Earbrass

[quote name='maxrossell' post='491429' date='May 18 2009, 02:53 PM']Anyone who picks up a guitar today better understand that he has a better chance of winning the lottery than making it big as a recording artist.[/quote] But maybe that's no bad thing. Imagine a world where people only made music because they loved making music, instead of seeing it as a way to achieve celebrity and riches. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one... ;-)

Well, I agree it's not a replacement for standard notation, but I don't think it was ever really intended to be. It's strength, if it has one, is as a means of SHARING musical data - the files are quick and easy to upload / download, and can be transformed by readily available software either into standard notation, or into a MIDI file. This means that even a non-reader could download a transcription of a bassline, build a midi-file from it and load it into their DAW/sequencer, and play along. OK it's probably a crap idea. I haven't used it myself - just came across it on the interweb and thought it might be of interest. I'll shut up about it now.

Sorry if you all know about this already, but in the threads I've read about notation people seem to refer to traditional notation or TAB, but I've not seen a reference to the ABC system on this site. It's widely used in folk and traditional music circles, and would be a simple way of transcribing basslines etc. One of its advantages, apart from the fact that it can be written on a computer keyboard without special software, is that you can add as much or as little detail as you like, depending on how much of the language you want to use. More info at [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_(musical_notation)"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_(musical_notation)[/url]

[quote name='liamcapleton' post='482149' date='May 7 2009, 04:39 PM']It all depends on how much money you want to make. Currently I should imagine (having just done a huge part of my course on indie labels) that the current climate for such is quite poor... which is a shame, because I am about to be running a small label and a studio. The major labels still have the monopoly on things. Look at the profits on an independent distributor like CD Baby. They tout themselves on how much money they've made for indie artists who want to make it on their own, and true enough, they've helped generate quite a bit of money, but if you look at the profit of the individual musician, it's barely anything at all. The money they claim to have made is spread too thin to consider it a viable option for making any sort of living, or even a one off cash bonus.[/quote] But for a lot of us, the money is pretty much irrelevant. I just want to make music I like and share it with people who appreciate it. I simply don't look at music as a way of making money (though I have made a modest amount of money from it in the past, when I was heavily involved in soundtrack work). In fact, if by some miracle the band I play in became commercially successful (it's not going to happen), I'd probably leave, as there's no way I'd ever give up my day job to go on tour etc. For me, if music making became a job, it'd kill all the fun. That's what I mean by "non-commercial" music - music that's made for the joy of making it, not for money.

[quote name='liamcapleton' post='482061' date='May 7 2009, 03:14 PM']I think IMO that like it or not, 21st century music has everything to do with the consumer market. It's again not something that a lot of musicians like to accept, but it makes up a large factor of the dictation of trends.[/quote] I would have thought quite the opposite; nowadays, with the internet and all the technology at our disposal, isn't it easier than ever for people to produce and distribute their own music without the backing of the big corporations, and to find and communicate with their audience, however tiny and niche that audience may be? Surely this ought to be a golden age for non-commercial music, compared to the situation a few decades ago?

[quote name='liamcapleton' post='481810' date='May 7 2009, 12:06 PM']With the greatest of respect, there is a lot of good music out there nowadays if you were to look hard enough. It's fine sticking to the argument that 'music isn't what it was back in the day' but it just simply isn't true. You need to let music evolve sometime, otherwise we're stuck in a cyclical situation where views such as that simply serves to inhibit new music to come.[/quote] Yeah, fair enough, I wasn't being entirely serious there. There's good stuff around, just as there always has been. [quote name='liamcapleton' post='481810' date='May 7 2009, 12:06 PM']What I meant was that jazz (which as someone pointed out is far too much of an umbrella term anyway) doesn't serve as much of a huge sector of musical revenue nowadays because it seems to be viewed by most as an institution or an era, like classical. It may not be the most musically endearing news that practicing jazz musicians want to hear, but it's true.[/quote] I just don't buy into the idea that music only matters if it's making money for someone, or has a wide appeal or a cool image. To me those are completely irrelevant to what makes good music.

[quote name='liamcapleton' post='481377' date='May 6 2009, 08:16 PM']Jazz .... serves little to no purpose nowadays aside from entertainment value[/quote] unlike the pap that passes for rock these days, which is of course, saving the world. [quote name='maxrossell' post='481635' date='May 7 2009, 09:24 AM']Can someone throw together something like that which would broadly sum up how to recognise Jazz?[/quote] This reminds me of an interview with Louis Armstrong from the 60's. He was asked what he'd be doing if he was a young man now. He replied "I guess I'd be playing guitar like that cat Hendrix". The interviewer, surprised, asked "Do you call that jazz?", to which he replied "Hell, man, if that ain't jazz, what is?".

