Boodang

You should have used the Elvin Jones trick of nailing the front of the bass drum to the stage floor! Worst house kit I've ever used had a split snare batter head held together with duct tape... I've learnt since then. Always have at least my own pedals and definitely my own throne or I'll get back ache, plus a spare snare head! I don't mind so much if the kit is ok but why insist when there's enough time to set up your own kit?! I've just invested in a nesting kit in bebop size to make the load in & out easier in the hope that'll persuade venues I can use my own with a minimum if fuss.

Is it white or pink noise?

Each gig the band say they'll help setup but there's always a reason why it ends up being less than it should. But.... the results are worth it and they really are nice guys just a bit flakey. Having said that, if it was a permanent state of affairs, we were gigging every week and it wasn't the case that I'm moving country very soon, I would be laying down strict ground rules. To put it in perspective the blues band is so good we're planning a small tour to take in festivals and clubs around the Baltics ( where I'll be based) next year.

Not wishing to subvert this thread into a gig setup moan but I feel your pain. I’m in three bands and circumstances have meant I own and supply all equipment for the lot apart from guitars (it’s Pakistan and you can’t get sh!t here and I’ve got keys bass leads stands drums mixer mics pa you name it). I don’t mind but did a gig on Friday and the rest of the band turn up and say we haven’t got long to finish set up and sound check, take one look at my face which expresses yes but I’ve been setting up on my own all the gear for the last 4 hours, and they shut up and get on with it. Next posting (different country later this year) and I’m going to turn up with 5 mins to go before the gig with just my bass and F off before the the vocalist has got through his self aggrandising ‘thank you’s’ to the audience!

Just recorded our latest gig with the L20. I might be late to the party but the quality of the recording is excellent plus the built in SD card makes it so easy. Now a recording is only as good as the source and we are using good mics and quality gear but … the L20 is up to the job. And it’s what, 4 or 5 years old, look forward to what Zoom come up with as it’s replacement. Although the Behringer Wing is looking good but a lot more expensive.

Blues/Hendrix band last night. We had a guitarist friend come up from Karachi for the weekend so we did an impromptu gig. Only a days notice to advertise it but our loyal band of blues fans turned out and it was a great atmosphere. Even had our main guitarist playing his strat behind his head during voodoo. Just need to get him to set fire to his guitar now for the authentic experience!

I've got Babicz bridges on all my basses and I can't notice the difference (but they don't make the bass sound worse!). So why do I do it... because they're well engineered, nicer to setup than a standard bridge plus the saddles lock down, so to me feels solid.... oh, and I think they look great. Technically though, a low mass bridge.

The mid rack tom looks like it's about to fall off the bass drum! An extreme angle but looks like it's mic'd up that way.

Oh, I have no issues with a thru neck. My Sei custom fretless.

If you've got two pieces of wood and decided to join them by slapping one on top of the other and use bolts, any cabinet maker would collapse in an incredulous fit. Bolt on necks should be banned! I love a jazz bass, so my custom has a set neck.

Either detune a step and play like it's in E (the easiest solution) or standard tuning and play a lot of inversions (the interesting option).

The L20 has to be the easiest mixer I've used.... analogue or digital. There's a couple of anomalies associated with the digital side but nothing a 10 min video on youtube couldn't sort. At the last gig I did actually change monitor mixes between songs as volumes settled down and it was easy to do. For small gigs I think it's perfect, the only thing I'd add for a big gig would be an old fashioned analogue stereo graphic on the FoH to get precise control over the eq. Plus great for recording. With the XR I ended up processing with plugins in Reaper, with the L20 I've just used it as a summing mixer and gone dawless with great results.

With the L20 you do get a different set of faders for each of the six monitor mixes they're just not motorised. The way it works; you set your master FOH stereo mix, then you select, say, fader mode A. You set the faders for monitor mix A. When you switch back to master, any faders that are set differently now have a static led that marks the original level of the fader on that channel. To change the level you have to move the fader to that point and then the fader becomes active again. It's not as good as motorised faders but it's not as clumsy as it sounds. Having 21 motorised faders would probably have increased the cost too much! A bit awkward to use but once you get used to it it's ok it's just not as fast to use as the XR as you have to reset a fader before using it. Overall, the L20 is actually quite easy to use live as everything is laid out in front of you, no hidden menus and simple channel architecture. Plus an all in one solution for live plus recording. I miss the motorised faders for convenience but live the L20 is easier to use. Interestingly, the audience can here the difference. A regular crowd at our gigs, same speakers and gear but different desk and I got asked what was we changed for the live sound by several non musician punters. It could just be I was able to set up the L20 easier than I could the XR of course. But it's interesting, lots of options on the XR so you think you have more control, less on the L20 but I could get a better sound. Maybe says more about me than the desks!

Well, the fingering is easy enough so assuming it’s a rhythm problem. This happens a lot with drumming where limb independence becomes limb dependence. Playing a seemingly simple pattern and one limb automatically wants to do something because of what another limb is doing. The opposite of coordinated independence. Im guessing this is a similar rhythmic issue. Rhythmic patterns your fingers are used to playing and this one is slightly different. As with drumming, slow repetition is probably the answer.

Came across this other day, can't remember how I stumbled on it, being going through it for the last month and it's a great book. Basically soloing concepts over ii-v-i. Starts off with an aural chapter of just listening to the guide tones of 1,3 & 5 (of the ii-v-i prgression) in every key until you can sing them. The chapters in the book you do not necessarily do in order and he recommends an order based on whether you want the learning emphasis to be aural or theoretical. Still finishing the practical exercises in the first Guide Tone chapter and it's quite intense, but that's good. Building jazz vocabulary is next but I don't want to get ahead of myself as there's plenty of extra work to go off and do that's implied in the first chapter to really cement the knowledge. PS this is vol2. Vol1 is harmony and all about creating interesting bass lines in the jazz context that's sympathetic to what's being played by the rest of the band. Sort of walking bass on steroids.