Earbrass

[quote name='steve-soar' post='1061186' date='Dec 17 2010, 12:22 AM']I sport, French cropped hair, black and red clothes.[/quote] You have your hair imported? Classy!

Did you see this thread? A few comments there... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=79245&st=0&p=761971&#entry761971"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry761971[/url]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1050252' date='Dec 7 2010, 10:11 AM']You need to ask yourself what you want to be; ....someone who workd as a player for the rest of their life or someone who is legendary amongst a small circle of impressionalbe teenagers.[/quote] Hmmmm.....how fit are these teenagers?

[quote name='Krysbass' post='1042381' date='Nov 30 2010, 02:04 PM']If I was starting a new band, I’d try to make it a band with 2 vocalists (maybe Blues Brothers style). I know; 2 singers sounds like a living hell, but there’s some method in my madness….. 1. As long as the 2 singers aren’t an item, when one of them goes AWOL, you should still be able to get by with the other one, so you don’t have to start cancelling gigs and rehearsals. 2. If one of the singers goes violent, the other singer will probably be first on the receiving end [/quote] Maybe this idea could be expanded so that bands are organized like football sides, with a "first" team and "reserves". Pick your team from the available "squad" for each gig.

Heavy rock with a hint of jazz...

[quote name='Master blaster' post='1040876' date='Nov 29 2010, 10:10 AM']Has anyone else found themselves playing songs/styles that they wouldn't in a million years think they'd enjoy??[/quote] At family gatherings, my brother(sax), father(piano/organ) and myself(bass) will usually have a session playing a few old jazz standards. Mood Indigo, Getting Sentimental Over You, Lullaby of the Leaves, Sweet Georgia Brown, Limehouse Blues, After You've Gone, Has Anybody Seen My Gal, Ain't Misbehaving etc etc I'm the youngest, at 50, and my father is in his eighties. I'm sure it's more fun to play than to listen to, but it's great to have an activity we can all share and enjoy.

[quote]Which Strings do you use?[/quote] Some days I use all four. What??

If the item has a minor fault that is quick/simple/cheap to fix, then FIX IT before putting the item up for sale. I would never buy or bid on anything where the seller says something like "knob is missing, but it's easy to replace - you can get them for £1 from Maplins", because I would always think - "if it's really that simple, why haven't YOU done it?"

[quote name='zero9' post='1033863' date='Nov 23 2010, 01:41 PM']The double bass. It's too bulky, doesn't stay in tune and needs to be amplified.[/quote] +1. Great played arco in the massed ranks of a string section, but seriously lacking as a rhythm section instrument when played pizzicato and alone.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1032752' date='Nov 22 2010, 03:36 PM']It's very satisfying to nail a show like that.[/quote] I don't doubt it would be for many people - I'm just a little surprised that Bilbo is one of them, if indeed he is.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1025675' date='Nov 16 2010, 11:41 AM']I am doing a show next month; Jesus Christ Superstar, and got the charts through on the weekend.[/quote] Errm, what happened to your "only playing musically satisfying gigs from now on" policy?

A bit of light exercise in sight-reading: [url="http://www.jeffreythompson.org/blog/tag/faeries-aire-and-death-waltz/"]www.jeffreythompson.org/blog/tag/faeries-aire-and-death-waltz/ [/url]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1028049' date='Nov 18 2010, 03:32 PM']any thoughts..[/quote] Well, of course, it's up to you, but my advice would always be: If you don't NEED it, don't get yourself into debt to buy it, however good a deal it may seem.

[quote name='ElCapitan' post='1027554' date='Nov 18 2010, 06:06 AM']I've met a few of my heroes and always been underwhelmed. Stevie Wonder's sh*t stinks, and he doesn't even have the common courtesy to use the bog brush.[/quote] Is it possible that you're not choosing the optimum times and locations for these meetings?

I'll add another vote for the Peavey Milestone III. You can pick these up on ebay for about £50, and they are fab, lightweight, well-balanced jazz-alike (ie similar neck, pickups and controls) basses.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1018267' date='Nov 9 2010, 11:38 PM']Any chance you could be a bit more civil with your responses?[/quote] Not my most diplomatic effort, I'll grant you. Sorry if you found it unduly abrasive, but then playing all that 'Dan music I expect you're used to taking the smooth with the smooth (I'm just making it worse now, aren't I). Peace to readers and non-readers alike. When one considers the vast extent of human knowledge, it is clearly inevitable that we are all ignorant in more areas than we are knowledgeable, and, as silddx pointed out above, we all have to make choices and prioritise how we spend our time. Ignorance is therefore not always a cause for shame, though it is never a cause for pride.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='1017611' date='Nov 9 2010, 02:41 PM']I don't think [i]any[/i] of the basschat advocates of the learned path has ever said that Doddy, that it is a charge frequently held up by the non schooled basschatters (at least those who make these points) suggests that there is a feeling of that amongst them. It's a shame because we all can appreciate good bass playing however it is created, but for some reason our viewpoint is challenged time and time again as being somehow soulless. Read through again to find many examples of criticism of reading musicians but broad acceptance by the readers that there are plenty of good players amongst the non readers. If there were a study into the fairness and objectivity of the charges on these pages then I'm pretty sure that the weight of evidence would suggest that the reading lobby is much more accepting of all comers.[/quote] That's pretty much what I was trying to say, but Jake makes it sound more reasonable and less like the ravings of a madman than I was able to manage.

