Earbrass

[quote name='Tradfusion' post='574294' date='Aug 19 2009, 03:20 PM']our vocalist is female and she keeps picking songs that suit her voice and that she fancies herself, alot of them are fairly contemporary ala Beyonce, Sugababes, Rihanna etc so thats where we sound pretty twee with just the 1 guitar, bass and drums.[/quote] But if you [b]can[/b] find a way to make them work for the 4 of you, you'll have made them your own, and that will be a lot more satisfying for you and your audience than just trying to sound as much as possible like an original track that, as Bilbo rightly says, was assembled in a 'lab'. (For an extreme example, listen to Ms Dynamite as played by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - it's all about having the musical vision and imagination to perceive what really is the heart of a song and how to bring that out using just the musical resources you have at your disposal - THAT's what makes a good musician) PS Could your guitarist use fx / guitar-synth technology etc to thicken up your sound a bit?

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='574252' date='Aug 19 2009, 02:48 PM']Using electronic / pre-recorded augmentation: * If you're an 'Artist' - say, Kraftwerk or Moby and performing your own original stuff, it's OK. Challenging, even.[/quote] No, it's still tacky faked-up nonsense, it's just that fewer people will have the guts to say so out loud. (Kraftwerk, Moby - challenging???!!! You people need to listen to more Henry Cow. )

[quote name='Zoe_BillySheehan' post='549083' date='Jul 23 2009, 04:05 PM']I'm probably gunna stop stop posting stuff on here, maybe my own stuff, in the quiet recording thread.[/quote] Sorry, didn't mean to scare you off! I'm not terribly sure about the PRS / rights stuff, which is why I posted asking for others' views, so please don't take my word as in any sense authoritative on this.

[quote name='Zoe_BillySheehan' post='549066' date='Jul 23 2009, 03:54 PM']what about... taking the song out the background? and just having the bassline? would that be ok?[/quote] Hi Zoe. Technically, I suspect the answer is 'no' - the bassline is still someone else's composition. Whether they'd be that picky in practice, I've no idea. There's actually two issues here - one is the composition rights (which apply whoever is PLAYING the song), and the other is the use of the original recording (though I think that used to be the MCPS's pigeon rather than the PRS, but now they've sort of merged so I really don't know). Anyone know any better?

On a side issue - isn't Zoe risking a demand for payment from the PRS by posting a version of HMWYRS on Myspace? One reason I've not set up a myspace page is that the tracks I'd be happy to post are covers of jazz tunes not yet out of copyright - I assume if I post them I'd thereby make myself liable for PRS fees. Anyone any thoughts or experience on this? Also I think Faithless has been treated rather harshly in this thread; it's very easy for a post to come across as less polite (or otherwise having a different 'tone') than may have been intended if you're writing in a language that isn't your native tongue.

PM'd

[quote name='BigRedX' post='546431' date='Jul 21 2009, 01:51 PM']Would you go to a gig if the band played behind a curtain in a dark room and there was nothing to look at at all?[/quote] yeah, or played most of their gig from behind a huge wall so you couldn't see them....oh, hang on a mo...;-)

Get on to Trading Standards. Don't let the scumbags get away with it.

[quote name='OldGit' post='538512' date='Jul 12 2009, 02:45 PM']This: [/quote] Great stuff, but a wee bit fast for the average Morris side, perhaps!

Add another 2, makes 1825.

I tend to use an Excel spreadsheet: one cell per bar. In each cell I write the chord name or names, and underneath whatever lyrics are sung in that bar. Then comes the really fun bit - I colour code the whole thing, by applying background colour to the cells, with eg all the verses in one colour, all choruses in another and so forth, so it's really easy to see the structure of the song at a glance (I find I'm much more likely to make the mistake of going to the wrong "bit" of a song - like not remembering that the 2nd chorus has an extra 4 bars and then we go into the lead break etc - than I am of cocking up the individual sections). Often I find that the process of producing the document helps me learn the song so well that by the time I've finished it and printed it off it's just there as a backup. Nice to have, though.

Check out the bass part in Purcell's "When I am laid in earth" (Dido and Aeneas). It's the same simple pattern the whole way through; one of the great basslines of all time.

[quote name='cameltoe' post='529725' date='Jul 1 2009, 04:46 PM']Well i'm fairly new to bass anyway, and for the first year or so I used a pick. Since I bought my P bass though I have been using a 2 finger technique (which I might progress to 3) which has served me well. However, on faster tempo songs something isn't quite right, I can't get my fingers to move as quickly as I need them to do, and I'm convinced it's because i'm curling the fingers too much. My fingers feel like they're almost 'sticking' on the strings sometimes, yet whenever I try and straighten my fingers a bit I find I either have very little accuracy or i can't attack the strings enough. I've been looking at right hand techniques on youtube, etc, and it almost seems like I hit the strings with too much tension in my fingers whereas the correct way is a bit looser. I need someone to explain to me the dynamnics of playing like this. I can see what I'm supposed to do, but I can't make it happen. pic:[attachment=28076:15_1.jpg][/quote] There's no magic trick to getting your fingers to move more quickly with accuracy, it's just practice! My advice would be to play those "faster tempo songs" at a speed where you CAN play them as you want to. Then gradually increase the tempo.

You might also try [url="http://www.boosey.com/shop/"]http://www.boosey.com/shop/[/url] ; no idea what they're like for pop music, but were the only place I could find some Renaissance dance music recently. Friendly and helpful on the phone, too.

