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dexter3d

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Everything posted by dexter3d

  1. Hi All, Could anyone recommend a professional double bass teacher in Cambridge? Can be either classical or jazz, but legit, preferably older than 40. Student is late 30s and not a novice. Cheers, Dex
  2. Hi all, My kid needs an experienced drum teacher, preferably in Cambridge area, and preferably smb who’s well versed in jazz or fusion. We might even consider coming to London from time to time, if it were worth it. Any suggestions? Cheers,
  3. Go German. In some auditions, you could be a priori dismissed for playing a French bow.
  4. For sale are original Peavey Cirrus VFL pickups and the preamp that they came with in a Cirrus BXP (indonesia) bass, including all the pots and wiring (all wires marked what goes where). The pickups are massive and I believe the same that go to USA made models.
  5. It's a lifetime process, there is no quick fix, no Mcdonalds. Even some professional musicians would feel uncomfortable with some of the stuff OP described and would demand some idea of the changes beforehand. Confidence comes from drilling the same changes 1000s, 10000s of times, in different keys, thinking in key centres, plus academic ear training, etc etc. If it's not in your muscle memory, you won't be able to play it well. That's the secret about improvisation
  6. aaand SOLD, thanks everyone for your interest.
  7. I have an ebay account with 500 feedback, it's 'basuxa', you can write me a msg if you want and I can reply. I'm also a member on talkbass since 2005 (same user name as here).
  8. Re-listed due to a time waster, you can have this baby for £900. Last price drop, otherwise I'm keeping it myself Also included this strap.
  9. Yes that's right. Would have to check re passive tonality, but have some offers already, will do if it's not sold by the end of day.
  10. Hi there, For sale is an absolutely stunning and rare Ken Smith Burner bass. Hand made in Japan in I believe early 1990s, this bass was purchased in Switzerland for today's equivalent of ~£2500. Don't confuse it with today's cheap KSD rip offs - this is the real Ken Smith made using wood and hardware personally supplied by Ken Smith and then shipped back to him in the USA for the final setup. This bass has a rather unusual pickup placement, oriented more towards the bridge, which help attain that burpy Ken Smith signature sound. It has an active/passive switch. The fretboard wood is super nice and looks very boutique. Three-piece neck. Active/passive switch. Very light, weighs around 3.8KG. Attached are a few pics, but they really don't do it justice. Condition is excellent for its age, no deeper scratches or anything like that. A lot of meat left in frets. Included is the original Ken Smith wool-padded strap with locks and a big Ken Smith logo (I'll attach a pic later when I find it). The bass is currently in Germany, shipping to the UK via DHL, well packed in a hard case. I will also advertise it on German forums, first come first serve. Cheers, D
  11. Hello, I need to record 'Autumn leaves' for audition, and I am looking for a kind of karaoke recording without bass on top of which I could play the walking line+ some solo. Any ideas where I could get it? Maybe someone could share it? I know I could make the accompaniment by myself, but its too much trouble and too little time. Thanks for any help!
  12. After some thinking now I decided to apply to Leeds College of Music (Zoltan Dekany) as well as Amsterdam Conservatory (David de Marez Oryens, but possibly Charly Angenois, Jan Hollestelle, Theo de Jong, or Lené te Voortwis), both normal BA programmes. Zoltan Dekany is very brilliant and supportive teacher. I also met Marez Oryenz. Does anybody happen to know the other teachers in Amsterdam? In general, any suggestions in Leeds vs Amsterdam?
