essexbasscat

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1277556' date='Jun 21 2011, 07:34 PM']Never, its still An Extended Range [b]Bass[/b] It cross over into the "guitar range" and some times even to the top of it, but it still has the strings a bass have and lower and then them other higher ones! Would you apply that to trombone? (for example, and just because i had the trombone/trumpet version of this question earlier today!) If the parts are always higher? Though maybe thats not as good an arguement as they are built differently but apply it to Tuba and trumpet and where is the line? If it can only play the higher parts then its just a guitar/trumpet but it comes from and has the whole range of the bass/tuba at the heart of it! Just my ramblings i'll keep 'em to myself next time haha [/quote] OK I'll play The Cello covers pretty much the same range on the stave as a 5 - string bass guitar. The scale length is typically 34", the same as many 4 -string basses. You can pluck it the same as a bass guitar and even produce some pretty decent fretless bass type sounds. Instead of using the bass guitar to emulate a Double Bass, why not turn the idea around and use the Cello as a natural sister instrument to the bass guitar ?

Standard market prices, but Kent Armstrong stock a wide range of stuff, with a first class service too

Congrats Wayne. Bring it along to the next bash !

A little ditty that came up this week, composed by macca, covered by Mary Hopkin. Enjoy

Thanks for all your replies everyone, much appreciated To summarise, the popular options seem to be (in no particular order); - Negotiate with the locals regarding times to practice - Beef up the home sound insulation, perhaps combined with local negotiation - School halls, community halls, rooms over pubs etc Reading the car park saxophonist reminded me of a whimsical notion of practicing in a camper van (or something like a Ford Galaxy) in road lay - bys. No negotiation required with anyone with minimal risk of irritating anyone else. Does anyone know if the rozzers get a bit uppity about this ? It's also nice to see that at least one person understands my desire to preserve an operating system of respectful give and take with the locals. Burrito B's post reminded me that one person's acceptable noise is another's irritation and everyone has their own ideas about what they consider to be acceptable noise. Does seem to be an issue of balancing personal freedom with respect for others. What hasn't emerged here is any hint of a National system / database / resource of recognised places that practicing musicians can access in the name of pursuing their art without interfering with the interests of others. I wonder how many potential musicians are lost due the difficulties of finding acceptable places to practice ? (also wonder how many more drummers could play with an even tempo and a balanced sound if they found it easier to practice ?) I really do find it sad that musicians don't have wider support for practice facilities in this country. Do the Musician's Union have any take on this ?

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='1273895' date='Jun 18 2011, 04:40 PM']Oh, that! 6 or 7 immediately consecutive sneezes while overtaking an Artic on the M-way. Always seems to happen. Never sneeze onstage. Though I accidentally gobbed [i]off[/i]stage onto the Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea once. Slow-motion moment as it back-spun through the air and landed neatly on his chain of office.[/quote]

Excellent, some inspirational playing there. That was a real pleasure to see, thanks for posting Bilbo.

I'd like to hold off a bit before taking the approach of playing within what can be considered reasonable hours at home. If I take the approach of playing up to some time before 9PM, I'll be living in a state of armed truce with the locals, with everyone looking at each other over a fence of council rules Not good for personal karma. Has anyone else found different solutions, such a hiring local halls on a goodwill / exchange of services basis ? kindly caretakers letting someone use a school room in the evening ? something more creative ? Wouldn't it be great if there were a community solution to the rehearsal problem, instead of each individual having to re - invent his own solution every time

Thanks for all the replies so far folks. My house is in a really quiet road, which was great for academic studies, but not so cool for practicing instruments. I could approach the local rehearal studios and see if they are willing to let me use a space on a weekly basis for tea money, but I'm still going to look for another option if possible. The brass mutes would help for sure, but I found an increase in back pressure when using them many years ago. Perhaps the more modern stuff isn't so restrictive. As for muting my Cello and Violin, I can't think of anything other than plugging the F holes with cloth. That doesn't allow exploration of the instrument's voice however, so back to square one there. Has anyone heard of any communal solutions to this problem up and down the country ? are there rooms that the local council has set aside for musical rehearsal in any part of the country ? or are all musicians running the risk of becoming universal social pariahs for pursuing their passion ? I remember Bilbo having a thing or two to say about this topic, as social housing does limit the activities of musicians. On any given housing estate, I'll bet anyone within half a mile will tell you where the local drummer is !! Are all of us truly only able to practice our instruments at the tolerance of our immediate neighbors ? or if we're lucky with the location of our house ? Location, location, location !