[quote name='silddx' post='527798' date='Jun 29 2009, 03:23 PM']I'm so delighted!! Saw an add here on Thursday for bassist wanted, the message was quirky and intriguing enough for me to check out her myspace. I was blown away, she's an extraordinary singer and songwriter. I called the same day, auditioned yesterday and got a lovely email this morning to say I'm in, subject to one rehearsal to make sure I'm not a flake or a psycho. The drummer's brilliant, he was playing one armed due to an accident and he was still knockout! Sorry for all the exclamations, I'm just so thrilled Check her out here [url="http://www.myspace.com/kitrichardsonmusic"]http://www.myspace.com/kitrichardsonmusic[/url][/quote] Well done, mate. Sounds interesting stuff. Now you just have to decide whether or not to tell her that she can't spell "Evangelist".

[quote name='51m0n' post='523605' date='Jun 25 2009, 01:32 PM']As tempting as it may be, I wouldnt tell them to F off, it would look severely not good after all.[/quote] No, neither would I. Just said I'd be tempted. But I'd never do it. [quote name='51m0n' post='523605' date='Jun 25 2009, 01:32 PM']I'll go along tonight, roll the Roscoe onto the neck pup, pluck over that pup and sit right back on it. If I get through it without making too many mistakes and groove hard then I'll be happy with myself at least. At that point they will have to ask me to be the bassist before I learn any other songs, or play with them again.[/quote] Excellent plan. Best of luck.

Sorry to hear that. It's a tricky one. Part of me, quite a large part actually, would want to tell them to F*** off for messing me around (assuming I'd been led to believe that I had got the gig). But I'd suppress that, especially if I really wanted the gig. Next, I'd be tempted to refuse to audition again - "you've heard me, you've seen that I can learn your stuff, you know where I am if you decide you want me, but there's a limit to the number of hours of my life I'm prepared to spend working on your material if there's no guarantee of a result at the end". High risk strategy; probably only worthwhile if you're feeling confident that they wouldn't want to lose you. What I probably should do is insist on knowing whether the they've made first contact with the 2 new bass players since I'd last auditioned (which would strongly suggests that they weren't really happy with me but were stringing me along in case they couldn't get anyone better), why they still felt the need to continue auditioning, how many other auditions they were planning and when I could expect a DEFINITE decision. What I would probably end up doing in reality is going along with whatever they want, being really nice about it when they give the gig to someone else, rationalizing this in terms of it not doing any good to burn bridges and so forth, and then hating myself afterwards for not telling them to F*** off in the first place (see option 1 above). But that's just because I'm a big girl's blouse. Best of luck, and I really feel your pain - been in similar situations myself. E

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='522657' date='Jun 24 2009, 03:13 PM']Amp: Little mark II - stated output power of this is 300 W RMS @ 8ohm (my cab is 8ohm)[/quote] Surely it's the power [b]consumption[/b] rather than the output that is relevant here? Normally written somewhere on the amp? (small plate thing near the power input perhaps???)

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='514216' date='Jun 15 2009, 02:21 PM']Please don't shout at me if this is a pants 'offer' but I have copied this across from the HotUKDeals forum where someone has said about the Stagg BC300 (black) bundle: 'Thats a very nice unpretentious looking bass IMO. Good price for the spec and bundle.' [url="http://www.normans.co.uk/c-208-bass.aspx"]http://www.normans.co.uk/c-208-bass.aspx[/url][/quote] Actually, I think that bass looks really nice, and spec-wise it ticks all the right boxes for me (P/J, passive, 4 string, 24 frets). Dunno what they play like, though. If they're light weight and the necks are decent, I reckon they could be real bargain. Can't justify it myself, sadly. Anyone played one? <EDIT> These don't get a lot of love on the Harmony Central User reviews: [url="http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Bass/product/Stagg/B300BK/10/1"]http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews...agg/B300BK/10/1[/url] </EDIT>

[quote name='bubinga5' post='510607' date='Jun 10 2009, 08:23 PM']Some might say a Spitfire is not really a Jazz bass ^_^[/quote] True, but it's far more effective against a Focke-Wulf 190.

RIP indeed. Very very sad. One of the quiet, retiring heroes of bass; he will be missed.

[quote name='Rich' post='508272' date='Jun 8 2009, 03:30 PM']No, it can't be. Squirrels don't like chestnuts. Nor do badgers or magpies.[/quote] From "Wiki Answers": [i]Are horse chestnuts safe food for squirrels? In: Chipmunks and Squirrels [Edit categories] [Edit] Yes they are. [/i] There remains the vexed question of how they would open them though. I'm thinking the badger could hold it down, then the magpie could make a small crack in it which the squirrel could lever open with a plectrum. Fingers just aren't going to cut it here.

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='504861' date='Jun 3 2009, 05:14 PM']Basically, if I were to order a custom bass, I would hand the luthier a vhs of me having sex and instruct him to interpret it into the bass equivalent. And no, it wouldn't be short scale.[/quote] ...but it would be right-handed. ;-)

I'm not buying one till they start using organic Watts.

[quote name='maxrossell' post='493237' date='May 20 2009, 01:25 PM']Shed? Hang? I must confess it's been a while since I read a bass mag, what are these terms supposed to mean?[/quote] "Shedding" means being forced by the missus to practise at the bottom of the garden. ;-)