essexbasscat

Wish list. A big winning lottery ticket T

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='999294' date='Oct 24 2010, 08:24 PM']Trying to find someone who appreciates Steptoe & son and Hawaii five o could be difficult.[/quote] Learnt those a while ago and still play them when the time's right, including Steptoe and Son or Flash Harry (from St Trinians) when the guitarist is returning to the stage. Also learnt Hole in the Ground by Bernard Cribbins including all the lyrics a short while ago as a stand alone number. Think I'll leave that one off the set list if I ever get to play Wembley (Yeah right !) T

Makes room for you to move on to better things, band partners that inspire your own performance etc T

[quote name='razze06' post='998218' date='Oct 23 2010, 04:32 PM']Ace. My mark III 400 does have an adjustable crossover control (it's knob in the chanel one section), but I never figured out whether nthat's for the biamp output or not.[/quote] I beleive the MK IV has the same arrangement. The owners booklet for the mkIV can be downloaded from Peavey and this explains it nicely. If you have trouble getting it, give me a shout and I'll e- mail you a copy T

Thanks for the heads up Mike As you say, bass days get a poor showing, so makes a nice change ! T

[quote name='Bilbo' post='991079' date='Oct 17 2010, 01:32 PM']I have actually reached the point where I won't work with some people because of these kinds of problems. If a player makes rudimentary mistakes, I will tell them. If they don't 'deal with it', I won't book them again or take a gig that they are on. There are plenty of good players around so I don't need to book those that can't deliver a musical performance. I have done too many bad gigs 'for the money' and my self esteem has been undermined by it so I decided to take affirmative action. Less gigs but better quality music. I win![/quote] Having butted heads with this issue myself, I can fully understand your stance on not going further down the problem path 'just for the money'. There may well come a time when I do this myself, but for now, I'll keep playing and keep the door open. T

By the way, the last page was one of the more interesting reads on the topic of harmonic swamping. The term to describe the issue, at last. T

Doh ! just looked it up and it's the Technics P50 !

[quote name='markstuk' post='990461' date='Oct 16 2010, 06:26 PM']I've always thought it important that you should learn the piano first before diving into the world of keyboards.. For me the importance of touch cannot be overstated - even though keyboards without "proper" actions can be faster under some circumstances.. It also gets quite personal in terms of feel - I like the Yamaha GH3/4 actions (I own two Yamaha GH equipped keyboards - the CLP270 actions is better than the Motifs) - other folk like the high end Roland stuff (and others, although more rarely, the Korg, Nord and Kurzweil (Fatah)) actions.. Of course nothing beats a real grand piano - Steinway has the main name recognition, although again (personal) taste I prefer Bechsteins and then Bluthners to Steinways, certainly for actions.. I do get frustrated when people ask me for advice for "keyboards" - and I strongly suggest a good (not someones old knackered upright) overstrung upright or something like a clavinova and then they go and buy a casio or yamaha noise maker from Argos with the worlds nastiest action.. The kid then makes some noises, finds he can't adapt to the teachers piano, then gives up.. Usually...[/quote] Although slightly off topic, could you please recommend a good keyboard for stage work around £300 - odd region ? I've thought the Roland P50 was a good option, but I'll always listed to experience in these things cheers T

Oh dear Another potentially good gig ruined by the guitarist being too loud. Trouble is, he also controls the PA. Had a last minute call - out to fill in for another local legend that had accidentally double booked himself elsewhere. All well and good. Until the halfway point. Our guitarist / frontman and PA controller regularly turns up the volume at the halfway point. He's never explained why, even though I've asked him why he does it. Last night, he turned up to such an extent that the gain on my Ampeg B2RE was set to 2 'O Clock and the master at 3 'O Clock, in other words, full up, with my Precision going into it. This is for a small / medium size pub, with my Ampeg into one GS 112. Rating 250 Watts at 8 ohms. I asked him to turn it down but he said no. Thing is, I don't know if; - it's an adolescent desire to just be loud. Repressed in childhood ? - it's because he honestly thinks that significantly turning up at the half way point somehow enhances the evening's entertainment. Again, I have asked him about this, be he avoids answering the question. He has previously ruined the very good PA settings for the first half of a gig by turning up in this manner. The second half was abysmal as a result. Thing is, to acheive this exercise in childish behaviour, this guitarist; - Selfishly damages the hearing of everyone around him to acheive an aim he can't, or won't explain. It is selfish, as he refused to turn down when I asked him to. - Sacrifices articulation, dynamics, phrasing and to a large extent, listening and teamwork by adopting this stance. On the plus side, we can busk practically anything (that's in his style and to his liking), he does get the gigs and I've done more stage work with this guy than anyone else in my musical career. But I do find myself thinking more and more about the musical career I'm sacrificing to have my ears damaged in this way. Additionally, I also find excessive volume highly irritating, even very annoying. I know our moods are under our own control and not the product of our circumstances, but I have to say, some things are just genuinely very annoying. The irony ? At the end of the evening we were offered a residency. At least I can use the income to finance a set of ER15 earplugs. [i]It's like rain, on your wedding day[/i] [i]it's the free ride, when you've already paid[/i] [i]it's the good advice, that you just can't take[/i] [i]and who would have thought, it figures[/i] T