  13. Thank you all for the valuable info! Has anybody graduated from Leeds? I cannot get feedback, tried to ask for some alumni emails, but it turns out that giving emails is contrary to the data protection act :/
  14. Correct left hand positioning (fingers), initially - horizontal playing ala Ray Brown upright bass method (1-2-4), with change of positions. Vertical playing without moving the hand - later. Watch those things and you will realize that after a while they get 'cemented', you don't need to think about them anymore. Practice slowly and watch your hand, prevent the tension. Hold your fingers as close as possible to the strings, do not 'wave' with them while playing. Minimal finger detachment from the strings - will give you more speed later. Right hand - play 'spider'. Good for warm-ups, and helps to polish the string skipping. Move your diaphragm according to the beat while you play. It will get automatic soon. Helps to keep time consistency even in very sophisticated beats. And some people say, the feeling lies exactly there. Lastly, it looks good, and the audience sees that you are definitely in the music
  15. [quote name='dlloyd' post='98643' date='Dec 4 2007, 11:23 AM']Your situation sounds broadly analogous with the way I was feeling when I was coming to the end of my third degree. I had sent off for prospectuses for music colleges and everything. A couple of points that I figured out at the time and immediately following completion of that degree... [list] [*]Degrees may look impressive when written on a sheet of paper, but they have a shelf life. Employers see massive red flags when they look at a c.v. that has gaps in it. And any employer that looks for a candidate with an LLM will see two years of music college as a 'gap'. [*]Banks and other creditors are patient with you while you're a student because you are likely to get a good job at the end of it. This stops when you don't fulfil their expectations. And they can be pretty nasty. [/list] If you take a place at a music college, you are denying that place to someone else. It seems likely that your intention is to avoid committing to full time 'sensible' employment for a couple of years while you pursue a hobby. The person you are taking that place away from probably has intentions to pursue music as their career and won't have several legal degrees to fall back on. You might want to think about whether that's entirely fair. I don't entirely buy the argument that you wouldn't have the time or energy to study music in your spare time while taking a full time job. I've done it, as have many others on this board. My advice to you would be to take a job in a city where there is a good jazz scene (Leeds or London would be great options), take private lessons and find other musicians to jam with.[/quote] Thank you for the advice. So I guess you didn't go for music studies in college at all? What was your main field of study? I agree with you on banks, I know that most probably it wouldn't work, but 1000 pounds for a year sounds payable for me for one year, I think in principle I could cover it myself. Concerning that 'gap' in the CV, my concrete place of future work is almost determined, and I am pretty sure I would get a place there whenever I come back. My intention is not to avoid committing to full time 'sensible' employment for a couple of years while pursuing a hobby. I am afraid that after couple of years I will start torturing myself with questions like what could have been if I did this or that, thinking that maybe I lost a very good chance when I had a real opportunity to improve.. And maybe it would turn out that the hobby turns into something professional? Concerning that fairness remark - I really would not think I am taking the place from someone more worth it or from someone who needs it more. I don't think the places in colleges are very scarce. Furthermore, it is the task of the colleges themselves to assess whether you are worth studying there or not. And that someone does not have additional degrees to fall back on - this is definitely not my problem at all. According to this logic, I shouldn't have studied for the second postgraduate degree, because maybe there are some people who have only one, and need it more Coming back to the essence - I see that you succeeded in managing to study bass while taking a full time job. However, my situation I think is different, because my job would be tied to the government of my home country, at least initially. That means that I would not live in cities with 'good jazz scenes'. Or, maybe the scene is good, but extremely tight. The more I get older the more I realize that the time you devote to one thing cannot be devoted to another. If you really want to go for something, you need to throw yourself in there completely. I don't think that I am too old for starting something. Some of my classmates are ~50 years old. Again, I do not believe I would manage to study music seriously back home, even presuming that my desire would always remain.
