ahead of the beat? Where are the accents? There's a BIG difference between someone playing 8ths badly and someone playing them solidly and in the right place. 8ths on their own don't make a bad player but they do make a not very entertaining player who won't get much camera coverage on the TV. You have to do some dynamic acting like Flea or Harris to make up for that.

Not the AC argument again..... The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This is something a lot of lead singers fail to see when their band makes it big time and they go solo. Only to be never heard of again.

More than 10 mistakes in a song. Fret Buzz. No muting. No dynamics. No little finger.

Shouldn't that have all been sorted in the converstation on the phone. You say "We play X type of music." He listens and thinks "Well I better dress the part to either fit in or not stand out then." If the person being auditioned can't even think that far ahead what hope is there? Imagine turning up for an interview in an office in t-shirt and jeans because that's what you usually wear. I depped with some guys in a thrash metal band, I don't dress like that normally, but at least I tried to fit in with the image from the first meeting - even if they knew me from other bands I had played in and were asking me on my ability (or at least that's what they told me )

Oh yes. Nice!

[quote name='Wolverinebass' post='969334' date='Sep 27 2010, 12:16 PM']... It's possibly a style thing too. I basically taught myself to play bass by learning stuff like Quadrophenia and RHCP stuff. I don't know if that quite comes across in my playing, but that's all bass driven music to a degree, so maybe it has. The ultimate irony (and I have no idea why this is at all) is that my own playing style doesn't translate on my own material too much, which always has quite simple or functional bass parts in comparison with what I've done with or for other people. Maybe I subconciously do that to give other folk room to fill out. I have no idea why it's the case. Maybe I feel deep down like if I sit back, I'm insulting the person who has written the song by not coming up with something really good when possibly simplicity (or just slightly simpler) might be what they want. Possibly I'm just trying too hard and it's coming out in a different way to other people. ...[/quote] There are two ways to come up with a bass line. Start busy and refine or start simple and build. I prefer the second. Start with roots and add passing phrases, licks, unison riffs or whatever you need to add interest to the SONG not to add interest to the bass line.

[quote name='the_skezz' post='969326' date='Sep 27 2010, 12:14 PM']I don't like playing the root note when I reckon something else would sound better, but I'm happy to do it...if the guitarist will let me tell him what to play on the guitar for any songs that I write. Of course, trying to get them to understand this can be a difficult matter. Me: "Right, I've got an instrumental that I've written, nothing fancy but I reckon it could be good. I'll show it to you at practise on Saturday if you want." Guitarist: "Awesome, you play it and I'll start soloing over the top of it..." Me: "Erm...it doesn't have a solo in it..." Guitarist: "What?!? Really?! Alright then, I'll just come up with some other riffs over it..." Needless to say, it never came to frution I'm happy to play a bassline that someone else wrote for their song (my current band doesn't see me slapping a solo into Blitzkreig Bop) but for me it has to be a two-way street. I know there are plenty of bands out there who are all the better because one person pretty much dictates the songs, but I myself wouldn't feel happy in them...guess I'm just awkward that way [/quote] Its the note-for-note dictation that is bad. Why get a bass player in who is expert at playing bass lines then tell him what you want him to play. Asking for a style, then saying I don't like that bit and asking if you can you change it is no problem. Two way street. I'd have no problem telling a guitarist to play a different inversion, rhythm or use a different effect. It's a band and supposed to be a co-operative. Singer-songwriter is different. You just need to be clear what you are in.

[quote name='Alfie' post='969322' date='Sep 27 2010, 12:10 PM']I don't think its unreasonable to dictate what type of instrument to play if it is integral to the concept of the band. People forget that being in a band is a visual performance as much as an musical one. ...[/quote] My Jackson-Charvel went into retirement because I was playing functions and weddings. My choice entirely. Nothing wrong with the sound of it at all.

If I was playing for a singer/songwriter who expected me to play lines he wrote I would expect to be getting paid. Maybe a beginner wouldn't.

[quote name='Lozz196' post='969095' date='Sep 27 2010, 07:57 AM']... Too often, in all walks of life, people want to change things, without learning the original part in the first place, be it basslines, work processes etc. Its ok to show initiative, but in order to change something effectively, you have to know the original part back to front in the first place. That's the area most fall down on. ...[/quote] AND WHY the part is being played like it is. I've played with original bands where the previous bass player has written lines or played lines that the guitarist has told him to play. I've learned those lines and played them exactly as was requested. Occasionally those lines have had musical "flaws" in them. I've pointed out what was wrong and why and asked if I can show them a "better" line. Usually they've said OK. The problem then comes when they say No, they prefer it like they've always done it. You then have to play a line that you wouldn't have written yourself. In an originals "band" that means you could be being perceived as playing a line YOU have written and written badly at that. It's not as bad if you are supporting an originals singer/songwriter "artist". However, if you play the lines as they want, at some stage they will write new material and it's unlikely that they will write the bass part. They will, however, be VERY vocal if they don't like your lines then.

I've got the ER20s and when I first put them in I thought they weren't working because everything sounded exactly the same. When I took them out to check, I found everything had been the same but just a lot quieter. Could even hear the birds singing in the garden.

