gapiro

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1506519423' post='3379304'] Ahhhhh ... Bicester. [size=2](You need to be a certain age to get that.)[/size] [/quote] it's all Gravy.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1506440731' post='3378767'] I've got an issue with the "dates you can't do" thing too, our guitarist wanted us to give him all the dates we can't do rather than him check for each gig but he's not my dad, if I've got no gig next weekend and I book a weekend away that's my lookout, I'm not going to update my personal free time diary with him on a daily basis as things come up, booked holidays of course no problem and times you already know are out to save checking every time but not my personal free dates for him to book what he likes. Ah bands [/quote] I'm with this. I have a calendar. I put things of my own schedule in my calendar Ask me if i'm free, i'll respond within minutes unless I'm physically unable to, I am far more connected to the world via technology than I'd care to admit. I almost never say no to a gig that I can make - hell I'm doing a dep gig for a musical where I'm coming back from a weeks work conference and on the night I get back the Mrs is driving to meet me at the train station (with gear) and take me to the theatre. (I have arranged for her to get a ticket too!) I do not fill my calendar by sending every event/thing in my calendar with the band. Quite frankly I don't want them knowing when i'm having a dirty weekend away, or if i'm having a doctors appointment. This means I either have to create two events (one with info and one just "busy") (= space for mistake) in the calendar, so my calendar also looks sh*te and unreadable (as well as the potential for mistake). I had one band insist they were an invited person on the calendar items. I also don't like other people feeling like they have a say over what a priority is in my life - I have had arguments with a band because I had a cricket match on a Sunday a month in advance (cup match) and they decided that the gig was more important than my cricket match.

No luck? I tried the string identifier thread and have got no where

Hi Chaps Trying to identify a string Long story short - I picked up a DB what, 18 months ago, haven't had much time to play due to change of jobs, two house moves and so on, now just getting into it properly I took my bass over to a recommended luthier (recommended by two cellists and a violinist) - hes done a sterling job - new bridge, planed down a bump in the neck and just general set up. He also removed the D string as it was.... in a bad state and put one that was in the bag (which came as I got it!) on. It sounds a hundred times brighter, louder and fuller than the other strings, so now obviously I want to get a full set. I can't see any that match it in the bag. There are a couple of wrappers for superflex thomastik but the colours dont look like they match: Description of string: D: Black both ends Ball ending is round with a hole in It seems to be smoother (more "ground" if it was a groundwound bg string) than the rest (see attachment?) There are some other strings in the bag with the same ball but no colour matching, and when I put one of those on, it didn't sound at all similar.

Conversely I've found that the rougher areas (well, rough for cambridgeshire) and their pubs tend to look after the band better - if anyone even dared going onto stage in some of them they would get beaten by the locals, whereas in a "posh" venue, where the clientele think nothing of dropping another £600 on an item of gear, they don't respect you or your talents and are more likely ot break it.

To sum it up. [u]Tab[/u] has no rythym notation *normally* Plenty of people like it and find it useful , particularly for covers. Lot slower for learning pieces Useful for showing fingering Useful for transposing parts easily [u]Notation[/u] Has rhythm on it [u][b]Needed[/b][/u] if you want to take your musical career to certain places -> Cruise ships, Jazz (ish) , Musical Theatre, big band. a lot of dep gigs. (Basically, if you want to be a serious/professional full time musician rather than a hobbyist/weekend warrior or originals superstar who doesn't need to do other gigs....) Not needed to be a good musician Language that can communicate with other instruments As a dot reader, i'm more than happy a lot of you have no interest in it. More gigs for me. I personally found that my reading dot journey taught me a lot about rhythm that I just hadn't learned before from reading tab.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1503406861' post='3357951'] Get a dep? [/quote]

[quote name='dand666' timestamp='1502974000' post='3354763'] Mate, it never goes wrong. With Dep gigs, just look at the drummer. All the time, beginning and end, then you're fine. I don't do pubs as I can't live off them, but functions/weddings/originals I can and dep on these as a Job. It's my role as a session player that's all. Never really. Like I said the majority of agency gigs on the weekends are just 4/5 guys chucked in a band together to play the standard wedding setlist. Everyone loves it, everyone is happy. Everyone gets paid. :-) [/quote] +1 Put the effort in beforehand, gig is easy. Listening is about 40% of the gig, homework is about 40% and only 20% is playing. I do a lot of gigs the same as you say - 3-8 guys thrown together for a gig, singer sends out song list with keys a minimum of a week in advance, turn up, no rehearsal, play gig, get paid , go home.

