risingson

[quote name='Kaasa' post='1347379' date='Aug 21 2011, 07:00 PM']Cheers! How is the LIPA bar, is that like common meetup place for the students? And risingsun, do the drummers get their own rehearsal room on the school? To put their gear and stuff in? Which can work like a bandroom, which you can use after school? And how is a typical schoolday on LIPA ?[/quote] Not quite, 3rd and 4rd floor of LIPA have rehearsal rooms where you'll have seminars in and you can book these rooms out for big band practices. The 5th floor they have what are known as 'pods', which are small, noise reduction style rooms that a few people can fit in. A few of these rooms have Yamaha upright pianos in them, and a few of them have Hartke kickback amps that do their job just fine but aren't amazingly special. There's no real space for storage in LIPA, something I always found difficult but it's not a massive problem, especially if you're living close by (my guess is you're in Cambridge Court or Lennon Studios?). You'll have a great time. Make sure you ask Tim (your bass tutor) about the Eden Metro combo he's got lying around and whether or not he's had it fixed yet. And tell him Liam said hello too! Any other questions just let me know, I can probably help you out.

Hey Kaasa, welcome to Liverpool. You'll enjoy LIPA, I went there too. Nice Jazz as well.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='1346242' date='Aug 20 2011, 12:02 PM']He nearly ran me and my friends over in London, in 1979. He was in a white Ford Escort. He wound the window down and shouted "f***ing little bastards" A true honour.[/quote] That is utterly brilliant!

He's always been a big inspiration to me as well, strange seeing as Thin Lizzy's kind of rock would never usually have been my thing. There's something about his bass playing that always gets me. Still a very sad loss.

Disney are notoriously bad at listing their musical personnel, and yes the bass playing is always top notch. Probably a well known L.A guy like Neil Stubenhaus but I wouldn't like to second guess!

3 hours is insane, as quite a few people have pointed out! We've got a bigger setup to do with our band and we're pretty much always done within half an hour to 45 minutes, leaving 10 minutes to soundcheck. You need to get priorities in order and stop with the egos, you're not being paid to take that long to set up either so it's not at all in your interest to take that long! Be the one who gets things done and inspire the rest of them.

Life goes on eh. I've got the WT800 and no option to swap channels so I suppose having two lots of choices is a plus in some way.

Not my thing, the first video was typical YT slap and the second he slapped all over one of my favourite tunes of 2007. On the Chrome Streamer front, I've played a few of them and they look and sound outrageous! Very special and unique sounding instruments are Warwicks, but I'll just never completely agree with them.

[quote name='oldslapper' post='1343849' date='Aug 17 2011, 11:36 PM']I love the fact that Guy Pratt's "arsenal" consists of a couple of MM's, Fenders and a Spector. Just ordinary fare. Think what you like of him, but he's done a couple of paid gigs I believe. Whenever I've seen him he's got a fender jazz in his hands (his wedding present aside).[/quote] And Pino Palladino. He's got [i]some[/i] fancy basses but he's got a few Squiers in his collection as well and actually, his set up isn't exactly awe-inspiring. His playing however is some of the best, if not [u]the[/u] best session playing in the world right now. I like expensive basses, but they don't make the world of difference to me or the kind of player I am and I could easily get the work done I need to with a bass that costs less that £200. People tend to put too much stock into paying for pricey instruments and not enough time working out what will make them better players, so whilst expensive hand-crafted basses like Fodera, Sei etc. are nice, I don't see why you'd technically have to spend anymore than £200-300 on a bass if you're a 'pro' getting a job done. Like VGS said, I'd be willing to bet that a large percentage of customers of many high-end brands are not full time professional working musicians but more hobbyists.

They look really interesting and would be very keen to try one out. Still got more of an itch for a Sadowsky though now

[quote name='51m0n' post='1342346' date='Aug 16 2011, 08:05 PM']ROFL, fine, okeedokee, have it your way squire, no problem, silly old me, no idea about live gigs, only ever mix, thats me. Right ho! The point I am trying to explain is that what you are doing is burying bass in the mix, or having to have it way louder than it should be in order to hear it, to the detriment of the mix burying other instrumetns in its place. Which is a great way not to get rebooked! Presenting a well strutured whole with everything audible is the goal, not getting a fantastic solo bass sound at the detriment of the band. You would do well to read up a bit on mixing in general though, particularly frequency mixing, I think it would help you and your band to sound better as a unit. Dont feel you have to, after all you clearly know what you like, go for it knock yourself out....[/quote] My 2p on this subject. I think it's important to have some knowledge on what's required from you as a bass player in terms of what you sound like live. No good burying every other member of your band with a loud, mulchy bass sound and equally no point in having a bass sound that's totally lost in the mix. However you rarely approach both if you have a good technician to work with. I'm no expert when it comes to stuff like this but I just use my brain and come to a logical conclusion as to what to do with my EQ on stage. After that, my sound almost always gets D.I'ed pre-EQ straight to the FOH desk and if the soundguy is any good at his job then he'll do the best he can with the overall mix and hopefully my bass sound will sit nicely amongst everything. I feel that many bass players will work similarly to this if they have their practical heads screwed firmly on. I'm no technician, but I do know what works for me and my band and I never have any complaints about my sound. Most often though you're having to put your faith in someone else to come up with the solid dependable front of house mix, unless you're working by yourselves at a venue or event sans sound man.

