Fat Rich

[quote name='Doddy' post='1305741' date='Jul 16 2011, 01:25 PM']Billy Cobham/Simon Phillips style. I've always wondered why more left handed drummers don't do this. It makes a lot of sense and makes things way easier if you are sharing gear. .........[/quote] I think a lot of drum teachers used to force their students to play crossed (and traditional grip on the stick) because that's the way it's always been done, but they now seem to be becoming more open minded and more and more players play open (uncrossed). Coming back to bass, I chose to play right handed because my left hand is stronger and more dexterous so I thought it made more sense to use that on the fingerboard instead of just holding a pick or walking with a couple of fingers. I'd would say that all right handed people should play left handed guitars, except that then we wouldn't be able to get some models we want in right handed.

Left handed playing right handed bass. I also set my drum kit up standard right handed but I don't play crossed like most drummers, it opens up the whole kit all the time and not just when I'm playing the ride cymbal. Only drummers could be daft enough to play an instrument with their arms crossed most of the time and think it's normal

I've a feeling it's the 2nd clip but there's an element of guesswork as neither clip sounds like my 'Ray

[quote name='lowdown' post='1304096' date='Jul 14 2011, 10:26 PM']Another thing is to make a Music stand extension. [and paint it black] A thin bit of hardboard or sim, with a wedge on the bottom that will then sit on the music stand. If i have been on a show with 4/5/6 page charts this has come in really handy. Its not un common to use one in pit work. Someone gave me a pre made one about 10 years ago, and it has seen plenty of action, by myself and others Garry[/quote] Or two music stands. Seriously! Less likely to fall over.

A photocopier and two music stands

Probably not dyslexic, just a bit dotslexic. Learning to read music on keyboard or piano is much easier because once you've learnt where the notes are for one octave you've learnt the whole keyboard.... plus there's only one place you can find each note. On a bass (particularly 5 or 6 string) you've got lots of options where you want to play a line so you have to think about positions and shifting too. I found learning the notes on the clef fairly easy but one of the keys to reading music in my opinion is to really know the notes on the neck. Not just being able to work out from open strings or a few that you've memorized but really know each note instantly. Not knowing the notes slows down the learning of any music theory in my experience. Another key for me is to memorize common notated rhythmic patterns so you know how they sound without thinking about them or counting them out. I've suggested this before on Basschat and been criticized because you can't possibly memorize every combination of 16th note, triplet etc. which is true enough. But if you get the most common ones so that they're second nature to you and play themselves you can concentrate on any you're not so familiar with and work them out. Anyway the more you do it the more you'll memorize. As for the age thing, my former boss said that I'd have had a great career ahead of me if I wasn't so damn old..... and then he made me redundant. So I set up my own business and watched my former employer go down the pan. Good luck!

Went through a phase of modding my Fenders with EMGs, high mass bridges, brass nut but eventually realised the classic Fender tone comes from the cheap junk that comes as standard so apart from all sorts of holes and additional routs my Jazz and P basses are stock again. It's rare to find an instrument that covers all sounds that you're going to want if you're to (attempt to) play most types of music, so I pretty quickly decided to have the stock Fenders for their classic sounds and some fancy graphite necked monsters for everything else.

I don't know if it's the same in the bass world but Mapex suddenly seemed to give anyone who could prove they were an established drum teacher a load of free gear, and sure enough most of their students went out and bought Mapex kits soon after (I'm not knocking Mapex gear as it seems pretty good by the way). So the endorsee benefits from free gear and the endorser sells lots more drum kits. If it's the same in the bass world a lot of the endorsees might be teachers rather than high profile performers, they then can recommend the gear they've been given to their students. I'm always wary of any teacher who recommends a specific brand because it might be more about what deal they've done for themselves. I choose my gear on merit and whether it works for me.

Did a search: [url="http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=perforated+metal+panels&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&ei=0yscTs-3HoyzhAeFmfXlBw"]http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safa...3HoyzhAeFmfXlBw[/url] I got some years ago from FHbrundle, but it looks like you can probably get some from B&Q these days!

I bought a crateful of Slinkeys back in the early 90s when I was playing a lot, I'm just finishing up the last few sets now and they seem fine even though they were in paper envelopes and not the modern sealed packs. (I think it was 24 boxes each containing 10 sets, cost a fortune to buy but the price per set was less than 50% retail) In theory any string in a sealed plastic packet should last indefinitely, not sure about Rotosounds though.... they seem to go dead very quickly for me.

Status have put 2 strap buttons on the bottom of their basses for the last 30 years, that way the bass stands up on its own. I don't know why other manufacturers don't do the same. Still coming up with your own lines is what music is all about, not the instrument you play it on. Your bass just has a bit more mojo now!

I've got a Korg AX3000B which is easier to program than most.... I don't use it much though, I'd probably get away with just a chorus pedal and maybe an EQ. Can the Boss be plugged into a PC and programmed from there? With a proper interface these things become less baffling.

[quote name='Rayman' post='1296237' date='Jul 7 2011, 06:12 PM']Easy [i]for me[/i] this one. If you want to be [i]technically[/i] great on bass (or any instrument) get a teacher, but that's not what I voted for. If you want to absorb, and enjoy, and learn, and have fun playing, then listening to as much music as you can, and playing along to it, [i]in my opinion[/i], is the [i]only[/i] way, and that's what I voted for.[/quote] I'd pretty much agree with the above although I'd always recommend getting a few lessons, so that's what I voted for.

