EssentialTension

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1368641056' post='2079654'] There's every point to it if the person doing it personally finds it fulfilling. There are plenty of musicians out there who would be doing what they do whether they had an audience or not - they are driven to create music that means something to them first & foremost. I'm talking about writing original music here - obviously the criteria will be different if you're playing covers in a tribute band, doing wedding gigs or whatever as in that context you are doing it solely for the entertainment of other people. [/quote] I have come across people who want to 'create music that means something to them first and foremost' but I've usually found that the music was neither particularly original nor particularly good. I'm sure there must be many exceptions to my experience. I don't play in a tribute band or a wedding band myself but if I did (and indeed I have) then it wouldn't be 'solely for the entertainment of other people' because I would both enjoy it and get paid.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1368641174' post='2079661'] I'd say you aren't alone, they are pretty popular, but I was just making a joke at the size of them, like they were trying to hide something. In any case, we still haven't answered my initial question - What's the point? What extra gubbins, if any, do they sneak inside the extra space? What advantage does it give? Why would they just fire a single coil into a bigger casing for the sake of being able to use it as a replacement pickup? [/quote] They aren't hiding anything except the windings. There is no extra gubbins, read my post above. I give up.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1368638829' post='2079615'] Other than nobody would buy a Gibson that had an "obvious" single coil, don't be mad! [/quote] One mad person in my household then. In fact, I'd go as far as to say the P90 is my favourite guitar pickup.

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1368635593' post='2079560'] Frankly, I find it hard enough to play in time and in tune (especially on a double bass) that "personaliy" doesn't come into it, perseverance and concentration does. That plus the fact I am a goatwhore [/quote] That could be me, except I'm not sure what a goatwhore is.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1368638779' post='2079613'] What's the point in having them in a bigger housing? What did it add or allow them to do that they couldn't with a single coil sized casing? [/quote] If you read the page you linked to, it is so that they fit as a replacement pickup: [b]'Available in a variety of replacement sizes for 4, 5, and 6 string Bartolini and EMG shapes[/b]'.

... and both P90s, 'Soap Bar' or 'Dog Ear', were single coils.

The terminology 'soap bar' dates from the distinction between a Gibson P90 'Soap Bar' and a P90 'Dog Ear': P90 Soap Bar: P90 Dog Ear:

[quote name='krysh' timestamp='1368608359' post='2079039'] isn't this the essential condition for a bassplayer to develop an own voice? I mean you can only become very good and unique if you know the basics, don't you? and since we are talking about playing bass, it is not about scalebusting and speed... [/quote] Call me a philistine but I was not and am not trying to develop my 'own voice'. I am just trying to play the songs.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368619719' post='2079232'] ... I presumed no-one would think beyond the fact it was pretty faithful to the original ... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QbJ0Ga8hFc[/media] [/quote] I had no idea whether it was faithful to the original as I am not at all familiar with Yes. I just enjoyed it.

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1368618239' post='2079192'] all well and good but where is the line between and genuine honest attempt at an improved or personalised arrangment and laziness at not bothering to listen to or inability to reproduce the original arrangement (for technical/skill reasons) ? sometimes the studio production will mean that it cannot be reproduced faithfully in a live setting and usually it is down to the band line-up and instrumentation requiring the arrangement to be altered a technically difficult arrangment may be tricky for a band to replicate in a live situation but a 'lazy arrangement' will usually sound like just that - an arrangement can often be simplified and with attention to just small details can lift it from being ordinary to sounding like the band have put a modicum of thought and effort into re-arranging it [/quote] I wasn't recommending laziness.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368608105' post='2079033'] I think you've answered your own question. [/quote] Given that I didn't ask a question, I have no idea what you mean.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1368603899' post='2078973'] i get the feeling that different people want different things from the bass. [/quote] So do I, maybe that's personality.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368555406' post='2078536'] You're probably doing it anyway mate. I don't get out of bed thinking "How shall I express myself today?" I just do it, sometimes I f*** it up, but it's definitely me Same with my composing and playing. I don't really think about it, I just have musical instincts I'm compelled to express. Hence my earlier post saying I'm only just realising I DO approach bass a bit differently to a lot of other bassists I've heard. f*** knows if anyone would know that by hearing me play, but I do think I have developed an aesthetic and it's come about through exposure to a lot of music and deciding what I like and don't like in terms of dynamics and nuances and how I use space, accent, polyrhythm, etc. I grew up on prog rock, Zappa, dub and reggae, opera, pop, etc. I LOVED it all, apart from opera, and all that musical excitement rattles my particles in a particular way. I hate most Jazz but interesting walking bass lines can get me all wet, so I incorporate elements of that in my playing and composing too, although it's a little f***ed up. I love loads of instruments and tiny things Copeland might do on a hi-hat can make me go insane with excitement. So I suppose from all that exposure, synthesis, and spewing out the results in my own music, and bass and guitar stuff I write for other people, emerges some sort of style. I generally know what sort of rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and spatial climates get me excited, and what doesn't. I only ever incorporate what I like into my own music. The journey is learning that musical language and using it, which is where I am woefully inadequate, if I'd been schooled I'd have a lot more output of much higher quality. [/quote] But I don't feel that 'I just have musical instincts I'm compelled to express'. It's the music that matters not me and my personal compulsions.

