scalpy

Have you asked around at local studios? I've tried two and they were both "residents" in that situation! A case of don't meet your heros for me but you might have more luck.

A very aptly timed thread as I've blagged a gig at Cheltenham Jazz Festival next week and I'd never, ever say that I was a jazzer! Glad I'm not the only one who struggles with the brain speed jazz requires or who finds "proper" jazzers intimidating. What I'm learning is that you have to think like a jazzer, if you can't hear it, guessing you're way round a chart just don't work. Back to the wood shed for me, and some proper analysis required!

This was really getting to me a while back too! Aside from trying to read the ladders the main issue for me is that often any runs don't fit bass the same way as it does on the piano. You end up effectively doing three jobs, reading what's obvious, decoding the illegible and improvising an adequate bassline. I now ask MDs to order a bass part if the budget allows it, you get a better arranged and more coherent part to play, you don't have as many page turns and you don't have to try and remember what you decided the night before as much. The one advantage of having the piano score is that you get way more cues, particularly useful with one male lead around this way!

Personally I'm against the badger cull but if they make such good straps for fine players that might be different. Great idea and well executed!

Still available! PM me for more details. thanks for the interest Harry

Ah the Jailhouse!!! Played there many a time when it was the Jailhouse for the first time around. As for the Plough, did it once, that was enough! Had a similar experience of two gigs though in one day at the start of this month. 3pm in Cheltenham and then 7pm in Bristol both in record shops. Don't know how people do it all the time, being a combination of roadie, driver, performer, marketing etc etc...

Hi there. I need a dep on bass for an afternoon band call on Sunday 25th May for Chess! in Pershore, Worcestershire. The rehearsal is 2-5pm at the Number 8 Theatre for the local amateur dramatic society. Obviously good reading skills required if you haven't done the show before. PM please if you're able to help and for more details. Many thanks Harry

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' timestamp='1362640110' post='2002444'] Please go to your local luthier in Exeter and show him this diagram: [url="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=fZQQ1LSp6XsxkM&tbnid=cVGFZDywK6biIM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.atheistnexus.org%2Fprofiles%2Fblogs%2Fmr-ken-ham-the-science-guy&ei=Ujw4UdWfNsju0gWQ5IGgCA&psig=AFQjCNEmUfffCGoKoFS90Z_alT5Lxu_Sgg&ust=1362726320386114"][/url] I've never seen a nicer piece of maple and by God there is nothing wrong with the grain pattern in that wood. As anyone has said all it needs is a fret redress. And I have never heard a luthier talking so much crap. He should be shot. [/quote] This bass is in Exeter? I'd so laugh if the luthier was Hugh Manson! If it isn't, just take it to him, he seems to know a thing or two.

A student of mine turned up with the new M series. It's a lot of bass for the money, with a really easy neck and is more refined than the old L series/ASAT preamp, but... no GAS, the ASAT still takes some beating!

I play for a lot of am-dram stuff, so that can go from root fifth root fifth for an evening to anything really. Ceilidhs were the same! I also do a soul band, which has lots of fun lines to play, and a singer songwriter gig which can go from flat out rock to jazz to funk in a verse! I started in power trio type things but don't enjoy that kind of rocking out so much anymore.

This weekend 3 rehearsals and 2 gigs! Apart from that snippets every day if possible. The fingers benefit but I need to keep my brain sharp more.

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1362084822' post='1995654'] As of today I'm now 2x 2x12 [/quote] Wanted those so badly and a steal at that price. Reports on how they sound would be greatly appreciated!

Played the Bull&Gate in 1999. Had to take a day off work, travel halfway across the country, with a mini-bus of people from our usual crowd, all of whom were missing a day at work too. I paid for the bus otherwise no-one could be persuaded to come and play twice the price for everything all day in London. Turns out we're on the bill with three other bands all doing the same but from other parts of the country. Hence, absolutely no chance of building an audience as we were head-lining and they were all desperate to leave and travel to their respective towns. Repeat this experience, over and over for several years and I had enough. Last year I had the opportunity to dep at a gig at the Clapham Grand. Aha, I think, with the age of the internet and social media, this should be a different story. I checked out the other bands on the bill, and in total the views on youtube were in the millions. So I booked a day off again, travelled for three hours, rehearsed all day, sound-checked, and... played to 40 people. And all the other bands were good, entertaining, well-prepared and professionally minded, a good night out in other words, but no-one one was there. I've always blamed the promoters, no common sense, no creativity. The Catapult Club in New Cross was the best London gig I ever did, but the bill was arranged like Later with Jools. So the audience stayed around, there was a compere, an acoustic set from residents and good in-house visuals. The place was busy and a fantastic experience. But the promoter had some imagination and some flare. Went and played there again, back to straight through the bill, no-one there, lesson learnt finally.

If you asked three years ago I'd of said 100 quid and it's yours. Somebody did and now it's theirs. Whoops.

Playing mine too! In April. The future missus Scalpy is our singer. Not about about look at we can do, that's terrible musicianship for starters, it's about saying thank you to everyone for being part of lives in the most meaningful and articulate way we can. Mustang Sally by the way, is not in the set!

Singing for me. Direct music making, no obstacles and no excuses. However I sound like a dysfunctional foghorn.

Laney Linebacker 100 and HH215. How to sound like a boiling vat of baked beans in one uneasy to move rig.

Happily sit in for The Black Crowes as they return from hiatus!

I hope I've got this right now, but I was under the impression we use "she" to describe ships as relic from when English used to masculine and feminine. Think I got that Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson. My instruments are called girls names. I was describing the difference between the electric guitar and bass guitar to a class of year 9s once and one kid asked "Why are all of your guitars girls, sir?" to which I quipped, feeling particularly chipper and frivolous that day "Anything that spends that long vibrating on my lap needs to be a girl for me." They fell about then another kid puts his his hand up and says "Head", which struck me as a strange statement, then like a magic force had control of them they shut up instantly. The door opened, and in walked the headteacher. The class' eyes shifted to me in a lets-see-how-he-digs-himself-out-of-this-one kind of way, and I just tried to keep on "So you see the strings a lot fatter on this one..." Going redder and redder in the face!

The companies I play for normally get the parts in fairly early as the reed and keyboard 2 people early to work out what to double. Last show I did with one company reed 1 had nearly 20 instruments! Next one with them is Chess! and I'm doubling guitar. Pretty pleased they get the parts in early as I'm having a pampers moment just thinking about it.

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1358880515' post='1946522'] . A lot of the time it's friggin piano score has well so your reading 12 lines below. Which frankly pisses me off! [/quote] Kills me that to. I do 6 or 7 am dram shows a year, always get the part 5 to 6 weeks in advance. And you won't get to do You're the One That I Want in Grease. The publishers are very, very hot on changing the stage script to the movie version, and when you sign the contract to do the show there's whole pages on what you're not allowed to do!

Do's- play in time and play in tune. Don'ts- fuss or make excuses. Heard a good one this morning as well, nerves are really creative apprehension (thank you Barry Cryer!)