bass_dinger

Nick Drake would have a YouTube masterclass channel, in which he and Rick Beato shows everyone the tricky tunings used in his first five albums.... 

10 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

so Easter Sunday apparently the kids have been learning a dance to a song and are going to do it for everyone... 

kicker is that apparently we're playing it... with a small band and cajon ...  

 

 

I would be tempted to add in some musical quotes from Avicii's Wake Me Up.  To my untrained ear, it sounds like the same chord sequence, and the Euro-pop-synth motif evokes the Avicii riff.  “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”  

8 minutes ago, TrevorR said:

 

 

Much much better just to play the CD/YouTube video as a backing for them.

Spot on - they don't need a home-grown version of the song.  They need the right, and familiar, version. 

As for learning a dance to a song, is this the 2022 equivalent of learning hand-actions to a song?   For me, one of the reasons I started playing guitar in church  was to exempt me from songs with actions . . .   

Now gone, to a good home 

6 minutes ago, gapiro said:

Someone tell me I don’t need a new bass 😂😂😂(drools at dingwalls)

You don't need a new bass.  A multiscale Dingwall would require special strings, and you can't therefore swap out strings from your other bass. You may find that you need a different case to what you currently have.  The technique of playing a multiscale Dingwall may not easily transfer to a standard instrument.  If you play fretless,  then there does not appear to be a fretless Dingwall.

All the same arguments that I formulated, when I had the same desire for a Dingwall.

"Step away from the Search Engine, sir. Put down your mouse, and back away from the open tabs."

On 27/03/2022 at 12:56, Rayman said:

Yep….. been there. It’s worse when you take a punt on a bass that you quite fancy, then see the one you really wanted appear the next day, but you now can’t afford it.

That's a warning to me.

I saw a through-neck Washburn, buyer collection from Alloa, £350. Barely affordable, and I have never tried one before. 

I have now decided not to try to get it.

Instead, I will use the Wanted ads to go for the instrument that I really want. 

So, I have previously been overwhelmed by the choice at Camden's Bass Gallery (5 different acoustic five-stringers when I was looking for my own instrument!).  

Perhaps a bass meet-up is also a good opportunity to try other instruments.

3 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

What @Owen said

 

" . . . take some time to worship yourself. "

Worshipping myself has been my lifelong problem - I have found that things get better when I worship my God! 

3 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

What @Owen said

 

also it’s ok, sometimes depending on the band your worship may be desperately trying to keep a band in time with one another, other times it’s to create something to help others, sometimes if you’re practiced enough as a band you get to feel like you are connected, and sometimes putting the bass down and singing (ie not into a mic) and being part of it models and helps everyone else. Don’t worry about it.

my one suggestion would be before the meeting take some time to worship yourself. For me it looks like a quiet house before everyone is up and a quiet cup of coffee others will do other things

Good answers.

I see now that the other people on the course were sharing examples of great worship while they were part of a congregation - and I, as a full-time church bassist, was wondering why I had not experienced that as part of the band.  Of course, why would I, when I am focusing on playing a setlist of 7 to 9 songs, after a 45 minute run through, complete with key changes. 

One thing that I identified at last night's session was the need for a private worship time.  I have already realised that I need to avoid having an instrument in my hand, as it quickly becomes a music session - I think that I shocked my worship leader when I told him that I don't play acoustic guitar and sing at home.

Part of the reason for that is because I am not a natural guitarist - and I don't have a quiet house before everyone is up.  At those times, my wife, daughter, son in law, and two grandchildren are all sleeping!  Likewise, when I arrive home, they ready for bed again.

Our church has started the Worship Central course.

The Course — English — Worship Central.urlhttps://worshipcentral.org/the-course/eng

I am finding it hard work - the playing is easy, but I find the act of worship while playing very difficult.  Even the idea of someone playing guitar to lead worship in a small group, I find very cringy and I have not manged to sing along yet. 

I have realised that I only play while on stage - my worship is reserved for those weeks when I am not playing in the band.   

Has anyone else tried the Worship Central course?  Anyone else struggle to raise their metaphorical hands while playing the bass?

I think that Fender basses look unattractive.  Too big, both body and headstock. 

20 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

 

 

 

Is that a  5 string Ricky?

I had no idea that they existed!

I practice at home two or three times a week, so when I arrive at the rehearsals, it sounds like I don't need to rehearse. 

