flyfisher

I have to say that I never bother too much with learning a song by the original note-for-note bass line (unless it's really basic of course). First off, I generally practice playing just the root notes until I'm comfortable with the structure and feel of the song. With this song, for example, just playing root notes to the 'dum dum-dum, dum-dum-dum' rhythm might be a good start. Then add in a few passing notes and that's probably all you actually need to create the feel of the song that most of the audience will recognise. As steve-bbb rightly says, that'll be enough to have the audience dancing along oblivious and is probably a better bet all round than attempting to play the original and not quite pulling it off. I guess this sort of thing goes to the heart of the cover-vs-tribute debate.

Ah, but will a debit card sound better or worse than a credit card. And what about all those store cards?

Yep, that would surely sound pretty good.

Funny how an expensive cable can apparently improve a sound but all that complicated wireless stuff apparently has no noticeable effect on the sound. I'd have thought the quality of the radio waves used would have made some difference.

I can't make any sense of wanting to buy anything that has been artificially damaged, but each to their own. But why stop at guitars? I wonder why the craze hasn't spread to things like cars? I'd have thought a beat-up relic'd look on a Land or Range Rover would add to the machismo for such vehicles - much better than spray-on mud, surely? http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/7981-spray-on-mud-for-chelsea-tractors

I've no experience of through-body strings, but I would have been surprised if it made any difference to the sound. But I've often wondered about the physical impact on such thick and wound strings of tightening them around a 90-degree bend. Again, I'd be surprised if it made any audible difference, but does it make the strings more liable to break, for example?

I think we'd need an IP lawyer to give some definitive answers but I reckon there woul dbe all sorts of problems with trying to protect a sound. How, for example, could the sound be quantified in the first place? Audio spectrum analysis might be useful in this respect but at which point would very subtle (and probably inaudible) differences be deemed to be the same sound or a new sound? Frankly, I doubt that any two amps actually 'sound' completely identical anyway when measured with scientific precision. Component tolerances alone would make some differences and there would be other factors as well. Besides, with all the tone-shaping controls on the average amp these days, who could define what THE amp sound really is anyway? And none of that even takes into account how someone actually plays in the first place, which will have a huge impact on the overall sound. As for Harley Davidson, it seems that they TRIED to copyright their engine sound but gave up = probably because of the sorts of difficulties I've already described. A field day for the lawyers, no doubt, but no joy for HD.

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1347621323' post='1803102'] [url="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2012/aug/23/star-wars-hover-bike-float-video"]http://www.guardian....ike-float-video[/url] [/quote] Wow - how have I missed that bit of recent news? Thanks for that. Interesting that the video is silent - I bet the thing is bloody deafening.

Usually black cotton jeans and a black polo shirt, or chinos and a linen shirt if I feel like being a bit smarter. I've always been a rebel so have never worn denim in my entire life.

[quote name='Bowks' timestamp='1347569995' post='1802684'] . . . . . or should I just shut up, stop asking questions and try it out first? [/quote] I think you know the answer really.

Is the the topic question limited to bass gear? If not, I want to know about those hover bike things they had in Star Wars.

You suggested that musicians choosing to play for free or being asked to pay for free is an alarming trend. I'm merely suggesting that this is the sort of thing that can happen in a free world and that we'd actually be worse off if it couldn't happen. I'm sorry my clumsy builders analogy didn't make sense.

I wonder if, in the whole vastness of cyberspace, there's a little corner somewhere with a 'BuilderChat' forum where professional builders bleat on about DIYers? Do we really want to live in a world where absolutely everything we do is regulated, licenced and prescribed or do we want to libe in a world where people are pretty much free to do whatever they want and try new things?

. . . . which is sort of what they do in the classical music world.

Must be doing the rounds . . . he was on Radio 4 this morning doing the same thing.

Maybe I'm Amazed? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm2YyVZBL8U

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1347396775' post='1800357'] So, it seems possible that you are claiming that only composers are musicians. [/quote] Not at all. That wouldn't make any sense. I wrote [i]" I wasn't being derogatory, just trying to distinguish between musicians who are primarily players rather than composers.[/i]" Meaning that there could be musicians who mainly play (possibly by sight-reading) and musicians who could be mainly composers. None of which precludes a musician being both a player AND a composer. Edit: Lord Sausage beat me to it - I should have read to the end of the thread before replying.

Only one way to find out. Actually, it would be interesting to write two or three differently worded adverts (each giving a different contact number) and seeing which one has the best response.

What about guitar players who play without a plectrum? Or doesn't it matter?

A lot of the frustrations being aired in this thread might be avoidable by asking a few questions when invited to audition. - how often do you gig? - when was your last gig? - do you have any audio/video of your performances? I'm not suggesting there are right or wrong answers to these questions, it's more a case of getting a better understanding of the sort of situation you're walking into before deciding to go for an audition. Might be worth adding "do you expect me to contribute to the rehearsal studio hire for the audition?"

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1347351718' post='1799569'] No. They're all musicians. [/quote] I wasn't being derogatory, just trying to distinguish between musicians who are primarily players rather than composers.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1347296187' post='1798976'] ... but, as Palladino himself pointed out in the interview, if it was a reading session he wouldn't have got the job. [/quote] Presumably, a reading requirement is only required if the bass line has already been written and they just need someone to play it. But my understanding is that Pino created that bass part and THAT was his contribution. The difference between a technician and a musician perhaps?

Ah, but that's a government-funded propaganda service merely delivered by the BBC - or was, until a recent budget review, I seem to recall, where the BBC itself has to pay for the operating costs now. Whatever, it's still a government thing

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1347190830' post='1797795'] Nope. Nothing in there about him being a bass payer. Think he played piano at the Olympics. [/quote] Ha! Fair point - so bass players really are invisible and unknown

I used to regularly travel to/from the US with various bits of specialised opto-electrotronic gubbins in my luggage and none of it ever got lost or damaged - including soon after 9/11. But don't bother to lock your case because if they want to look inside they'll just cut or break any locks and leave you a polite leaflet explaining their 'homeland security' rights. I never lock my luggage but I always use a luggage strap to stop cases from bursting open. Unfortunately, they obviously don't teach the security people how to remove an unlocked luggage strap without cutting it!