Skol303

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1093718' date='Jan 18 2011, 12:34 PM']Or you could just not bother because, when you have finally nailed it, you will never play it again, except at music fairs, bassdays and when trying out basses in shops. Spend the time learning to read music instead.[/quote] ^ Good point Bilbo, but slightly cynical if you don't mind me saying! ;-) I mean, there's still enjoyment to be had in learning these kind of solos, even though they don't have much 'gig value'. I personally don't play in a band and have no intention of doing so (not at the moment, anyway). I'm a studio geek (aka 'knob twiddler'!) first and bassist second, so I tend to make music on my lonesome and use the bass the record live audio when it suits whatever tune I'm working on. But I am learning to read music... slowly but surely, but I'm getting there!

^ Thanks to you all for the very useful feedback! There appears to be several ways of approaching this, which I'm going to try out when I get home tonight after work... The more I try playing this piece, the more I'm realising how 'unconventional' Mr Pastorius really was (or still is!).

I've just converted a cheap'n'cheerful old bass (a Hohner LX90B) to fretless, and it actually sounds and plays fairly well! Just like 99% of other people who make a DIY fretless, I've decided to have a go at learning 'Portrait of Tracy' by Jaco. Firstly: I'm quickly discovering that it's probably a 'bridge too far' for my bass playing skills at the moment - and perhaps it always will be, as I'm finding it very demanding! (but then of course, Jaco was a genius so I'm not expecting to match his skills). Secondly: I honestly don't think my reach is big enough for this piece! There's one particular step where the Tab (from Bassmaster) indicates playing a B on the A string (i.e. 2nd fret), while simultaneously tapping what looks like a harmonic on D#/Eb (i.e. 6th fret on A string). The problem is - I simply can't stretch from the 2nd to 6th fret with my little/pinky finger! Either Jaco had enormous hands (or perhaps mine are small?!), or I'm reading this wrong somehow. I was wondering if the same effect could be achieved by playing the B on the A string, and the D#/Eb on the D string just above (i.e. D string 1st fret)? I mean, I can stretch to the 5th fret ok, but the 6th would appear to require an extra finger that I simply don't have ;-) If anyone here is familiar with playing this piece, then please pass on any tips. The bit I'm struggling with is: [ 3 ] G|---[4]-----[5]-------------|---------[4]-|-[4]--------------------|| D|---[5]-[3]-----[4]-----[5]-|---------[4]-|-[5]--------------------|| A|-3-------------[5]-[3]-----|-2(6)--------|--3-----------------0-2-|| E|----------------3----------|------0------|-----[5]--------3-0-----|| PS: I'm also interested in any other fretless solos, so please pass on any recommendations or personal favourites.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1091917' date='Jan 16 2011, 10:31 PM']I'd recommend the Ultimate Support GS-100 Genesis Stand. It's the best one I've used and I trust it to look after my £2500 bass.[/quote] +1 on the GS-100 I trust it to look after my £200 bass :-) ...very sturdy and portable; can't fault it.

... also, listen to plenty of early ska and rocksteady - e.g. Maytals, Skatalites and so on. That's where the real Jamaican basslines are found, in my humble opinion.

My wife suffers from Raynauds. What I understand is that it's a circulatory condition, which flares up under extreme temperatures (she suffers from it in cold weather). I see no reason why this should stop you from playing bass - i.e. you should be able to adapt by keeping your hands warm (or cool) whilst playing, or before a gig, etc. But then, I'm not a doctor! Good luck with it.

I'm a newbie so my pearls of wisdom are limited... But I'll say this: steer clear of the Basschat Marketplace when you're skint, or you'll only end up skinter! ;-)

[quote name='pietruszka' post='1089113' date='Jan 14 2011, 11:27 AM']Thanks again everyone. Sorry for the lack of response, my internet has been down. Skol303, I may take you up on that offer. Ill PM when the time comes. Cheers aain. Dan[/quote] ^ No probs Dan, happy to help! PM me if you want an opinion anytime. I run a small design company, so I have a reasonable eye for this sort of thing ;-)

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1086898' date='Jan 12 2011, 04:42 PM']That's it for John Cage's [i]4' 33"[/i] then.[/quote] ^ Brilliant! I won't pretend to have known about that piece before Googling it just now... but made me laugh when I found out. Technically speaking there is still some sound involved in that composition (i.e. background noise), but... ah b*****ks to it! ;-) Art or arse? THAT is the question...