This thread in the Equipment section is a sticky: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=533&view=findpost&p=958996"]Ear Plugs[/url]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='965750' date='Sep 23 2010, 04:06 PM']... the drummer was bashing the sh*t out of the drums, the guitarist had a Gibson and was used to playing rock, so his rythm playing was anything but...The male singer didnt have a good voice, and was just belting them out...they told me there used to playing in rough pubs, not that that has anything to do with it...ok there may be a trained ear in the crowd but most are pissed of high and dont care...the only one i thought was good was the organist but he was lost in the mix.. on top of this they were pissed...i never play drunk...i have too much respect for the music...that and i cant play drunk. ....[/quote] What you have here is a group of selfish people who want to show off to their mates. NOT a band of musicians. Learn - you will meet hundreds like them in your life. [quote name='chris_b' post='965921' date='Sep 23 2010, 06:24 PM']No, but these days it mostly seems to be the oldies who really understand about dynamics.[/quote] It's from years of getting mixed up with the type of people mentioned above.

Isn't this just another example of "It doesn't matter what I do to my onstage sound, the soundman always makes it sound like ....."

[quote name='bassface2k10' post='961386' date='Sep 19 2010, 06:20 PM']Thanks, looks like i lost the bet with a guy at work then [/quote] You'll be amazed how long it took me to get that accent right and overdub it. The scream took alone took me 20 takes.

I spent a morning exchanging emails with Old Git. In that morning he transformed our website from an invisible, hard to navigate, and complicated site to a site that featured on the first page of a search and was easier and more intuitive to navigate. It looked professional and we got business from it. The rest of the band didn't see the importance of even having a website other than having a site with a few songs and pics that we could put on our business cards for people to show their friends. After I left another member took over running the site - he re-built it using a template provided by the webspace provider. His version is here - [url="http://www.revival.cd2.com"]www.revival.cd2.com[/url] There is so much wrong with it from a design point of view - spelling only being one of them. (Hope the new bass player's not reading this ) But if bands can't see what is wrong with it and think that this is acceptable I'm not sure that they will pay for a good web site. Really you need to ask them how much they were expecting to pay. I think £250 max is likely to be the answer (not a lot more than a reasonable demo or photoshoot would cost) So work out how much work you are willing to do for that. Maybe you should have several packages ready, with examples, for when you are next asked £250, £500, £1000, and bespoke?

I've just got back from watching your average pub band. Maybe not so average... The bass player was a bit busy - all over the neck like a rash, could have done with laying down a few solid riffs, but then he was playing and I wasn't.... BUT the drummer had really good feel, control and dynamics. I spoke to him after the gig. He also plays guitar. Maybe it should be law that drummers learn a musical instrument. Maybe it should be law that musicians spend some time behind a drum kit. Bit like the car drivers v motorcyclists argument.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='960797' date='Sep 18 2010, 10:03 PM']Bridge adjustments.[/quote] The only time I've ever had to adjust the bridge saddles on a bass is when I've adjusted the truss rod or changed the tuning pegs. [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='960809' date='Sep 18 2010, 10:16 PM']I used to have a USA Jazz bass. Trust me if you'd ever owned one of those you'd be in the habit of taking a set of allen keys to every gig.[/quote] That will be why then. It goes out that much between practicing the night before and sound-check? Wow.

[quote name='JTUK' post='960714' date='Sep 18 2010, 07:57 PM']I don't know why people keep going back to a none existant issue in that regard.[/quote] Because you said you have a loud drummer on a thread where people are discussing situations where a loud drummer who can't play quietly is a problem. If your loud drummer can play quietly then its not a problem for you. What is your point?

What I would do is chose an already cheap do-it yourself web design service. As others have said there are loads out there. Maybe buy into a sub-domain of one of those. Set up the web-space with their band name and then "sub-let" the web-space to the band for £x. They can then upload their own graphics chose a layout and do the basic stuff that anyone can do themselves. As you say most people have JPGs of logos and photos. Once they've done that then you work your magic to correct all the basic errors that everyone makes; photoshop their images, smarten up logo, adjust the page layout, pick a decent font, add meta tags and do all the specialist stuff that makes their site stand out and for google to find it. Charge them half a day labour to do that bit. Job done.

Let the man tell you himself. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwpGXfHmY-A&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwpGXfHmY-A...feature=related[/url]

[quote name='Truckstop' post='960329' date='Sep 18 2010, 12:39 PM']Isn't it funny how we all seem to have a thousand sizes of Allen key... but almost every gig I ever go to I hear "Aw, sh*t. I've not got the right size key! Can I borrow yours?" and then that's how I lose mine! Truckstop[/quote] In 25 years I've never needed an Allen key at a gig. What on earth do you use them for?

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='960272' date='Sep 18 2010, 11:26 AM']"Why do we call them kettle leads?"..........we can if we want,why do people call vacum cleaners Hoovers ?[/quote] Different argument. A hoover and a vacuum cleaner both do exactly the same thing. An amp lead will not work on a kettle.