bass_dinger

So, I lost my mum at the start of June the year, and wanted to be with my dad more often, at this time. His heart attack simply added to the urgency. I think that dad would appreciate my being with him, so, that feels like the right answer. I only joined the other band to stretch my musical self a little. But right now, that it not the priority.

Yes, Mr Punter - the TUNE goes like that . . . but how does the bassline go? What are the harmonies? At least your singer realised that he needs to sing the bassline to you.

A lot of people have told me that, so, it must be true.

An update, but not a nice one. My wife is due to go in for minor surgery later this week, so, I want to look after her. However, my dad suffered two heart attacks last week, and had a stent fitted, so, I want to look after him too! I don't think that the Panto group remains a priority, and I did not much enjoy it, so, I will consider dropping out.

I will have a look later this week. However, I play with a vocal group that drifts from G to G flat, so, a few cents is more likely to be what I would earn if I went busking with them, rather than the measure of my tuning problem . . .

Washburn XB500

An update. I played for the same vocal group, at a memorial service. They wanted to sign acapella. They sung in G flat. The pianist suggested that G would be easier for the band, (keys, bass, drums), and gave them a G chord, and starting note. Yes, they were happy to rehearse like that. They sung a chorus, then a verse, acapella - band came in, all was well. The actual service? Started in G, sung a chorus, then a verse, acapella - but the band already realised that the vocalists were no longer in G. Closer to G three-quarters flat. So, almost G flat. It took me a while to work out which key we were in, and how to signal to the keys player where we were - I wanted to signal the number of flats, but could not remember how many flats G flat had!! And when I worked it out that it was six, I did not have enough fingers on one hand! Later, the vocalists did the same thing again - this time, the key of D drifted to D flat. After the service, which was broadcast, I felt compelled to let some of them know why we did not start to play where we had agreed. "We need to find the new key - you had drifted!". "I don't know about keys. I just sing. We expected you to come in when you said you would." I will laugh about this, one day. But not today!

I tune my open strings on a Boss TU2, using the strobe setting. Open strings are spot-on (apart from a wavering low B). I then fret the string at the 5th fret and it registers as sharp - the strobe moves upwards, slowly. Of course, I may be only looking at a few cents out, but it is odd to see the tuning is not the same all the way up the fret board. The strings (a £5 set from eBay) are about a year old and are 45 to 125. The bass was set up for a set of Dunlop steels (40 to 120). So, should I simply tune so that the 5th fret note is right? Should I change the intonation? Should I buy a better tuner? Fit new strings? Should I simply not worry?

Oh What a Night. The key was too high for any of our singers, and I did not want to learn it in another key. I wish by Stevie Wonder - right song, wrong key! Since I left, they have recorded the song on bass and ukulele Respect by Aretha Franklin - ultimately, the band was not keen, although it worked when a few of us played it. All of the songs were great basslines, with simple chords, in search of a competent band!

You're a hitman? Shoot me, now.

I am told that the leader does have more PA, but won't bring it along yet, as it is too much kit to move around.

I am in a second, also new, group, in which I am doing more of the admin work. That's fine, because the new group is very capable, and made up of better musicians from my town. And me . . . The Panto group, however, has dumbed-down chords - although I am told that the chords will be corrected later. So, we practice the wrong chords, then move across to the correct version. Currently, the dance moves consist of people walking around in a circle, and getting used to moving while singing. I suspect that the script, and the dance moves, will be tailored to what the musicians can play, and the singers can sing. " . . . . oooh. Snow White is lost and in the woods. Where can she stay tonight...? " "Why not take a train to Waterloo, and stay at the YMCA . . .?"

I think that I want to help them - to support the project. They are clearly enjoying themselves, and I feel that I want to give something back to the community. However, I am not convinced that this is the right group to do that with - I am a bassist, not an arranger or organiser.

We have all been instructed to sell 5 tickets. At this level, it's more about inviting your friends and family along, so that they can see Uncle Bob up on stage. Think "School Assembly" rather than "Music Society Recital"

A Hard Day's Night (in the wrong key, without the iconic opening chord); YMCA (wrong key, without the horn riff at the start)l Waterloo by Abba (part of a medley with YMCA) . . . All songs are started by the leader saying "and a one and a two and a three and a four" regardless of whether the song is a disco rhythm, or the Waterloo "bounce". It is, as others have said, British and bonkers. I am not enjoying it much. I had hoped that the band would give me the opportunity to play new material with good musicians. This is not the case - I was told that I was one of the main musicians, and some of the others are treating it as a strum-along session. I think that I need to get out before my sanity suffers!

Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful advice, and wonderful fish puns! It was helpful to know that I was right to be concerned about the set up and the resulting sound. So, when I arrived. they had already set up at one end of the room. Nevertheless, I was next to the drummer, and the keyboard / vocal amplifier was opposite us. So, we faced each other across the short axis of the room, rather than (as I had been told) the long axis. It was a struggle to hear the acoustic piano, but the electric piano was fine, as was the unamplified flute. The ukulele-banjo was inaudible too. I could not hear the singers at all - and I don't think that they could hear themselves either, if their pitching was anything to go by. It was a mixed evening - I was handed chord sheets about 15 seconds before a song was played, and they were not always accurate. There was an odd mix of musicians - one of the two pianists was warming up by playing Widor's Toccata! The drummer was competent. The flautist could play by ear. Later, a guitarist left half way through, and a second guitarist struggled to find a D chord. The whole group is due to perform a pantomime on 10th December. We currently have no script, and have not decided on the songs yet. I will treat Friday's session as an audition, for everyone (myself included), and give it another week. That should be enough time for the leaders to sort out sound, singers, and chord sheets.

Right now "in the car park, walking towards my car" looks like the optimum spot....

Can I tap into the Basschat hive mind, for some advice on setting up a band? I am off to a rehearsal tonight - we are meeting at a village hall, bringing our own amps, and the singers will be in the audience on the night of the performance. There are two amps - my own 100 watt SWR Workingmans 12, and another smaller combo amp, for keys, vocals, and guitar. No radio mics. Last week we played in someone's house (20 foot square billiards room). At one stage, I could not hear one singer well so I moved myself away from the group to see if it made a difference. (One singer was acoustically loud, and was drowning out the other singer who was plugged into the amp). The loud singer complained that, as I had moved away, she could not now hear me well. Odd - the placement of my amp remained the same . . . An hour ago, I got this message: "Hello Robert. You will be on the stage with Richard the drummer and the trumpet player. Although no Mike the trumpet player tonight. This way you can set your amp behind you so you and us can hear it. We are going to experiment by setting the piano and rhythm guitar at the other end of the hall. Hopefully we can all then hear each other" So, the band is positioned in two spaces. On the evening, they will have a seated audience in the space between the two groups of musicians. The audience will be enjoying a fish and chip supper . . . Ignoring the fish and chips, is this an innovative way of setting up a band, that every other band and orchestra somehow overlooked? Or a clueless attempt at doing things differently that is doomed to fail?

I'm still standing. But that's because I already had everything that I needed last year.

I am currently enjoying The Eagles in concert. I am also wondering why the bassist changes his bass between songs - they all sound the same through my £45 Freeview Plus box, and hifi . . .

A plea for a bass guitar. A friend from another church is looking for a bass that he can buy, to give three or four eager guitarists a chance to become a church bassist. Does anyone have something suitable? My own church had 4 basses* at one point, but they were all given away to churches that needed a bass guitar. * and no other donated instruments at all. Very odd.

Not Fade Away. That's sad news.

OnSong. It allows us to share images of a music score, or transposable chord charts. One of the quirks is that D with an F# in the bass is shown as D/Gb - not so bad when it is one chord, but a nuisance when B felt and E flat is shown as A sharp and D sharp. There is probably a fix, or an option, but a band mate runs the application. We use single PC with OnSong on it, and a video splitter sending the image to 5 additional monitor screens. The PC and monitors are a fixed installation, however, so it won't really work for gigging.

Sounds advice. I have the same book, and for some of the notes, it really is a case of working out each one at a time. When I started to read music, I figured that it was an alphabet with perhaps a dozen letters - very manageable, given that I had mastered a 26 letter alphabet while still at primary school! I still struggle with timing of notes, but note reading is now possible.

Perhaps the issue is that you are listening to the livestream, and they are listening to the in-room sound. You might want to suggest that they listen to the livestream. If they still can't hear the problem, then that's the issue.