Your business card should ideally reflect your 'character' or 'brand', whether you're a business or a musician. So a black, funerial card might be ideal if your genre of music is "Doom Metal", but perhaps not if it's Gospel ;-) My main tip would be to keep it simple and avoid anything too 'flashy': the purpose of a business card is to pass on your contact details first and foremost. Nobody is going to hire you on the strength of a card, so don't worry about it too much either. Sw***y cards often indicate a particular word that has caused the word 's.w.anky' to get automatically moderated in this post... if you get my gist! So my advice would be to keep you cards plain and simple, and let your music - or your gob - do the talking. I work for a graphic design company, so if you want to post your proposed design(s) I'd be happy to comment on them, for what it's worth... PS: if you want to be really flash, a friend of mine once had a bunch of iPods customised with his name engraved on them and a selection of his music ready-loaded. But then he was pitching his services to major bands in the US...!

"Music is an art form whose medium is sound." ^ Wikipedia definition... so it must be true, right?? ;-)

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='1086781' date='Jan 12 2011, 03:10 PM']If i had that though I would be writing orchestral scores... not playing a 4 string fender bass.....[/quote] ^ Ha! Made me laugh; good point too... I don't think it's so much a case that being a good artist will help you to be a good musician. More that artists and musicians use the same parts of their brain when thinking creatively. Just like plumbers and computer programmers use the same parts of their brain to do their respective jobs (i.e. logic / problem solving). But that doesn't mean I'd hire a computer programmer to fit a washing machine... ;-)

[quote name='BassMunkee' post='1086714' date='Jan 12 2011, 02:02 PM']It is entirely possible to disappear entirely up one's own arse in any discussion like this.[/quote] ^ Spot on! In answer to the question: yes, music is art. Hence people who make music are commonly referred to as 'artists' (my job title is "Creative Director" so this kinda bo11ock5 discussion is part of my day job...!). Does that mean musicians and, for example, painters think the same? Probably... there's science to show that people use certain parts of their brain when thinking creatively - be it writing a poem, playing music, painting a picture, whatever - the same areas of the brain light up when doing any of these activities. Obviously it's (currently) impossible to know for certain, but I'd hazard a guess that all artists use similar parts of their brain when being artistic - so for example, a painter might think about colours, hues and composition in the same way that a musician might think about keys, tones and... well, composition! (again the same term is used in both fields of art). Short answer: yes!

This might sound bleedin' obvious, but a tip that helped me when I started playing bass was: learn to string your guitar properly! I used to be very lazy/sloppy at winding strings, which used to cause some 'buzzing', as though the action of my guitar wasn't right. Knowing how to do this properly fixed the issue. Like I said, not exactly a revelation but something that's easy to miss when you're starting out...

^ Cheers T! Yeah, I'm guessing it's probably just too much too soon, and that my pinky hasn't had chance to adjust. In answer to your questions: "Could you outline if that two hours you mentioned is in one period or spread over the course of the day?" A: it's normally 2 hours straight in the evening; or perhaps two 1 hour sessions with a quick tea break in between. "You don't mention a rough idea of your age." A: I'm 36; no previous problems with bones/joints, other than a dodgy knee from hiking... "In the meantime, if you use the little (5th ?) finger less and see what happens, it should give you some ideas." ^ I've trued playing without using my pinky and the other fingers are able to cope with it fine (i.e. no pain). "How tight are you gripping the neck ?" A: hard to say... but probably too tight, as I'm still trying to work on speed and coordination. "Do you have a tutor or and experienced someone that can watch you play?" A: no tutor at present, but I'm thinking of taking lessons soon.

