JellyKnees

[quote name='leroydiamond' timestamp='1383178338' post='2261359'] However that doesn't stop Brit Floyd playing the 14000 seater O2 in Dublin next Saturday night. If I was in the area I would pop along, despite having seen the real thing years ago. [/quote] I find that totally bizarre. I've seen Floyd too, but I've got no interest at all in watching a bunch of clones pretending to be them, no matter how technically great they are - I'd rather go and see something new. Still, I guess I'm in a minority, given the size of venues that these bands seem able to fill nowerdays.

Reminds me of an apocryphal tale of a local punk 'guitarist' who went into Birkenhead's only music shop and askled for a 'chuka chuka' pedal... I think the previous suggestion of eq combined with playing nearer the neck is a good one.

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1380887932' post='2231921'] I'm glad that you feel it's working out for you and you should definitely keep on doing what you feel is best, but seeing your band live would irritate me because I would be hearing sounds that I cannot attribute to someone performing an action of some sort other than pressing a play button. Sorry about that. That's all I've been saying all along. I know you said "most" but for what it's worth (and at the risk of seeming argumentative), I don't find being in an amateur band with keys, sax and trombone unrealistic or impractical in the slightest. [/quote] Would it irritate you less if we had someone MIMING to the pre-recorded parts? Would that make you feel like you were getting your money's worth?

Sound like he has delusions of grandeur to me - who does he think he is, Frank Zappa or something?

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1380807363' post='2230854'] As a punter (and clearly I'm not supposed to notice these things) I prefer people not to use backing tracks. This informs my opinion as a player too. If you want strings, get some strings players in. If you want a horn section, go get one. Want keys? You know what to do. Much better sounding and visually engaging than a backing track. I'm not looking down my nose at anyone who wants to use them, but it's not how I like to see business done. [/quote] That's a lovely idea in theory and in an ideal world I'd agree with you, but it's unrealistic and totally impractical for most amateur/semi-pro bands. Out of 20 odd songs we have one with some brass parts, about 3 with some strings and maybe another 5 with some synths, so we use backing for those songs to supplement our piano, drums, guitar and keys lineup. It sounds fine and works well.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1380099399' post='2220659'] Wow. Wow... and wow. Robert "Sinatra" Fripp comes out of retirement! Although I've seen Fripp with the League of Crafty Guitarists, KC remain one of the few bands that jostle for the position of favourite act ever that I've never actually seen live. #excited [/quote] Likewise. I might actually try and get to see them this time around. Haven't listened to anything since Thrak, but this sounds like an interesting line up...nice to see Levin still in there, and three drummers could be cool.

Probably something off one of the early Strangler's albums. Mostly I just made a noise - some might say I still do...

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1377259611' post='2185421'] This is the main reason i see Macs being used for. I'd love to see what a Mac can do that a PC cant, and for less money. Seeing as anyone who recommends a PC has already been branded a Fan boy, in a derogatory way (without any back up, as usual) , i cant see this ending in a good way. Then again, it is Friday. [/quote] Ah, but macs are just, y'know, so cool aren't they? I mean, Steve Jobs was, like a genius, y'know? I've been using PCs for recording for years. For the last 2 years I've been running Cubase 5 on a Windows 7 bog standard off the shelf HP machine. It's all good, and [i]almost[/i] 100% reliable - I think I had one song that developed a glitch of some kind, but that was probably more to do with a dodgy plugin than anything to do with the platform itself. If you wanna pay 3x the price for a mac, fill your boots, personally i don't see the need.

