queenofthedepths

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='451150' date='Apr 1 2009, 08:13 AM']I reckon an out of time "live" feel is ideal to practice with. Gives you a more realist training exercise for when you are thrown into the real world battlefield.[/quote] Surely that's not a good thing on a loop, though?

Fair point - I use my acoustics loads too, especially late at night. You reeeally won't get a nice sound with a little amp, though. Anyway, how come you don't want to buy another cheap one if you're afraid to damage your more expensive basses? Surely the same would apply to a £500 acoustic? My main acoustic that used to go everywhere with me (before I got the cheap one) is one of these: [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/ba-580/10397"]http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/ba-580/10397[/url] I should probably stop linking you to 5-string basses if you want a 4, though, right?

[quote name='The Funk' post='448496' date='Mar 29 2009, 05:22 AM']I'd say the only thing that's changed is the number of ideas has dropped: good and bad. Everyone plays it safe by copying the other thing that sounds ok because it kinda sounds like that other thing that came out once that was good. The ratio of good band members to a band has probably dropped too. You don't get bands like [i]Deep Purple[/i] anymore, where everyone's actually pretty good. Most young bands I've seen have been carried by one overly talented person. The other young bands I've seen have a few excellent players in the band but crap, uninspired songs. Everyone's afraid of not making any money from music because the music industry is dead, so everyone's more desperate to be accepted. As I see it, jazz, blues, rock n' roll and metal were never about being accepted or playing it safe. Cream lyricist Pete Brown blames the '80s for killing music, when record companies tried to force punk and disco together. Jack Black's character in [i]School Of Rock[/i] blames MTV (as did Biggles and possibly Dire Straits). The record companies blame the internet while putting out samples of samples of covers by fakes. The artists blame the record companies while spending more time on a music video than on making the record or trying to write a decent song. The fans don't treat music as an art form anymore, they don't treat it as a product anymore, they treat it as an instantly disposable passing distraction. I don't think there's a general decline in standards. I think the days of music as a business are over. It's sad but I've come to terms with it. Ironically there's never been a better opportunity for an overall rise in standards. If we all accept we're not going to make any money from this (with a very small number of exceptions) we can be freed from having to worry about impressing the people with the chequebooks and focus instead on trying to make music we love that we think is as good as the stuff we listen to at home.[/quote] A big +1 from me - couldn't agree more.

[quote name='Etienne' post='445158' date='Mar 25 2009, 05:07 PM']Why do so many drummers play those horrible over-tightened piccolo snares?!* *EDIT: Specifically I mean using the aforementioned drum when it doesn't suit the music being played at all (imagine if AC/DC's drummer used one for example?) [/quote] Ugh, I hate them too! There are plenty of places they sound great but mostly they don't! The perfect drumkit would have one of them as well as a normal snare. [quote name='lazzer' post='447927' date='Mar 28 2009, 10:14 AM']My main drummer is getting there now after lots of "encouragement" from me! However my biggest pet peeve is when the count in doesn't match the tempo he starts playing....... :-( Lazzer[/quote] +1 My drummer does that and he's really good otherwise!

[quote name='Pissman' post='448401' date='Mar 28 2009, 09:13 PM']There were Nu-metal bands in 1989?[/quote] If there were, perhaps the genre needs a new name?

Standards in nu-metal have dropped rapidly since 20 years ago??

If you're going to take a little amp, why not just use an electric bass? I've yet to hear one of those little amps that doesn't sound hideous anyway... I don't have trouble making myself heard with [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb35ntfl_5string_akustikbass_fretless.htm"]my cheap acoustic[/url] (sweet Moses, that's more than twice the price I paid for it!!!), but I do play very aggressively on acoustic. I suggest a fretless, because that will eliminate your biggest problem..!

[quote name='BigAlonBass' post='447598' date='Mar 27 2009, 06:49 PM']If you feel you have to boil them, pour the boiling water from the pan through a sieve (or even hold a pan lid slightly askew, so the water runs out.) Let the strings dry naturally, on kitchen towel or a piece of old cloth. Heating and quenching can weaken the structure. I used to do this regularly, until I tried Meths. (You can't drink boiling water, but............) [/quote] ugh, you shouldn't drink meths if it's full of dirt from your strings

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='438617' date='Mar 18 2009, 08:09 PM']You could play a righty reverse Gibson Thunderbird lefty and then you'd have an upper horn.[/quote] What's the neck dive like on an upside down Thunderbird??

