Leonard Smalls

There's only one beat you need to be on...

Some Wal slap...

To be fair, that's true of any playing style on any instrument! With slap there's far less room for error than doing the one note derderderderderder so beloved of many bassists... With derderderderderder you're safely hiding in the background - nowt to worry about, you're just providing the rhythmic and root underpinning. With slap you're putting yourself in the foreground a lot more so if you do it averagely or badly it's far more noticeable - just like those guitar players who do the same old tired completely safe solos all the time (or those bands who collectively do the same old tired completely safe songs 😆). However, for some bass players the very idea of playing more than just the root and fifth is anathema, heresy even, and must be derided, finger-pointed, denounced as show-off behaviour. After all, the next stop is (gulps) …. jazz!!!!!

I was going to go for a whole-tone piece, as key-based music is non-egalitarian to all other notes, until I realised that the whole-tone system discriminated against frequencies not present in-between the notes... So I thought I'd do this slightly over-driven bit of jazzy stuff instead, using 3 brass VSTs, plus Music Labs and AmpleSound Les Paul VSTs - when I saw the pic I thought of Miles Davis' "Agharta" for some reason, hence "Hollow Earth": https://soundcloud.com/leonard-smalls/hollow-earth NB; minor remix done - for some reason wouldn't embed hence url...

I can give y'all lessons if you like... However, this month I've steered clear of crowd-pleasing singing, because in common with melody and time signatures it's just a bourgeois concept designed to oppress The Workers while at the same time profiting from Their Labour. 😎😄

As inspiration for this month's song challenge 😁

I've tried the demo version of the Les Paul one... The sound was OK but I didn't like the interface or lack of explanation - wasn't wiling to spend $149 especially as it has virtually no effects or amp modelling either. I'm currently demoing AmpleSound's Les Paul - it's similar sounding to the Music Labs (i.e. varies from completely believable to completely fake, depending on how you play it!), but it has the advantage of telling you what each button does (to some extent at least!), and has some amp/cab options and limited fx. Shame Orange Tree and Shreddage don't do demo versions as they both seem to have more versatility - though I suspect that all have a steep learning curve...

May I refer the honourable gentleman to Juna Serita doing a proper slap version of What is Hip... Funky as!

Mine's got guitar, 3 saxes and a trumpet... All it needs now is some rhythm noseflute and a tumble-drier solo. And the obligatory dusting of glitter combined with 3 coats of varnish.

Personally I think the best way forward would be to buy no bass at all - you can be Victor Wooten by purchasing AmpleSound Bass YinYang for $149. That way you can produce your own music without having to go anywhere near actual musicians. There'll be no-one spilling beer on your kit, no annoying punters asking if they can have a go, no heavy gear to lug past gaggles of stag and hen parties. That's what I'd do if I wasn't a masochist. Anyway, here's the cheaty programme example:

So far it's looking like Ample Sound or Orange Tree for full featured or Session Guitar for less effort option... I've only got free Kontakt - not willing to pay £350 for the full version so Ilya and Pettinhouse are out. And annoyingly, the sensual sax too. Though Vienna Orchestra sax looks good. Anyone tried Session Guitarist? Is it any use for solo stuff rather than mainly strum patterns?

I always use this on everything, especially vocals! Shall look into the others - ta!

I've decided I may need a guitar... And I realise it's heresy but as I'm reasonable on keys but have never played an actual guitar in my life, I thought I may get better (or at least quicker!) results using a virtual instrument. So does anyone use one? Which are best in terms of playability, sound, believeable-ness and versatility? I've done a trial of Music Labs Les Paul and found that I could get some good results with it, but it was not at all intuitive and had virtually no amp sim/presets etc. Shreddage or Orange Tree better? Heavier 7? Ample Sound? Bearing in mind I don't really want to get into buying an actual guitar and amp and effects and learning how to use and record them all, would I be better just biting the bullet and doing this? And if anyone's got any ideas for good jazzy sax VSTs, what are they? I've got Iowa University free one, which is clunky but can sound OK with loads of midi editing!

Liking the early 80s new wave feel!

Mine arrived yesterday... looks like they'll be going on the Wal.

It's amazing what you can do with Mr Clyde Stubblefield, Mr Jabbo Starks and a talented medium... Knock once, a-twice, a once twice thrice whatever 4 is (quatice?)

I've got an actual melody now... Only briefly though as tunes are for wusses. 😄 Next some proper drums and a chromatic sax solo...

I've got a bass line... And it might be jazzy, though 140bpm is pumpin' it a bit for elevator jazz! I'll break out the atonal guitars and whole-tone sax which should keep Doug happy 😁

Should I have received a confirmation email after ordering? All I got was a payment authorisation from PayPal... Wouldn't expect the strings yet as I only ordered at 2030 on the 30th. Edit: Oops - confirmation was hiding in my spam folder 😊

I like that! I've got a number of similar albums...

Excellent work! Now where's the pic for next month? I'll need some displacement activity to stop me having to go and strim me convulvulus!

Not sure WB is the best for contemporary music - country or 70s pastiche perhaps! But new music doesn't exist on TV as far as I can tell - occasional very mainstream stuff at the end of One Show or Graham Norton perhaps but nothing at all interesting. Even if it's only Top of the Pops it's better than nowt; I remember watching with bated breath when I was a kid just in case something I liked came on - the joy of seeing the Ruts, or Siouxsie, or the UK Subs was indescribable! And during the 80s there was all sorts; Rock Goes to College, the Tube, those BBC2 shows at tea time with Magenta Devine looking down her nose at those less cool than her. Now there's just YouTube - which has the disadvantage of keeping obscure stuff obscure!

I've ordered 2 sets of Groove medium 4 strings...

Just discovered this lot today. Tuneful, odd...

I suspect that: a) it wasn't the Charlie that made the album b) if all music made while under the influence of, erm, a Groove (*) was destroyed there wouldn't be much left! * gratuitous PFunk reference! 😎