BenTunnicliffe

Quick bump to let anyone who has any serious slots opening up or dep jobs from May 27th 2013 onwards that I have a fair few openings in my calendar seeing as I come back from a (far too) long stint on a cruise. More than happy to discuss ideas with anyone who does get in contact and all work is considered. Also if anyone knows musicians involved in the scene down Bristol area please get in touch as I'm soon relocating there and would appreciate jamming with new faces. Short clip which is unlike what I normally work on playing but it is something I dip into from time to time. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhpLU_y3puA"]Roy Hargrove's Strasbourg St. Denis Solo[/url] Cheers, B

I don't find myself losing any sleep over the matter in the slightest nor do I think that anyone should say to themselves 'i'm only going to try and do this thing with this equipment/i'm strictly against using certain kinds of equipment to make music' but I just wondered what people prefer to do themselves in terms of how they perform electronic music. I totally agree that people should experiment and plenty of styles of music have been born out of people trying to perform music on instruments that aren't 'authentic' or whatever. That said though there's definitely a certain cost attached to getting involved with fx chains or working with midi/audio converters and a DAW and on the other hand emulating an instrument that isn't your own could take a lot of time to nail if you really did want to nail a feel (can't stand people turning up to michael jackson charts and overlooking the difference in phrasing that comes with synth bass players). I have a fair bit of effect knocking about AND a couple of synths that I can play fairly well so I don't limit myself to one or the other but given the pros and cons of both I just wondered what people like to do in terms of preference.

Hi guys, Can't be sorry enough for how ridiculously pretentious the title sounds but I've been trying to find where i personally stand on the above issue and where I'm going to direct my own playing style. In regards to the quickly developing scene of performing heavily electronic-based music live on instruments OTHER than those it was originally sequenced with I was wondering where you, as bass players (particularly if you're interested in electronic music scenes) stand on taking the route of either forcing your bass guitar/upright to emulate the sound of say a sub, sinewave synth line or similar vibe with a mid-synth sound or actually building up an internal library of how this music SOUNDS and is phrased etc and then taking on the chin how an electric bass sounds and that what you might create will just be a new branch of that music that doesn't actually sound all too similar but is structured the same etc? Obviously I see benefits and issues in both approaches such as the initial cost of racking up lines of pedals, dealing with tracking issues etc when absolutely trying to copy a synth sound or what have you and on the other hand stylistically you could find your music not having as easily marketable a place in the industry or it not sounding/having the same affect on audiences that those original records had on you. I was checking out what it is I want to personally achieve in that respect after hearing Jojo Mayer talk about how he has no illusion that he can't actually play like a machine but he said that his aim with 'reverse engineering' drum and bass was to simply take away enough stylistic abstraction to be able to create the illusion that he sounded like a machine. For all I know this might be a dead-ended discussion seeing as I don't know where I stand on the issue myself. Interested to hear people's thoughts.... B

Just a brief update so long as no one minds - Currently onboard a cruise line over Christmas through to the end of April 2013. Working on new videos as a better way of keeping in touch with the UK and developing a HD studio setup for online sessions/writing in the latter half of 2013. Hope everyone's having a good Christmas period and making the most out of playing Brown Eye Girl, Play That Funky Music and Superstition! B

I got my hands on a GAIA a year or so ago for just the same reason, the 80s records are where it's at to get decent lines to play for sure! I reckon doubling on synth is the new doubling on upright, to me anyway. Nice playing mate.

It's a hard one for sure but I do record almost everything I gig but make sure I only do it well if at all seeing as acoustics can be really harsh to bass so I try and get an isolated bass signal to really hear where I'm going wrong! I'm a big fan of bootleg recordings and behind the scenes rare stuff and I've come to really enjoy hearing things raw with slight mistakes or things that I'd do differently because it's a snapshot of being in the moment which is something hard to hear from myself and others while shedding or rehearsing.

Sidenote but I've found on some gigs there's people I've worked with who particularly want upright because of the visual aspect almost as much as the sound! I really get what they mean but upright not having a big part in what i'm into [bar that common track off the album 'Be' which everyone should invest in! Think it's Derrick Hodge?] and not wanting to shell out for the gear or estate car I decided to tell them to put up with a beautiful electric or stick it somewhere

I'm not form the generation to have even come close to having vinyl as even a less-used medium to be buying and listen to music but a few years ago I started buying it from the odd record shop still around and searching through charity shop crates purely because I can get a bigger version of the artwork and quality pros/cons aside still get exposed to an album for 50p as opposed to £7.99 or whatever itunes and CD shops offer. I really like the sound a hell of a lot mainly because the bass sounds great and somehow they feel like something worth collecting (even new vinyl). If I was to release any kind of hardcopy of something I did with my own band with the aim being to SELL them then I'd release it as vinyl only, I don't see CDs as being a medium worth chasing any more seeing as downloads are the primary source people go to for music now.... Interesting watching things change!

