steverickwood

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1014921' date='Nov 7 2010, 12:39 AM']Cold! J.[/quote] Haha!! That'll learn ya;) That said, an eerie mist has just crept in from the sea and is hovering around our streets as I write. So it's not exactly summer here. You playing much at mo?

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1014954' date='Nov 7 2010, 02:22 AM']The Rainbow bass always looked like Carl's best bass, although it looked a lot better before Les got the lower horn altered.[/quote] Yeah I saw that and thought it was another bass of his but word is that it balanced badly.

[quote name='danny-79' post='1014654' date='Nov 6 2010, 07:15 PM']Cool bass, cool story. With any quality instrument like that your just looking after it for the next owner so enjoy it while its yours ![/quote] Man I wish it was mine!! But I'm lucky to own a Carl thompson at all. My mate however, now has 3! Git.

[quote name='DarkHorse' post='1014621' date='Nov 6 2010, 06:48 PM']Kudos. It's nice to hear some songs rather than the usual "look fast I can move my fingers" stuff that people put on YouTube all the time. Yeah that was the goal - flash is fun but no-one has EVER called me to ask "by the way, do you play fast?!" Personally I'd rather listen to Crowded House than a bass virtuoso album, but theres a time and a place! "Bestial Cluster" is cool, "Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters" is worth a listen too.[/quote] I'll check it out, think a bit of Mick is long overdue.

Just received a text - that bass now resides in South East UK...an old mate is the proud owner. Lucky bastard!!

[quote name='dood' post='1014594' date='Nov 6 2010, 06:21 PM']Love it - I'm gonna share your vid on my Facebook page![/quote] I'm flattered thank you! Still expecting a torrent of abuse for 'not playing bass'...but I'm open to it! Although nice comments are, well, nice, aren't they?!

[quote name='DarkHorse' post='1014590' date='Nov 6 2010, 06:18 PM']Yes, very sad. Mick's playing got me into fretless bass, and I'm still trying to the hang of those weird, eastern sounding lines he comes up with. By the way, that's some nice stuff on your YouTube channel, nice bass tone on 'Silent Scream'. Cheers, Rob[/quote] Thank you Rob thats very kind. The articulation on one verse bugs me on that tune!! I used a Fender Geddy Lee via Boss gt6b (compression I think). Did all my parts in one day after a 'dry' spell where I couldn't come up with parts that were interesting without being too 'muso'. The trouble is I did every last part of those recordings: I am not a singer, or a guitarist etc but some things are so personal yu just have to! I have an album of Micks called 'Bestial Cluster' - always thought he had a great sound and wonderful ideas on that. Around that era there were so many stereotypical players on fretless or slap style that people like him and les claypool were immediately interesting just because they went a bit outside the box.

[quote name='endorka' post='1014311' date='Nov 6 2010, 02:40 PM']I am indeed :-) The B section always raises eyebrows amongst clarinet or flute players... I think I have a recording where it sounds like a bass clarient playing it, you can actually hear the valves flailing about and the player really making an effort to keep the melody up to speed! Great stuff. I have found that this song really divides musicians - they either think it is amazing, or completely daft. The truth is, of course, that it is both of these things. Jennifer[/quote] Absolutely - and of course a great arrangment makes a huge difference. I always loved the old school film scores. Was that book of use? Wasn't it YYZ you were to perform?

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1014569' date='Nov 6 2010, 05:57 PM']Mister Rickwood - you are a very, very silly man. Jon.[/quote] I have my moments. Theres some guy on youtube doing this on a chapman stick - thats pretty cool. I once thought about doing the same but have neither the time or patience to tune a stick, let alone play the naffing thing! Quite like orchestrating basses though:) Hows things way up there?

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='1014557' date='Nov 6 2010, 05:50 PM']Sweet, that's my kind of crazy. Any chance of the transcrition? I'd love to arrange it for a 4-piece rock band.[/quote] You know what - I can't even find MY transcription!! I am however planning to orchestrate it for a 4-piece bass orchestra for some of my uni students in 2011, if I ever get round to it, I'll send you a sibelius file?

Fair play! I see you got a Mick Karn pic - bad to hear his state of affairs at present hey?

Godamn - so you're the Darkhorse who prevented me getting my nickname as a username?!!!

I bumped into him at Londons bass centre some years back - yeah good bloke. I had often pondered on the loop thing but as far as I was concerned he had well and truly got there!