2.5 rigs (2 combos and a head) 1) Markbass CMD 121P (280W combo) - "main" amp - used for rehearsals, and would be used for gigs but I've never yet had to supply my own amp 2) Kustom KBA 16 (16W combo) - very occasionally used for "living room" jams with acoustic instruments etc 3) Crate Powerblock 150W head - kept permanently wired into my home studio and used for practice and recording

[quote name='silddx' post='1017365' date='Nov 9 2010, 11:51 AM']What really happens is there are one or two people who ... state that in order to play that music one needs an academic understanding of music.[/quote] Can you point to any such statement? Or does it only happen inside your own head? [quote name='silddx' post='1017365' date='Nov 9 2010, 11:51 AM']There are people about who genuinely look down upon the illiterate musician, regardless of their ability to emotionally move people with their songwriting or ability on an instrument, which is the primary purpose of music.[/quote] Really? Who are these people, and where have they said such things? I don't see it. I see thread after thread about how reading and/or theory isn't important. I don't see any stating that no matter how much feel or groove a player may have, they aren't worth anything unless they can read music. What I see are insecure people who feel the need to downplay and de-value the skills they don't possess themselves. I used to hang out on a sampler/groovestation website, as I used to use a hardware sequencer for MIDI arranging, and you'd find the same thing there - kids who could only work a beatbox going on about how just because they'd never bothered to learn to play a musical instrument that didn't make them any less of a musician than anyone else and decrying the "snobbery" of those who thought otherwise. All just a bit sad, and reminiscent of the scene in Time Bandits where Napoleon, trying to demonstrate that shortness is no impediment to greatness, sits and reels off the names of every diminutive commander in history he can think of, along with their precise height, and in the process simply proves that he is deeply obsessed with his own lack of stature. EDIT: just for the record, although I have a fair knowledge of theory and can read music, I am a rubbish sight-reader, and not a particularly accomplished musician. If I had to rely on my musical ability to make a living I'd go hungry pretty quickly, and I have no doubt that either Pete Academy or Nigel silddx could play me under the table any day of the week.

I'm sure it varies from band to band, but in my experience it's usually a combination of player/conductor/arranger and possibly booker. Really come into their own when there's a fair number of non-regular players in the band. They know their own parts and everyone else's, and are often seen "nodding" other players in (like a conductor, but without using hands as they are usually playing at the same time), or signalling to the rest of the band with their eyebrows that they're about to return to the head or somesuch.

[quote name='bassman2790' post='1016743' date='Nov 8 2010, 07:02 PM']I wish I could run to a Markbass but it's way out of my league I'm afraid[/quote] I wish I could carry a 42lb combo one-handed without straining anything - (I'd replace the MarkBass with a Hartke and save some cash) - but [b]that's[/b] way out of [b]my[/b] league, I'm afraid.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1016260' date='Nov 8 2010, 12:40 PM']Nope, not even a micro-chip. The tone of your response was totally unnecessary. [/quote] Well, sorry if I was unnecessarily confrontational, but these "theory/readying isn't that important"-type threads pop up fairly regularly here, whereas I've yet to see anyone start a "reading ability - so much more important than feel" thread, or arguing that anyone who can't read music/knows no theory must therefore be a rubbish musician, so I do wonder just what threads like yours are supposed to prove, and to whom.

[quote name='bassman2790' post='1014532' date='Nov 6 2010, 05:32 PM']If anything, the Kickback 12 seemed lighter than the Studio 110.[/quote] Sorry, but I think that's wishful thinking: according to the distributor's site, the Kickback 12 is 42lb [url="http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=30&brandID=3"]http://www.samsontech.com/products/product...0&brandID=3[/url] whereas the Studio 110 is 24lb [url="http://line6.com/lowdownstudio110/"]http://line6.com/lowdownstudio110/[/url] Of course, if you're reasonably strong, 42lbs is still pretty light. If you're a nine stone weakling like me, however, the Markbass CMD 121P is hard to beat as a truly giggable lightweight combo; at 29.5 lbs it's not a lot heavier than the Studio 110, and although it's a fair bit more costly than the Hartke, there have been a couple going on this site recently for stupidly low prices.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1016206' date='Nov 8 2010, 11:54 AM']Correct me if I'm wrong, but this sounds like you're insinuating that I feel guilty about not understanding theory, and so need reassurance that it's OK. I can assure you I don't need that. I said in a previous thread that I'd missed out on gigs and work through not being able to read, but I'm happy enough with the gigs I have done for the last 35 years. I know of good readers that fail in the groove department, and this goes for any instrument.[/quote] If you didn't have a teeny-weeny chip on the shoulder about it, you wouldn't need to keep banging on about how much it doesn't matter, would you?

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1015810' date='Nov 7 2010, 10:11 PM']I think the OP needs to think about what they are actually seeking in the answer to this question. I guess its some form of affirmation that you can be a good player by relying on one's ability to groove without having to do the hard bit (the theory). The good news is of course you can. So now you can go and play Call of Duty for five hours with a clear conscience and leave us nerds to the analytical world of grooveless mathematics...... Enjoy [/quote] Nail >> Head.