BassTractor

My iPad just gave me a notification that my BC password was found somewhere, after a data leak, and correctly identified the password. Is one aware of a leak? (I do see several possible explanations for this notification, but assuming this was true, I changed my password right away thinking there's no harm in doing so unless some evil bar steward is "following" us right now.)

Welcome to BC, @Canalbass ! I believe these are or were dedicated tribute bands - Five Friends - Gende's Giant - Giant Steps - Three Friends, originally called Rentle Giant. As you maybe know, Rentle Giant started with two GG members, Gary Green and Malcolm Mortimore, and when GG member Kerry Minnear joined too, they changed their name to Three Friends, after GG's third album. Minnear left soon though, officially for "family reasons" but reportedly because one or two of the Shulman brothers had expressed not liking the idea. Other bands may have been more ad hoc, maybe only related to tribute CD projects, like - Gentle Dwarf - Glass Haus - In a Glass House Also, there's a plethora of people having performed some GG songs, and many of those are on YouTube. For example Israeli singer Esther Ofarim did a version of "Aspirations" called "Aspiration".

Proclamation here too. Heard that and the intricate So Sincere, and was (floored)2. The title track TPatG was a non-album single, IMS due to contractual obligations, and was only added to a CD in the 90s. Yeah, I do seem to remember The Boys in the Band hated it themselves. As to popular and unpopular, I may have worded carelessly. The last three (some say four) albums were their attempts at more popular stuff, as their frustration about the lack of success had grown during their first five or six years. However, with these last albums they lost many fans of their classic stuff whilst gaining few new ones, and the band folded in 1980.

BTW2, this footage is of their first gig in the UK after a hiatus, and the audience reportedly consisted of people on a studio visit - clearly not GG fans.

Great band, great rhythm section - with a fantastic bass player and a hard hitting drummer who nicely contrasts the intricacies of some of the arrangements. Love them - especially their earlier period (until '76, incl the Interview album) Which tracks do you like most, WoT? BTW, this footage from '78 shows both their old style, with tracks like Free Hand, Just the Same, Playing the Game, and even a fugue exposition starting off On Reflection for example, and the style of their latter years of being frustrated at not gaining real success, with some clear nods at punk and tracks like Two Weeks in Spain, I'm Turning Around and Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It.

In Norway we have Black Debbath. Though that's not a tribute band, their name has the modest fans vibe, in an IMHO much better fashion than say Gentle Dwarf (I vaguely think I have a track by them on a tribute album).

Reportedly existing: 4 Blondes Me, I contemplate starting an experimental Paul Chambers tribute: PC Gone Mad!

We just hate being those what-did-we-tell-ya guys, but ... 😉 Congrats! You'll have a great time, I'm sure.

Fully agreed. IMHO it's a beast from another world within the realm of analogue mono. I regret having had to sell mine - only for pecuniary reasons. That said, the OP says he won't go there, and also: the MB isn't really the next level from a Little Phatty. Sounds as if the OP wants a synth - with "that" sound - that can do more than the Phatty. IMHO the MB is for people who know exactly what they're doing (or for people who just accept the presets). Sadly the OP gave little info to work from, and hasn't responded to you guys' inputs.

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That can never be a good thing. Maybe it's better for you to accept the levels of your abilities, and to not try and cram a lot of new stuff into the short time you have left. You be the judge of this of course, but the way I see it you risk working yourself up to a stress level that is not going to contribute. As several have said: they want you. Try and tell yourself you're worth having. All the best! bert

Same here. However, expectations and prejudiced observations can play a major part. Not accusing anyone, but definitely IME.

