bass_dinger

Recently, the Under-Pastor and sound team have been working on the sound in the room.  They have realised that all of the sound comes from the stage, and they can't turn the band down in the room. 

They start the process about 10 minutes before the service starts - 80 minutes after the rehearsal began.  The sound has been like this since August 2020.  

So far, their experiments have not interfered with how and what we play.  We have managed to smile and nod during their 10 minute "Window of Puzzlement".  10 minutes is not enough time to even explain stage monitoring, and sound leakage.  I am hopeful that they will find other things to occupy themselves prior to the service.  

Are we all back playing at church?  Are we preparing for Christmas?  Working on the basslines for the hymns?  Working out how to see the sheet music when Carols by Candlelight really does mean, candles! 

Different instruments ??  I don't even have a different setting on the bass's tone, volume and balance knobs!  The amp is set flat too. 

I thought that it was all in the fingers, muting, note length, and where and how one plucks.     

Shaggy and the Beatles - Let it Be Me 

3 hours ago, aDx said:

i learnt 53 songs only to be told they were in different keys and arrangements were different!

 

would have been nice to be told before i learnt them all wrongly!

 

 

My guess is that you learnt them all correctly - the keys, the bass runs, the fills, the interplay between the drummer and the bassist.  

Sadly, the rest of the band then learnt them wrongly, or simplified the arrangements, or decided that every song should be in G.  

If it's any consolation, my church band regularly used to send out the sheet music in one key, a chord chart in another key, and a YouTube video  in a third key.  We would then rehearse it in a fourth key, before changing it to a 5th key to suit the vocalists.  

2 hours ago, Muzz said:

 

This ^^^

 

PS 'Jesus Christ that's a lot' - please let the OP tell us that's the reply he sent... 😁

There can't be many gigs where you can speak directly to management  about the number of songs . . .

On 23/10/2021 at 13:44, spongebob said:

Nope, nothing. Just a huge list, and asked to get going on them!

 

 

No keys?  No chord charts? No YouTube videos as a point of reference?

In that case, I can see why you won't be taking it further.  I play in a church band, and I would struggle with 83 songs with no help given.    

On 09/10/2021 at 16:31, joseb84 said:

Hello all, a while since I've posted on this thread as my family have been moving 200 miles north over the summer. Hence we are in a new church!

 

To my surprise I'm playing bass tomorrow morning. I met the worship pastor on Thursday evening for a catch up and trial, thinking I'd slowly be integrated into things over the next few months. But no, straight in!

 

How did it go? 

4 minutes ago, redbandit599 said:

Not sure if this will work. I hope your youngster has fun! ( We do)🤘😂

I'll just say wait for it....

 

Good grief - she went from New Seekers to Punk Rock in the space of 43 seconds. 

Great fun, thanks for sharing. 

I had a gig!

Proper stage, PA, foldback, audience who could choose whether to listen or walk away, new songs to learn, and some great vocalists.  

This was my first time on a proper raised stage and it was was hard work, for sure.  I struggled to hear the other musicians a little, and until yesterday I had no real concept of how long it would take to set up the kit - an 8 hour day for 90 minutes of playing.

I have a new respect for people who play on stage, hats off to you all!

It was fun.  I want to do it again - but better!

I see that I was unclear - apologies.

So, I have two gigs.

The panto gig, with PA at both ends of the room, and lots of inexperienced musicians, aiming to put on  a show with 10 weeks of rehearsals.

This gig has now been cancelled - just two people turned up to the rehearsal in the second week, I am told.    However, I have been asked to work with the same band leader to play in a smaller group.

On Sunday, I am playing at an open-air event, at the Orpington Food Fair.  The band is made up of a number of churches in Orpington - so, a choir of 30, and musicians from different churches.  Hence, we are learning to play together, in new keys.  Somehow, this feels like an easier gig - the musicians have a track-record of delivering good music, and we were able to get through 20 songs in 2 hours, taking time to refine the arrangements.       

2 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Is it too much to expect a rational reason for this?

I am just the bassist.  I do what I am told.

It's a church gig.  Different churches sing the same standards in different keys.  I have played some songs in four different keys in one rehearsal to assist the vocalists to find their happy place.  
  

10 minutes ago, Rich said:

Oh yes it is.

No.  It's behind me . . . 

I got a message from the band leader.

It had not quite worked out as he expected, and the plan is to do something smaller (fewer people) in the new year.  He likes my playing style, and wants me to be part of it. 

