Bilbo

An interesting discussion. I remember talking to some guy many years ago about the Keith Jarrett standards trio LP Still Live (a beautiful album) and commenting that, wihlst the sound of the trio is undoubtedly stunning (an ECM recording, with all that this implies), it wouldn't have even sounded like that if you stood in the room where they were recording the trio. Pretty much every recording is so close miked that what you hear is not what you woudl hear in real life. The recording process, even in a setting like Jazz where the performances are mostly live and in real time, is partly about capturing the performance but partly about using the available technology to make it sound as good (define) as it can; be that using reverbs and echos, compressors, 'live rooms', even mixing. I guess its for the individual to decide what is 'legitimate' and what is not. A lot if Dance stuff only exists in a virtual sense and can only be created using technology whereas a lot of folk or jazz stuff uses a lot less. But, then again, what is a piano if it is not a compliucated machine. Or a bass or a saxophone? It's all technology. Use it and make great music. Just don't let it undermine the wonder of a real time performance by a great player.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1349809912' post='1830907'] Do you record on a computer mate? You may find EZDrummer is your solution. [/quote] Yes; a MESH computer with Cubase SX. Will look EZDrummer up. Thanks for the tip off (not sure how much use I would get out of it, tho', as rock drums are not normally on my radar and I have several jazz type VST kits)

You just keep at it. I get fallow periods and periods of plenty; depends on whatever the other intruding things are. Big issue for me is maximising practice time rather than just noodling. I try to work on some transcriptions, scales, tunes whatever, don't just sit there wiggling my fingers. Had a late start this morning so got 20 mins double bass in. Reading rhythms practice in work sometimes. Whatever. Just remember you get better in tiny increments and a little and often is better than 4 hours one day and nothing for a week. It's surprising how easy it is to find a few minutes here and there. It's the same with writing. If you always have a pen and pad at hand, you can always writei things down. Sam with sheet music. All sorts of ways of 'getting some time in'.

Daniel Szabo Trio with Chris Potter guesting on sax.

Also, Barry Green's 'The Inner Game Of Music' is specifically targetting this issue. To put it in perspective, I have never suffered from nerves as I worked out a long time ago that no-one is listening to what bass players do unless they stop. I once got really bored at a jazz gig where no-one was listening and the guitar player and I played a 12-bar blues in which we played the whole thing a semi-tone apart (he was in Bb, I played it in . What''s more, we alternated so, after each chorus, we swapped. No-one noticed. You may be agonising over that sharpened 5th but, trust me, no-one else is, possibly not even the rest of your band.

Yes, I think you are. Personally, I think the 'lick' thing tends to refer to those people who take a certain lick from a certain solo they have transcibed and then often play it whenever that chord sequence is present. You can get away with murder doing this but it lacks integrity and any decent player will spot it a mile off. I remember hearing players who used certain quotes in their solos regularly. If you hear it to often, though, it is actually easy to take the piss, musically. I recall a sax player in Cardiff who repeatedly played a lick out of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue whenever he played a blues. On one gig, the piano player then incorporated another part of that tune in his solo and then I used a third part of it in mine. We all laughed good naturedly afterwards but I never heard him use that lick again. A lot of the stuff we learn sits in our vocabulary to be revisited as and when we need it. If you learn scales out of Simandl or Slonimsky or wherever, those patterns will inevitably appear in your playing. The secret is to use them creatively and not too often and not in the same place as last time and the time before that. We all have a limited vocabulary of English but can all say something fresh and original whenever the aardvark flogs you a compelling insurance carrot. You will use all of the constituent parts before but you just put them together in a fresh way. But don't udnereatimate the art of it. Playing improvised solos well is damn hard. It's not like learning 'Good Times' and regurgitating it again and again. It's about having a mind that 'hears' the ideas and then the chops to execute them instantly. The more I learn about it, the more I am amazed by the Joe Lovano's etc of this world.