This for me purely because it's condensed down to nothing BUT groove in the sense that no one is playing anything that on the surface is inaccessible to most players and the magic is sat between the lines. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-tI_kg5AAU I did try and touch on some of the stuff about feel more within a solo but still around this context when I started my video blog last week but I won't hijack the thread Interesting topic though for sure.

I think there's a particular vein of records and kinds of work that upright players end up doing that gives them a particular tone, time and phrasing that's specific to that instrument that makes them harder to emulate unless you went through the same schooling that they do approaching it all from electric. On a more basic level though a lot of upright players end up using a lot of open strings and 12th 'fret' harmonics to get around how physical it is to play in many respects or they shy away from certain hand positions for the same reason which makes the crossover of lines fairly blurry to me. I detune a 5string by a semitone on each string so that makes a lot of that impossible in a complete 'imitation' kind of way for me. Forgetting about the fact I play a fretted bass that sounds nothing like an upright of course

Mornin' all, I this as a snapshot of where I'd got to shedding Roy Hargrove's solo from the studio take of Strasbourg / St. Denis off the Earfood album. I'm still working on it now and that's a week old by now and I did post it in my own 'Bassist Available' topic but thought I'd chuck it here for the hell of it. Plenty of things from the solo I'm still working on, not least of all that some of it's wrong in that clip but I I definitely fall into the camp of 'If I try to force it into something perfect rather than just being a snapshot then I'll be [i]that [/i]guy who talks more than he releases' . Cheers for looking. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhpLU_y3puA[/media]

My latest video is a snapshot of where I'd got to working through Roy Hargrove's solo on 'Strasbourg St Denis' and can be seen here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhpLU_y3puA

Hi guys, I'm a bass player from North Wales having spent a stint living in London in 2011 but currently based back in North Wales between two cruise work contracts finishing late April 2013. I have been playing as my only source of income since 2006 with 2009-2011 including a full time job through an agency where I taught peripatetic in a series of primary and secondary schools. That said I'm not searching to move back to teaching as my strengths and sources of enjoyment sit much more in live playing, recording sessions and collaborating on writing from my instrument's perspective. I have performed in a huge range of venues across the uk from the floor up to the Royal Albert Hall, abroad with a variety of acts taking me to Sweden and France and more recently a further 24 countries as part of the cruise work I have done and I have numerous television sessions, recording sessions and theatre seats under my belt. I have performed with [url="http://www.huwwarren.co.uk"]BBC Innovation in Jazz Award winner Huw Warren[/url] on numerous occasions and have a great variety of standards internalised as well as access to the usual library of tunes that I provide at all gigs in that vein. Most recently I was the recorded bass player for the recording of Craig Adams' musical/concept album at Incognito's 'Cream' studio in London which you can [url="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/lift-original-concept-album/id530917198"]preview here[/url] [I recommend a preview of the track 2 to hear bass although the lyrics contain adult themes to those easily offended!] In 2011 I recorded bass parts for some of folk singer Chloe Leavers' debut EP 'All These Things' which was produced by Sam Jones who has previously worked with the likes of Corinne Bailey Rae, Alex Turner, Soweto Kinch, Stoney and Reverend and the Makers. [url="http://www.chloeleavers.com"]The EP can be heard here[/url]. I first performed abroad in 2008 where I performed with the welsh 'folk orchestra' who have received wide critical acclaim for their live performances and album release recorded before a live audience. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI1-yvOdMi0"]A video of myself with the orchestra here[/url]. * Folk Roots magazine reviewed Y Glerorfa's live album giving my playing a positive review "fiddlers and harpers fleshed out with Welsh pipes and flutes and a lightly funky bass guitar - huge thumbs up Ben Tunnicliffe - [url="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l47yyzPSyM1qbvxn5o1_500.jpg"]complete review here[/url] * Around 2009 I played for the sessions of 'Last Choir Standing' finalists Glanaethwy's television series which were aired around 6months later on S4C. I predominantly use an [url="http://overwaterbasses.com"]Overwater[/url] Perception Pro-Deluxe 5string although have regular access to a range of equipment including vintage fender basses and stock models through all eras of music up to modern designs and I have a good knowledge of synthesis and an analogue synth I would like to include more in my work. [also some effects available] I apologise for the overload of information above although I do consider all the work I've done an incredible privilege and an ongoing learning experience although I do by now have the usual skills taken into account by producers and gig setters such as high-level sight reading, repetoire of function standards, jazz standards, good ear for improvised passages and a good sense of place within a band. Personally my interests currently lie in pushing the communication and improvising of jazz towards contemporary electronic music and the possibilities that could open up and within that vein I ran a weekly residency in North Wales in 2011 based around an extensive live band performing hiphop and similar styles of music. I have a personal recording setup that I am upgrading to be able to record more than demo-quality material at home but can easily arrange sessions to record bass tracks at this studio which could be done at an incredibly competitive price and with little notice for myself. [url="http://www.stiwdioun.com/en/about"]Stiwdio Un[/url] I have a full UK passport, valid STCW 95 course and a valid CRB check. Formalities aside I take a huge amount of pride and pleasure in what I am fortunate enough to be able to call my occupation and never shy from making that known as I perform and being only 21 that does make live appearances a right laugh and if there is absolutely anything I could try and be of help with then please don't hesitate to get in touch. I'm in the process of setting up a video blog on my youtube channel which can be found in the links below. Thanks for reading and hope I can help somehow, Ben. [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/BenTunnicliffe"]YOUTUBE[/url] [url="https://twitter.com/BenTunnicliffe"]TWITTER[/url] [url="http://bentunnicliffe.tumblr.com"]TUMBLR[/url] [url="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ben-Tunnicliffe-Music/323580594338718"]FACEBOOK[/url] [url="https://soundcloud.com/bentunnicliffe"]SOUNDCLOUD[/url]

