Franticsmurf

The fact that we now know that a large proportion of the mass of the universe is made up of dark bass cabs? 😀

Hi Stew.

I feel your pain. Me too. One day I'll sneak some bass synth in when no one is looking. 😀

My Hardly Bent One fretless. Great sound and playability straight out of the box. I wanted to try fretless bass without breaking the bank. As has been mentioned above, this one is heavy. Crafted, I believe, from a single piece of neutron star.

I agree with that to a certain extent - one of the things I love about watching any band is the interaction between band members and with the audience. A band having fun is far more entertaining than a band taking themselves too seriously and I've seen Yes in full blown 'serious' mode several times, usually at bigger venues. But I saw them in a smaller venue in Cardiff at the end of one of their tours and they were all having fun on stage. I'd count it as the best Yes gig I've seen for sheer entertainment, particularly with Rick in good form and Chris joining in the onstage ribbing.

First of all, well done for trying. If people didn't try things wouldn't happen. I don't think I would have the energy to form a band and arrange and promote a regular gig night. And that might be the issue here - working on all three at the same time. In my experience (just left a band, working to put a new project together) it's hard enough getting all the band elements in place, weaving practice and rehearsal into work and family schedules, agreeing on a set etc. I'm fortunate in that two thirds of the current project were in the last band so the set is pretty much agreed and I know their abilities and levels of commitment. But they both work and so far we've only managed one marathon set building session and a couple of rough run throughs of songs. We have one legacy gig lined up but I wouldn't be looking to get new gigs until we've rehearsed a few times, just so we're all comfortable that its working. Add to that the role of promoter and sound engineer and it becomes a lot of work for little extra return. Maybe you should get the band together first and get a couple of gigs under your belt with that line-up, generate a bit of interest etc? Look for like-minded bands to share a bill (and costs) and to bring extra punters in to the venue. They could also share to workload. At that point see about organising a venue. And if you're covering venue hire and backline costs then they need to be factored in to the fees for the bands - yours included. The danger with you as band member also being band manager and promoter is that the three roles do not get recognised properly and you end up out of pocket. Music should be fun (even if the rehearsals are sweaty, noisy and occasionally tense 😀). Wherever you go from here, good luck.

I never really got into Genesis when I was growing up although my mate was as big a fan of them as I was of Yes. But I was persuaded to go and see them live in the early 90's and I was smitten. I prefer their Peter Gabriel era output now and through that I got into his stuff.

Just an hour? Oh wait, radio edit. 😀

That's quite a playlist. I'm familiar with about half the songs so I'll be getting hold of the other half and making a playlist of my own. I grew up listening to Yesshows, which opens with the closing bars of 'Firebird Suite' so when I first saw Yes live and those bars were played just before the band came on, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Hi Jvanoort.

Yesshows was my introduction to Yes proper (after hearing Wondrous Stories on the radio). Squire's bass solo in Ritual was something I'd never heard the like of before (and for quite a while I thought is was being played on guitar). I started with the Steve Howe era and for years the classic line up of Howe, Wakeman, White, Squire and Anderson was the only one that counted for me. When it happened, the music of the 90125 line up didn't do it for me and I preferred ABWH to the other lot when both bands were touring. But lately, I have grown to love the pre Howe stuff (I have Yesterdays and the BBC sessions CD). Particular favourites include 'No Opportunity' and their cover of 'Every Little Thing'. I recently bought the Anderson/Rabin/Wakeman live CD and I really like the interpretations they've put on the classic Yes songs. I haven't really been that impressed with the current line-up touring as Yes.

Either a small mixer to play along to whatever I'm learning and headphones (my neighbours are great but badly played phrases on the bass, over and over and over and.... you get it - after 9pm would be testing their greatness too much) or through a Zoom B4 (with the track I'm working on on the Aux in and using headphones). If I need to audition a sound I'll use whatever set up I'm planning on gigging. If I need more volume I usually arrange to be at the rehearsal early for some 'me time'.

