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JJTee

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Posts posted by JJTee

  1. Inspired by one of my favourite Python sketches, I was thinking about what a bass players football team might look like.  What formation? Who’s goalkeeper?
     

    Who’d be centre back? Someone solid and reliable like Cliff Williams. A holding midfielder of James Jamerson,  paired with Bernard Edwards? Maverick Pino Palladino in the cultured  midfield maestro role. Flea on one wing, box to box? But who’s going to stick it in the onion bag?

     

  2. 22 minutes ago, meterman said:

    I remember Acid Mothers Temple being painfully loud, at Tmesis in Manchester, early 2000’s. They were also hopelessly rubbish which didn’t help. I went outside after 20 minutes and could still hear them above the traffic noise. I’d rammed my earplugs so far down my ears, one of them had got stuck and my mate had to try and get it out by using a house key, then a biro pen top, etc. Folks in the street thought we were a performance art duo and we drew quite a crowd, until eventually a very kind passing lady offered us a pair of tweezers from her bag which did the job 👍

    Can attest to Notting Hill Carnival being crazy loud too. I used to live in a road in the middle of it, with a sound system about 20 metres away and another on the corner where our road joined Kensington Park road. The bass from both was oppressive even indoors with the windows closed 😂 Have played live at Carnival too, and it’s not much easier onstage either. But above all else, it’s the whistles that get you. Thousands and thousands of whistles. Tinnitus for dayssss...

    The thing with NH Carnival is the context. Utterly skull crushing, organ rearranging  levels of bass 5 metres from someone’s living room window! 

    • Like 1
  3. Following on from the 'Gigs you've left' thread, I thought we could share our experiences of the loudest gigs we've endured (or left).

    My contenders are:

    • Megadeth, circa 1991, Rust in Peace tour, Hammersmith Odeon.  Absolutely deafening; ringing ears for at least 3 days.  Way, way too loud - but I was 16 and didn't know any better, so we stayed irrespective.  Just unpleasant, so much high end.
    • Prodigy, 1997, Brighton Centre, Fat of the Land tour.   When the bass dropped in at the start of Smack my B*tch up, I could literally feel my eyeballs vibrating and was genuinely concerned.  It was just a physical, pounding wall of bass.  Me and my mates just stared at each other in disbelief!
    •  Notting Hill Carnval.  Not a gig asuch, but if you want serious bass, then standing next to some of the floats with kilowatts of amps and loaded with subs is an experience to behold.  I also remember squeezing through a crowd at the focussed epicentre of three huge stacks of speakers, that was the Aba Shanti dub/roots sound system.  An all-enveloping world of bass that has only been matched by the Prodigy.

    Anyone else got any notable experiences, good or bad?

    • Like 3
  4. Oasis, Finsbury Park 2002. Horrible, horrible atmosphere, simmering with aggression. Saw a few fights break out, people utterly wasted, a friend noted a few of the notorious Chelsea Headhunter firm in the vicinity. Topped off by the hideous oaf Liam Gallagher’s droning, and his unpleasant aggressive posturing. Binned it about halfway through. Charlatans were good though, who supported!

    • Like 1
  5. This popped up in my YouTube feed the other day.  I was blown away and can't stop watching it.  A White Shader of Pale is obviously a song I'm aware of, but not really from my era.  But I have a new found appreciation for it ….and Gary Brooker, what a voice! This was about 14 years ago, but still.... his voice seems to have aged beautifully compared to some contemporaries. The orchestration and backing is beautiful...just thought I'd share.

     

     

     

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 2
  6. Hi all

    Recently picked up an electric piano for the family.  My wife used to play, but is very rusty; I used to read music when playing trumpet, but again am rather rusty (and play bass by ear).

    So we're looking for recommendations for a beginner's guide to playing the piano for adults.  Something that is relatively slow in progress, with a methodical step by step approach?  Perhaps part of a series that we could progress through?

    Also, any recommendations for similar book but for kid - have a 4 and 6 year old.

    Thanks in advance

    JJT

  7. There’s a clip on YouTube with Nile Rodgers relaying a tale of an interview that Bernard had with a guitar magazine. The interviewer apparently asked about Bernard’s fantastic sound and what kind of strings did he use, to which Bernard replied “I dunno - what kind of strings come on a Stingray?”.  Hadn’t changed the strings since he bought it.

    I think the Stingray experts think he was therefore using flatwounds given the year of Bernard’s bass, as that was what they were then shipped with then - 1977?

  8. As a young lad growing up in the last 70's and early 80's I was 'treated' to the sound of the James Last Orchestra - my grandad was a massive fan and had boxes of James Last albums on cassette.

    Reminiscing the other day I did a bit a Youtubing and stumbled across a few videos that made me sit back and think, actually, there's clearly some serious individual talent on show here.  Lead trumpet, Derek Watkins, played on all the Bond films for example.

    Anyway put yer slippers on, sit back and enjoy (if you can!)

     

    • Like 1
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