Dad3353

4 minutes ago, FretsOnFire said:

... book for music theory when it comes to the bass? ...

They don't come much better than this, and at an unbeatable low cost ...

Hal Leonard Bass Method, Complete Edition ...

Note the spiral binding, allowing it to lie flat.

Note also that if you get stuck on any point on theory, ask here; you'll get help. 

13 minutes ago, ped said:

Hi guys. I’ve been looking into this and talking to our server guy to try and solve it. It seems to be a software issue so we’re working on a fix, trying a few things. 

It's better now, even back to normal. Whatever has been done, keep doing it, please. Thanks for the rapid reaction; have a splendid day. 

Good evening...

Both BC and GC are very sluggish, slow to respond and refresh, today, where all my other sites browsed are not (PC, Windows 11, Chrome or Brave browsers...). Anything going on, or just unlucky..? Either way, have a great day.

Douglas

28 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

... In order to get us a rehearsal reference point I want to take sections of various songs and make them into one track...

This is very easy to do using Reaper on a PC. It should be possible to talk you through it, too. Download and install it (it's free, fully functioning, to trial...) and see how it inspires you. 

18 minutes ago, SimonK said:

...  it is something you have to keep tweaking rather than set and forget...

I'm of the opposite persuasion; if it ain't broken, don't fix it. I don't 'tweak' my hifi when listening to stuff; I wouldn't 'tweak' a band mix, once it's been set right. I might compensate for a venue filling up, for example, but would certainly not be 'riding the EQ faders' all night. Vocal Fx, or 'special Fx' on the drums for 'riddim' stuff, is different, maybe. 

28 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

My amazing and totally infallible idea is a drum kit with quick release rims that can be stored/transported like Russian dolls. I mention this to drummers every time I help them carry their kit but they just look at me like I'm a total moron.

Arbiter Flats ...

I asked for help, moving a bass I'd bought from 'A' to 'B'. Steve stepped up to the plate, and made the connections in a timely and fuss-free manner, earning my thanks and this Positive Feedback post. A Trooper, and an all-round Good Egg. Thanks, Steve.

Latest (and last..?) Update : The Eagle Has Landed; I repeat, The Eagle Has Landed..!

I drove over to a nearby bar to meet my 'mule', who handed over a very large cardboard box which, once unpacked at home, revealed my new (to me...) HB50 bass guitar, in a splendid, and very well padded, soft case/gig bag. It's as new, plus the improvements made by the Seller, and it certainly packs a punch when plugged into my Fender Bassman 50w valve amp. The whole journey has taken three months, with the splendid cooperation of BC members (you know who you are...), family and friends. My thanks to all involved; I'll post a couple of NBD photos once I sort out my camera and stuff. Yippee..! 

Here is my contribution to the October 2024 Basschat Composition Challenge, illustrated with a picture chosen by Wolfram.
It's tempting, to tuck in, taste the Turkish Tavuk göğsü, try the Tulumba, but... What's that, lurking in the shadows..?
The instruments are Vst Darbuka drums programmed in 9/4 with MIDI, and a hypnotic Arabian orchestra and singer (Kontakt...) holding our attention (Stare at the picture; did the snake just move..?). All in Reaper, of course, with only a spot of Ozone 8 on the orchestra and the Master track. There is no AI used anywhere in this production.
Thanks for listening, if you already have; if you're about to, enjoy.

2 hours ago, upside downer said:

... a bit of fun with a DIY punk ethos.

Yes, we've noticed. 

4 minutes ago, tauzero said:

I ask purely theoretically as I'm unlikely to ever go back to continental Europe (for one thing, it needs a passport) - if one were to return with one more bass than one departed with, would this still go in the portable instrument exemption? This includes the situation where the number of basses that one departed with is zero.

These exemptions apply to instruments etc taken out of the country for one's professional use, ie : to play a gig. If, outgoing to a continental gig, there is no instrument, but there is one when returning, it would be cheating, of course, but could pass, as there's no record, or list, of outgoings and incoming. If it's just returning after a weekend jaunt to Europe, though, with no gig, it wouldn't apply at all, and should be declared. 

25 minutes ago, leschirons said:

Yes Douglas Printemps Bourges. Loved it, excellent gigs but tiring and the parking was a nightmare.  We always played in Birdland (pub) Must have been a trek for you. You're Brittany aren't you?

Yes, quite a trek. Lower Normandy, really, halfway between Rennes and Le Mans. Worth it, though, and we played further afield than that occasionally, too. One memorable Saturday playing near Marseilles, with an overnight dash back for a couple of us for a 'freebie' gig on the Sunday, near home..! Over a thousand kms clocked up, that weekend. 

At another festival, south Brittany, I fell ill (sunstroke...), got taken to hospital, so missed the tour bus, and had to walk and hitch-hike home, 400 kms, in the early hours of the next dawn. I couldn't do it now, of course. 

1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

I hesitate to contradict ...

Very happy to be contradicted in such a fashion..! Good News; thanks for all that. 

4 minutes ago, Sibob said:

I’ve just been prompted to change my password, did so, and now when I try to log in, it states that I’ve been “banned temporarily” by the site owner. Which is odd....