The rubber on the top handle on my big one has started to split at one end, so I've gaffered it up for now to prevent injury. It's no biggie. I'll replace it at some point. Some people...

final bump... today's the day

Yup, think I would go down the keyboard route too to be honest ... bass guitar would be too frustrating with such an extreme physical limitation. I could probably do more with a keyboard under those circumstances. As long as I could be creative and make tunes I'd still be a happy bunny.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1373306658' post='2135959'] I have a sneaking suspicion that some tribute bands might actually be better than the band they're imitating. Perhaps not in the composition/writing sense, but in the live performance aspect. [/quote] That kind of depends on what you mean by 'better'. More technically proficient musicianship does not necessarily transform itself into a better performance/audience experience. I've said all this on here before, usually to much righteous indignation, but anyway... There are loads of bands I have liked down the years that I didn't get to see live for whatever reason, but I still don't have any desire to go and see a bunch of clones pretending to be them. I don't mind covers per se, especially if it's a good band who can do something INTERESTING with the material and play with some ENTHUSIASM, but to watch a slavish copy of band X's whole reportoire, right down to the minutiae of their look, stage show etc. etc..... no thanks. As for playing in one, i can't imagine a more soul crushing and musically unrewarding experience. But that's just me I guess.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1373299307' post='2135840'] On Radio 4 this morning they mentioned that Brian Travers formerly of UB40 is currently gigging with tribute act UB42 and wants to play with every UB40 tribute going. Class act there I think. [/quote] Possibly more to do with this perhaps... [url="http://www.nme.com/news/ub40/59988"]http://www.nme.com/news/ub40/59988[/url] Class isn't a word that springs to my mind when I think of tribute bands.

Contrary to popular opinion (so it seems), I much prefer the D'Addarios to the Statuses - I think they have a lot more ooomph and the stickiness settles down after a while - I found the Statuses a bit weak tbh. Having said that, the tunebass fretless that I use them on is piezo only so maybe they just happen to suit the pickups. The Rotosound pressure wound are a pretty good option too. The only real way to tell though is to try them all....

The rig-less approach is probably fine if you are playing in a larger venue through a PA with decent stage monitors and you trust the sound engineer, or you are in a pro band playing with high quality in ear monitors or whatnot, but if you are playing down the old Cock and Pullet then you probably won't have such luxuries at your disposal... I use some amp modelling and quite a lot of effects through my markbass/barefaced big one setup - its an exceptionally clean amp/cab combo so most of my 'tone' comes from the bass/effects etc, but ultimately I like to be able to control my onstage level and tweak the tone accordingly. Its also a ridiculously lightweight rig so moving it is a doddle tbh. Also I don't generally lend my gear out. Its not a problem for what I do, although in principle I agree with you.

I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who has never had any lessons, but it sounds like you are being a bit hard on yourself to me. We do what we do (and don't do what we don't) at any given point in our lives because it makes sense to us at that point in time. You are having lessons now rather than earlier for your own good reasons. You may find once you have gone through whatever re-learning processes you are currently undergoing that you revisit some of what you previously worked out for yourself - I'm sure there is far more merit in it than you currently seem to think. I think what I'm trying to say is, with regard to your own personal musical journey, don't regret what you didn't do in the past ... after all there is stuff all you can do to change it anyway

Hi Emily... what ever you do, don't mention 'that Liverpool band' - it tends to rapidly degenerate into a slanging match regarding their influence on everything in the world that has happened since 1969.. or not, depending on your point of view It's a good forum though.. loads of excellent advice on all things Bass.. have fun!

Ok, a little bumpage for this... less than 2 weeks to go now

Focus estate - cheap, solid, reliable, shedloads of room and nicely anonymous so no one will tend to f*** with it.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAzUh_H7yV0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAzUh_H7yV0[/url]

1. Have a break - over practising is as bad as not practising enough IMO. 2. I almost always practice along to some kind of computer generated drum groove/loop and find a lot of inspiration this way - try and find some beats that you wouldn't normally play to or use some interesting time signatures. 3. Try to deliberately play without using any of your usual licks and phrases, throw some random notes into what you do even if they sound 'wrong'.

Cobain had Guns and Roses about right...the nadir of bad hair metal. I like the Wayne Coyne quote too, Arcade fire seem like the most pretentious, humourless band ever - I heard one of their albums once, every track sounded the same. Good old Mark Smith though... hahahahahahaha