[quote name='blackmn90' post='1296069' date='Jul 7 2011, 03:29 PM']This is a bit of research i need to do for yet another essay thanks for your help in advance. Oh and also feel free to show me to a thread where this has already been done (i did a search but couldnt find anything). Lastly please discuss your experiences of learning below [/quote] All of the above! Edit: Ok, that's not much help... Everyone learns differently, I prefer a few lessons, getting stuck into some good music theory books and learning songs, I guess I learnt a little from my mates but not much. Also I started playing before teh internet so I had to work songs out by ear, it'll be interesting to see how newer players vote. But ultimately it is pretty much all of the above for me.

[quote name='lowdown' post='1295963' date='Jul 7 2011, 01:41 PM']Hey Rich - was just trying to work out what you was saying... Twas a mystery, thats all.... Garry[/quote] Fair nuff! On it's own the line you quoted says the opposite of what I meant, with the previous lines it sort of makes sense (if you put your head on one side and squint at it long enough)

[quote name='lowdown' post='1295825' date='Jul 7 2011, 11:59 AM'] Garry[/quote] [quote name='crez5150' post='1295827' date='Jul 7 2011, 11:59 AM']That's what I was thinking......[/quote] Dunno if I didn't explain the note choices very well, I'm just a bit bored with the slap pop octaves and minor sevenths and would like to hear something a bit more melodic. I know it's a bit of a generalisation and there are some players who play some more interesting lines, but a lot of the people who give slap a bad name only play the old cliches. Are you guys unhappy that I think thats all there is to slap or are you saying that's all there should be to slap?

Depends what you want from your bass playing, slap isn't very fashionable at the moment so you may end up spending time learning it but not really using those skills. Perhaps your time would be better spent learning other things that will further your bass playing career? On the other hand, if you play for fun then there's no reason not to go for it! I'd say don't just focus on the usual slap lines that have been done a million times, you'll end up sounding like everyone else. Try using the slap technique to play the stuff you already play and you're more likely to sound like you and come up with something a bit different. It should be more a technique for attacking the strings and not for note choices IMO.

[quote name='4 Strings' post='1295362' date='Jul 6 2011, 10:55 PM']ooh, just being thick, my mind was on string type not notes![/quote] Well, drummers use chains and beads on their cymbals to add sizzle so why not beads on bass strings? Imagine the fret buzz you could get with them?

[quote name='dumelow' post='1295695' date='Jul 7 2011, 09:48 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syrQ_DOW9NQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syrQ_DOW9NQ[/url] Hes alright on drums, i cant do what he does. Most peoples reaction to this post was well snobby. Reinforces the idea that unless your one of the greats your not worth listening to..... yeah alright then. A video of him playing bass would help though, otherwise we cant comment or critisize properly.[/quote] I'm not a fan of much double bass drum playing or that kind of full on drum solo, but for putting on a show and entertaining punters that pretty much hits the spot.

[quote name='SteveK' post='1293551' date='Jul 5 2011, 04:13 PM']Seems to me, Ryan Larson is to music, what [url="http://www.derekpyephotography.com/index.php"]Derek Pye[/url] is to photography. Check out "Derek's Photos" [/quote] Or to music what William McGonagall was to poetry: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRKxzL1plKk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRKxzL1plKk[/url]

[quote name='Conan' post='1293199' date='Jul 5 2011, 11:27 AM']Sounds familiar! Watch from 4:00... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98gmHgPI828"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98gmHgPI828[/url] Sorry for the OT BTW... [/quote] What's with all this fishing nonsense? Back to slapping: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCwLirQS2-o"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCwLirQS2-o[/url]

[quote name='paul h' post='1293128' date='Jul 5 2011, 10:09 AM']I can't be bothered to read this thread but I'm going to comment anyway Last night our singer told me that the bass player in his old band wasn't a patch on me. He said he was good but couldn't do that "slap thing". I only do it on Car Wash and maybe the odd bit thrown in here and there. So no mention of my trying to capture the feel of Bob Babbit on Signed, Sealed, Delivered or the fact that I play I Can't Help Myself with one finger in a desperate but totally unsuccessful attempt to sound a bit like JJ. Or that on the last chorus of Rolling in the Deep I play a really nice high harmony part with the vocals. Or even that during the middle eight to Forget You everybody else takes a back seat and I carry the whole band through it. None of that even registers. But he notices the slap. Make of that what you will but as far as I can see slap is a totally valid technique, no different to pick or fingers and it's also one that non-bass players, or "norms" tend to enjoy. The no-slap argument to me, is as pointless as the no pick argument.[/quote] Is it possible that the whole slap debate is actually of no interest to anyone except (a few of) us bass players? And that we're all just wasting our time?

[quote name='lowdown' post='1292323' date='Jul 4 2011, 03:47 PM']Monday afternoon, and reading that looks like you have still got your bear goggles on from Saturday night.. Garry[/quote] I reckon you'd need to drink an astonishing amount to want to **** a bear!

My test for whether a slap bass line is any good is to play it fingerstyle or with a pick and see if it still works. Several people here have quoted Freddie Washington's line to Forget Me Nots as tasteful slapping and guess what, it's just as much fun to play fingerstyle because it works for the tune rhythmically AND melodically. A torrent of only Es, octave, and D to octave E hammer ons is a missed opportunity in most cases in my opinion.

[quote name='Maverick' post='1291265' date='Jul 3 2011, 06:20 PM']To take it one step further, is a 4 string with a 24 fret neck an ERB?[/quote] Or a whole step and a half step if you play a Fender.