mcgraham

Sounds awesome. You've always got such nice taste in basses. I remember trying your Modulus a year ago, fantastically even and strong tone. Do you ever miss it? [quote]An unlined Ebony board with side dots, I'm thinking of having one dot per fret, with two dots at the 5th, 7th and 9th and three dots at the 12th fret, that's something I need to finalize with Martin. My fretless acoustic bass just has dots at the 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th etc, I don't have a problem with that, but that's a 4 string and a 6 string is a slightly different matter.[/quote] Might I suggest different [i]size[/i] dots instead of different numbers? I used tippex on a poorly dotted fretless once to (black out the bad dots and) put small dots (0.5-1mm) on the lines of every (other) fret, bigger dots (1-1.5mm) on the 3, 5, 7 etc frets, and two bigger dots just either side of the line at the 12th fret (and 24th). I found that to be very helpful, without being too confusing. Re: the pickup - pickups sense a very narrow aperture of the string, it's not a true acoustic representation of the sound of the string, it's just allowing the sensing and amplification of whatever frequencies are occurring at the point of detection. Therefore, sticking a pickup between the normal positions will not yield the same tone as a normal layout. If you're wanting simplicity (I know I like the idea of a simple one pickup bass) why not do a one-piece ramp + pickup arrangement, i.e. two standard pickups joined by one large radiused wood cover to give the effect of a ramp and one large pickup (Nordstrand has one like this, Skjold has a large area pickup similar to this). Then you can wire them in series/parallel, perhaps even a push/pull on the single volume to go between? Mark

Only just seen this. Saw that I'd 'started' a thread and went 'Woaaaah, when did I do that?!' I think that's very clear and definitely useful. Helps give a good comparison. It's also not just a one dimensional figure that tells you it's best sensitivity rating or SPL at an ill-specified frequency, which appears to be the norm (judging from what your good self and BFM have been saying). Good work! Mark

*strokes chin*

BassMunkee, enlighten me, what is the blast beat? I may have heard the term before but I'm not sure what it is. On the topic of drums, I was in Nottingham Drum (and Guitar) Centre the other day, and they had a Zildjian (I think) masterclass video on. Was totally enthralling. Watching a great drummer is just so involving, cos there's always so much going on, and if they've got an underlying groove despite massive chops, it's just awe-inspiring! Mark

If you actually check his youtube page, he is considered to the the fastest 'percussive' bassist, i.e. he's the fastest drummer who drums on a bass. I'm not saying it's easy to do stupid number of 'clicks' per second, but it certainly less musical than stupid number of 'notes' per second, and is certainly less difficult than co-ordinating left AND right hands to play notes at speed. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with playing fast or wanting to play fast, but few people put the time in to have clean and efficient technique with good tone. Even fewer do something musical with such technique. Mark

You getting excited CK? Mark

Re: improving improv - just practice! transcribe stuff, understand what notes make what sound and why, that is ultimately only decipherable and made meaningful by you, i.e. take scales, and try to identify what makes them sound the way they do (e.g. dorian - I find it to be the major 6th with the minor 3rd that gives dorian its sound, those notes are characteristic of the scale in my mind; it's very bluesy); take chords, try to identify what makes them distinctive (e.g. maj7, the words that I use are open, unresolved, I almost think of the chord like a slight sigh at the end of a sentence). These are just ways that I came up with to describe pre-existing bits of information in ways that are meaningful and memorable to me. Make sense? Re: notes in a chord - learning where notes are on the neck is a very useful thing to do. Try drawing out a fretboard, and writing out notes of a scale (say G major) then fill in gaps in intervals, thinking about which notes are which rather than just blindly filling them in. I've found that combining patterns with a good knowledge of note locations on the neck means that by 'overlaying' chord/scale/phrase patterns on the neck I can instantly see which notes are used in said patterns. You also don't [i]need[/i] to know every note that you're playing at every moment, I tend to lean on the ability to see notes on the neck, to see patterns, to use my ear and muscle memory, and combinations of the three. Does this also make sense? Mark P.S. If you find you always start on the root, then practice [i]not[/i] starting on the root; do scales in descending thirds/ascending sixths, do chord inversions, finish on the root instead etc.

