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Bilbo

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Everything posted by Bilbo

  1. Or compare these: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzIQYJ0bjFA&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzIQYJ0bjFA&feature=related[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThtaxYc_x-s&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThtaxYc_x-s&feature=related[/url]
  2. I think that ES track would groove a lot harder on double bass but there you are. In fact, that track, to me, illustrates the non-swingingness of the wrong timbre. As does this (which swings a little inspite of the bass sound): [b][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwOWOtW0kn8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwOWOtW0kn8[/url][/b] [b]Or this[/b] [b][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcEKAWZ1Nbk&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcEKAWZ1Nbk&feature=related[/url][/b] Play that Gary Willils tune 10 beats per minute faster and it wouldn't swing like it does.
  3. Lovely. Reminds me very much (sonically) of the Keith Jarrett 'Belonging' band. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXpPlBFGG_Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXpPlBFGG_Q[/url]
  4. Yes, I know this track and yes, it swings its tits off. I did say there are few exceptions and this is certainly one of them (I transcribed it once, IIRC). The drums make a massive contribution to the swing; beautifully delicate. Its absolutely delightful and Willis' solo is top drawer. Thanks for remnding me about this one.
  5. No changes again. Learning solos without understanding the underlying harmony is of limted value and produces party tricks rather than rounded musicians. Do you have the chords?
  6. Certainly improving, Mike. My versions still sound like a train wreck.
  7. I never get intimidated by the 'its hard' arguments because people say that about fretless and, whilst there is a nugget of truth in there, all they are really saying is that there is another problem to solve. Thme solution is to solve the problem, not throw in the towel. Milliions of violinists play in tune without frets and millions of sax players play soprano in tune. Why couldn't I? I want to have a go, that's all. Need to sell some kit to pay for one.
  8. Bump for re-pricing due to price confusion caused by a superficial internet search yesterday. I put the make/model no. into google last night and it came up on the above site. I did another search today and found it for £100. I paid £140 odd several years ago so don't really know what's going on the net but there you are. I think £50 for a good as new piece of kit is credible?
  9. [indent=1][/indent] I got this a few years ago on impulse seeral years ago (7?) and never really used it (it has probably been played for about an hour in its entire life, two at the most). 4 octaves, 64 reeds, clear acrylic body, assuring an air-tight assembly. Reedplates are extra thick, at 1.20 mm, for the ultimate in response and tone quality. The black cover plates and gold plated mouthpiece & slide assy. add to the sleek look and longevity of this instrument. There are selling online for $365 (*£250 in real money) on the site below but I have seen it elsewhere for just over £100 (I don't get it either, I paid £140 odd) so I'd let it go for £50? I want a starter soprano sax!!! [url="http://www.goldharmonicas.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=240"]http://www.goldharmo...d&productId=240[/url] Anyone interested before it goes on the bay? PS It comes with a fitted hard case (plastic)
  10. I would do the pub. Have been in this situation several times and always honour the first booking. Most of the people I play with feel the same.
  11. Give the drummer charts......
  12. My only advice would be to listen to what everyone else is doing and react to that ideas rather than rely on stock phrases of your own. When jazz musicians create endings for tunes, they often call upon cliches such as the old 'Count Basie' ending etc. But it works best when the ensemble spontaneously creates some organic but logical phrase or hook and, by shared experience, knowledge and a little bit of trust, moulds this into a resolution. I have seen this done beautifully 1,000 times and it always leaves me with a real sense of satisfaction. To prepare, you just need to make sure you are ready to listen to what others are doing and to react creatively to what they present. If you can hear the rhythm of phrases, you won't go far wrong. If you can add harmony and melody to your responses, you will be home and dry forever!
  13. Not heard that term before but I guess it kind of says it all
  14. Swing but not Jazz Glenn Miller's was more of a dance band. It was jazz orientated but most jazz folk consider it lightweight. Like Quo for Hard Rock fans or The Boomtown Rats for Punk.
  15. No problem with that. Its not mine
  16. [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1331655016' post='1576663'] I thought jazz was about open minds, experimentation and expanding new horizons. Seems like it's in the same "traditional" rut as all other forms of music. [/quote] You'd like that, wouldn't you? The discussion is about 'swing' in the context of jazz standards. Swing is what it is. Jazz is a much bigger genre than just standards and walking bass lines, although 'swing' plays a massive part is all of it. The concept of 'swing' is a lot more sophistiacetd now and means a lot more than straight walking quarter note bass lines. Jazz is so not in a rut at the moment. Its flourishing massively.