[quote name='KiOgon' post='1340385' date='Aug 15 2011, 10:26 AM']Did he really say that? He's only bloody right you know [/quote] Yes he did, to Guy Pratt. The man is so good it really is untrue.

[quote name='4000' post='1340628' date='Aug 15 2011, 01:19 PM']Always wondered where stuff like Zero 7 (who I love) fit into this.[/quote] Zero 7 rode in on the 'downtempo' style jazziness that happened in the early 00's, but I think the labels that people try to tag on to them are insulting in a way because it trivialises their music and sees them pigeonholed with a lot of other bands that I happen to think are no where near as good. 'Ambient', 'downtempo' are just buzzwords that ensure Starbucks knows what kind of music they're playing, I think the same think about Acid-Jazz as well.

I had the same issue, my Eden rig isn't practical for practicing. My solution was to buy the Korg P4XD, it's got an aux in for practicing along to songs and all you need is a pair of headphones. It's brilliant, has loads of emulation possibilities, loops, is cheap, practical and easy to use. Easier than having a practice amp and cheaper than the options you're considering already if you're not too sure what to do.

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1340166' date='Aug 14 2011, 11:07 PM']Trying to buy tone is a never ending and futile journey that takes away the time you could be using playing music.[/quote] I'm going to have this put on my gravestone (or most likely in my sig actually).

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1149488' date='Mar 4 2011, 03:28 PM']Is it just me? I think (know?) its harder to play guitar and easier to play the bass. Now obviously the hardest bass parts are harder than the easiest guitar parts but, overall, the bass is easier. Its fundamentally one note at a time not several. Got to be easier. I have four guitars and one electric bass and one double. I can play the basses, I can make a credible go of gutiar parts but, of the two, the bass is by far the easier instrument to play, not just because I have played the bass more but because it [i]is[/i] easier. And less strings (normally)[/quote] Ehh?? No! I see guitar and bass as related in as much as they're from the same family of instruments but that's where a lot of the similarities end. They're different instruments and require different levels of understanding and skill. I play both but approach each one very differently.

[quote name='Bassman Sam' post='1339448' date='Aug 14 2011, 11:23 AM']I can ever understand the Guy Pratt bashing, is it jealousy? I wish I had his talent.[/quote] I was blissfully unaware that there had been any 'bashing' of Guy! Who ever was doing said bashing though clearly has no idea as he's a remarkably talented player. I spotted him playing guitar the other night on Rob Brydon's show with him and Sophie Ellis Bextor! Didn't expect him to be behind an acoustic.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1339847' date='Aug 14 2011, 06:09 PM']I've got to say, attitudes towards ERBs are much improved these days. I remember when Talkbass introduced a rule banning people from slagging off a bass just for being an ERB. Things are much more enlightened now, and that was only what, 5 or 6 years ago?[/quote] Ironically though most studio players seem to have fallen out of love with them, and there are still plenty of producers that will cringe at the sight of 5's and 6's. I don't know necessarily whether this has more to do with a lack of understanding about the instruments or whether there is a prejudice or an assumption made about the kinds of players that use them. Either way it's always a redundant point if the player knows their stuff.

There is always the suggestion of moving to smaller scale basses in threads like these. Fine if that's what you want, but you shouldn't have to purchase a whole new bass under the circumstances. I have small hands and have never found it to be an issue to play any kind of bass guitar, it's just a case of not over stretching when you play. Don't keep your fingers clumped together, space them out and use the tips of your fingers to fret notes. You shouldn't have to be stretching too much at all to play, and if you feel like you're fighting your bass then get it set up so that you're not having to dig in so hard.

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='1339742' date='Aug 14 2011, 04:39 PM']It was busked on the spot ! [/quote] The benefits of learning melodies and solos aren't to further yourself as a bass player, but in fact to wind other members of the band up in the case that they trivialise your position in the band by playing your parts! I agree with what BigRedX had to say. But equally it can be hard to find musicians to work with who you can trust implicitly to be aware of not intruding on what each other are playing in the band, so sometimes you've got to be the one who takes the matter into your own hands and explain to the offender that they're overplaying. If they continue to do it, then replace him or leave. There are many musicians out there that are happy to not perform that way.

He's a really unique player, a bit more like 'my kind' of Victor Wooten. Talented and very musical.

You're right about the potassium. But just like regular exercise, you need to warm up to get the blood pumping to your hand muscles before gigging. There are loads of scales you can practice, and if the cramp is localised in your fretting hand then I would also advise that you look at how your fretting hand is working. If you use the tips of your fingers as opposed to keeping your fretting finger flat against the fretboard when you fret a note then you're going to be less likely to seize up mid-song. Playing flat fingered means that your hands don't get the chance to space out enough and you'll always cramp up faster.

I love P-Basses with flatwounds. They don't work for everything but they just 'sit' so well in a mix, especially with more fundamental playing. I did have flats on my old P-Bass for a while and my band loved it, but I ended up restringing it with rounds because a lot of what we were doing just called for it a little more. But yes, I love the whole concept of it, you only have to listen to Pino Palladino, Willie Weeks and of course James Jamerson to understand why it's such a winning combination.