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[quote name='Bassassin' post='1200182' date='Apr 15 2011, 01:49 AM']Another practice room camcorder job:

One of our oldest & heaviest songs, nothing fancy bass-wise, but a tune and a half, in my unreliable opinion. :)

Jon.[/quote]

A tune and three quarters, even. I like it a lot. How do you get that growl on the bass - is it the bass itself, the amp, an effect, your fingers, or all of the above?

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[quote name='urb' post='1200351' date='Apr 15 2011, 10:09 AM']A couple of vids 'in the studio' filmed at The Joint rehearsal studio of me and my funk band Groove Digger

Hope you dig 'em

M[/quote]

I have watched most of your solo vids and, although I enjoy the technique and expertise, it isn't really my thing. But listening to your playing in this context has just blown me away completely. The apparent effortless funkiness of it is just completely infectious. Serious stuff, thank you for posting it.

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[quote name='urb' post='1200351' date='Apr 15 2011, 10:09 AM']A couple of vids 'in the studio' filmed at The Joint rehearsal studio of me and my funk band Groove Digger



Hope you dig 'em

M[/quote]

Not really my thing but yeah, i dug them. Nice and tight with a good groove.

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[quote name='Paul S' post='1200378' date='Apr 15 2011, 10:29 AM']I have watched most of your solo vids and, although I enjoy the technique and expertise, it isn't really my thing. But listening to your playing in this context has just blown me away completely. The apparent effortless funkiness of it is just completely infectious. Serious stuff, thank you for posting it.[/quote]

thanks man - I have to say I love playing in a band - life is such for me right now I don't 'get out' as much as I should (I'm just seriously busy with work and family commitments) - but yeah creating a great groove and really feeling it is where I'm at with a band - all the solo vids are just me trying stuff out - my heart and soul are in good tunes and good grooves - no that easy to demonstrate minus a band or live situation.

PS I have some gigs coming up - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=131290"]see the Gigs forum[/url] - I'm playing 25 April and 5 May in London

Thanks for the kind words guys

Mike

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[quote name='Paul S' post='1200372' date='Apr 15 2011, 10:23 AM']A tune and three quarters, even. I like it a lot. How do you get that growl on the bass - is it the bass itself, the amp, an effect, your fingers, or all of the above?[/quote]
Thanks Paul - appreciate it!

The tone's pretty much a combination of everything you mention - the bass here is an 80s Washburn SB40 with passive P/J pups, with the J rolled off a bit. That goes into my standard Growly Rock Tone patch on a Korg AX3000B - which is a bit of drive, a bit of compression and slightly boosted upper mids, if I remember rightly. After that it's a GK700RB-II 1x15 combo and a Hartke 2.5XL cab, EQ is pretty much flat at the moment but the entire rig has a predisposition to being growly & raucous anyway! This song's one of the few I play with a pick, mostly because of the open-D drone / counter-melody bits on the softer parts, and quite a bit of palm-muted chuggy unison riff stuff elsewhere.

If you like the song, there's a rather nice studio version on our [url="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maya29/190452804313584"]Facebook page[/url] - it's on the Band Profile section, right at the bottom of the song list.

J.

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Another vid:



Bit of a pop choon, this one - a song about monkeys, confusingly called Monkeys. This is actually the last complete song I composed myself - music, lyrics & arrangement, everything since has been a collaboration of sorts.

J.

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Jon, I was having trouble with your Facebook player - once I started playing a track it was reluctant to stop and I think I had 3 playing at once. Or was that supposed to be what it was like? Can never be sure with Prog rock :) You definitely have an individual sound - I don't like what I heard as much as that first track (and that studio version is excellent) but it is a class above any other 'Prog Rock' originals I have listened to - usually (IME) it is tuneless self indulgent nonsense. What's the Mexican thing - a particular interest?

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[quote name='Gareth Hughes' post='1193956' date='Apr 9 2011, 06:19 PM']Here's one from 2008, though the DVD was just released last week. Playing my much missed, but sadly feedback inducing, carved bass I bought from Ken Smith. I can't blame it for my dodgy intonation tho :)

Artist is Kieran Goss, with special guest Brendan Murphy

[/quote]

Really enjoyed that.

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[quote name='Paul S' post='1209079' date='Apr 23 2011, 12:04 PM']Jon, I was having trouble with your Facebook player - once I started playing a track it was reluctant to stop and I think I had 3 playing at once. Or was that supposed to be what it was like? Can never be sure with Prog rock :) You definitely have an individual sound - I don't like what I heard as much as that first track (and that studio version is excellent) but it is a class above any other 'Prog Rock' originals I have listened to - usually (IME) it is tuneless self indulgent nonsense. What's the Mexican thing - a particular interest?[/quote]
Thanks Paul - really appreciate the positive comments! :)

Certainly sounds like a problem with the player, it should be one song at a time!

