sdgrsr400

Ah yes, the fire alarm diversion: very devious. Is there any practical way of securing instruments in a performance situation? For items like portable PC's I've seen things like locking cables and tamper alarms, but haven't seen much regarding instruments. We seem to want to believe that everyone is just there for the love of music, but unfortunately that isn't always the case.

Watched your Kitten Cake vid on MySpace: I like it! Nice playing and cool singer

And the damage to the car is not inconsiderable either - glass shards everywhere and aggro with insurance company etc.

Take a look at Reaper : [url="http://www.reaper.fm/"]http://www.reaper.fm/[/url] - free unrestricted eval, $60 when you go legit. I find it more than adequate.

Useful update on situation: [url="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-day-live-music-died-1751562.html"]http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...ed-1751562.html[/url] Has this affected your band?

Or require "Customers aged 18 or under must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Proof of age may be required."

Local newsagents typically have signs up saying "Only two schoolchildren at once" - I wonder why

+1000 re the Bass Gallery - one of the finest shops of any description I've been in.

A further point to bear in mind is that if one band member decides to provide full accounting of their expenses, but another one just trousers the cash, then if the IR/Benefits finds out about the connection then it might well be able to use the evidence of the former against the latter.

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='541281' date='Jul 15 2009, 01:37 PM']Thanks - that's handy to know. Any idea where I'd get hold of them? G.[/quote] Try: [url="http://www.overwaterbasses.com/buy-strings-online.htm"]http://www.overwaterbasses.com/buy-strings-online.htm[/url] - you need extended scale.

It's worth adding lots of rhythmic variety to scales, i.e. not to play them just as steady quavers. Use dotted notes (swung and straight), repeated notes, legato/staccato, in various combinations to make it musical. Being creative like this helps to avoid the boredom you mention, and sets you up to use scales in real playing.

Overwater do their own nickel and S/S strings which are available for 35".

[quote name='Geoff' post='541058' date='Jul 15 2009, 10:25 AM']Unfortunately image is important. My band played a gig a couple of months back at the Underworld and everyone but the guitarist turned up wearing what we have agreed on (black tee's, black jeans, black shoes - apparently should look more 'metal'). In every review we read, people went on about the guitarist looking like an idiot and that was because he was wearing brown boots, not black ones. However petty it can seem going on about image etc, the public will pick up on it which is annoying when they go on about that and not your music.[/quote] Footwear is very important and should not be overlooked. Sandals and toenails anyone?

For live performance of just about any kind, some attention to appearance is essential. You won't lose your individuality by coordinating your look. It's clearly something the whole band should discuss.

Very tasty!

Another alternative is to fit the appropriate strings for a BEAD tuning on a 4-string. There are a few issues with nut sizes etc but some people do it.

I've been looking at tuition books specifically aimed at the 5-string bass, having recently acquired one. The selection I've seen hasn't been to great, so I thought it might be useful to have a thread about them. I've listed the ones I can find below. Further input welcome. Learn to Play 5-String Bass by Mike Hiland. I bought this one, as compared with the next one it seemed to cover more ground. The accompanying CD has the author introducing each track, which is unnecessary, but with the right digital audio workstation (like Reaper) one can chop out the chat. Relatively old, originally written in 1992 but doesn't seem particularly out-of-date in practice. 5-String Bass Method by Brian Emmel. I browsed this in a shop and it seemed rather repetitive and not very useful. However others might disagree. Progressive 5 String Bass by Stefan Richter. Looks interesting but couldn't find it. Opinions? Any other good material out there specifically for 5-string?

FWIW, in the July 2009 BGM on p69, Roger Sadowsky was asked about this issue and he said "I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever". However, I think I'll string my next set thru-body and see how it works out.

Severe attack of GAS after reading about the gorgeous Marleaux MBass in the July BGM. Anyone got any type of Marleax? Opinions? What scale length are they - they don't seem to say much about that on their website.

He's also at risk of incurring customs charges when re-entering Australia with the bass. Their customs are very keen to make travelling Ozzies who buy gear overseas and bring stuff back pay all appropriate charges. He'd need the original Oz purchase invoice or other acceptable documentation to avoid this issue.

Yes, bythesea is right - keep your money in our community! There's some lovely stuff for sale on here - just check the seller is well established here, and perhaps has an entry in the Feedback section.

One man's experience:

Actually, what I'd like is if the "pull-for-passive" switch would disconnect the battery (I have confirmed it doesn't on my Lakland). I reckon I could more easily get into the habit of using that as an on-off switch. Maybe there would be switch-on thumps if it operated that way...

Having just acquired an active bass, I need to remember to unplug it after practice at home. Any tips for avoiding that DOH! moment when you come back a day or two later and the battery is flat...

Well, for repeating bass lines possibly the best known popular piece is Pachelbel's Canon in D, which you can hear in an outstanding performance below. The first eight notes in the bass repeat throughout the piece - why not play along?