mcgraham

Ouch! That sounds painful! Sounds great though Alex. Good job! Mark

Does adding four cabs together like the above picture increase the overall sensitivity of the setup? Mark

Nice! How's the Hanon coming along? Mark

+1 Golchen, totally about having fun. Thing is, I've discovered I have [i]more[/i] fun the more I learn. I can't tell you how certain things will improve my playing until after I've learned them. After that they naturally come out. I've therefore learned from experience to keep striving for more and I'll reap the benefits as an automatic response. Mark P.S. Guthrie is a monster! 'Rhode Island Shred' is on my 'to transcribe' list.

[quote]I watched some of that Gary Willis tutorial on youtube and he kept accidentally pinching harmonics slightly with each rest stroke[/quote] I don't think that was the rest stroke. If you pluck a note then quickly move your next plucking finger onto the plucked string (ready to do another pluck, as Gary Willis advocates) it can set up an artifical harmonic, i.e. starting oscillation of the string but stopping certain harmonic frequencies from ringing = artifical harmonic. It is of course still possible with a rest stroke, as you are similarly introducing energy into a string but preventing it from freely oscillating by said follow through. Mark

I'd rather discuss/debate music and general progression in practicing music than most other topics of conversation on here. So, with that in mind... I took a short break from playing bass, nothing enforced since middle of last week. Wanted to tighten up some nuts and bolts with my guitar playing in that time and I did so. Such things help spur me on generally in music, (bass being my primary instrument). Things that I am/will be working on? Legato. Listening to guitarists like Govan and Satriani inspire me to work on getting fluid but defined sounding lines, on bass as well as guitar. Also learning to combine it effectively with plucking notes. Arpeggios. Hadrien Feraud has awesome chops on arpeggios, something I've not worked on quite as much as other things, so I'm returning to that for a bit. Reading. Just want to get better at that. I've got stuff to work on, I just need to sit down with it. Writing. Got a few pieces in the works, very early beginnings though. This is not just for bass, will mostly be done on guitar. I'm also working on some more specific technical things, but I won't bore people with that unless they ask. Share what you're working on! I'm at least one person who's interested! Mark

Obviously I'm not seeing or hearing you play so I am only speculating, but I think this is more or less normal for rest strokes where your plucking finger 'follows through' the string being plucked to 'rest' on the string below. The string below stops the motion of the finger this way. Through doing so you are effectively 'hitting' the string below, albeit muted. Gary Willis actually discusses this in one of his videos as a reason to use the rest stroke. He says (paraphrasing) that by following through you get this audible 'thump', which adds to the fullness of each note you pluck, this being a desirable trait on bass. From personal experience, it happens. Just the nature of following through with your finger. However, there are ways around it such as using free strokes, having your finger stopped by the pickup/ramp etc. If you are too heavy handed then perhaps lighten up to reduce the thud, and work on controlling the range of motion of your fingers so you're not absolutely smacking the lower strings. In short, if it doesn't sound right to you, don't do it! Make sure to try different things, and to try them in context (i.e. in a band/playing along to a song etc). Mark

At the moment I play with two or three drummers when serving at church. One is technically very good and sensitive to what's going on, but not always that tasteful. One is very solid and conscientious with his playing, but lacks feel. The last one has difficulty maintaining a constant tempo, really only uses a couple of different beats, but worst of all just doesn't have an appreciation for dynamics. Actually, that's not the worst part, the worst part is that the last one is too proud to acknowledge his own failings. There's always an excuse. I can't stand that sort of attitude. All in all, to date, I've had the good fortune to play with a number of good drummers, and one or two great drummers. I've played with some poor/inexperienced drummers, but I've never thought they were shockingly bad. The drummers I enjoy playing with the most are typically not the most gifted technically, or massively creative, but those who are humble even in the face of criticism, and those who will/want to serve the music well. Those qualities are the most important requirements to me. If they meet those two criteria then everything else tends to fall into place. Mark

I highly recommend using floating thumb regardless of the number of strings on your bass. That way if/when you switch to a 5/6+ there's less transitionary practice needed, you can play someone else's etc. Other advantages are it's easier to shift up/down strings, easier to shift along the string length (no need to unanchor each time you want to move), reduces tension in the right hand as you don't have to anchor, makes you play with a lighter touch, can help you to keep a more natural hand position, etc. Disadvantages: some feel less 'contacted'/'connected' with their instrument, some feel they can't dig in as much, some feel it's less secure, etc. Basically it's great for relaxation and ease of movement beyond a point. However anchoring can help provide a comparatively more secure anchorpoint, and will work fine. My opinion is that it is more of a hindrance than a help in the long run though. Mark

Thanks for your response Mikey, good to gain some insight into what you're doing. Coltrane's solo on Giant Steps is 'artificial' at least on paper, and I've read a number of articles criticising, or least playing down the hype, regarding Giant Steps as a result. However, if it sounds good, where's the problem? Why does it matter how the musician ended up with that arrangement? I can think of a number of songs that have very formulaic phrases that adorn or even underpin a piece, but they work, and that's what matters. I have meant to sit down and go through the 1-2-3-5 and 1-3-4-5 (major and minor respectively) beginner's approach from GS, but have (to my shame) not done so. It totally makes sense that things can develop massively from there onwards. Just reading stuff like this spurs me on though, and I can't wait to get home and practice now. Mark