Awkward maybe, but in total I count that as a good thing because performing in the same surroundings as where the learning took place is regarded as an advantage. Before my audition for music college, I found out where the audition was held, and got them to allow me to practice in that room. (added advantage in my case in that it was on pipe organ, so I got to study the characteristics of that specific organ before deciding on things like tempos, registration, etc.) As a general starting point, and I do take your stress seriously, I think it's good to keep realising that ACM staff deal with aspiring new students on a yearly basis, and they will normally do their part to make you feel at ease. They don't expect too much. All the best! Bert

True story, if you believe bassist Ray Shulman of pop group Simon Dupree & the Big Sound - later to become prog band Gentle Giant: SD&tBS: "Reg, you were great when you were depping with us! We're gonna leave the pop bizniz and will change the shape of music to come with a new band. Wanna be our keys player?" Reg: "Nah. See, I wanna work on my solo career and wrote this hit song: <plays/sings "Your Song">. SD&tBS: <snigger, snigger> Reg: "Also, I changed my stage name. It's Elton John now." SD&tBS: ROtFLOLPTS. Without Reggie, Gentle Giant became a huge success, and sold at least two thousand three hundred and forty four albums over ten years. As to the question in the OP: Yes, my friend Ernie and I (Bert) famously created the acoustic duo "Bert & Ernie". Really alter egos, mind: in real life, Ernie was the Bert type and I was a true Ernie.

King Crimson in its Double Trio version had both Tony Levin and Trey Gunn on Chapman Sticks and Warr Guitar. Dunno if that counts, and can't remember exactly how the instruments were used.

Ha! Just now I learned that the plural does have an 's' at the end.

Norton Internet Security in Chrome both says it's safe, and let me visit unhindered. Haven't tried other combinations. But ... Trojan? I guess your browser protection mistakes them for the Greeks. Greece has a slightly better song than the UK this year. I think this warning will last only a few more hours. You'll be OK.

You are not gonna believe me in this, but: Gentle Giant's otherwise fantastic bass player Ray Shulman sings a wrong note 😱 in the fugue-like vocals of this beejooteeful track called "On Reflection":

Nah. - "I couldn't have done that at all, but if I could've done it, I could've done it a lot better." Modest realism keeps ya sane.

There is a recording with me on it ...

Exactly. Probably a good idea to not draw too strong conclusions from one little remark made under specific circumstances. Though I do recognise that some indifferent people will answer "Anything!", I too could be found to say it - given the right setting.

I'll listen to anything and like really everything. Yes, I have great taste! 😁 That said, several posts in different threads by @zbd1960 could nearly have been written by me, me coming from a strictly classical background and then having accepted more and more music into my life as the decades passed. Today, just as I'll listen to Bach but (nearly) not to Vivaldi, I'll listen to Penderecki but nearly not to Britten, to B.B. King but not to Freddie King, to Little Big Town but not to Hank Williams, to Metallica but not to Slayer, etc. etc. As to the neuroscientific angle, I know very little and thusly am very sure I'm right ( 😉 ) in thinking that for most people, musicality as well as exposure as well as neurotransmitter combinations play important roles.

Ah. I'd overlooked that possibility. Thanks for mentioning. The Micron already had the vocoder, BTW, but the Miniak offered better UI, steel pot shafts, a better set of presets and a microphone. Some say that it also was redesigned internally so it should live longer, but I haven't seen this confirmed. All of this of course has relatively little to say for the original question of the OP, which I tried to answer before the OP saw new possibilities in other directions. I maintain the Miniak is a beast, as is the Blofeld Keyboard. Whether someone is served by their vast capacities is another matter.

Not wishing to try and sell you a Miniak, and I don't know the GR55, but one thing I know in-depth is that the synth engine of the Miniak is unparallelledly advanced in the price bracket. I read the GR55 has 900 PCM presets, which IME probably means the individual sounds can be tweaked to some degree. Then if you like those presets, your needs are covered. The Miniak OTOH does have 500 or so presets, and as I said initially these are a travel through hit history, but the Miniak's real power is in that you can build the exact sound you need - either from a preset or from scratch. Not everyone's cup of tea of course, but very, very, very powerful. (Me, I bought an iPad editor app for it, thusly evading the Miniak's user interface - though before that I programmed from scratch on the unit itself and that worked more than fast enough when I got used to it.) Of course your needs, or the OP's needs, might be met better with another box.

Can the software do this on a note-by-note basis depending on the chord structure? I'd imagine it technically possible by now, but is it done?