Earbrass

Let's compromise on the strings issue and have 5 at the nut and 4 at the bridge. We can then set up a sub-committee to blue-sky some ideas for interfacing the two. (A lifetime in IT has taught me a few things ).

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1361967883' post='1993701']
Maybe I am being too sensitive.
[/quote]

Maybe. The threads you start about Kit's music / gigs / videos always seem to be well received, so I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. And you make a good point about basschatters' music. I have a bit of a history of posting stuff that seems funny/pertinent to me at the time but turns out to be horribly misjudged, so I wouldn't let anything I say disturb you over much.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1361964427' post='1993623']
I am sorry it seems to you that I'm starting threads to promote my own band's music.

[/quote]

Please don't take it to heart - it was meant as a gentle leg-pull. I would have added "and the music of other basschatters" on the end but it wouldn't scan. I'll accept 3 points on my poetic licence.

Well, if we're doing poetry now...

[i]Our Nigel has started a thread[/i]
[i]With a subtext as plain as your head:[/i]
[i]"Stop debating the details[/i]
[i]Of the greatness of Beatles[/i]
[i]And listen to my band instead!"[/i]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1361876477' post='1992163']
Some are like music is only for people who 'appreciate' music for its intrinsic melodic, harmonic and rhythmic values in isolation, rather than as a reflection of the people creating it, a reflection of context.
[/quote]

Not exactly sure what point you are trying to make here, but it's worth pointing out that the context of the listener is important too, not just that of the creator. To take some examples, a western listener and a Javanese listener might both enjoy gamelan music, but one might experience it as intriguingly exotic and strange, the other might experience it as comfortingly familiar, and a sound of home. When we hear, for example, baroque music today we may find different things in it from those noticed by its contemporary audience because we have also heard so much music that has been written since. I find dixieland jazz music rather bland and a bit cheesy, but once it was new, vibrant and even shocking.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm not sure there is such a thing as the "intrinsic melodic, harmonic and rhythmic values in isolation" - the listening experience will always be at least as much a reflection of the cultural context of the listener as it will be of the cultural context of the creator.

As a consumer of recorded music, no, it wouldn't bother me as only a tiny fraction of the music I listen to is new (created in the last five years). As an occasional gig-goer, it would bother me a bit - I don't want to be restricted to covers bands or originals bands churning out their old material forever - they'd be bored and boring - plus what about improvised music / solos? As an even more occasional producer of new music, it would spoil my fun somewhat (or would it just stop me feeling guilty about not producing more new music??).

Lucky escape by the sound of it. Been in "the business" all their lives, but still only semi-pro? Probably a bit crap then as well as being t*sspots.

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1361392358' post='1985362']
Davied was a member of Soft Machine but when they toured France in 1970, being Austrailian meant he couldn't visit France, didn't have the necessery papers.
[/quote]

Not quite, IIRC, Daevid Allen went to France with the Softs but wasn't allowed back into the UK, which led to him staying in France and forming Gong. Daevid and Kevin were both founder members of the Soft Machine, but the band changed hugely over its lifespan, morphing from their psychadelic roots in the late sixties to a jazz-rock/fusion outfit by the early to mid seventies (that's when Alan Holdsworth got involved). Kevin Ayers had left by the time Soft Machine Volume Two was made, replaced on bass by Hugh Hopper. Daevid Allen never even made it to the first "official" album, though he does play on the "demos" which were later released under the name "Jet Propelled Photographs". All of this is from memory, so apologies if any details are incorrect.

EDIT: just checked by copy of Soft Machine Vol I, and Kevin Ayers is credited with lead guitar (no bass credit - I suspect he did that too).

Very sad. So many great songs. Here's one that always makes me smile. Thanks Kevin. RIP indeed.

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkNtZXd_LTM"]http://www.youtube....h?v=TkNtZXd_LTM [/url]

I think in this situation one needs to be very honest with oneself as to how much the guests are likely to enjoy the performances. If the band is really good, and the guests are largely within their "target demographic" then I'd go for it. But putting guests in the position where they feel obliged to pretend to be enjoying your set because it's your big day isn't fair to them, or to the rest of the band.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1360850625' post='1977353']
Basschat continually evolves, and changes, through [b]it's[/b] members' contributions.
The spelling police seem very scarce these days
[/quote]

...but the apostrophe gestapo are alive and well

Well, alright then, the Beatles weren't so bad. But Elvis really was sh*t wasn't he?