So Mikey, your 'cell' selection, do you select four notes to use as a palette (so to speak) for your soloing, i.e. using them as the primary colours? If so, how do you personally choose your four notes? Is it quite artificial like 'each chord I will use the 2 4 6 and 7', or are you quite free in your interval choice each time the chord comes around? Just curious! Mark

I never really got on with the pentatonic scales. I just find them very angular, but in an uninteresting way, as well as artificial. I do use them, but very sparingly. Interesting anecdote though, Frank Gambale has talked before about how a great soloist uses a blend of arpeggios, full scales and pentatonics together, drawing from each in a cohesive way. I believe he's of the opinion that most moving music incorporates a reasonable balance of all three. Sorry, not much help here! Mark

I have a couple of exercises. 1) Play arpeggios starting on each interval of a given scale (e.g. G major = starting on G .. A .. B etc). Keep going up in thirds (e.g. on G = G B D F# A C, i.e. covering all strings on a 4 string) then back down, then shift. Or you can shift up to the top note of the next all thirds arpeggios (D for Am11 arpeggio), then go back down that one (D B G E C A), then shift then go up etc. 2) Loop a simple chord or chord progression (diads are fine to outline them, the sparser the better sometimes), and force yourself to emphasise the (ex)tensions of the chord, e.g. over a G major, emphasise the A, C, E (F# if you consider that a bit different). Force yourself to use them, approach them, slide up to them, arpeggiate them, end normal triadic arpeggios with them, start with them, insert them... Really try to learn what sound and feel they evoke. I've probably come up with a few more, but those are the ones that spring to mind as being most useful; the second more so than the first. Mark

I was at a friends' house the other day, and noticed that they had 'Teen Town' in standard notation on their music stand. I just casually decided to get through some of it. I then realised that my reading had improved, but that I wasn't fluent. To be able to just casually glance at a piece of score and have the written notes make as much sense as reading a book is a phenomenal and underrated skill. I will be working harder towards this. Mark

Sounding good! Well done for sticking with it! In answer to your question I worked primarily on one of them, I forget which number, probably number 1. I set mini-targets of 150, 180, 200bpm, the last one being the ultimate goal. I was also working on chromatics and arpeggios, though as these were more 'artificial' exercises I practiced them secondary to the Hanon as these were more 'line-like'. I would emphasise the importance of working on both fingers, as everyone has a strong finger that they naturally start on. Part of the work with these exercises is getting out of that 'I can only do licks one way, my technique makes it that way', and turning it into 'notes are the goal, technique is the means to achieving that goal'. The number of guys I've seen (even great, so called 'virtuoso' musicians) that simply cannot do something a different way due to glaring weaknesses in their technique that they refuse to address is astounding. Anyway, thanks for the update, keep letting me/us know how you're getting on. Mark P.S. to those who messaged me way earlier in the week I shall send the Hanon to you this evening, my apologies for such a delayed response.

PTP, thanks for the input. Very informative. I've got a simple mixing desk (4 channel) that I am planning on using. It all rests on whether the powered monitor has a line level out option so that I don't have to figure out a way to split the signal to get a feed. I'll be giving it a whirl on Sunday using just what I've got, provided all the equipment works as it should. Mark

I have done the research and I don't believe that is correct. I was on the phone to the product manager at the specialist yesterday. Essentially the custom molding part serves for comfort, to get the drivers as close as possible to your ear drums, and to provide for noise isolation. The headphones I linked to lack the custom molding so the fit isn't quite as ideal as custom molded ones, hence the comfort and noise isolation 'may' not be as good as custom molded ones (depends on the fit you choose and the nature of your ears), but they are very much designed to isolate noise from your ear drums. I asked him what would be difference between the Shure series with custom molded ear sleeves and a fully custom molded setup and the ONLY thing he could come up with was the distance between the driver surface and your eardrum being slightly longer due to the nature of fitting a headphone to a sleeve instead of molding a driver inside the sleeve. In short, thanks for your input, but I don't believe I need to go completely custom, and there are reasons for that. Mark

Hi all I'm looking for some input. In a nutshell, I want to give in-ear monitoring a go. I had a long explanation as to why, yada yada, but I'll skip that and get to the point. To start with I'm looking at universal fit earphones, specifically the Shure SE530 or the SE420 (just two to keep things simple). The seminars on IEM I've been to before say that bassists, or any instrument with a wide frequency response (e.g. piano, keys) needs at least a twin driver setup, i.e. two drivers in each earpiece. These two fit the bill. Has anyone found that one driver (rather than the more expensive 2+) is perfectly adequate for monitoring of bass AND general mix from the PA? Has anyone used these/such headphones before? Now, if I get them, I want to make sure I'm getting full use from them. I tried a lossless vs mp3 test (Paganini and Shorter pieces) through my nicer B&O headphones, and could (perhaps?) notice a slight difference, but certainly didn't make me dissatisfied with mp3 quality. I've NOT tried them through a decent hifi so I will need to do this, but from a headphone perspective, can anyone advise on whether there is likely to be an obvious and discernible difference between lossless and mp3 with high quality headphones such as the Shures? Any input would be greatly appreciated! Mark