That's what happens when you set as a password 'TrumpIsAFoolAndCriminal'. 

...

Voltaire : “The best is the enemy of the good.”
Confucius : “Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”
Shakespeare : “Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.”

41 minutes ago, leschirons said:

In France we did a huge week long festival in Bourge three years running. About 150 bands over the week in approx 50 venues.

 

The venue we played wanted six, 20 min sets with a short break in between each.

 

The owner wanted,  punter in, buy a couple of drinks, punter out, next one in. He told us, last thing he wanted was someone sitting there with an empty glass for two hours listening to the band. 

 

One corporate gig I did (trio, in a huge chateau reception area) was to play whilst guests were arriving. Played for 30 mins (6 numbers)  Got 400€ each and not one person even looked at us let alone listened🤣

Bourges..? Happy Daze. Anecdote related a few years ago now, here...

Mis-Matched Disaster Gigs...

Note to bar owners : be careful what you wish for... 

23 minutes ago, leschirons said:

...I'm taking a little EBS session combo ...

This won't be covered by the 'portable musical instrument' exemption, so be prepared to either forego it, get the 'carnet' paperwork done for it, or chance your luck by just driving through, and claim ignorance if it gets spotted. I've not been back and forth much since BreaksIt, so I don't know how strict things are; I think it depends on which port quite a lot. I've never had any Customs issues returning to France via Caen, Le Havre or Dieppe, but that may not still be relevant. 

11 minutes ago, BabyBlueSound said:

I think for this specific competition, if you write and actually play the bassline, then just use AI to get something to go with it, that should be fine. I don't do it, just saying 😅

Hmm... Not bad, but I'm a drummer, composing in an classical orchestral style. What is this 'bassline' of which you speak..? 

...

3 minutes ago, christhammer666 said:

of course opinions are allowed but when it goes off topic and people are slating each other its a bit embarassing

Don't forget the 'Report' feature (behind those three little dots, top-right corner of every post...) is there to alert Mods and Admin of any untoward comments, especially insults. 

52 minutes ago, lurksalot said:

... yeah OK 😁 I know. 

Yes, I'm sure you do, as do we. 

...

9 minutes ago, Wolfram said:

This is a dig at my September entry...

Just to be clear...  This is in no way a 'dig' at your winning entry last month, nor of any other entries, at all. Pure coincidence, and I've not made any such connection until your post above^^. No, Sir, this is just my knee-jerk reaction to another Topic posted recently, show-casing a couple of AI pieces, which triggered my own experiment, which just happened to be created as the October picture came up on my screen. I have always used many methods, more or less self-orchestrated, but also (and more and more of late...) in exactly the same way as yourself, with a mix of 'live' instruments, Vst's, samples and loops; anything that comes to hand and mind that fits the mood of the composition I'm working on. This AI experiment was so quick and easy, I wanted to see what it could mean for the BC Challenge, ie: should it be admitted, or is it best excluded..? Is it just the final result that counts, however the piece is conceived, as that's the way the World is heading..? How could one tell, anyway..? Is it OK as long as it's declared as being wholly or partly AI..? Does it matter in a purely-for-fun nonsense Challenge such as ours..? Personally, I found no satisfaction from posting my offering, and will be composing (I hope...) by more traditional methods another piece, as that's the challenge for me; not the result, but the path towards the result (this explains why my efforts are so weak, of course..!  ). It's just to open the debate, with absolutely no aspersions cast on anyone. Just to be clear... 

48 minutes ago, upside downer said:

... and you'll thank me for it 😁

Hmm... That's as may be. 

...

57 minutes ago, edstraker123 said:

It would be nice to have an AI composition challenge on here but it doesn't look like many people are using it yet.

I've put one up for the BC Composition Challenge, to see what, if any, guide-lines need to be put in place. I managed to produce something, but to retrieve the stems of the AI stuff, it needs payment, which I'm not willing to do (yet...). Not bad as an exercise, but nowhere near as satisfying as my 'home-grown' stuff. 

38 minutes ago, lurksalot said:

What musical input is required to get an A.I tune ?

 

the challenge is for a bit of fun,  but it is for composition , if the composition is being done by a computer, it does seem a bit incongruous to enter it as one’s own.

I guess if there is a consensus I can make an addition to the simple rules.  

Yes, I just put this one up to stimulate that debate. The 'musical input' is ticking a couple of boxes, waiting a couple of minutes for the cogs to whirr, and choosing what and how to string together the downloaded results in Reaper. The whole thing took about ten minutes.

At least, when I use Band In A Box (BIAB...), I choose the chords and sequence, and what instruments and style I want. I then spend one or two 'nuits blanches' wrestling with it all, until either it or I wins. I often abandon it all and pick up a guitar instead. Where to draw the line..? Ever since virtual instruments, and sampling, the lines have become very fuzzy. This ^^ doesn't have to be a 'test case'; I can quite easily do another or several (as I do, most months...), but it may serve to illustrate the increasing difficulties in the IT era. Back to clashing rocks together..? All is fair in love, war, and BC Composition Challenges..? I don't know; the floor is all yours, folk.