I've been playing bass for a couple of months now (I used to play, like, 10+ years ago...so I'm very much a beginner again!). Been practicing lots of scales to get my left hand stronger and more agile. The only problem is that I think I've overdone it and injured my pinky finger! Not badly so... it just hurts a little in the muscle at the base of the finger, but also around the outside edge of my wrist where I'm assuming the pinky tendon runs. My technique/posture might be to blame for this, or it might simply be that I haven't used my pinky for anything apart from picking my nose these past 10 years... hence it might just need strengthening. I'm practicising for around 2 hours a day, so maybe I'm just doing too much too soon? Yeah, I know this ain't "hypochondriacs anonymous" (!), but if anyone has experienced the same and can offer advice then please do. Cheers!

[quote name='MikanHannille' post='1083616' date='Jan 9 2011, 09:14 PM']I have Vox Amplug Bass.[/quote] ^ Me too, and I love it Especially because it allows me to run FX pedals if I want to (i.e. by plugging the Amplug into the last pedal in the chain). In all honesty, it's a very poorly made piece of kit, in my opinion (i.e. cheap and plasticky) but the sound you get from it is great. I also use Amplitube/iRig on my iPhone, primarily as a tool for recording ideas when I'm away from my desktop Mac. It's a very versatile piece of software, but the sound isn't as good as the Amplug. Still, not bad for something that runs on a phone! Both Amplug and Amplitube allow you to play along to a backing track - Amplug needs you to connect a separate CD/MP3 player (via a simple 1/8" AUX socket), whereas Amplitube allows you to load in songs from your iPhone or iPod library. I haven't had the same problem as the poster above - i.e. I'm able to play any song in my iPhone library, without having to convert the MP3 format [Dave: are you sure your version of Amplitube is up to date? Might be worth checking].

[quote name='Skinny Machines' post='1058684' date='Dec 14 2010, 04:12 PM']Full time, touring band... require a creative, [b]good looking[/b] and quick fingered bassist to join the ranks of a rising machine.[/quote] ^ Sorry... I'm certainly in no position to make comments about people's image! But having read the line above and then looked at the photo, I can only assume that the OP of this thread is the bloke second from the left, as the rest of the band appear to be on the - shall we say, "characterful"? - side of aesthetic beauty. Whatever...good luck folks

Propellerhead Record is the 'dog's balearics' when it comes to home audio recording - even better than Logic in my opinion. But it does cost around £160-£200! This might be a curve-ball, but if you want a cheap(ish) solution for quick and easy home recording - and assuming you have an iPhone (?) - have a look at Amplitube. It'll cost you around £30 for the app and the necessary adaptor, but I'm finding it a great little product for recording stuff quickly and easily. Though at that price, you might as well shell out for a licensed copy of Reaper! Best option in terms of freeware is Audacity. I've spent hundreds on audioware over the years, and I STILL use Audacity as part of just about every project. Brilliant piece of software.

[quote name='BassNovice' post='1081060' date='Jan 7 2011, 01:51 PM']Sound nice skol...I'll check them out also!!![/quote] No probs! Sennheiser, Behringer, Audio-Technica, AKG...you really can't go wrong with any of those brands. Sennheiser tend to dominate the market and are reliably good quality, but shop around as you often get more for your money with the lesser known manufacturers. £90-£150 or so will bag you a pair of 'phones that should last many years, if not a lifetime! I'd personally avoid using in-ear phones (aka 'ear buds'): call me paranoid, but there's a bunch of studies that show these are more likely to cause permanent ear damage than 'can-style' 'phones; just a quick word of warning there. Three important things to bear in mind are: - Closed or open back? Closed headphones fit over your entire ear and cut out much more background noise (e.g. useful if you're ever wanting to record vocals or use them in a noisy environment), but open are actually better if you also want to use the 'phones for mixing/mastering audio (in my humble opinion), because the open back gives a more 'natural' sound. That probably makes no sense at all, but Google it if you're interested. - Flat or augmented frequency response? No headphones have a truly flat frequency response, and most tend to compress the sound to make it suitable for listening so close to the actual speaker. Some phones do sound 'better' than others because they affect the sound in some way (typically boosting the bass and treble, while dropping the mid-range: the classic EQ 'V' shape). Other phones (like those made by AKG) are designed to consciously transfer the sound with minimal 'interference', so that what you hear is a more accurate representation - albeit more flat or dull sounding in some instances. I personally prefer phones with a flat frequency response, but that's because I also use them for home studio work. Something to think about. - Comfort... not to be underestimated! (I've tried plenty of top-end phones that sound perfect but start to feel uncomfortable after a short while). If possible, visit a store and try them on for size. Headphone cups (the padded bits that fit on your ears) tend to wear out surprisingly quickly, so it's wise to buy a pair that allow the cups to be easily detached and replaced if possible, rather than glued on (same applies to headphone cables). Hope that helps! I spent a while researching headphones before investing in a pair of AKGs a couple of years ago, so feel free to pick my limited brain if you want any more advice. I'm a studio geek first and bass player second, so headphones are very important to me