Probably! Via several different stations no doubt. Nottingham is designed to be as frustratingly inaccessible to get to by train and by car, and equally frustrating and difficult to get out of by train or by car. Tram is about is about your only safe bet. Mark

I get what you mean, I think. Are you saying that you'd like to be able to know what you can/can't play or what will/won't work over a given chord/chord progression? i.e. to feel comfortable playing over chords and changes? I personally think that to understand chords, a more harmonic instrument is a useful thing, e.g. guitar or piano. I often visualise the shapes of chords on the fretboard, thus 'highlighting' key notes that work. To understand what works over them, a good starting point is using scales that work (e.g. major scale in a major key) and notes of a given chord, and trying to blend them together (if that makes sense). Other than that, experimentation will yield useful results. Only your ear can tell you with a reasonable level of certainty what 'works' and what doesn't 'work'. Mark

Sweet. I may even have my new bass by then! Mark

Oh dear. Another poo slinging match? I wouldn't mind having a chat with both of them to be honest! Jeff has loads of experience in lots of different musical situations and places, and also very knowledgeable and technical; I'd be happy to have a discussion about that. Also, whilst I don't totally dig the Beatles music, I do (on occasion) admire their songwriting ability. Paul has survived how many years of drugs, fame and the general lifestyle of a music 'legend' (forgive the term). Look at the positives! Let us try to stop being so 'British' and on the offensive all the time. Mark

I have to admit I was mildly confused by this post, as I/we do not have the books to compare with each other. +1 for listening/copying. After reading an article advising this, I try to link sounds I hear in songs to the theory behind them (e.g. sound of Lydian - Flying in a Blue Dream intro), that way when playing/improvising I [i]qualitatively[/i] think 'this is the sound/feel/effect I want <insert example>' and then I [i]quantitatively[/i] know what will obtain that sound. Make sense? Re: the #4 vs no 4th business, I think that it's partly dependent on taste, partly because if you played a chord with a 1 3 7 or 1 3 b7 (even forgetting the 5), and then tried to stick in a major 4th in either of those chords, it'd sound pretty dissonant. Using a #4 wouldn't be quite so bad (IMO) but it really does depend on context, and the instrument. Closely voiced chords on bass need very select note choice to ensure they don't sound like mud. Mark

I am exceedingly happy with what I've got. But I'm also very [i]excited[/i] about new stuff in the pipeline. Whilst this may sound odd and perhaps paradoxical, I know this to be right for me. Mark

I think it's just about getting comfortable with your instrument and your abilities, and to put it in perspective. It's just music, and as wonderful as music is, it's just good clean fun Even if you hold yourself to a high standard (I know I do!), once you're actually on stage performing it's pointless worrying about it, it just gives you something to work on afterwards. Mark

Well it wasn't last night, it was Saturday night. Did a gig with a swing band at a 50th wedding anniversary. Was called on Wednesday night and asked to fill in, was given the music on Thursday night to learn, had Friday evening to look at it, and Saturday afternoon to learn it/get comfortable with it. Gig went well, punters loved it. Great classics that I really enjoyed, even though I was hearing most of them for the first time as I was playing. I was thinking whilst doing it, 'my gran would've loved this'. I've been invited to join their group, and got some offers of some further jazz gigs, which was nice. I shall see how things go. Mark

Unfortunately, due to an issue with the top, we've elected to respray it. Another couple of weeks I imagine... Mark

I have phases. But I spend significantly more time on bass than guitar. Guitar is just different, it's a wonderful way to broaden your musical horizons. A good second instrument. Mark

Ah-hah! Cunning! There are perhaps two clues in the last post Colour? Mark

Any clues or are you going to keep us in suspense for a bit? I would personally prefer the former Mark