Never had an issue with cancelling. And when I was younger it was always "Armani for the Punani" [NSFW WARNING] But also heard some awful ones like "No wash no nosh" "Wash your fingers for the m***ers" "No designer no vagina"

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1502888483' post='3354186'] It's just a different mindset. There's a lot of very precious people out there who believe they can't be replaced. You just need to make sure your band and the dep have the ability to be flexible. Some bands can only play songs exactly as they've rehearsed and exactly as per the recording. They have no ability to cover when things get a bit loose. [/quote] In essence, it teaches you that you have to Listen. Many players forget this, whereas I feel listening is 50% of the gig easily. [quote name='oldslapper' timestamp='1502899729' post='3354288'] Clear & timely communication is key on both parts, if you use a dep. This includes (from the band); Songs Keys Song Arrangements Venue Times Important image considerations (yes this is important see BRX above) I have turned up for a video shoot with the "wrong" bass as the agent forgot to communicate that they wanted a vintage instrument, not a jazz bass..and I didn't ask beforehand. Also give more than one contact number out for the day of the event. [/quote] +1 to all the above. I expect to have a list of songs, with any key changes and special arrangements at least a week in advance *(unless the gig being shorter notice than that - I have had one ring me up 4 hours notice whilst i was 2hrs drive away as was playing hockey. I wasn't driving and was typing up notes and arrangements on my ipad in the car from hockey, whilst they sent me the dots for about half the songs. Got home and the sax player picked me up 15 mins later as I got out of the shower)] I did have one trainwreck gig where I depped and they gavve me 30 odd songs, then proceded to perform an extra set, and start picking songs I hadn't ever played before, or hadn't for 5+ years. They were nice about it though, and it was a good payer for the xtra stuff. [quote] Most deps I know aren't after your job, and have a number of different reasons for depping. I've played gig's where the regular bassist has turned up & we've had a lovely chat afterwards. There's a facebook page for dep musicians I believe? [/quote] I dep because at the moment I'm not in a good place mentally to start my own constant busy band ( I have 3 bands on the go but are all very on and off because we're all seriously busy). Between musical theatre and dep gigs I am doing about 60 gigs a year. I have depped out gigs, but i find shared band calendars particularly painful. I had one band insist that rather than send them dates I couldn't do, that I just invite them as an extra person on all the events I put into my own calendar. I then felt I had no privacy (as the only other option is to create 2 events each time, and that pissed me off) That stopped when I started putting in obscene things like "dogging. Layby on A10" etc.

Not sure what that means, but this post made me lol a bit... https://www.facebook.com/groups/689090051102626/permalink/1621401354538153/?sale_post_id=1621401354538153

Hi chaps I'm a pretty occasional double bassist, although would love to do more One of the issues is that near me there is literally 1 double bass teacher, who charges £52 an hour (far outside any budget I have) Been considering the following lessons online: http://www.doublebasscourses.com/p/double-bass-bowing-technique Has anyone any experience of these? Am I right in thinking this is Geoff who does Discover Double Bass too?

Probably just a little bit too far away for me - GLWTS!

Depends on how you want to do it - generally i've seen a number of our venues wanting to pay bank xfer so I bill them "band name c/o gapiro" and then as I'm paying them , I assume (and i'm probably wrong) that I can just say for tax purposes that the costs of a gig were, say 200 quid (4 musicians at 50 quid lets say). Does mean i'm gonna get closer to the higher rate of tax...

Can you read? If so just read it! http://dodgebass.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/she-caught-the-katy-0102091.pdf

[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1498342382' post='3324005'] ah man, thought i would never say this but God I miss michael Jackson.... [/quote] They're nothing without him

ACDC? SOME green day stuff is easy All the small things (blink 182)

Bit of a DB newbie - I use it largely for (amdram) theatre shows and rockabilly stuff and have never had lessons. Literally had it set up as per when I bought it off a fellow BC'er. Just took my double bass out after about 2 months of not playing - largely due to having so many other gigs on BG that I just haven't got round to playing at all. Opened case. sh*te, the bridge has fallen over and the soundpost is no longer set. So what do I do now - is it a case of emergency trip to somewhere (any recommendations to places near cambridge would be appreciated) or can I re-set the bridge and soundpost myself? Do I loosen/slacken the strings or is that worse?

Not for a couple of years

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1496302043' post='3310262'] Generally I make a site visit as part of our wedding package. Meet with the client and the event organiser at the venue where you can see for yourself what you are dealing with. Questions usually arise from the visit. [/quote] Normally, I'd agree - the particular venue in a couple of weeks isn't open except for functions any more - its a community project place so entirely run by volunteers and thus just can't arrange a visit.

Sorry- I missed context - I'm talking Wedding Venues largely!

Hi Chaps I've somehow become organiser for a band suddenly due to personnell changes - one of the things I've learnt before is to get in touch and be friendly with the venue beforehand (This is primarily wedding venues) I was wondering if people could complile questions they would ask a venue? I've got Sound limiter Access times Timings (eg can we access it from a particular time beforehand etc to set up PA) Size of space ( in order to judge PA requirements) Any lighting fixtures etc already on the stage area?

Whenever I do a band for a one off, we usually go by the name Ad-Hok