oggiesnr

If you're paying to perform it's not a gig, it's an opportunity to show off in public and there's plenty of ways of doing that without paying a promoter for the privilege. Steve

Nice one Steve PS and it's a lot more satisfying than buying one isn't it?

Jubilee event at North Ferriby with the Rackaback Morris. Four slots well spread out during the afternoon, good crowd and we did a couple of audience participation dances. Let some interested kids have a quick pluck at the DB and passed on some contact details for Hull Music Centre to parents. Good fun. Only downer was the Tug of War, we lost badly. Mind you it was eight of us against fifteen Viking re-enactors! Steve

Maybe traditionally the uillean pipes with their regulators and the bass end of the harp fullfilled the bass function. It is also possible that we see the bass in Scottish music coming from the more formal dance band tradition (think Jimmy Shand) which came from the Dance Hall tradition whilst the equivilent bands in Ireland (Kilfenora Ceili Band etc) came from a more informal, domestic setting. Just speculating Steve

Second the "visit to the luthier" suggestion. The action is way higher than mine and the bridge sounds dodgy. Although I could do some of the work on my own bass (and other instruments) long experience has shown me that it's usually cheaper in the long run to get an expert to do it. Steve

There's practice and there's playing. For me practice is structured and focussed and tends to be on stuff that I'm working on with my teacher so it's music out and get stuck in (reading is also one of the things I'm practising). I try to do half an hour a day and half of that will be arco (some of those Sevcik exercises are brutes). After that I'll work on basslines and songs or just noodle for as long as I can which will depend on whether it's a market day (limited time) or a workshop day. Obviously the stuff I've been practicing will influence the playing part but I see it as two sides of the coin. Steve

[quote name='ChrisF' timestamp='1338576511' post='1676776'] oh...and am I right in thinking that they can be played through a bass guitar amp ??? [/quote] Yes, but the pickup is extra. Steve Edited to add. Sorry, cross posted with the reply above.

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1338459114' post='1674802'] Why not just write you own bass lines? Then they can be as interesting as you like. My acoustic trio (we were a duo for 3 years..) rarely play straight covers - we change the key, the feel, arrangements etc and I write a bass part which fits around that. Sometime it will follow the chords, sometime it will be a walking bassline - whichever best suits the song. Also, just because the bass follows the chords, it doesn't mean that the song isn't interesting. Check out the John Martyn and Danny Thompson's version of Solid Air from the Transatlantic Sessions on Youtube. For most of the track Danny is just playing C and F.... but it's how he plays them that makes the track. [/quote] +1 In a duo (or solo) make up your own lines. In many cases the "proper" bass line will sound wrong with a stripped back instrumentation. In a duo I tend to keep lines on the low side so as not to overlap with the guitar sound. IMHO straight covers are boring but then I'm a folkie so almost everything I play is a "cover" which I/we just have to play differently. Of my solo set I can suggest "Hallelujah", "Casey's Last Ride", "Me and Bobby Magee" plus a whole host of blues as the better known ones, the rest are a bit more obscure! I'm working on versions of "The Rose" and "Summertime" which need a lot of work but have potential. Steve

Monday afternoon at North Ferriby (near 'Ull). The Rackaback have got four dance slots during the afternoon plus we may busk a bit. Steve

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1338411377' post='1674312'] With my current gig, I am teaching the songwriter to shout at me when I do stuff she doesn't like, as she is only 15, and is understandably a bit cautious when it comes to telling a 35 year old wookie what he should be playing. She's getting it now, as I occasionally throw in something utterly ridiculous, and if she doesn't pull me up on it, I will politely ask her why the hell she though I should be getting away with that. She's learning... [/quote] Good on you When I play my stuff I know how I want it to sound, when I play for someone else I expect them to tell me how they want it to sound. I may be able to help, to make suggestions but it's their music and I'm there to make it sound right for them. Steve PS I wonder if part of the problem for the OP was that the guitarist was too shy or too polite to say at the time "very nice but not what I'm after"?

Sorry but you raised this at eight this morning and have sent an e-mail by three this afternoon. IMHO that's not enough time to sort out how you really feel about this and to let you temper cool and your brain take over. However what is done is done and I just hope you haven't burnt your chances of doing what (down the road) you realise you should/could have done. Cooling off periods are a great idea and give everyone time to step back before something drastic happens. I wonder how many bands have split because they've had band meetings straight after a crap gig rather than twenty four hours later? Steve

Straight into whatever combo happens to be unused at the time. Never played one in a venue where we needed to run it through the PA so you're on your own there. Once (out of pure devilment) we ran it through the guitarist's pedal board. Fuzz/phase and delay with a touch a wah. The look on punters faces as they tried to work out what was happening was great fun. Steve

Make one, it'll take about ten minutes! Find a cigar (or other suitable) box (car boot sales are best for these). Cheap piezo pickup (couple of quid from Maplins). Tape inside box, I used the cabling from a defunct pair of ear buds to connect it up (already wired to a jack ), use a jack adapter to connect to amp and hey presto! If it costs more than a fiver you was robbed! If you want to get fancy then you can add brass bells or whatever to the inside (or build two, one as a bass, one as a hi-hat). Have fun Steve

