bassist_lewis

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1391958136' post='2362962'] If , at the end of this thread, it turns out that you are the devil incarnate, can somebody let me know? I had previously assigned that role to a girl from Essex that I used to share a house with when I was a student, who I believe is still sticking pins in a voodoo doll of my likeness. If you are in fact the devil then maybe we could do some kind of a deal to fix her and get her off my case ? [/quote] Give me your soul and it's a deal All who post on this thread will spend eternity burning in hell! But seriously, yeah, I get what you mean (not about the girl from Essex, the bass thing) no bass is perfect... though my clover is pretty damn close. Maybe it's one of those "it's about the ride, not the destination" situations.

Just remembered... I also bought a Lakland 55-02 and sold it :S

Yeah, I know I'm not the worst but I would like to find one or two and just be happy!

Don't worry, this is bass related! Over the last few years I've been gone through quite a few basses, I got a Clover 4 string in 2010 which I still have and is my favourite bass, but playing lots of covers in lots of keys a 5 string is much more useful (got told to drop Living on a Prayer by a tone a beat before starting, couldn't he have done that on 4 string!) Since then I sold my epiphone semi-hollow, a cort 4 string and my BTB6 but I've also bought an aria (sold it), an Ibanez SDGR6 (sold it), and last year I bought a Letts 6 fretless and a Lakland DJ 5 - and I'm thinking of selling both to fund a Callowhill 5 string shorty ( both the Letts and the DJ5 are a stretch for my short arms)! My band mates always laugh at me when I bring a new bass to gigs (oh, ANOTHER bass!), am I the devil incarnate?

I was going to quip 'back in the 80s' but thought better of it but yeah, they're a bit out of fashion these days. My Letts fretless sounds amazing - kind if like a double bass in that there's loads of character in each note... but I've only used it for this novelty, can't think what situation would demand it.

I don't if there's a ready audience for this but I've been waiting on these for months! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151823810447583&set=vb.556172582&type=2&theater http://www.iphoneogram.com/u/364105214 https://www.facebook.com/pages/CallowHill-Guitars/124595824258074?id=124595824258074&sk=photos_stream

Playing Glasgow on Sunday night if anyone that way wants to join the relay, PM for details.

Playing Glasgow on Sunday night if anyone that way wants to join the relay, PM for details.

The bass was actually not too bad to play, a little low output and balance not quite perfect but overall good! Was a good gig too. My next gigs are the 6th at Finnegan's, then the 8th, 14th and 22nd of February at Malone's for the next lucky player.

I'm going to use the bass tonight at Malone's if anyone wants to come see (on from 10), should be fun!

Does it have a case!? I'm going to pick it up from mcnach tonight. My next gig is this Saturday at Malone's in Edinburgh, then Finnegan's Wake on the 6th of February and Malone's again in the 8th, for whoever wants to get it next.

It's about a 55/45 split this tax year in favour of my non-music job, I live in my own flat and receive no financial help from parents or spouses (I do use my girlfriend's car but we split insurance, tax, MOT etc)

Just want to be clear, I'm not judging people that decided against it, as RussFM pointed out you can buy better gear more easily with a consistent salaried job - as well as pay for a car, ironically without which it's very difficult to make a living from music! I just see myself being a much happier making a living entirely or predominantly from music

So, over Xmas and new year I've met up with family I only see when the moon is blue and the question of what I'm doing with my life inevitably comes up. My uncle asked, 'what's you're plan b' and implied I should stop pursuing music and get a real job so I can earn more money and have a "career", my mother has also spoken to (at?) me on a few occasions about getting a trade. I have no intent of pursuing another career right now, I'm 24 (and a 1/2), it's 4 years exactly since I decided to consciously be a musician and I've been earning increasing sums of money 3 and a 1/2 of those 4 years (mainly through weddings) and I honestly don't feel that I've allowed anywhere near enough time to think that my career is going nowhere. I'm asking those who changed their minds regarding a career in music when and why they made the decision, and if I'm just being stubborn about sticking to my guns.

Cool, I'll drop in!

At the moment I'm pretty available evenings next week,where's your gig on the 16th?

What sort of bass is it? I have a gig on the 18th at Malone's in Edinburgh, then one a week from the 6th of Feb. I live in Edinburgh (Newhaven area)

ForScore is great for charts you have in PDF format (I think you can convert iRealb charts to PDF) and organise them into sets, by artist, genre, tags, very useful app. If you want to write notation get Notion, bit pricey but very good.

Like any instrument singers have their lowest note and their highest and should be able to sing every note in between, except that range is fairly unique to the singer in question (though tenors, sopranos etc have historically standardised ranges). singing every song in C would actually be more difficult than it sounds, take Locked Out of Heaven, which is in F, if we're to transpose that up a 5th it would be imossible for a man to sing it (it's very very high anyway), a 4th lower and it'd sound rubbish. I suggest you have a go at singing yourself, then you'll understand.

I played a couple of house tunes on Friday for a gig with a soul choir and the bass lines were both pretty good. Not as hooky as that one but grooving nonetheless.

I don't of an online resource but the Latin Bass Book by Oscar Stagnaro is an excellent book, both for sight reading and learning the idiosyncrasies of the style. Pricey though :S

If roots is what your comfortable with do that for the time being. From what I can tell an examiner isn't necessarily looking for you to tap out altered scales in quintuplets (not on every performance anyway) they're after a strong MUSICAL performance. Keep shedding all your arpeggios and scales and eventually they'll start to feel 'right'. As Bilbo says improvising, and music generally, is a lifetime's work.

I separate performing and practicing in my mind which seems to translate directly to your convergent and divergent. Practice, so I read in "Talent Is Overrated: What Really Seperates World Class Performers From Everybody Else", should be an effort , you should be working hard and being aware of everything you're doing and adjusting. It should be exhausting! Performing on the other hand should be completely unconscious, it should be easy. Studies on improvising musicians found that when improvising there was hardly any activity in their frontal cortex - where conscious thought occurs. Equally you could practice that skill as well at home by jamming to a tune or a loop or playing any old bollocks while watching TV.

Having recently began (begun?) teach I've found that being aware of the little things that make playing easier is very important. One of my students is a complete novice so her technique is in constant need of tweaking, another has some experience playing guitar and even has a decent amount of harmonic knowledge but again being able to break down technique and harmonic concepts for him has been very productive. With learning I prefer baby steps. I do find them frustrating at times but by being thorough you avoid making bad habits.

They do come highly recommended - not just by jazzers, I've read some very positive reviews by self-proclaimed 'normal' bass players - so if you know exactly what you want you're likely to come away with an amazing instrument you'll play forevermore. And Foderas have good resale value so if you don't like it you'd get a good price for it (if you're patient) and you can buy something else or go with your second plan of a combination of Fenders and Musicmans.