[quote name='chenzo_1' post='475869' date='Apr 30 2009, 12:05 PM']A mate of mine is selling his peavey milestone for £35 is it worth buying it ripping the frets out, whackin in some nice pups and adding an a nice set of flatwounds? If i ever decided to sell it on after woulds would i be able to break even? thoughts and comments please!![/quote] I've got a couple of these basses, both second-hand, and I think they're pretty good as they come: light weight, nice neck, well-balanced. Hardware isn't the best, but it's not crap either. As I've said on other threads, I had one of these and a Fender Aerodyne Jazz for a while, and I honestly couldn't say either sounded better than the other - except that the Peavey hummed less when recording, so in the end I sold the Fender and bought another Peavey (I like to have 2 basses so I can keep one in each location I regularly play). I paid about £50 each for mine, second-hand, including gigbags. At £35 you really can't go far wrong. I'd say, buy it and live with it for a while as is - it may surprise you. Just my 2p's worth.

To me, tort and/or pearloid scratchplates on basses are like sparkly jackets on comedians; tacky, dated and rather more "London Palladium" than "Carnegie Hall". Don't ask me why.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I was wondering whether those of you with the Roland Bass micro cube RX could give an opinion on whether it would be loud enough to keep up with acoustic instruments (guitar / hand drums / accordion / vocals) for band practice sessions. If not, does anyone have an opinion as to what is the smallest, lightest amp that could? Thanks!

For a couple of years recently we had Fred Friedlein, the original founder of Trace Elliot, as a next door neighbour out in the wilds of Suffolk. Nice guy. He runs a small PA company now (www.soundranger.com), and occasionally plays guitar in an Everly Brothers tribute band.

[quote name='ped' post='428712' date='Mar 8 2009, 05:19 PM']I never intended for anyone to like my music apart from me![/quote] Great line for an epitaph.

[quote name='ARGH' post='425677' date='Mar 5 2009, 12:42 AM']Music is a sh*t business...[/quote] [attachment=21535:s2_les.jpg]

[quote name='liamcapleton' post='422169' date='Mar 1 2009, 04:06 AM']...it does get my wick a bit when people put forward something as fact when it is simply their own opinion. ..have written timeless songs...[/quote] Would that be a fact, or your own opinion?

So... it looks as if we finally have a set of masters for our new album that everyone is happy with, so the next hurdle is getting some copies made. Anyone have any personal recommendations? We're probably looking at getting 500 or 1000 made, and we'll need the cases and the inserts printed up and so on. Thanks. E

[quote name='MananaMan' post='407199' date='Feb 12 2009, 12:47 AM']yeah, I used a Bass Juice for a few years. Good pedal, nice variety of sounds from it. Didn't know they got a beating from BC, can't really eplain why either, seems a perfectly good pedal, if a little pricey. I seem to remember it was another pedal before being licenced (how do you spell that? I've never had to before, and its really puzzling me...) to T-Rex?[/quote] It's "licensed", because it's the past participle of the verb. 's' for the verb, 'c' for the noun. Same as practise/practice and many others. If you ever get confused, think of advice and advise, which nobody gets wrong because unlike the others they sound different. So, if you are licensed to kill, for example, you have a licence to kill. A licensing authority issues licences. Just as if you are advised then you receive advice, and an advising body issues advice. HTH.

[quote name='beerdragon' post='405342' date='Feb 10 2009, 01:40 PM']Looks nice. here's another one a bit cheaper. Unless i'm wrong it works out at about £425 plus tax? [url="http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.mikigakki.com/category/details.php%3Fitem_id%3Dujrb600blk&ei=KoKRSf3_I9yxjAfR1KjBCg&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=8&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Djayro%2Bbasses%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN"]http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl...l%3Den%26sa%3DN[/url][/quote] Looks nice but: ※ We will ship internationally is not supported. 予めご了承下さい。 Please note in advance. (Seller will not ship internationally.） ...so it's a long trip to the shop to pick it up.

They do look good...but since the price is over 75% of the cost of either of my basses, I don't think I can really justify it. ;-)

[b]Feedback for user Jak1502[/b] Hi, I sold a pedal to Jak1502. He paid promptly by cheque, was communicative and friendly. No problems. Recommended. Earbrass

Speaking as a confirmed luddite, I have to say putting batteries into guitars is just plain WRONG ;-). Electronics evolve much more quickly than instrument design. If you bought or made a great passive bass today, in twenty years time you will have a great classic bass. If you bought or made a great active bass today, in twenty years time you will have a great classic bass with outdated electronics. Keep your electronics outside the bass, and you can change them whenever something better comes along with minimum fuss. Just my 2p worth.

Peavey Milestone III [url="http://www.hartnollguitars.co.uk/products.asp?id=748"]http://www.hartnollguitars.co.uk/products.asp?id=748[/url] For a while I had one of these and a Fender Aerodyne Jazz bass - decided there was nothing to choose between them in sound - except the Peavey was quieter for recording - and actually preferred the feel of the Peavey, so sold the Fender.

FWIW, I have the Pandora PX4B (for bass) and it's superb as practice tool: tuner, fx, headphone amp, amp modelling, simple drum machine/metronome, basic sampling (record a groove then play over the top of it) and all in a teeny tiny package.