steve-bbb

I was out there for the 'big company' for a time at izdihar - looks like its a hotel or soemthing now lol

sounds liek a bit too [quote name='Confuzzled' timestamp='1369951255' post='2094986'] Right, long-time poster going all mysterious to protect the innocent imagine these words being spoken by an actor with a face shrouded in darkness... Without giving too much away, I'm in an originals band, going quite well (some decent supports, internet radio play in the right places etc etc). However, I find myself getting quite pissed off at a few things, and wanted (mainly) to vent and find out what experiences others have had in similar situations. 1/ The band is something of a money pit, and I'm bearing the brunt of it. Being the only single one (although also the only one with a child to support :s) in the past six months I've sprung for band banner, posters, exhaust for the van (which I own, £300), self-done plug change and service for the same (still fifty quid or so) and lost the deposit I put down on a room when the gig didn't pull enough punters in (as well as paying for the website hosting every month). We're selling enough merchandise to keep fuel in the vehicle, but in the next few months we're looking at video shoot, buying in more merch, paying for a radio plugger AND spending a good chunk on keeping the van on the road (which I fear is AGAIN going to fall solely on me, as it's my name on the V5). In short, zero social life to pay for band stuff. 2/ Wouldn't mind that too much, if it weren't for the fact that (as actually pointed out to me by a very good friend of mine a while ago) I'm totally the whipping boy of this band because I'm quite laid-back. Whilst the guys will talk each other up in company and onstage, as I'm 'just the bassist' I'm generally belittled. It's not serious (well, with two of the guys I can be pretty sure it's not serious), but it still leads to me feeling a good way below valued a good chunk of the time. 3/ To take things to the next level, we DO need to refine our live presentation (amongst other things). However, the way that this has been approached is essentially for another band member to watch back a video of a couple of performances and come out with a written list (a f***ing WRITTEN LIST!) of, essentially, stuff that I shouldn't be doing. Now, a reasonable suggestion was made to do a few rehearsals as if in front of a crowd and look at how we present ourselves, but the way it's been handled makes me feel like we're in 1 Direction or something, where every last move onstage is choreographed and any spontaneity is drilled out. Goes against every fibre of my being, but apparently this is what's got to be done... Right, rant over, and well done to anyone who got through it - thoughts? [/quote] sounds to me like the major emphasis of this bands existence is some sort of PR and Marketing sausage machine exercise perhaps - lots of emphasis on 'look at us' not so much emphasis on 'listen to us' - fine if youre glam or theatrical i guess but superfluous if you are shoegazers ? if you really want to get so involved with PR and marketing then get somebody outside the musical element of the band to handle it - they can then tell the band (as a whole) exactly what all the costs and implications are too much assumption is being placed on your van ownership - on a plus note they are contributing petrol but is there any other acknowledgmnet regarding running costs - this can be affected also by many other factors - we cant assume that all band members have similar disposable incomes or domestic circumstances and all these thigngs will significantly vary each band members personal input at face value singling you out for critical treatment by video analysis does seem a touch overbearing but then again we dont know why they have done this - is it some way of alerting you to an irritating habit that they are too embarrassed to tell you directly to your face? too much speculaltion to be able to go into specifics but as others above have suggested the only way to clarify things is to talk with them

+1 for squier - i have an affinity J and its the nuts and i gig it equally alonside a TRB - i recently checked out the exact same iaffinity J's in a couple of shops in west end and the 2102/13 squier affinitys are imho not quite as well finished as earlier ones - from serial number mine is 2009 - if you see one up on the boards 2009 and earlier is well worht the punt - newer ones id reiterate mr tractors comment and make sure you try before you buy