Hi, I'm a working bassist currently on a cruise gig and been working professionally for quite a few years now and from November 12th I have 4weeks of shore leave. I'm just after some genuine recommendations for inspiring, well accomplished electric players in Leeds, London, Bristol and Cardiff as I'll be in those areas at some point from November 11th and thought it would be a shame to not pick up what I can. As of yet I haven't decided when I'll be in each city so could work around any dates any teachers are available except that I'll be in Cardiff between the 22nd and 26th of November. My main areas of interest are the between-the-lines aspects in music, improvising and reacting within a context, developing absolute time and how to move away from that and then just general technique and fluidity. I do also have a huge interest in modern arranging and production techniques alone with including effects etc to work within highly electronic genres although that's more of an afterthought than anything else. I've had lessons from non-bass players on various occassions to work on the above so would be more than happy to hear recommendations that move outside just bass players if anyone can help. Thanks for any suggestions!

Hi guys, I'm Ben and I've been posting through here for years now and I'm moving down to N.London on the 26th of September with my gear. I'm looking for musicians in general to hang out with, write with, jam with and work with and personally I'm really from the straight-down-the-line groove kind of mentality and into a lot of that melodramatic 'RnB Revolution' thing along the lines of The Weeknd, Franc Ocean, OFWGKTA but also the alt. HipHop thing with Aesop Rock through to The Roots and some more oldschool pop stuff. I really dig tightness no matter what the idio and actually love playing live stuck to click to open up the samples thing and appreciate the musicianship involved in all that scene no matter if it's pop or straight up electronic stuff; not hugely fussy. I've got nice gear including a brilliant Overwater 5, transportable rig and a synth I've used for sub, wobbles and that kind of thing along the snappy electronic vibe. I've got a background in other kinds of music proffessionally including jazz, folk, rock, pop and theatre stints but I thought I'd send a feeler out for this kind of thing as a starting point as this is what I'm really into and get the most satisfaction from playing personally. I've had studio experience creating samples from a bass perspective as well as spending a lot of personal time taking apart vinyl to get grooves together etc and I've got a thorough grasp on triggering things live and the whole scene surrounding that whole process of re-humanising electronic music. Added to that is that my personal contacts in London are limited as I'm moving from N.Wales so anyone bassist or otherwise willing to just hang for a bit would be really appreciated. As mentioned above: - Decent gear - Great ear - Sight reader - Ex-Peri' teacher for 2 years - Willing to travel - Not just after said genres - Easy going - Flexible time-wise - Theatre, TV, Live + Studio experience - Willing live sample-triggering monkey - Really up for just having a laugh - Willing to work hard for the right project Thanks for reading guys if anyone has any ideas where people into this stuff hang out or fancy a pint that would be great. Cheers, B. P.S. I covered 26,000 miles in 12 months with my last car just going to gigs + rehearsals etc so although I won't have my car in London I'll gladly hop about here and there when something's working out or seems like the right vibe. Ta!