You'd think there'd be some of those collectors among us, though, wouldn't you? I think most of us would like to own a piece of history like that, even if we can't afford it or just aren't willing to spend so much on something so impractical. I suppose anyone who can afford to splash out £50,000 on a bass they'll never play is too busy to come on Basschat!

Is there anyone here who's actually paid an obscene amount (or anything above its useful value at all...) for an instrument just because of its age/rarity? And I mean OLD age - I think the price of a new bass is obscene compared to the used market, but that hasn't stopped me buying several myself. Does anyone know anyone who's bought one of those crazily-priced 60s Fenders on eBay?

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='438132' date='Mar 18 2009, 11:25 AM']From a technique point of view, that'll be like starting from scratch. I hope your frustration tolerance is up for it BTW.... I have often wondered about the whole lefty thing. Both your left and right hands are doing complex activities so why is any easier to play a left hand bass if you are left handed?[/quote] It's because the dominant hand is stronger and plucking requires more controlled strength than fretting.

[quote name='wotnwhy' post='437398' date='Mar 17 2009, 03:32 PM']because alongside disabling right click, people cannot copy the photo's and text as easily so will discourage people using the info and pics for a scam?[/quote] ah, that's interesting - I tried right-clicking on Opera and it works fine, but not on Internet Explorer. So I can copy the pictures if I want to. Anyone wanna collaborate in a scam?

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)"]a keyless keyboard?[/url] Sadly I don't have one, but now you've said it, I really want one! I'm gonna defret one of my classical guitars now as well! I think theory is a shortcut because it gives you some more of the tools to write music. Theory won't actually allow you to play any of the notes you couldn't play before, but it takes a lot of trial and error out of writing music.

[quote name='Eight' post='437293' date='Mar 17 2009, 02:09 PM']You shouldn't learn music theory because there's a chance you might come across part of it that isn't right? Edit: you get its called "theory" for a reason right? You make your own mind up as to which bits you like and which bits you don't. Or do you mean the classical guys got half-baked ideas from half-baked music, whereas the things you listen to are free of these imperfections and fit to influence/inspire you? BTW If you play a fretted bass, then your instrument is based on the half-baked ideas they came up with.[/quote] I really have no idea what you're on about! My main bass is fretless! And I know theory reasonably well..! I meanttt that those who don't actively learn theory are still picking up influences from what they listen to. Learning the theory would actually be a shortcut. [quote name='bilbo230763' post='437295' date='Mar 17 2009, 02:11 PM']Are they not? That's cos they aren't from Cwmbran (its the positive energy from the town centre tower block and the great seat of learning that is Croesyceiliog Comprehensive)[/quote] You're not wrong!

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='437278' date='Mar 17 2009, 01:57 PM']Or are waiting for the bass talent pixie to wave his (or her) dust in their direction! Yeeeay, the pixie! I actually don't get that working at music and fun are mutually exclusive. If fun is a manifestation of satisfaction, I get loads of it out of study. If I spent any time playing 'Guitar Hero', I would consider it to be wasted time and feel (mildly)frustrated, angry etc. So 'fun' for me and for many others is not to be found in frivolous nonsense but in focussed and rewarding activities. I have fun whilst I do things, I don't do things to have fun.[/quote] Most people aren't awesome like us, though, Bilbo.

[quote name='Eight' post='437263' date='Mar 17 2009, 01:48 PM']My pov, is against the people who claim to take it all seriously and believe they are part of an elite magical creative force capable of revolution without any of the knowledge that has been built up over centuries by a huge number of talented musicians. Their justification for this, someone (a hell of a lot more talented and creative than they) once managed it.[/quote] And a lot of the time these people are subconsciously copying their theory from the music they listen to, so they've got a load of half-baked ideas without even realising it.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='437184' date='Mar 17 2009, 01:13 PM']Great logic and very compeling evidence for a solid approach to learning. The trouble with this argument is that those that are happy having a good time in music feel attacked by people who take it more seriously. I don't see a lot of evidence for some of the claims about JB or STs views other than they don't understand why people go for lessons and then don't want to do the work. When I taught at university I got seriously hacked off at lazy students because it's entirely possible they would be denying a good student a place having got through audition on some non related exam results. I would simply assert that if you want to play music for fun then it's available to you to acquire the standard you feel comfortable with. On the other hand if you want to compete for work with some of the better musicians out there get your sh*t together.[/quote] +1 Obviously some people just have different ideas of what's fun. I'd probably be enjoying bass even if I'd never learned any theory at all, but I don't think I'd enjoy it as much as I do!