  16. By the way, I want to make clear why I want to study in a music college, especially when my current jazz bass teacher is of the highest caliber. I started to attend private bass lessons 2 years ago, but I can probably count them on my 2 hand fingers. Not because the teacher cannot give me more lessons, but because I simply did not have time to prepare - legal studies are very demanding, and after studying the whole day it is really hard to do something else, even to play bass. Now, if I go back home, I would take a full time responsible job. My time for music would be again very limited. And what is most important, it is really hard to do everything by yourself, when there is no adequate system of accountability:) Not less important, in a music college I would be among the musicians, I would do a lot of jamming, what is really essential for making progress. And I would be able to devote all of my time for music. I think that makes sense:)
  17. [quote name='dlloyd' post='98211' date='Dec 3 2007, 04:56 PM']I'm willing to be corrected, but I don't believe you would qualify for any financial assistance on a BTEC. You already have a degree, don't you? The system in the UK is set up to take you to degree level and only that far. You do not get funding for staying at college forever. The positive side is that the BTEC is part-time so you'd be able to hold down a bar job or the like to help with your funding. BTECs are really aimed at 16 year old school leavers. The standard you're required to be is ABRSM grade 5 on your principal instrument, which is fairly low, and your theory requirement is Grade 3, which is pretty much the level of understanding you'd expect off an 11 year old classical musician. I wouldn't worry about the audition process. My worry would be that you wouldn't get much from the course work, particularly taking into account the group activities. Mind you, there's always the possibility of sneaking into lectures that are designed for the BA course... unless they take a register. I also suspect you wouldn't get the same level of individual tuition that you'd get in the BA course. I'm guessing here, but I'd be surprised if it was more than one lesson a week, probably not from the same tutors who teach the BA course.[/quote] Thanks, your comments are really helpful. It was a typo, I am thinking not about a 'grant', but about a loan given specially to cover tuition fee expenses. <http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/index.htm> I also plan to work part-time. I would let my own flat in my home country, and for that amount I would be able to rent a room in Leeds. Plus, I would work full time during summer and save some money for the next year. At least for now I thing that I would be able to sustain myself, having in mind that I already have BA, MA and soon LLM degrees in politics and law. I just turned 24 recently, and your comment about the possibly low standards in Diploma programme forced me to think. I just wrote to Leeds inquiring about the differences between those two programmes in terms of courses, teachers etc. Perhaps I will also try to write to Zoltan Dekany to ask what he thinks. I will also try to get the contacts of those who already graduated from one or another programme in Leeds.
  18. [quote name='dlloyd' post='97984' date='Dec 3 2007, 11:37 AM']Thinking about it again, Leeds' fees for a full time course are £3070 per year. This is usually paid by the government, but only for people who are undertaking their first degree. I checked into this a couple of years ago for a friend and there are exceptions, but they are only for a handful of subjects including medicine... jazz isn't an exempted subject. Accommodation will cost you at least £3000 per year. You'll probably have to spend an extra £20 a month on electricity and gas. Food and socialising is the most variable. You might be able to get away with spending as little as £20 per week... if you like beans and rice. There are no bursaries or scholarships available to students whose principal instrument is electric bass. There is one for people from low income families, but it is specifically for home students. You will be asked to demonstrate that you have funding available to support you throughout your stay. The audition seeks to demonstrate that you're of ABRSM grade 8 standard... that's quite tough for four years playing bass. Here's their audition guide:[/quote] Well, I would go for a Jazz Diploma course, its 2 years, ~1000 pounds per year for tuition. I would take a UK govt grant, as far as I know it is given on very favorable conditions (you only start repaying it when u earn certain amount). Accordingly, the requirements for audition you mentioned should be significantly lower for the diploma course than for the BA degree, because it is supposed to be sort of a preparation before that, isn't it? And the good thing about that programme is that you get access to the same teachers, also you get the same 1 to 1 lessons, as in the Hons degree, so I think I could give me what I need.
  19. [quote name='ARGH' post='97520' date='Dec 2 2007, 11:23 AM']Go to Leeds,the guys/tutors from Germany and Norway have removed the "its not an upright" snobbishness,and embraced the 'free' jazz styles,plus they are opening up to performances that are REALLY cuttingedge. If you play Bass they love you there...play more than 4 strings and you have a red carpet.[/quote] I play 5 string fretted, so I guess I would fit in there But I am not sure how tough the entrance criteria are. It is Diploma programme though, so I think they shouldn't expect too much from me. I finished trumpet 5 year secondary education in Lithuania (second instrument piano), played in orchestra. I switched to bass 4 years ago and it became my true love. My teacher is well known and respected bass player and composer in the region. I can read music in bass cleff (but a bit slowly), I can play scales/modes/intervals/triads in all keys fluently. I would probably play Jamerson's 'for once in my life' bassline and Wooten's 'You can't hold no groove' (slap) for the audition. Having in mind all this, do I have a realistic probability to be admitted? What do they expect for this kind of programme?
  20. Thanks for the answer! I think Birmingham is really worth considering! Currently I study in the Netherlands the discipline which is very far from jazz, and I cannot devote much time to music. However, my studies end next year, and the more I think the more I want to study jazz. I already have a brilliant jazz bass teacher in Lithuania. The reason I want to engage in thorough studies is that it is very hard to study everything by yourself, including harmony etc. Especially when you do something else besides it. Concerning Birmingham - is there a realistic possibility to get a scholarship or covering of tuition fee?
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