Also played with a guitarist recently that would play the bassline on his guitar if he couldn't think of a guitar part to play Steady now..... T

[quote name='JTUK' post='989828' date='Oct 15 2010, 11:43 PM']oh no..you got me started now.. The song is not working...too many parts fighting for space..so we strip it down and get the bass and drums working... feels good and we let the others at it...train wreck, so we spell it out. Play another part, nice piano chords or something but don't play low notes across my line..and unless you are doing exactly the same which they don't or can't hear it that way...don't even attempt to put your spin on my line... But it keeps creeping back.. And of course, they can't hear it whilst I am pulling my hair out.[/quote] Sounds like we've been in the same band T

Arrangement, arrangement, arrangement. Yet so many samll guitar and keyboard bands seem to resist it. It's almost as though the idea of playing to an arrangement somehow compromises people's freedom of expression. Or is it the freedom to avoid the work of actually playing with other band members, instead of playing to them. T

Yes, less can definately be more. When I discussed this with a keyboard player, they asked "What do I do with my left hand then" ? Seems the concept of allowing a song to breath didn't occur then. Once again, frightened of silence. This definately isn't a problem across the board (!) with piano or keyboard players, but it seems to be happening more recently, enough to notice anyway. T

What never fails to surprise me is the collossal scope for things to not work 'quite right' in band situations. We've all done the loud guitarist to death, buried him and dug him up once more to have another go at him for being TOO BLOODY LOUD. Then there's the drummers that are too loud, or speed up, or slow down through songs. Last night threw up what's becoming a more commen occurance recently. It's the piano player's left hand. From the outside looking in, it seems that a lot of piano players spend time practicing the bass line with the left hand, while doing accompaniment with the right hand. All well and good. However, the last few bods that have played piano in the little ensemble I inhabit can't turn off the bass line on their left hand and turn it to doing appropriate accompaniment to the circumstances i.e. something other than doubling up the bass line when you're in a four or five piece band. Not only is doubling up a waste, it also makes the lower frequencies sound muddy due to two instruments playing very similar lines, but with different emphasese or slightly different rhythms Has anyone else come across this one ? how do you solve it ? nail a piece of MDF across the Western side of the keyboard ? Cheers T

Peanuts and beer time

Heard a while ago that 10cc were initially a team of session musicians that used to back other artists, Neil Sedaka one time amongst others Wonder if Neil Sedaka ever did jazz. Bilbo ? ..... T

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='989521' date='Oct 15 2010, 06:25 PM']Its a bit Frank Zappaish in a way[/quote] Didn't see that until you pointed it out, but yes, I see what you mean. Would the same notion apply to 'Killer Queen' by Queen ? T

They're highly unlikely to be called bland !

I've seen this one up close and personal at the London Bass Bash earlier this year. It's in showroom condition, very impressive indeed. T

Here's something a little unusual by 10cc. It's the single that came out after Rubber Bullets and it sank like the QE2 anchor (but not before I bought a copy). It's a rather brave, quirky composition clearly shows the art of a song in development. Thank God they stopped buffing the song when they did. This was a predecessor to some of the great melodic songs by 10cc, such as 'Life is a Minstrone', Art for Art's Sake', I'm Not in Love, I'm Mandy, Fly me' and a whole lot more I'm going to listen to after I've done this. Just thought - this one's a bit of a polar opposite to some of the current stuff running around. Enjoy the weekend everyone and if you're gigging, hope it's a good'n

[quote name='Slipperydick' post='989059' date='Oct 15 2010, 11:45 AM']I think its most likely down to posture when your playing. Specially if your tall and thin like me (well, tall anyway lol ) Worth seeing somebody medical though, could go on for years otherwise.[/quote] Analysis based on extensive examination of the OP ? T

It'd be cool to nail the tones, fair enough. But a great contribution to your bass parts would be adopting Macca's style and phrasings, in other words, putting the 'McCartney' head on for the evening. Just my 2p T

Surprised this hasn't appeared yet, so I'm going to sort that out now