I never adjust my tone, balance or volume controls. 

Instead, 15 years ago, I set them where I liked them, and put a spot of nail varnish on each knob to show me where they should be. 

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

Since then he's been on billings with this lot...

John Lee Hooker, Albert Colins, Jeff Healy, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Kool & the Gang, Bill Withers, Joss Stone, Javier Vargas and others.

In the last episode, they will perhaps unmask him.  "You thought that he was a useless duffer.  In fact, you have him in your record collection . . . "

39 minutes ago, oldslapper said:

Exudos? 
What’s that? 

It is an operating system, used on Tablets  (of Stone) . . .     

Is this still available?  I wanted to try a D'Addario set, but the B String especially! 

A free Hiscox 4-unit rack case, to whoever can pick it up from Swanley (Junction 3 M25), and do so with a smile and a friendly wave.

7 hours ago, Sardonicus said:

 

Try it in a service, last Christmas we played a reggae version of Silent Night, it went down so well that we were asked to play it again the following Sunday.  It breathes new life into old favourites, it keeps us musicians challenged and it makes for a very happy congregation.

 

 

We have a white-majority band, and a perhaps 30 per cent of the congregation is black.  So, it would have felt inauthentic to do a reggae version of anything in the service.   However, we did mess about one rehearsal and came up with a pretty convincing version of "Your Love Never Fails".

I would like to try it in the service one day - perhaps during Black History Month, play songs in the style of reggae, or Motown.

Oooh - and, and for Fathers Day, some AOR-style songs.  

We do try to mix it up - a lot of the Rend Collective songs end up sound like bad bluegrass music, so, we try to use different styles. 

The only thing that we fail on is old hymns - it always has to have some funky beat under it, even though the people for whom we are playing it do not necessarily want that.   

On 11/02/2022 at 16:48, LukeFRC said:

Take a break for a bit. 

On the day, I was okay.  In fact, it went rather well.  No midweek rehearsal, just three musicians (drums, bass and keys or guitar) and three vocalists.  Some songs were different in the service than in the pre-service run through, but we seemed to adapt to the new style very quickly (after one bar of hearing the guitarist's strumming pattern).

Listening back to a recording of one of the songs, I found myself rather liking the riff that ran through the chorus (and then realising that it was me who had played it...).

Onto next week, and we have been asked to play this by someone in the congregation who seems to quite like it . . .  

It feels pretty much driven by the bass (double-stopped with some 10ths and minor 10ths) and the drums - high-hat especially plus Hammond organ, minimal acoustic guitar, and a huge drum and bass sound for the chorus.

I know what I will be practicing tonight (and in the 80 minutes prior to the Sunday service)!

Any advice?  In particular, is there any chorus effect on the bass?

17 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

There was another pair of specs on the floor, at that very spot, that were offered, but they weren't his, apparently. What are the odds, eh..? 

They were on the face of the previous bass guitarist, knocked unconscious and left on the floor during an earlier set. 

16 hours ago, Boodang said:

" .  . . the drink on the bass combo didn't get knocked over."

I have an SWR Workingman's 12 with a similar "front shelf" on it.  I had no idea that it was designed to hold drinks. . .  

The weekend approaches, as does our traditional Sunday Morning (afternoon?) time for playing.   

Are we all still playing? Have we seen an increase in the size of the band, and congregation, as lockdown draws to an end? 

For me, I am feeling a little burnt out.  However, we have been blessed by a new guitarist with huge experience and I am hopeful that this will reboot my enthusiasm and drive.

However, I have reached the point where I no longer feel that I can play at funerals and memorial services - I find the emotion too great, and it is a difficult way to spend a day off of work.   I nevertheless want to support those who have suffered loss, and am struggling to reconcile my own needs (for a nice day off), with the desire to support friends.   

On 31/01/2022 at 19:05, SteveXFR said:

 

I forgot about that. Probably something about how James Jamerson did his stretches

I am told that he was known to lay on the floor of the studio while he played - clearly, he took his back care seriously! 

3 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

Those bass recorders are really expensive though 😕

yes - I often ask myself "Am I good enough to play a bass recorder?" 

Just now, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Bass anything is really expensive!

Contra Bassoons

Bass Trombones

Bass Saxophones...

Thomann do a bass recorder for £85.  That's bass guitar territory!