  17. The sound of the left hand on an organ or of Steve Swallow's picked bass are more closely linked to that of the double bass timbre we are discussing, as is the lower end of an ERB which is why they work. A lot of electric players use a sound that is not suitable for swing; Jeff Berlin is most certainly one of them. For the record, there are also plenty of recordings of double bass players that fail to swing because their sound is not in the right sonic space (this was a major problem in the 70s whern an lot of DB players were using pick-ups for the first time and engineers were 'DI-ing' basses without really knowing what to do with the results! The recorded sound using these methods, whilst possibly ok for fusion, was not 'de rigueur' for jazz and led to the Marsalis 'dreaded bass-direct' prejudice).
  18. Sure.... that'll get the fire started...
  19. I know what you mean but I suspect that, if a guitar player or piano player is looking for a jazz aesthetic and, for reasons of technology, has to use a less suitable instrument like a Nord, s/he is even MORE likely to want a DB to kind of 'cover up' for the fact that their guitar/piano sound is less than ideal for the idiom. Re: the threat of doubling and its impact on your progress on your main instrument. I had a similar perspective on my guitar playing and gave it up to 'concentrate' on electric bass but, as time passed, I realised that I already had more technique than I could use musically and that the techniques required to play the instruments competently were not that hard to acquire. What mattered was the music itself and learning about harmony, orchestration, composition etc became more important to me than two handed tapping or chordal bass features. Its probably heresy to say this here but the bass is less important to me than the music. I watch these monster players and there is always a kid in me that goes 'Wow! I wish I coudl do that' but my rational side quickly realigns my thinking and directs me towards composing etc. I saw a video yesterday of the younger Stinnet playing Chick Corea's solo off 'Got A Match'. Not Patitucci's lines but Corea's solo. It was an amazing achievement but utterly futile. That much technique has, for me, become a circus act and a parody of itself. SO I no longer strive for that but for writing the greatest music I possibly can. My technique has suffered and I have less now than I have had in the past but, so far, that hasn't manifested itself on a gig.
  20. We can only control what we can control. We compromise on a massive amount of what we do: how many of us have all of the players we would like, a great sounding room, an attentive audience etc. But there are some pretty basic 'can do's'. A tenor saxophone instead of an alto, a flute on this tune, a flugelhorn on that one. If you want a hollow-body guitar and there is a legitimate musical reason for it, then that's what you should have. An alto flute instead of a concert one. An electric guitar with single coil pick ups not humbuckers? Its all legitimate. Pat Metheny insists his drummers use Zildjan cymbals. Its his call. And, if I want to swing, a double bass..... I can do it on electric (just as a head for flute would probably be OK on sax, or a trumpet part on flugelhorn) but, like everything else, why would I do that if I can do it better on the double bass? And why book an electric if you want a double bass, anymore than you would book a trumpeter instead of a sax player? Compromise is inevitable but why would you if you didn't have to? The 'swing' achieved on electric is ok, its 'good enough' for most things and for certain audiences but, for me, that's all it is; ok, good enough, adequate. It's rarely perfect. Bit of a shallow victory, isn't it? I think there is a tendency amoung electric players who don't play double bass to think that the instruments are all but interchangeable simply because they want them to be. I know because that was my justification for two decades. But the two instruments are different. Electric is better for some genres and DB for others. If you want arco bass, you don't book an electric. If you want slap bass, you don't book a double bass. When you want swing, take my advice, book a double bass and save yourself a lot of the time and frustration I experienced in the past.
  21. I love this instrument. I was jsut reading about Dave Liebman and thought I would love to have a go at playing one. I also like the idea that I could leave it lying around and pick it up for five minutes whenever I was idle, unlike a bass which is less portable and 'available'(DB) or needs 'lectric and amps and stuff (EB). I see them starting at less than £200 on the 'net. Obviously, these are cheap starter instruments not gold plated Yanigasawas (is that how you spell it?) but its not that much money for a punt. Anyone play one?
  22. Timbre.... yes, that's it.
  23. My 26 year old Wal (its his birthday on 25/3) has had its issues (once or twice) but, apart from the odd scratch and nick, is pretty much faultless in terms of its ability to deliver. Most issues have been about dirt getting in to pots/jack inputs rather than breakdowns per se I would go for what you want, new or old. Despite the rhetoric, these electrical basses aren't complex machines and there isn't much that can go wrong that can't be fixed fairly cheaply. UNlike a double bass where an out of tune string cost £3K to fix
  24. Can you post a pdf? I tried reading it from here but these glasses.......
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