I very recently bought an Ernie Ball leather strap in the new year sales. Thick leather, stiff as an ironing board but feels as though it could happily pull a 10-ton truck up a cliff-face In other words: it seems very durable and is comfortable to wear, but please bear in mind it's still early days for me and this strap... I might hate it in a few weeks time, but so far so good.

Sennheisers are great. I'd also strongly recommend a pair of AKGs - I personally use these for both home recording and 'stealth' bass playing late at night: [url="http://www.dawsons.co.uk/acatalog/akg_k240_mk_2_stereo_studio_headphones.html"]http://www.dawsons.co.uk/acatalog/akg_k240...headphones.html[/url] ^ Superb 'phones for the money. What I particularly like is the fact that they're very 'flat' - what you hear is what you get, if that makes sense? (i.e. they don't affect the sound in any way, which makes them ideal for studio work). AKG have been making 'phones for ages, so it's a brand you can trust.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1080311' date='Jan 6 2011, 07:39 PM']My first ever project bass was to all intent and purposes made from crap...[/quote] ^ That honestly made me laugh out loud, nice one I was picturing some 'wattle and daub' bass with flies buzzing round it... Thanks again for useful feedback here, folks. The bass I'm doing up (Hohner Rockwood LX90B, as mentioned) is a nice little player - I've just converted it to fretless and I'm very happy (surprised in fact) with how well it plays and sounds. The action is a little high, as I've yet to properly adjust the nut after removing the frets, but I've strung it with some lightweight flats (40-90) that sit low in the nut and help to lower the action overall. I've checked the intonation and it seems fine, but I'm no expert on that front! (i.e. the 12 fret on each string harmonises perfectly fine with the open strings.... but I've got no more technical understanding than that). The current pickups looks cheap but the overall sound is ok - great bottom end but lacking in treble. Generally speaking it's very playable, which is why I'm now set on doing it up as a DIY project. Pickups are now definitely in the pipeline after reading comments here. I'll post again once I've got round to changing them (with pics!) and will no doubt be pestering y'all again for advice if/when things go wrong...

^^ Thanks to the rest of y'all too... Yeah, I'm thinking that this is a good opportunity to learn some new skills and practice DIY on a bass that wouldn't cause me to weep if I messed it up! And as truckstop says, I'd still have a set of decent pickups at the end of the day... [that's my kind of thinking- i.e. the sort that's used to justify spending money! ]

^ Cheers Mog, that's good advice... those DiMarzio pickups look right up my street I'm amazed that you used to own a LX90B! There's not much about them on Google and I've yet to meet anyone else who even knows what the hell I'm talking about when I mention it. Not a bad little bass at all - I've just converted mine to fretless and it plays very nicely. PS: off topic... but just noticed that the word "sw***y" (as in "showy" or expensive) was automatically moderated in my original post. Reminds me of the following UK place-names, which have been known to cause problems: Penistone (the noise made by one's private parts??) Clitheroe (a hero of women everywhere...!)