This is how it can be done (if you're one of the best) [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9HyB5yNS1A&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9HyB5yNS1A&feature=related[/url] Steve

If you're up front and keep good records the worst is that HMRC challenges your records and you may or may not owe them some money. The likelihood is they won't bother you so long as the way you live is in keeping with yur claimed income (I've had the VATman round twice, they've looked at the house and gone elsewhere) If you get caught up by accident or design (either they're auditing a venue who claims they've paid you ten times what they paid you or the disgruntled punter) then you have to try and defend their figures which is harder. If the audited venue says they paid you £2000 rather than £200 then HMRC may ask you "How many gigs did you do last year?" Answer "50" they then calculate your band income at £100,000 which over the VAT limit so 20% is due plus income tax, they then backdate it over the several years you've been a band and you have a huge figure. You may get away with it forever, but it's easier to be prepared. Steve

Agree pretty well with Earbrass with the important caveat that if you really want to play Cajun then you need a single row [i]cajun tuned box [/i]not all single row boxes are Cajun boxes even though they look the same. If you're interested in a wider range of music then a single row is a bit limiting and a two row is a better bet. Even here it gets confusing as there are two different tuning systems. Irish players tend to play boxes witht he two rows tuned a semitone apart, so C/C# or B/C where the C row is the white notes on a piano and the other row the black. However as there are only eight bass chords they don't use that side of the box as much as the chords just aren't there for all keys. The rest of us tend to play boxes tuned a fifth apart so D/G (the main english tuning), G/C or C/F (continental) or even Eb/Bb for those who play with brass instruments. It's also why most box players have multiple boxes because they need the different keys or the different sounds but that's a whole new ballgame. Steve PS be very careful about buying cheap, especially elderly, instruments on Ebay, rennovating a box can make a "cheap" box more expensive than a new one and it may still be an inferior instrument,

There's a very mixed bag of stuff here . [url="http://www.scorpexuke.com/songs.html"]http://www.scorpexuke.com/songs.html[/url] Steve

In Grim Reaper mode, May Day Morning. [IMG]http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w62/oggiesnr/MayDay2.jpg[/IMG] Steve

For a gang of bass players there's a hell of a value of guitars in here. I know guitarists with less Makes my collection of beat acoustics look very tame I love the Fylde electric, I didn't know that Roger had ever made an electric. Steve .

Could be worse, it could be pink! Steve

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' timestamp='1337604232' post='1662546'] That's why it's a godsend that most zydeco songs only have 2 or 3 notes in them then it's about getting into a groove and sticking with it! I *think* most 1 rows have 4 chords (2 buttons) though don't they? I know they're very restricted on keys, no fancy scales going on there. If you want different keys, you need more accordions! [/quote] No it is two chords only on a Cajun box, one on push, one on pull. One button plays the bass note, the other the chord so you can get that ump - pah effect (or um - pah - pah if you're in 3/4). You also play them in crossed position (like a blues harp) so on a box in C you actually play in G. The final complication is that a true cajun box is not tuned in equal temperment like the frets on a bass. Depending on the tuner the third, fourth and seventh will be flattened by up to 15 cents. This is to make it sound sweeter when played cross style but means that if you play them straight they sound odd. However the good news is that most european boxes are tuned normally which makes life simpler. Steve

Couldn't find a reference to this one when I did a search and if it's "old hat" then my apologies, but I'd not seen this one before and it is now on my ever lengthening "must learn" list. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOihDdMEkPY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOihDdMEkPY[/url] Steve BTW Al is evidently on tour at the moment.

Many years ago I played in a band that needed a PA. Our approach was to set up a partnership put money in to buy the PA (and also agree stuff like mileage etc for the guy who's van we used), put all the money through the books and divvied up twice a year leaving enough money in the account to cover contingencies. At the end of each year we had a proper profit and loss account with a balance sheet with the PA shown at a depreciated balance. When someone left they were entitled to their share of the book value on the day they left which obviously included the value of the PA plus the contents of the bank account. In one case someone bought in for that amount, in another case the surviving members paid out there share and we each ended up with a quarter share rather than a fifth. Anyone who played with us thereafter got a share of the gig money less agreed expenses (eg the diesal for the van). When we split up we sold of the PA (actually for more than book value) and split the bank account between us. Three of us were self employed anyway so we each did our own taxes but we paid an accountant (actually a mate who charged mates rates) to do the account for the group. May seem a hassle but it worked for us. The key was we agreed it all at the start so we knew where we were. Steve

I've come to this thread late but ... I am a late starter, I'm fifty-five, and whilst I've dabbled with bass guitar my main instruments are squeezeboxes, whistles and assorted folkie stuff. I also broke my left wrist back in November. My approach was to have lessons from the start and "listen" very carefully to what my wrist was telling me. I don't use painkillers so if it hurts I stop and wait. I also try to analyse what is causing the problem and adjust (my bow grip is awful ugly but it works for me). I need my hands to earn a living so the bass can't be allowed to jeopardise that. So far so good, it's actually strengthening my wrist and helping mobility and I'm having fun (although reading bass clef after a lifetime of reading treble comes hard). Steve

I feel for you. Hope the bill isn't too painful. Steve