Haha - Jennifer please dedicate it to me;) Are you the Jennifer who bought a Rush anthology from me? And your comment about this track is accurate - once I transcribed it I had to learn to play the damn thing and it has its quirks, notably the kind of harmonised clarinet line after the second B section. In fact, I think I have forgotten how to play it since!

[quote name='Rich' post='1014127' date='Nov 6 2010, 11:56 AM']Yup, I like how delightfully silly.[/quote] Haha!! Easily the best comment I am ever going to receive 'delightfully silly' I think is going to be my new phrase! Speaking of which, my friend Dan who plays drums for this is a wonderfully flexible and creative drummer who nailed my entire album in a day - but for this I just said 'Play it like Vic and Bob would like...' I think the little drum break at the end is pretty apt.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLvTVrHVbKU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLvTVrHVbKU[/url] Hopefully this link will work - apols for the unfinished mix, but here is my bass orchestra recording of The Cantina Theme from Star Wars. It uses 13 Basses: 4's, 5's, fretted/less, upright and uses various effects (I think the synth one is pretty close to the one on the original recording) and techniques including two-handed tapping, tapped harmonics etc utilised to try and replicate those on the recording. I had to transcribe each instrument from the original in order to decide how to orchestrate on my basses. So feel free to slate me or see it as I do as a piece of bass fun - your thoughts and critisisms are invaluable to me (provided they are constructive!!) Best Steve R (if link fails, go to youtube and type in Steve Rickwood and you will find it there amongst some other stuff I probably didn't want posted by other people!)

I was in hospital last week and got a text out of the blue from a friend informing me he'd just bought this bass!!! What goes hand in hand with all this is the sickening fear of being scammed. I flew to America when I got my CT as they are scarce and I could not be sure if therewas any scam I may miss through not being 'savvy' enough. My journey itself, was insane. That aside, if you ever play a CT you will first notice how light they are, and how well balanced. Following this, acoustically you will notice a fantastic resonance considering the ultra light quality. The note definition is crystal and despite pickups being placed midway (which is obviously no different to what Fender and many others have done...) your hand position will dictate much of that tone and indeed my CT is very responsive to where I place my hands. What is tougher is if you have a wooden carved bridge in that you have to file it to make it lower...I got a luthier to build me new pieces to fit the action I required. The other issue is that on a 36" scale with these is that the neck can be temperamental. Myself and my friend have shared a passion for these basses for years - but I remember seeing Primus open up for Rush in 1992 and wondering what those odd basses were - it took a hell of a long time to find out, and even longer to find one! Out of all my basses - it is by far the coolest and always incites a reaction.

For me, one of the pains in the neck (no pun intended) is the lack of quick access to the truss rod. Mine has held up well once it settled. It weighs in heavy, compared to some of my basses, and I consider it less versatile than other jazzes - the sound is quite aggressive. I'd happily own another jazz as well as this one. Great look, and you see plenty of people using them, from the killers guy, crowded houses nick seymour etc so its popular with an array of personnel. Ultimately, you need to gig one and see if its good for you. I think its cool as hell and it looks fab. And if you like Geddy Lees sound, its totally achievable.

Do it! And have fun - thats the real reason for playing hey? I didn't read music so I took lessons at a considerably late stage but managed to get a reading gig within a year and a half of starting. Wish you the best with it:)

Its true - knowing the MD can be a surefire way to work - he/she will often call players they know/trust.

In my experience, flexibility in styles, flexibility on the part that maybe you create (ie from listening or chord chart - the producer/writer may request details such as articulation/tonal/beat placement adjustments...and all those other significants), and the ability to get along with people goes a long way. I think it depends upon the type of session too - there are those head down and read it types, there are some cool creative sessions where you are called for you input; either way, you are being paid to do the best job you can, efficiently (time vs money...) and to not be a pain! The way the industry stands, it seems there are less players going from big session to big session so they key in many respects is to say yes to lots of smaller paying gigs that keep you working. Plus, the internet allows a greater deal of social networking thus people are easier to reach so put your name to them. The flipside of course, is that everyone is doing it! And, defo ditto the guys above.

Mate - I'm no genius on this subject, and some other members had some good wisdom to offer, but I went to America to collect my bass as I didn't trust the postal service or the risk of ebay scam. Depends on cost of your bass. I got a flight that wasn't too much more than insured post, but it took a lot of comparing etc. If you're buying from a shop they should be used to shipping, but you incurr customs fees etc. What you looking at? I think I went to the post office to convert my money...