This is my third day of ownership, so I'm still working on the settings. The dials are pretty much as I had them last night - bass on 9.30, mid at full cut, treble at about 2pm. The volume was about 9pm - providing a monitor level for my backline as the whole band was going through FOH (the line-out from the Peavey was pre-equalisation). I used the boost button for a couple of the rockier numbers, just to add a bit of grit to what I was hearing. The mid shift button was set to provide mid cut centered on 250hz (I like the scooped sound, particularly for cutting through a band mix) and the bright button was off. I understand the Kosmos button filters out the lowest frequency and replaces them with harmonics which is meant to help with power handling. I had it engaged as I was using a 10" and a 6.5" speaker which wouldn't handle the low end (and didn't need to - FOH did all that). Bear in mind that these setting were done on the fly simply to provide me with a monitor mix. I hope to get to grips with the possibilities over the next few weeks but the opportunity to turn it up LOUD is limited at the moment.

It was pretty laid back - mix of locals and holiday makers so a nice chilled vibe that turned into a party atmosphere once the beer and cocktails had taken effect. 😀

A recently acquired Peavey Minimax 600 - 'B' stock from Bax. First outing last night. There are a lot of buttons as well as dials, so some work required to get the best from it but I was pleased with the sound through the backline.

Last night was the annual village green gig at Horton. Great gig with lots of dancing (and not just the audience). We were competing with Trevor Horn and Nile Rogers, who were playing in nearby Swansea but there's room for new bands like them as well as us on the circuit. 🤣

Hi Chris, welcome. I have one of these beasts and I love every fret of it. 😀

I read somewhere that Chris Squire had his Ricky painted, then sanded, then painted etc so often that it was significantly thinner than an original model. But it contributed to his signature tone. I agree with comments above - it's worth going for it with sanding however drastic. The worst case scenario is that it doesn't work and you end up getting a new body. But you may end up with something a little different that you like without spending loads on a custom body.

I kept quite a bit of physical memorabilia from when I started (around 35 years ago now) - photos, posters, press cuttings etc. I didn't really look after them, just kept them all together in plastic folders. Later, a lot of the stuff was digital - mainly photos, video and audio but also some of the setlists and posters and quite a few blog entries and website copy. During lockdown I went through the mass of stuff - much of which was aging fast (like me) and decided to digitise as much as possible. When I trek I keep a journal and take loads of photos and I compile these into one of those online photobooks (I use Blurb - other suppliers are available). So I decided to do a similar thing with the band material. I wrote a potted history of the bands I'd been in, illustrated it with photos and scans, added the blogs and even stuck a CD with MP3 files of some of the recordings we'd made over the years to the inside back cover. If nothing else, it was a pleasant few weeks revisiting some of the funny stories and characters I'd met in various incarnations of the bands.

I don't think you're being unrealistic in general - you have to do what is best for you otherwise why bother? But maybe in this particular band if you're the only one feeling the way you do it's unrealistic to expect the others to step up. I've been in the same situation and the options are to accept it or do something about it. Bear in mind that, as has been said above, it will only become more and more annoying unless you genuinely accept it as a bit of fun and a means to learn and make contacts. In your circumstances I would be looking for like-minded musicians to form your own band. If you really can't stand the current line-up, walk away amicably before it gets nasty. In my situation, I changed my attitude to the 'fun' band, stayed and enjoyed it. It kept me playing, I learned some new stuff and I'm still friends with all the band members. And I found three like minded musicians and we're working on a new project with a more comfortable mix of commitment and enjoyment.

Awkward pause.... "This one goes to 11". 😀

No camp fires on trek, presumably, or we'd have to come up with a witty reply that included 'hot footed' somewhere. 😀 Seriously, though, as a trekker who has experienced tender feet that's a useful tip, thanks.

Hi Ingwar.

Hi Steve.

First gig of the year for the festival band I play in. We were at a local food festival. The drizzle put some of the audience off but we must have played to about 50-60 hardy souls and once the sun had made an appearance we had them dancing. It makes so much difference when the crowd are responsive. I went through my Laney Digbeth preamp into FOH with a tiny practice amp for monitoring.