[quote name='krysh' timestamp='1368572017' post='2078823'] as a non native speaker I understand personality in this context as "own voice" since I am a personality playing an instrument. for me finding the own voice on an instrument is the highest goal to reach, and the best compliment I'd like to receive is the one about the original unique voice about me playing on an instrument. I'm on the hunt for this since 30 years and finally start to get closer. [/quote] I have low goals, making it to the end of the chorus is good, helping the whole band get there would be even better, and the best compliment would not be about 'original unique voice' (I would laugh to be told that) but something like 'great timing, lovely sound and held the whole band together!'.

[quote name='Left Foot' timestamp='1368566266' post='2078758'] Could anyone here who has put their stamp or their personality into a cover post an example... I'm interested into what extent this can be done. [/quote] It's simple, the band just rearranges the song so that the melody and the lyrics remain the same but the arrangement changes. Mind you, having said that, I really don't see it as 'stamping my personality' on anything. I might be more convinced by the idea of the whole band stamping it's personality.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368552020' post='2078465'] It admittedly is a nebulous expression, and I imagine it means a recognisable style of playing and composing. I suppose you would have to exaggerate what you do for it to be noticeable to most people. Most non-musicians wouldn't recognise the instrument let alone a style of playing. But I think it's important to develop your musical personality, otherwise what the f*** are you going to say through music? Whether it's noticeable or not, if you are not connecting your musical instincts to the music you make, the listener may well feel the music is dead. I'd agree it's not that important to many bassists, but imagine if a singer had no personality coming across in their voice? Or indeed anyone? Would you want to hear someone with little personality talking to you? Probably not, what could you connect with to keep your attention and interest? [/quote] Nige, I do understand, in some sense anyway, the point being made but at the same time I just don't get it because I'm never thinking in terms of 'what the f*** am I going to say through music?'. If I thought the distinction between art and entertainment was a real distinction then I'd be on the entertainment side. I never think in terms of expressing myself or expressing my personality (whatever that is). I do think about whether the music is working harmonically and rhythmically and I do think about whether the audience is dancing. And if someone is talking to me then I sincerely hope I'd be more interested in the content of what they have to say than merely in their personality.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368550548' post='2078430'] Surely your personality influences your decisions about your composition, no? [/quote] I don't really understand what is meant by 'personality' in this context - however, if all it means is that I will make decisions about what to play then, of course, that will be true, but so what? The decision I make might even be to do what someone else did already and then that will still be 'personality' influencing my decisions. It's meaningless. I really do not feel it's important to me to have my own 'personality'.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1368496005' post='2077780'] .. its so important to me to have your own personality, its such a subtle thing, but its so important.. does anyone feel this way.? [/quote] No, I never feel that way. I never think at all about my own personality. I think about the song and the band and what I can manage to do that will work most effectively.

[quote name='henry norton' timestamp='1368471609' post='2077521'] Finished - yay! Now I've got to route out my semi hollow to fit them. The work just never ends..... [/quote] Well, they certainly look the part.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1368280833' post='2075247'] No. That's a stupid argument.... [/quote] No it's not stupid, but actually I can't be bothered.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1368277351' post='2075205'] ... A penny saved really is a penny earned ... [/quote] For you maybe, but that extra penny you got is an extra penny that someone else didn't get. In that sense, it's a zero-sum game.

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1368269790' post='2075125'] Sorry but I thought my replies were crystal clear [/quote] Did that price that you paid include duty?

I'm using a lined fretless at the moment but I have both used and prefer to use unlined but with side dots. Either way you atill have to listen carefully.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1368172559' post='2073954'] Any of you guys have to rewrite the genre of a song? [/quote] Don't have to but regularly do. A song is just a melody line and some words, after that you can do what you like.

I can't understand at all why anyone woudln't use open strings. It's four (or five or however many) notes that are easily available in any position.