Earbrass

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1483696209' post='3209283'] agree with the deceasing audience ... [/quote] I think that comes under the heading of "accidentally accurate".

Did you deny having been influenced by the Beatles?

[quote name='Monkey Steve' timestamp='1481801010' post='3195227'] I use a similar technique to Entwistle - effectively fingerstyle but hitting the strings with the end of my fingers rather than picking or plucking them. Sounds very similar to slapping with a thumb, but allows for much more speed. [/quote] +1

Had a rush of blood to the mouse finger and bought a Dave Smith Instruments Evolver Mono desktop synth on ebay. Fancied trying it out, and got it for a price where if I don't get on with it I can hopefully move it on without major loss. Touch and go whether it will arrive before xmas.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1482186962' post='3198367'] all genres outside of classical evolved from blues [/quote] There is a whole world of music out there that has nothing to do with either the blues or "classical".

I have been playing the nyckelharpa for almost a year and half now - it's a fabulous instrument and I regret not having discovered it several decades ago. I also play the D/G melodeon for morris (though I have taken a break from this for the past couple of months due to health issues). I also have a bit of a hankering for a kantele, but my sensible side tells me I have too many instruments already.

...and you stand by your claim to have played 4 hour bar gigs, hauling lights and sound for free....in Milwaukee?

I'll take a Russian dictionary, please.

Possibly a little off-topic, but, partly inspired by this thread I had a play on my old Novation K-Station last night. For those not familiar, it's a rather nice little 3 oscillator Virtual-Analogue synth with lots of slideriness and knobbage. Not actually an analogue synth, before the purists jump down my throat, but behaves pretty much like one, with the added benefits of not having to warm up and (optional) polyphony. Anyway, the point of the post is that although I understand in principle what all the functions do, I frequently find that tweaking one knob or another produces totally unpredicted results, and one several occasions I found myself wondering "why is it doing that?" and progressively removing oscillators, modulations etc from the sound to try to discover what was causing the unexpected effect. So I thought I'd pose the question to all the synth users out there - how much of your knob-tweaking is part of a purposeful pursuit of a sound that you know how to produce, and how much is semi-random? Or to put it another way, when you find a sound you like, or will use, how often is that the result of conscious sound-design, and how often a serendipitous accident?

[quote name='Ashweb' timestamp='1478039134' post='3166348'] Interesting topic this and it throws up an interesting point to me. Excuse my ignorance on this subject as I am new to it, but in theory if you are in a covers band and you play a Beatles number, for example, at a gig - should you be paying some form of royalty to Paul McCartney? [/quote] No, it's the venue that is liable - they should have a PRS licence which covers this. Not sure what the rule is if you're busking in the street, though.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1477591998' post='3163261'] Tessitura. [/quote] No need for that sort of language, even if the o.p. [i]is[/i] using tab.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1477481198' post='3162476'] I hope so, as it's a bit of a pig to obtain, then install. I've spent an hour so far, and still can't access it. A warning, then..? Once the Cakewalk Downloader is installed, don't run it to get this freebie without first checking the Paths it will use (without further asking...). They may be OK for you, but may very well not..! Get the Paths right, first. I've now corrected mine, and the Vst has been installed, but Reaper can't, as yet, see it. I'll keep trying, and will crack this nut eventually, but, as sang Ziggy Stardust... "It ain't eeeezy..." [/quote] Thanks for the warning. As a fellow Reaper user I would be interested to hear how you get on... I suppose I can expect to be bombarded with marketing mail from Cakewalk now. Come on Spam filter....

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1476604003' post='3155466'] So I often have to play with myself at home... Who needs a guitar when you've got a bass whammy! [/quote]

[quote name='NickRiffed' timestamp='1476106290' post='3151316'] I know where you are coming from. Bloody M.E. is a complete b*$tard! I thought I had seriously hit the bottom and couldn't see a way out but, very slowly, things picked up a bit. I'm now functioning at around 65% of what I used to. A rehearsal needs a day of rest before and maybe 2 after. I'm just greatful that it improved that much. At least now that PACE has been rubbished they may invest in some research. Take it easy Bud. [/quote] [quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1476106389' post='3151321'] Sorry that your health issues has meant you cutting back on gigging, I hope that can find a way to get back out there again soon. [/quote] Thanks for your kind thoughts. Nick, great to hear there is some improvement. I think I'm not as badly off as some, as I am still just about hanging on to a day job and can make it out of the house on the odd evening for a few social and musical activities. I just have to be very careful not to overdo it - and sometimes I only know I've done too much when it's too late! Only had the condition for a couple of years or so and am still learning to manage it. I have periods when I seem more or less ok, then get cocky and overdo it and am back to square one. Good luck and better health to all out there who are struggling.

My last bass gig was about 5 years ago. Since then I've played an average of 20-30 gigs per year, but none on bass. I've had to cut back recently due to health issues (ME/CFS), but hope that won't stop me for too long. These days the bass sits in the corner and is only used for my (sadly occasional) home recording efforts. I wouldn't be without it, though.

I recently sold an ancient, large and heavy (29Kg) yamaha stage piano on ebay with a starting price of £1. Clearly stated that it was cash on collection only (I live in SE London). When the bidding was at the giddy heights of £1.20 I had a lady from Sheffield ask what I would charge to ship it. Really??? Eventually sold it for £62 to a charming chap who turned up to collect it on a vespa. He got it home too!

This all rather reminds me of a quote from John Stuart Mill: "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is only because they only know their own side of the question." I suspect I am a foolish, dissatisfied pig, so I've clearly gone wrong somewhere .

From Flanders and Swann's live album "At the Drop of a Hat": Flanders (indicating the microphones on stage): [color=#333333][font=Arial, sans-serif][i]This is perhaps a good moment to explain that we don't normally have these things standing around here, but tonight they are recording this - stereophonically, in fact - for posterity. So wherever you're sitting now, that's where you'll be on the record.[/i][/font][/color]

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1475139282' post='3143291']. I have a friend who is a very good bassist, light years better than me, but he is constantly beating himself up with regard to his playing, practice regime, how many hours a day he has for practice, quality of equipment etc, he never seems happy with anything he does in music. So who has got it made, me or him? [/quote] People who are very good at stuff are seldom happy with their performance - that's why they are so good, they are constantly driven to improve.

Aged around 11 or 12 I would stand for longer than was entirely sane gazing with longing at the "Top Twenty" bass in the Woolworths in Brentwood High Street. They had the 6 string version as well, but, well....you know how it is.

Anyone who has ever stood in front of a microphone and sung is influenced, whether they know it or not, by Bing Crosby. If you were there, you're almost certainly dead.

Anderson shelters. All the rage at on one time.

The problem is that checked-in baggage is very often mistreated and not infrequently lost or misdirected, while many instruments are fragile, very valuable and, in the case of professional touring musicians, the tools they use to earn a living.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1470724692' post='3107864'] Now, what were you complaining about? [/quote]