Dave Valentin is a major force in fusion floot! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f_Qbg3HY90"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f_Qbg3HY90[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef_ejWcJcY8&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef_ejWcJcY8&feature=related[/url]

Jimmy Garrison did a lot of this. Have a look for some videos of him on youtube.

I saw Bill Frisell do a gig at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London playing to 3 Buster Keaton movies. Interesting but I am not that big a fan of black and white movies like that so it was not a life changing experience.

Look up Bobby Vega on youtube.

I got the arse because I was going to put vocals on it but needed a mic lead because mine had died and I don't want to have to go out and buy one this month and my compressor was arsing about and I couldn't get the guitar sound I wanted for the lead (which was a total botch anyway) and the drum sounds were sh*t so I compressed them and added some gain so the drums sounded great but the cymbals were too heavy and, somehow, in the wrong place and ..... You get the idea

[url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/six-string-noodle"]http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/six-string-noodle[/url] I found this on my PC last night. I was trying out my Status 6-string fretted years ago and this was me messing about with no real purpose. Listening back several years later, it's amazing how much difference six strings and frets makes to your 'thing'. In truth, I have no recollection of doing this and initially wondered who it was!!

I am only putting this on here to show that I tried but I have given up (its taking too long and I can't play the instruments well enough to make it sound 'proper!!) [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/mosh-pitata-2"]http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/mosh-pitata-2[/url] Here is my effort to do it with found sounds (I was being ironic!!) [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/mosh-pitata"]http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/mosh-pitata[/url]

A live version of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway by Gabriel era Genesis.

I had the first issues of bass player magazine. They were great but, to be fair, I was more interested then and loved everything bass!! I don't buy bass magazines anymore.

I am still thinking about it but have realised that my small number of VST drums sounds don't work for rock music so my rock guitar sounds (Pro-Co Rat) overwhelm them to the point where the end result doesn't sound remotely rocky an my composition doesn't work. May try something else and see what I can do. What is interesting is the fact that trying to work to the image instead of to my comfort zone, forces me to look not only at the notes but also at the timbres, genre etc etc.

I think it may be helpful to draw people's attention to the fact that the rhythmic placement of the sequence of descending licks is contributing to the 'out feel'. As the lick is based around three/six note licks, it always crosses the beat, thus adding to the tension. Sounds cool and that can also be used to create tension in a line (Jaco did this a lot).

I used to see Andy Sheppard regularly at the Four Bars Inn in Cardiff in the late 1980s. I remember when most of us heard him for the first time on a BBC programme about the Schlitz Beer Jazz competition. Everyone played two tunes except Sheppard who played one which started with an extended solo improvisation on soprano sax using circular breathing (the tune was called 'Esme'). It was an absolute showstopper. I also loved his Rhythm Method band with Steve Lodder, Claude Deppa and Sylvan Richardson.

Started on mine today. Got some bare bones happening. Nice production, Nige. Mine's probably going to be low-tech

I just heard today that the publishing date is now November. The delay is always frustrating but at least you will all now know what to tell your loved ones to buy you for Christmas.

Reading Rhythms.....highly recommended [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Musicians-Institute-Encyclopedia-Workbook-Instruments/dp/0793573793/ref=sr_1_sc_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349371424&sr=1-2-spell"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Musicians-Institute-Encyclopedia-Workbook-Instruments/dp/0793573793/ref=sr_1_sc_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349371424&sr=1-2-spell[/url] Ref: reading in different keys. I found the Bach Cello Suites usedful for this as they cover a lot of keys and include tenor clef and treble clef. I should be able to think of something else but I can't think at the moment (guests due any minute etc) [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faber-Music-Bach-Cello-Suites/dp/B003HKDZ02/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349371585&sr=1-14"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faber-Music-Bach-Cello-Suites/dp/B003HKDZ02/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349371585&sr=1-14[/url]

I was referrihg to the fact that my little head increasingly struggles to figure out these complicated devices and that I am beginning to realise why my 100 year old Nan, despite being able to make awedding dress with a roll of fabric and a needle, couldn't work an electric can opener!

I like fountain pens....

So write your own piece....