[quote name='endorka' post='430615' date='Mar 10 2009, 03:40 PM']I would never advocate that everyone must use one system or another, if something works for your purposes then as far as I'm concerned that's great and it's the end of the story. In my opinion, a system being specific to a given instrument is a downside, for you it is not. For example, on several recents gigs I've been able to play parts from a string quartet written for a cello on my double bass - both are written in bass clef, although in terms of fingering they are very different instruments, the cello is tuned in fifths, the bass in fourths. Tab, (if it made sense at all on a fretless instrument) would not be cross compatible at all. And this is before we get into even more distant territory, such as wind instruments and piano. I once played a trombone part in a big band on a six string bass (!).[/quote] Absolutely - that's why I don't use tabs exclusively. [quote name='endorka' post='430615' date='Mar 10 2009, 03:40 PM']I remain unconvinced about the requirement of a notation to spell out exact fingerings for every note - with experience, the musician can usually do this for themselves, and indeed fingerings may vary between musicians due to things such as instrument scale length, altered tunings, additional strings, and hand size. However, in notation, the requirement for a note to be played in a specific placed on a certain string can be indicated; one way of doing this is by writing "sul D", which means "the stated note should be played on the D string".[/quote] That's not quite so easy for beginners, though, is it? Funnily enough, I'm now so proficient with tab that I can play a keyboard part from a tab or transpose something when I'm in the wrong tuning, which is effectively the same skill in reverse! When I started playing bass, though, I really needed it spelled out for me, and coz tabs worked for me then, I can't see the point learning to properly sight-read notation. Thanks for the excellent answers, anyway!

[quote name='endorka' post='430538' date='Mar 10 2009, 02:35 PM']Off the top of my head, things notation offers as standard that tab does not; - rhythm - dynamics - articulation - direct musical pitch information - it can be used by players of other instruments, not just the instrument it was written for. ...I am sure there are many others. With a part written in notation, and some prior knowledge of how the musical genre sounds, it is possible to credibly recreate the musical part without having to hear it beforehand. This is not the case with tab. Jennifer[/quote] Thank you for that answer! However, I think that most of those objections are only applicable to BAD tabs that you can find all over the Internet. The tabs I use (I use tabs as well as staff notation) certainly indicate rhythm and dynamics, for a start. As far as I'm aware, articulation is indicated by little symbols above/below the note, which is surely just as easy to write on tabs as it is on notation. As I see it, the problem is that there are lots of dreadful tabs out there giving the good ones a bad name. If tabs are used to their full potential, they can combine everything that is useful about notation with the added benefit of being specifically intended for our instrument. In contrast, I've never seen notation that tells me which fret to play on which string.

[quote name='lowdown' post='430452' date='Mar 10 2009, 01:25 PM']Tabs are fine for learning stuff at home... But in the real world out on a gig are limited in the amount of style info they give out. Also not easy on the eye for quick digestion, and not to mention the amount of pages and paper needed for one song. As someone else mentioned, when note reading you still need to know the various styles and whatever to make the dots sound musical. [ do i play swing or straight 8's?] Your ears also come into play when sight reading because you need to phrase with the other musos in the band or orchestra, otherwise it will sound very loose. I still think the old argument about sight readers having no lugs or feel is rubbish, Well at least in the circles i move in. Much easier on a gig rehearsal session show or whatever, getting things done, rather than everyone huddled around a CD or Mp3 player trying to learn material. Another system that has not been mentioned here is the Nashville number system. Something to be considered. [url="http://coba.belmont.edu/fac/tappant/3370nashvillenumber.htm"]http://coba.belmont.edu/fac/tappant/3370nashvillenumber.htm[/url] Garry[/quote] Sorry but I don't feel that answers my question? Specifically what is the advantage of staff notation over tablature?

Having a good ear is essential (just listen to Beethoven - utter rubbish!), but being able to read/write music is an immensely valuable skill. Still, I don't see why everyone is so down on tabs?! Okay, so the Internet is full of rubbish tabs, but if I spent the next few hours uploading dodgy sheet music, would you all decide that's a bad means of writing down music? Standard notation is ideal for keyboards or wind instruments or whatever, but tabs were designed for stringed instruments, and they seem to do the job fine. Apologies if I've made that argument before and someone's carefully explained to me why I'm wrong (I vaguely remember this happening, but can't recall what the flaw in my argument was, so I'm assuming it never actually happened until someone tells me again...). [quote name='AM1' post='429830' date='Mar 9 2009, 09:07 PM']P.S. I loved the music from the old Dizzy games on Amstrad CPC 464. A lot of these guys have theory backgrounds - reading helps with composition.[/quote] Dizzy is awesome.