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Trevor Barry - "Strictly" bassist.........


Shaggy

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A couple of years back I cut down on the gigging out of sheer exhaustion, and now actually spend the occasional Saturday night at home.     This means that I inevitably have to sit through Mrs Shaggy's favourite programme; "Strictly come dancing", which I don't mind too much as I can usually find something to like in a programme with musical content and lady dancers in tight costumes.     Say what you like about the cheesiness of the show, the way every bit of tension is milked to the nth degree,  and general inanity of the dialogue -  the professionalism and versatility of the band is absolutely top notch, especially when you consider what a diverse range of material they have to cover, and probably very limited time to arrange and rehearse.    Inevitably, I listen out out for the bass (which the BBC being the BBC tend to mix down, but I route the sound through a decent stereo sound system) and am always impressed by the solid and unfussy groove of the bassist, which always totally compliments the tune.  Also he wears a hat and always looks happy when the band is introduced, which is a big plus in my book.    Google search indicates he's a v experienced bassist called Trevor Barry who I wasn't aware of before.   Just thought I'd give him a bit of a big up, as Dave Swift of Jool's band gets a lot of good press on BC (NB: I own one of Dave's old basses...) and Trevor is every bit as good.

Any "guilty pleasure" Strictly watchers agree / disagree?

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Edited by Shaggy
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There are some monster players that appear on these kinds of shows. I remember an article on Trevor years ago in one of the bass magazines, top notch player.

Phil Mulford is another that springs to mind and my personal favourite is Ben Epstein who was in ‘The Voice’ house band. He and Ash Soan on drums were a phenomenal rhythm section.

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Mrs CP watches Strictly regularly and I must admit ( if I’m not working ) I do too. Trevor Barry is a great player and I really enjoy listening to him and the rest of the band, although occasionally one of the female vocalists can be a bit err...’pitchy’ I believe is the modern term. That aside, Dave Arch does an amazing job with the band each week with such a wide variety of styles to tackle, and it is to the show’s credit that they continue to use a decent sized live band when recorded backing tracks seem to be so prevalent on TV and in the theatre these days. Long may it continue!

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Trevor Barry has one of the best sounding basses I've heard. The secret weapon TB and many of the West End players (like Ian King, also a member here) have is Overwater basses. Their sound is just world class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_2HRxpRCD0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZDM9QLPaYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=habje7Yl0Ug

 

 

 

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(Now that Saffron's gone) the only reason I watch Strictly Come Dancing is for the music. Its amazing to see such professionalism and competence, even more so when you consider the pieces are arranged thru the week, then they have just one day of intensive rehearsal, then put on the show. I am guessing they have some decent resources behind the main musicians though - I know they have quite a big "address book" of eg woodwind players and other session musicians to call upon.

Past highlights include "Naughty Girl"* (Beyonce), "Scooby Doo Theme Tune", "When Doves Cry"

*This features Kimberley Walsh, in not much clothing, doing a very sexy dance. It is NSFW. It is also probably NSFH either, if your wife/girlfriend catches you watching it or goes through your browser history. No amount of saying "but its just for the music" will convince her. Trust me on that one.

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7 hours ago, chris_b said:

Trevor Barry has one of the best sounding basses I've heard. The secret weapon TB and many of the West End players (like Ian King, also a member here) have is Overwater basses. Their sound is just world class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_2HRxpRCD0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZDM9QLPaYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=habje7Yl0Ug

 

 

 

Of course, nothing to do with mega amounts of post processing that are all present in the clips posted above.

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28 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Of course, nothing to do with mega amounts of post processing that are all present in the clips posted above.

As the FB clip shows TB has a great sound to start with.

I've heard Trevor Barry, Ian King, and Phil Mulford live on small local gigs and in the pit on a show, using their Overwater basses. All with no post processing and they are exceptional. Yes there is work done on the sound of those clips after the performance, but if you start off with something which sounds that good then post processing doesn't "make" the sound, it just enhances the already great sound already there.

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26 minutes ago, chris_b said:

As the FB clip shows TB has a great sound to start with.

I've heard Trevor Barry, Ian King, and Phil Mulford live on small local gigs and in the pit on a show, using their Overwater basses. All with no post processing and they are exceptional. Yes there is work done on the sound of those clips after the performance, but if you start off with something which sounds that good then post processing doesn't "make" the sound, it just enhances the already great sound already there.

I'll have to take your word on the unprocessed sound being exceptional... but of course, you do realise that the sound of something being exceptional is all subjective anyway.

With regard to post, I would normally agree with you... but with bass, you can mangle the sound so much that it's nothing like the source material, I would say its more an advertisement for the processing rather than the bass itself.

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My son’s school took part in Young Voices earlier this year so I travelled to the NEC to watch him sing, with many other school choirs from around the country. The band were awesome and I was particularly impressed with the bass player, a chap called Carl Stanbridge, who had a great tone and was absolutely spot on in the groove the whole night. Very good indeed. 

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2 hours ago, Grassie said:

I like a bit of Strictly. I could look at Amy (the Welsh professional) all day.....

Oh, yeah! The band! Fantastic. They should get their own slot on the weekday extra show, definitely.

That Amy though... what a beauty...

:)

*Googles ‘Amy from Strictly’...*

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On 02/12/2019 at 14:31, BrunoBass said:

My son’s school took part in Young Voices earlier this year so I travelled to the NEC to watch him sing, with many other school choirs from around the country. The band were awesome and I was particularly impressed with the bass player, a chap called Carl Stanbridge, who had a great tone and was absolutely spot on in the groove the whole night. Very good indeed. 

Carl is epic... heard him with Matt Schofield a few years ago, the album they did together is awesome!

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