TheButler

[quote name='jakesbass' post='792720' date='Mar 31 2010, 11:31 PM']I have made a living from bass playing since I was about 21, I still play anything from 20 mins to 5 hrs in a day at home, I play nearly every day. I try to read a bit every day and I play along to albums and I improvise.[/quote] Ah, so thats how you're so darn good, eh? I'm not making a living from bass exactly, but i guess i should really get better rather than just stay in a mediocre comfort zone.

I'm a student, and haven't read a book at home in ever.

[quote name='RhysP' post='792403' date='Mar 31 2010, 08:22 PM']All you have to learn is that basically everybody in the music business is a many-faced untrustworthy bastard who would sell you down the river in a microsecond to further their own needs & ambitions. It's pretty much just like every other avenue of life really. [/quote] On the other hand i secured a pretty cool endorsement deal, and have a couple of hundred quid piece of software coming my way soon! I know what you're saying though, people will do anything to advance themselves, or get money - even at the expense of a disposable band's reputation or whatever.

My girlfriend goes ape if she sees i am on here. She has put two and two together and made 4, in terms the time spent on basschat being reflective of money spent on bass. So, yeh... i view as text-only most of the time, hides the logo and layout etc, makes it much easier to conceal.

I agree. I'm merely saying that there must surely be some objectivity in the aesthetic appreciation of music. Thatis a debate for another time perhaps. I like getting the reviews in, and i might have not made it clear, but there is nothing that annoys me more than a cut and paste. However, when the bottom line is ultimately, '' I want this music to sell, so i can pay my rent '' i suppose what i want is probably not best for me. My concern was that if every reviewer just cuts the PR junk then how can one get honest critique of a band? Negative reviews might be the consequence of bias, or as pointed out earlier, just to keep reader's happy, so where do bands sit exactly? I'm only 19, and i think i am just worried that i have rather a lot to learn about such a multi-faceted industry.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='790046' date='Mar 29 2010, 10:23 PM']Range of possibilities re: the one bad review you mention. Careful scrutiny of what was written / not written may (or may not) indicate one of the following: * Publication target audience may not be aligned with your genre / approach - hence you're a cheap easy target for the journo to pick off * Journo may just have been having a bad day and didn't much like your output * Your band (or whoever's handling your PR) may be on the journo's shitlist. * They gave the review to a junior who's trying to make a name * Your output is below par and they were the only ones to be honest (unlikely) Either way, it's not something to get 'upset' about. This is business, after all. If 'Loud and Quiet' is essential to your development, whoever does your PR should be tasked to turn the situation round. If not, backburner the relationship with the mag and let them come crawling back when you get big. Reviews should not be used as a mirror; they should be used as a tool.[/quote] Those observations were quite inline with my own actually. The magazine's demographic is not the people that would want to be buying our music, and so its easy pickings. In saying that, L&Q have ripped into some of my favorite bands in the past. It is actually the only negative review, but i guess one can't help but get hung up at first.

[quote name='Doddy' post='790020' date='Mar 29 2010, 10:01 PM']Your friends will say you are awesome,and your enemies will say you suck. The truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.[/quote] I didn't think i had any enemies, and not many friends

[quote name='Eight' post='789940' date='Mar 29 2010, 09:03 PM']How objective a person are you? Criticism is your best friend in most walks of life - if you're honest enough with yourself to know when it's true. If you don't believe it applies, just ignore it and crack on. Doesn't really matter why they're writing it if you don't think it's valid.[/quote] Taste is a social and natural phenomenon like all other patterns of human cultural behaviour. I like criticism, but when i can't appreciate the one giving it's view point, i tend to think that i must be missing something.

My band are starting to get lots of reviews at the moment, just before the album is released next month. For a start most of the reviews are just copy and pasting the PR stuff the publication gets sent, leaving them to do... well, not a lot really. Some other reviews are glowing, and have a lot of thought put into them with some jolly nice comments - hell, even i, of all people, got called 'talented!' There is one though, that stands out, we got from a magazine called Loud and Quiet which made for depressing. Think we got 4/10 and slated with some pretty nasty critique! I took it on the chin, and i think the others are getting over it now the reviews are coming in. I guess what i'm asking is, who can you trust? When most are recycled PR, and others either one extreme or another, it leaves us in a bit of a limbo. Is it as simply as people merely liking it or disliking it? Is there more involved, perhaps depending on the publication's demographic? It is difficult to take such crushing criticism on the chin, but maybe i'm just young and naive... lots to learn i have.

I only found it after it ended Well, £2.19 is more than I've made from the band, the industry always winds, eh!

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Midas-Fall---Eleven.-Return-and-Revert---PROMO-CD-ALBUM_W0QQitemZ310206107234QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxq20100313?IMSfp=TL100313128001r34358"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Midas-Fall---Eleven....313128001r34358[/url] I'm surprised it even got £2.19..!

I used to have a Tone Factor, owned it for maybe 2-3 weeks. Times were hard, so i sold it. To be honest, in hindsight, i never used it. My Line M9, which i've toyed with parting with more times than i care to remember also beats it for sheer versatility and the comparison between the sounds is quite minimal.

Ableton Live.