What?

Hmm, the hardest mission ever......how about [i]A Bridge Too Far[/i] for a band name?

When I first went to secondary school, aged about eleven, there was a boy who clearly had some er, "issues". He would to get very very upset and fly into rages, or tearful tantrums, for reasons that weren't at all obvious to the rest of us. He would often be followed around by groups of pupils just to see what he would do next. This made his behaviour worse, until eventually his parents had to remove him from the school. I am not proud to say that I was one of those who sometimes followed him round to gawp and laugh at his antics. What I've seen on basschat in the last few days with the "inti" issue has reminded me of those times. This can be a wonderful and supportive place, but I don't think this has been its finest hour.

It would have to be Hawkwind: [i]Space Ritual [/i] and King Crimson: [i]USA[/i] (or other live recordings of the John Wetton era) for me.

Somehow, the idea of being on stage with one of my musical heroes, seeing them look across at me as I dig deep into the groove and hearing the magic words..."get that idiot out of here" doesn't appeal.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1359406561' post='1954366']
But most of us blokes always jump in to try to find a solution to a perceived problem, it's our nature. I bet we have all done this numerous times with our partners. I believe they find it very annoying
[/quote]

Very true. One thing learned early on from Mrs E - they don't want answers, they want you to listen, understand and share their pain. Unless it involves computers, apparently.

So , to the OP - sorry you feel you have reached the end of the line with the bass, but if changing instrument keeps your love of playing music alive, it's all good.

You're just no fun any more.

No votes for the "reggae"? I picked one up once and couldn't get a note out, no matter how hard I blew.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1359649742' post='1958236']
Let's keep a sense of scale about this... It could be complete Pollacks. Cod knows we've been here before, but I'm a Dab hand at this. Hake of that what you will, but don't keep me Whiting...
[/quote]

I did consider starting an offshoot of the fish puns theme to cover marine mammals, but thankfully realised in time that it wouldn't serve any useful porpoise.

I had one of these when I was playing in a band. Fabulous little thing. Does everything a bass amp should do, except make you sweat when carrying it upstairs.

Peavey Milestone III, bought for £50 including soft case from Cash Converters Lewisham. Light weight, great balance, lovely neck, jazz-a-like sounds. This was my return to bass after a gap of a few decades. Bought a couple of "better" basses since (including a Fender Aerodyne jazz) and sold them again after realizing that they weren't any better than the Peavey. Now the only bass I own. Have no plans or desire for another.

Big no to sunglasses (sorry, "shades") indoors - it always looks like someone trying hard to be cool. Trying to look cool is surest way to look uncool. Just relax and stop worrying about how you look. There, see, now you're cool .

I also don't get the outrage over this. If you think you're being offered a crap deal, then don't take it. If you think you could make more money setting up and promoting your own gig, then do that. But don't act as if you've a [b]right[/b] to be offered a better deal, cos you don't.

Two things I've found that make composing easier are:
- having something to compose [i]for[/i] (I used to do theatre/modern dance/film/tv stuff). Music in this category has a specific job to do, and a specific length of time in which to do it which narrows the possibilities and focuses the creative juices. Plus, you have a director to please, which, again, narrows the choices.
- having a deadline. The question "is this the best I can do?" is always harder to answer than "is this the best I can do in the time available?"

I remember for one dance piece, I was given a simple 4 bar rhythmic figure to work to by the choreographers - this produced possibly the most interesting 2 minutes of music I've ever written (this is not saying much, sadly). Unfortunately, the piece was about 5 minutes long.

PS I agree that the head/heart dichotomy is largely twaddle (good word, that, and tragically under-used), and those unwilling to put the effort into assimilating the required technical skills are inevitably handicapped. Of course you need both. Nobody trying to make a beautiful piece of furniture would say that all you need is an eye for a good line, don't bother about learning to use the tools. Knowledge of harmony, counterpoint and arrangement are the composer's toolkit. Having said that, I think there is a case for separating the creative and analytical processes to some extent - make stuff up without over-thinking it, but then come back (as Spoombung says) the next day with your analytic head on, and then pull it apart to see how the good bits can be retained and improved and the less good bits ditched or reworked.

But then again I've not written anything original for years, so what do I know?