Yes, it is a bit of a geek thing for me - I've long been fascinated by the ancient Mesoamerican cultures, and how they evolved such an advanced civilisation completely isolated from cross-cultural influence. The story element of the songs is loosely borrowed from a book called Aztec, by Gary Jennings - it's a superb historical novel depicting the Mexica empire at its peak, the arrival of the Spanish & subsequent overthrow & conquest, viewed through the experiences of a single character, from boyhood to old age. Obviously we had to streamline it a little for a 45-minute song cycle, but we've tried to retain that basic story-arc. The lyrics have a lot of influences & references to Aztec poetry, and when (if, at this rate) the album's properly recorded & finished, there will be short rhythmic/spoken word interludes between several of the pieces to maintain narrative flow & link the separate songs.

It was important to me when composing this (it was all put together by myself & vocalist Karen) to make each section work as a stand-alone song, while maintaining continuity with instrumental & lyrical themes linking the songs. The way Pete Townshend achieved a similar thing with Quadrophenia was a big inspiration.

Anyway I am delighted you like it, it's always good to get positive feedback - cheers! :lol:

J.

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Hence the band name - Maya - should have picked up the clue there.

I have developed an interest in Mexican history and culture (and food!) as a by-product of visiting the country several times on 'plant hunting expeditions' (a long story) (actually, several long stories). It is hard not to get caught up in the magic of the place - have you visited any of the archeological sites there? Awe inspiring. In my travels I've called into Teotihuacan just north of Mexico City, Palenque in Chiapas, Monte Alban in Oaxaca and El Tajin in Veracruz. The anthropological museum in Mexico City is a study in how modern museums should be set out - absolutely magnificnt! I think it is such a shame that the only press Mexico gets these days is all the drug cartel related killings when the place has so much more to offer (10% of the planet's flora and fauna on 1% of it's area!)

I've not read that book so I've just ordered it from the library, plus his others - thanks for that. Have you read 'Mexica' by Norman Spinrad? Similar - set at the same time but observes the period through the eyes of a slave who starts off with Cortez but ends up befriending Moctezuma.

Anyway, all pretty way off topic....

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[quote name='Paul S' post='1210263' date='Apr 24 2011, 07:26 PM']Hence the band name - Maya - should have picked up the clue there.

I have developed an interest in Mexican history and culture (and food!) as a by-product of visiting the country several times on 'plant hunting expeditions' (a long story) (actually, several long stories). It is hard not to get caught up in the magic of the place - have you visited any of the archeological sites there? Awe inspiring. In my travels I've called into Teotihuacan just north of Mexico City, Palenque in Chiapas, Monte Alban in Oaxaca and El Tajin in Veracruz. The anthropological museum in Mexico City is a study in how modern museums should be set out - absolutely magnificnt! I think it is such a shame that the only press Mexico gets these days is all the drug cartel related killings when the place has so much more to offer (10% of the planet's flora and fauna on 1% of it's area!)

I've not read that book so I've just ordered it from the library, plus his others - thanks for that. Have you read 'Mexica' by Norman Spinrad? Similar - set at the same time but observes the period through the eyes of a slave who starts off with Cortez but ends up befriending Moctezuma.

Anyway, all pretty way off topic....[/quote]
Keeping it OT - no, sadly not yet travelled to Mexico, but when I do finally get to visit Teotihuacan I'll be a step closer to being able to die happy!

Interestingly, while I certainly like the association the band name has, it was actually taken from the title of an erotic novel by Alice Joanou which (if I remember rightly) was more to do with sexual obsession than Pre-Columbian Mexico! Still, I suppose the band & music are a bit different now to when we started, so the name's historical connotations are a bit more appropriate.

I haven't read the Spinrad book - thanks for the recommendation, just off to order a copy!

J.

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[quote name='Huwberry' post='1201134' date='Apr 15 2011, 08:30 PM']

Since recording this video it has become apparent that I have a special gurn reserved just for playing with a plectrum. I think it's my concentrating face. Damn plectrums.[/quote]


I enjoyed that - what synth pedal are you using?

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[quote name='Huwberry' post='1201134' date='Apr 15 2011, 08:30 PM']

Since recording this video it has become apparent that I have a special gurn reserved just for playing with a plectrum. I think it's my concentrating face. Damn plectrums.[/quote]


I enjoyed that - what synth pedal are you using?

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