Bigtone Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 Machinehead are holding a Tony Levin Bass Clinic near Hitchin in the UK. [url="http://machinehead.co.uk/clinic.php"]http://machinehead.co.uk/clinic.php[/url] it's on the evening of Thursday July 19th, call them for details and tickets. 01462 433305 or 457686 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tut Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 I can get there - that's gotta be good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Lawson Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Anybody going to this? anyone know if there's a charge? I could just call them, but y'know, the interwebs is always better than the phone. steve www.stevelawson.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealting Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 [quote name='Steve Lawson' post='34074' date='Jul 19 2007, 12:20 PM']Anybody going to this? anyone know if there's a charge? I could just call them, but y'know, the interwebs is always better than the phone. steve www.stevelawson.net[/quote] Good fun clinic it was... Tony is a genuinely cool guy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestar Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 (edited) I went as well. What a nice bloke Mr Levin is. great when you get to meet one of your heroes and he turns out to be a nice gvuy too! My mate Bob won the bass in the raffle. He's a drummer but his son al plays bass and will be getting a surprise present tonight! all in all a great evening. Edited July 20, 2007 by lonestar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golchen Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 I live about 5 miles away, and I only found out about it the morning after. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!! Life can be so cruel ................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Lawson Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 it was a great evening - Tony's such a fantastic story-teller (if you haven't bought his book yet - Beyond The Bass Clef - go and order it from his website, www.tonylevin.com ) - and has such a wealth of experience that when coupled with that level of honesty and self-effacement (the bit about not being able to keep up with the LTE guys was priceless), makes for a great evening. I hope he does more of these... steve www.stevelawson.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaphappygarry Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 He is my favorite bass player in the whole world. I would have loved to have been there. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tut Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Hey - I was there! As you can see below - Tony was thrilled to meet one of his heroes (I wish!) What a nice laid back guy he is - obviously totally into his music - thanks machinehead for putting the evening on. Oh - and could anyone else get their heads around the bizarre token system for buying drinks?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealting Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Ok, I have to say it. Was anyone else slightly disappointed by his playing? I am a huge Tony Levin fan. and his playing on some all-time classics is legendary, but I thought he was off-form at the clinic. Granted, I realise he may have just gotten off a plane or something, and I wasn't expecting a technically flash display, but I thought it was sloppy, out of time, etc. Maybe it was just me. Having driven from London to see it, I would probably have been more disappointed if I hadn't had him sign my bass, and I hadn't picked up a sweet new cab later on in the evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_in_ya_face Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 I just love that 'funk fingers' thing he did on Peter Gabriel' 'Big Time' ...possibly my favourite 4 seconds of bass playing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tut Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 I know what you're saying, but i think the thing with TL is.... he's not a technical player, it's all about getting a great tone and great feel, and playing what is right for the song. I really respected him for admitting he didn't have a chance of keeping up with the boys in Dream Theatre. I'm probably saying this because i ain't got too many flash chops, but IMO being a good bass player is about doing what's right for the music you're being employed to play. I have to say I was a little surprised as well - i was there with my drummer, and we both remarked on how 'behind the beat' he was when playing to the backing tracks - not sure if that was intentional. Still loved the evening though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Woodcock Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 [quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='37275' date='Jul 26 2007, 12:19 PM']I just love that 'funk fingers' thing he did on Peter Gabriel' 'Big Time' ...possibly my favourite 4 seconds of bass playing [/quote] It was actually Jerry Marotta that played that part by drumming on Levin's bass strings - Levin invented the 'Funk Fingers' later in order to reproduce that part live... [url="http://www.tonylevin.com/pbtlff.htm"]More about Funk Fingers[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Lawson Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 I think the distinct lack of monitors was clearly a huge issue - we had the speakers pointing at us, and his bass was still FAR louder than the tracks - for him stood in front of his amp, playing an unfamiliar bass (in terms of set up and idiosyncrasies) with no monitoring, playing to tracks he hasn't played for months, by his own admission, I think he would have to be super-human to have got through them without a fluff or two... So was there some sloppiness in his playing? yup. Was it understandable in the setting yes? Was he making the best of a tricky situation (given that his whole thing is about being on stage with a band...)? yup. I really enjoyed it. Steve www.stevelawson.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_in_ya_face Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 (edited) [quote name='Stickman' post='37624' date='Jul 27 2007, 01:48 AM']It was actually Jerry Marotta that played that part by drumming on Levin's bass strings - Levin invented the 'Funk Fingers' later in order to reproduce that part live... [url="http://www.tonylevin.com/pbtlff.htm"]More about Funk Fingers[/url][/quote] Really I knew it had something to do with Jerry Marotta playing on a bass but i had images of him drumming and Tony fretting for some reason. It just sounds too funky to be played by a drummer hitting some strings but I wasn't there so I don't know Having just googled this the hi-hat on the track itself appear to have been played by one Mr S Copeland! Edited July 27, 2007 by bass_in_ya_face Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Woodcock Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 [quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='37648' date='Jul 27 2007, 08:20 AM']i had images of him drumming and Tony fretting for some reason.[/quote] You're correct, Levin was still fretting - I think I read in another interview that Marotta was kneeling in front of him so you can imagine how that must have looked...! Have you heard the story about the nappies and the track 'Don't Give Up'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_in_ya_face Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 [quote name='Stickman' post='38128' date='Jul 28 2007, 01:13 PM']You're correct, Levin was still fretting - I think I read in another interview that Marotta was kneeling in front of him so you can imagine how that must have looked...! Have you heard the story about the nappies and the track 'Don't Give Up'?[/quote] err no Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Woodcock Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 Tony Levin: We recorded it in 1986, because . . . I remember the year because my daughter was born that year. And she was only two months old, and I brought her with me to the sessions. And being a typical American, I guess, I didn't know that they had what we call diapers. I didn't know you had those in England. (laughs) Of course you have. You call them nappies. And my suitcases and my bass cases were all full of nappies. And when it came to the second half of that song, "Don't Give Up," I was looking for a bassier sound, and one way I get that in the studio is to put dampening material, usually foam rubber, under the strings of the bass. Well, there wasn't any foam rubber, and I looked around and what there were plenty of were diapers, or nappies. So I put the diaper under the bass strings. It's the only time I've ever done it, and we got a wonderful, very bassy sound. And we named it the "Super Wonder Nappy Sound," which I think we looked for on other albums but never quite reproduced. [size=1]Source: Games Without Frontiers - The Peter Gabriel Story - BBC Radio[/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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