So, it looks like the Panto is not now happening. 

I can't say that I mind.


In the meantime, I have the first proper run through of the Orpington Food Fair band tonight - we play two 45 minute sets, on Sunday.   I know about 70 percent of the songs (church stuff), but a lot of them are in new keys.  The songs that are new to me (pop songs) I have chord charts for.   Only Dancing Queen, and Crazy Little Thing Called Love, are in the right key, and familiar to me.  The guitarist is good, and the vocalist are strong.  We have PA, and a stage, all on the back of a low-loader.  I am hoping that the audience will all be eating burgers and ignoring the band!

This is my biggest gig to date.  And I am still not getting paid for it!!

31 minutes ago, JapanAxe said:

Best thing would be to drop a verse and a chorus, the intro, the solo, and the remaining verses and choruses. And the bridge.

 

God I hate that song.

Come on JapanAxe - don't beat around the bush, don't hold back.  Stop sitting on the fence and tell us how you really feel about that song...

 

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

The bass player is Gordon Edwards and this is pretty much his style.

 

He formed a band called Stuff with Steve Gadd, Richard T etc. Stuff was filmed at Montreaux.

 

Have a listen. It's a masterclass on under statement and groove.

Oooh yeah!  

Listening to Signed Sealed Delivered - that bassline is very much in the style of Gone At Last.  And I have a new favourite bassist.

  
  

11 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

Similar with tempo. If the song gets much faster or slower then the original bass part may well need changing.

Yes!!  My band played Goin' Up Country - the bassline was manageable at the right speed.  But they always sped up when we played it live.  So, I refused to play it live.  Silly of me, I know.  But it made me feel important . . .  :-)

Gone at Last 

I recall hearing this as a teenager, on my aunt's radiogram.  I was blown away by the energy of the track. 

I went back to it, as an adult bass player.  I was blown away by the bass line, and wanted to play it.  It feels like a musically simply line, but the speed and accuracy required make it difficult to replicate - even Paul Simon's band do not play that bassline in live concerts!   

It feels like a root-5th, with the occasional third as a passing note.  How would I go about working out the bassline?  Slow it down, for sure. Write down the notes (rather than rely on memory).  Any other tips?

For some reason, it reminds me of the bassline to Aretha Franklin's Blues Brother version of "Think!" - it has the same use of chord tones, and passing notes.  

10 minutes ago, StickyDBRmf said:

Did this problem just start? Old strings can do weird things. You get a nick or a dent or a flat spot and it's not going to ring true.

I noticed about 3 months ago, when the strings were 10 months old. 

On 21/09/2021 at 09:46, Jus Lukin said:

Sorry to hear the news- doesn't seem correct to say that you dodged a bullet, but at least the decision has been taken out of your hands.

I was on tour for most of the 15 months of my Dad's illness, and got that phone call whilst loading out of a venue at the end of the night. I did get the chance to say a kind of goodbye while he was still compos mentis, and saw him briefly in the hospice when he was more diamorphine than man, but otherwise I was pretty disconnected from the process. Observing those little points along the trajectory were psychologically helpful to me, and as gruelling as it is to look after someone, I think our brains are better attuned to the inevitable outcome of a decline that to just lose someone out of the blue.

 

Reading back I see that your parents are both still with you, so that isn't quite as relevant as I first thought, but during this time your own wellbeing is just as, if not more, important than usual. While it's natural to do all you can for your mum and dad, taking every opportunity to relax and care for yourself will help no end, in both the immediate and long term.

 

All the best, Andy

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.

2 minutes ago, geoham said:

"It's easy, it goes..."

 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.

6 minutes ago, Chezz55 said:

  Do not forget to look after yourself Bass_dinger.

 

 

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.  

5 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

A few cents is not much. "According to Ellis, when two notes are played together, a difference of 2 cents is noticeable, and a difference of 5 cents is heard as out of tune."

 

It could well be cheap strings, but it might not be.

 

Have you checked the intonation? I check after every change of strings.

 

The 12th fret harmonic and fretted note at 12th fret should all be in tune.

 

If it's still noticeably out of tune near the nut, then the nut probably is a bit high and needs careful re-cutting.

 

Virtually no instrument will be spot on for every fret, everywhere.

 

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 . . .   

7 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

What bass is it ? Maybe someone else the problem on that same model 

 Washburn XB500