+1 for deap vally

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1369901990' post='2094036'] it changes over time - in 1978 when i was still in sixth form at school i went to see be bop deluxe at hammy odeon - i went out the following week and splashed all my hard earned shelf stacking job wages on 5 of their vinyl albums (in 1976 that wasnt extravagant that was decadent!) ive prettry much ditched 98% of my large CD collection and dont really buy CD anymore but i still have my vinyl and will probably start buying more vinyl now as we have a good shop in town here so these days i dont equate fan-dom to merchandise in the same way anymore i guess these days for me a benchmark of how fanatical i was about an artist or band would be how much i would be prepared to fork out to go see them live but having said that i would admit to be a rolling stones fan but i certainly would not pay 300+ to grace them with my presence! [/quote]

it changes over time - in 1978 when i was still in sixth form at school i went to see be bop deluxe at hammy odeon - i went out the following week and splashed all my hard earned shelf stacking job wages on 5 of their vinyl albums (in 1976 that wasnt extravagant that was decadent!) ive prettry much ditched 98% of my large CD collection and dont really buy CD anymore but i still have my vinyl and will probably start buying more vinyl now as we have a good shop in town here so these days i dont equate fan-dom to merchandise in the same way anymore i guess these days for me a benchmark of how fanatical i was about an artist or band would be how much i would be prepared to fork out to go see them live

[url="http://youtu.be/gxV8Mp-eN0Y"]http://youtu.be/gxV8Mp-eN0Y[/url]

[media]http://youtu.be/w0SbaT0UbPM[/media]

*BY

Rick and the Fakers

if you have interwebs access at work then during your lunchbreak maybe check out some youtube tutorial vids like [b]devinebass[/b] or [b]MarloweDK[/b] even if you havent got a bass to hand to practise on just watching over and over them carefully and analysing rather than just casual browsing can help you pick things apart in your head ready to tackle them with a better insight if it helps try perhaps imagining that its not a computer screen and that they are giving a personal bass lesson to your best friend and that you are sat in the same room watching

[quote name='AntLockyer' timestamp='1369640634' post='2091022'] Practice parts of it slowly without the music playing then play again with the 'band'. At all times thinking in my head what I wanted to play before my body played it. [/quote] open mic nights are good because unlike the recording where you know what is going to happen next , youre not quite certain what the other players are going to do so you do tend to concentrate even more on listening and feeling what the others are doing i see youre in orpington - there is a good open mic night not to far from you on monday nights just outside maidstone

soundcheck time yeah everything pretty ok ..... except the guitars ... need to come down a bit ..... otherwise its great

he should only be six degrees or less of separation away fingers crossed

and may i congratulate on your splendid choice of cab

pm sent - have a scan through pdf links you will see my album cover in there

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1369499332' post='2089872'] Or if you're busting out the duct tape, just put a piece on top of your head with a quick sketch of your settings. Tried and tested. Half a dozen circles with a line to show which way they need to point and you've got instant recall! The old ways are often the best. [/quote] i disagree and inclined to agree with mr wazoo - i regularly gig my amp with pre and master maxed out but i leave the EQ punched out but i use the shelf boost to up the low end only about 10% and cut the top end about the same - never have any problems - always sounds clean, no fade (hartke2500+410hydrive) however if some little oik was to ramp the low end shelf up past 50% and punch the EQ in and max the low end on the EQ as well then it will definitely start groaning under the pressure - despite all the reassuarances that they will keep the settings within reasonable limits once their up on stage you are at their mercy and it will only take one little selfish unthinking bedroom bassist diva to start maxing everything up because they're not hearing 'their sound' and you have instant recipe for amp/cab failure having said that i dont think that many would actually change the settings - ive been to plenty of open mic nights with several bass players all rolling up with their own basses and plugging in and the only adjustments ive seen going on were very basic just to get the volume level correct if you were swapping for example between a high output active and a low output passive - i would even go so far as to say that most will respect other players rigs as they appreciate that the markbass or ampeg rig they are plugign in to is way better than anything they currently have or are likely to get in the very near future - but there are always exceptions and eventually somebody somewhere will get their rig well and truly ferked because of somebody else's inexperience and inability to listen to simple instructions i think the bottom line is that it is a dynamic risk assessment - ie who rolls up asking and whether you feel you can trust them if you or your close friends cant vouch for them

Anybody can widdle on the skinny strings but very few can master rhythm to where Nile Rodgers and Paul Jackson Jr have raised the bar