Erm, I wish that was the case, but I have neighbors to the left and right of me and one below. When thinking of the one below, tolerance is not one of the things that comes to mind. Quite the opposite I'm sad to say. Thing is, like many campers around here, I'm likely to be practicing for some time to come. Given the daily and longterm nature of the noise, I'm sure that the patience of some folk would wear down eventually, even if they have a spirit of goodwill to begin with. Does anyone out there know of solutions to this problem in their area (apart from the evening lessons in schools for the schoolchildren). Are there any solutions to this problem in other parts of the country ?

Hi all, I guess this one is aimed more at the Double Bass players amongst us, but others may have something to contribute. Allow me to explain. Like some others around here, I like to practice instruments that may not necessarily be the bass guitar i.e. Double Bass, acoustic guitar, saxophone, trumpet, cello etc if possible. However, I live in a flat surrounded by neighbors on all sides. In order to avoid starting local wars, I don't play my acoustic instruments at home. I can imagine that drummers have the same problem (which may have something to do with some of the issues raised around here about drummers ) Is it really a case of only being able to practice an acoustic instrument if you live in a detached house or a house with an isolated room ? I've approached my local council several times, but met with comments such as 'you'll have to ask around and see if anyone is willing to let you use a space'. So, to all those that practice acoustic instruments, how do you do it without upsetting all the locals ? I'd really like some ideas here if at all possible, as I'd like to practice my instruments soon. Too much time has passed already and none of us are getting any younger ! Thanks everyone

My strap arrived from Ed well packaged, which seems to be a common theme here. It's this kind of touch that demonstrates Ed's thoughtful and positive approach to deals on BC, reflected by the other comments in his feedback Thanks for a lovely strap Ed cheers Tom

Hard case for every instrument that's out of the house, if at all possible. Every knock / scrape /dent in my Hiscox case justifies the choice for me.

Thanks Nick, that strap is in great condition at a nice price. One of the quickest deals I've known ! All the best Tom

+1 to the quality of KA pickups. They make a wide range of pickups for basses and guitars to many different specs. I visited thier workshop a while ago and was made very welcome. Besides the pickups, they have a wide range of bits and pieces for guitar builders in general, from bare wood guitar bodies and necks to machine head screws, scratchplates, fret prolfiling tools etc Never heard a bad word said about them so far

Bought a strap from Nick, which arrived very quickly and in great condition. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to other BC'ers Cheers Nick Tom

I helped out on that stand too. There were a few queues to try out some of those Foderas, no question. Yes, they are expensive, but once people started playing them, they generally kept on for a good while. Wouldn't mind trying out the amp as well, wonder how they would match with my GS 112's ?

I have noticed over time that there are musicians that appear to have a sense of tempo that can be descibed as an 'inner true North', with little effort required to maintain a pretty constant and even pace. In their hands, tempo is a tool that can be controlled and used at will, slowed down, speeded up, messed about and then returned to the original without much effort. Then there are others that seem to cling to a tempo like a mountain climber clinging to an ice - covered rockface, terrified to slip at all. Once even tempo is lost, they flay about, like the mountaineer searching for a new toehold. Others still seem to vary tempo if concentration wanders. Perhaps they're more skilled practioners of our musical mountaineers.

Seems to be a popular topic this one, comes around every once in a while like the flu. It got to a point with me that I refused to slow down / speed up with the drummer whatsoever (unless it's deliberate and appropriate i.e. Wind Cries Mary JH). After a while it became apparent to one and all that the drummer was the culprit and he was the one exposed. It's up to the individual drummer how they react to that and up to me to respond to his reaction in a helpful or constructive way, if at all possible. The topic of tempo drift was never an issue during years of playing with bands with conductors, as every band member was expected to follow the conductor's lead. Indeed, entry to the band was only granted on the condition that a musician could follow the conductor's lead and play as a unit with the other band members. It does tend to set a personal benchmark.