ivansc

[quote name='EvilSmile' timestamp='1463069399' post='3048324']The end goal is to be able to take a piece of music that has been notated, a detailed transcription or some other detailed annotation of the music and have a computer automatically determine how difficult the piece is to play. Some pieces of music might require you to play beyond the 12th fret or any other the other things i'm asking - i'm just trying my best to be thorough! [/quote] Now THAT makes sense. Not the usual "do my homework/dissertation for me" garbage and with a well defined end objective that is USEFUL. too! Good luck with it. (thinks: Bugger now I will have to go back and do it properly!)

I bought my first "good" bass after I retired from playing music for a living. Most midrange pro players that I know have pretty crap basses because they need to spend their money on stuff like car payments rent and food, so dont let it worry you. The saddest part for me was that my first ever bass was a 1962 |Precision I bought used in 1963 and then sold to finance a guitar I needed for a paying gig... Closest I ever came to a decent instrument after that was a Rickenbacker 4001 I bought dirt cheap in the UK at a time when nobody famous was using them! Swapped that for a fender rhodes piano for another gig in the end.

Got half way through, got bored and started wondering what the object of all this worthy stuff is. I have zero musical education beyond music GCE "O" level but have taught a bunch of people to play, including the application of theory. Utterly mystified as to why you think being able to sproing about over a 12 fret interval is relevant to bass playing, to cite one oddness. If I found myself doing this whilst playing, I would assume I was either showing off in a rather tasteless way or someone had nudged my left elbow. Please tell us what this is all about - I might go back and do it all if I know there is an actual end to all this.

[quote name='Bobthedog' timestamp='1462821932' post='3046052'] I have done, as an attendee, but do not see the connection? [/quote] You have to be one of the workers to appreciate the significance, you elite-ist, over-educated swine!

12 miles away from me. I will have to visit!

[quote name='Bobthedog' timestamp='1462814028' post='3045913'] I may be missing a point here but Mrs Costello is Diana Krall a supremely talented pianist and singer in her own right. Unless of course it was a previous Mrs Costello. [/quote] Nope this was way back. An EC and the Attractions gig where we shared dressing rooms. The ladies were nattering allnight whilst us blokes went to work. You have to have "done" Cambridge May Balls week to appreciate this.... A bit like being in the trenches in WW1 (I imagine) but with champers and damp sausage rolls. Also: How the hell does anyone mistake Dave the Rave for Ken Livingstone?

BassBalls..... *sigh*

My wife is the champ. She spent a whole evening/night chatting to Mrs Elvis Costello in the dressing room at a gig. Was saying to me a while later how much she liked Elvis Costello and did I know his music. Same with Shaking Stevens.... who she had told me SO many times was "her favourite"..... never recognised him at all until he and band actually went on stage! Mind you back in the days of vinyl she used to refer to albums we owned as "the yellow one with black line" or " the red one with the picture of that chap with a guitar".... *sigh*

I scored 0 with my current covers band & an embarrassed 2 with my solo act. On the other hand, nobody ever went broke underestimating public taste....

plus one on diabetes.

dobro. Just sayin'.

Hammer chizzit, den? All I could find was YT links and stuff written in Cyrillic.....

Mark - you and DAND666 need to talk, it seems!

Last I heard, there was very little ferry work left - a little high season stuff on the longer runs. I know you don't want to hear this, but you might want to consider contacting a few of the agencies that do "seasonal" work in bars & clubs around europe. They tend mostly to go for outfits that are already up and running & of course you have a huge amount of competition for the regular, good-paying gigs. When I lived in Corsica, the locals were getting priced out of the market by (mostly UK) overseas groups who regarded a summer season as a paid holiday and would work for almost nothing. My band worked the Bal Populaire and Fete au Village scene, both of which paid very well, but you had to have a local connection for most of that work. If you really want to get regular paid work you would be better off slugging away in the UK. But have you actually approached any of the larger agencies? Again, the work will come once you get a rep as a safe pair of hands.

[quote name='dand666' timestamp='1462097929' post='3040194'] Need to get off the ferries and get on with anyone under the Carnival umbrella. They treat musicians really well. Over the past 2 years I've had no problem. [/quote] Absolutely - I am a little out of touch but a year or so ago there was only P&O left using bands on the ferry runs & then not much.

But no prices on the upright....

FWIW the last time I played in Cheltenham was when an old friend, who couldnt find a dep bass player locally for her original songs, asked me to come down and play bass for her at a small festival. I got paid. Not a huge amount - £100 - but she also covered food and lodging for my wife and I. (grin) where were you?

OP I didn`t intend to say that YOU were slavish,y copying or indeed picking things to pieces - just that an awful lot of players do. I just have a thing about groove and feel. Started a thread on the old Sound on Sound forum years ago that run to about a gazillion pages on just that subject. And there too it really polarised peoples opinions. Feel versus technique. I still think you need both but sadly with the shrinking number of opportunities to play in really crap starting-out bands* and actually get a gig to hone your chops in both areas, it makes it very difficult for less experienced players to "get" the point of feel and groove. Hard to learn how to groove on your own in your bedroom, especially on bass *C`mon, guys - we all started out that way.

at the time they blew everything else out of the water - at least the two I tried did.

Rob Harris (Jamiroquai) worked for P.A. a long while ago. The man has great taste in players. Dont know who the current bassist is though

Yep - first paid gig a few months after my 10th birthday.

Started out with a pick in the early sixties "because everyone played that way". Dont even remember why or when I switched to fingers, but I did. Fast forward to recently, when my poor battered old hands cant keep up with fast repetitive stuff any more, so I switched to pick for those sorts of songs. Surprising. I had forgotten how GOOD it sounds, especially with left AND right hand muting just as easy to do. So now I use both as the occasion requires and am real happy doing so. Don't knock it till you have tried it. But give it a fair go. You cant just switch fr one to the other instantly.

Be careful on the cruise ship gigs though - although it is pretty much 100% union, there are some odd little side things. A friend plays on the ferries between mainland france and the various islands like Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, etc. Because they are actually employed by a French cruise line, they only get paid for the days they work and are on unemployment benefit the rest of the time. Not very glamorous, especially since the actual pay is pretty dire, too. Not all aquatic gigs are that great!

Depressing. Feel is what its about. NOT "note perfect". Personally, I hate how many people seem to think "the thing" to do is slavishly copy every single nuance of a performance & wind up with this sterile wooden "exact copy" instead of trying to get the same feel. We are bass players! We should be aiming at peoples arses more than their ears. I bet you pick Rick Danko's parts to bits as well...

I fell in love with the full size and the baby when I trid them at Corner Music in Nashville back in the early to mid eighties. Nobody I have talked to since returning to the UK seems to know much about them & the website doesnt mention any of the early stuff. Anyone have one or have any further info?