bass_dinger

He remembered me, and that we last met at a mutual friend's birthday party. He remembered too that he had given me a lesson. I am in shock. And I am officially Cool.

To my utter surprise, I made it. The place is full of groovy and hip people. I am neither. I think that I am late. About 30 years late....

That's today! Pretty close to me, in Swanley, too.

The comment "Worth getting a teacher" was for the benefit of @edstraker123, as someone who hadn't previously tried the violin. So it is interesting that @Rosie C is getting a teacher, even though we know that our friend is a proficient orchestral viola player (violist?), and had therefore used a bow before. And a mandolin will have given experience of the violin tuning. And of course, anyone who can make a recorder sound decent is clearly a musical genius! If @Rosie C needs a teacher, how much more would a beginner like myself!

It is terrific fun, and very rewarding to nail a line, or even a note. I feel that I have unlocked a new skill level! I am still trying to increase the "mwah" which I have done by turning up the midrange. Is there another way of getting more mwah? Lower action? Different strings?

Did the bridge need any adjustment? A friend of mine asked me to restring his (much cheaper) electric violin, and I saw that the bridge was not shaped to give a lower action at the A and E side. I wasn't competent enough to try it myself, so I left him to get a luthier to look at it - but as it was, it seriously impacted on the intonation. Violin is the same tuning as your mandolin, I think. I have seen a separate fretted fingerboard "cap" that sits atop a normal violin fingerboard. Worth looking at? However, it is possible to learn the intonation and the positioning by ear (and practice). Worth getting a teacher too - of all the instruments I have tried, it was the least intuitive.

Perhaps he has joined an interpretive mime group, and is trapped in a room for which he cannot find the door.

"That's a great sounding bass! I must buy one for myself, for, as we all know, new basses make us sound great. " Or is that the wrong sort of thing that is being encouraged?

It's not just you. Two of the input channels on my Yamaha AG03 PC interface have failed. Instead of buying a new one, I found the Xenyx 802 mixer that I was given, and used the working inputs from that, and a pair of effects pedal cables, to plug into the two remaining inputs of the AG03. The twin mixers are messy, but kept me operational. There's more. Instead of buying a midi expansion box with lots more sounds for my piano, or a better hammer-action keybed, I invested the same budget in piano lessons. My Grade 1 exam is on 10th March. And one more. Instead of using my fretted bass to practice, I am now exclusively on fretless bass, working on my intonation. So, all this gear abstinence malarky is giving me no extra toys, but a bit of extra ability on the instruments that I do already have. Practicing? It'll never catch on....

That sounds like a good outcome, notwithstanding your neck and shoulder problems.

Another way of looking at it is to accept that the rehearsals are great fun, but that one run-through (the actual gig) won't be so enjoyable. If bands are hard to find in your area, then perhaps stick around and see if the miming gig becomes something more musically rewarding. The other possibility (without trying to offend you) is that the band doesn't think that you are ready yet to play live. However, they see your potential, and are waiting for you to nail those tricky basslines.

Stop dribbling, man! The next time an XB925 comes up, I will let you have first dibs. I am in danger of collecting the whole set of variations, so, best for me to stop now. Indeed, this morning, someone offered to buy the 1994 XB500, so, that should be gone by the end of the week.

The only photo of all four of my Washburn basses, with the "bag of bits " XB925 finally restored and rebuilt as a fretless. Left to Right, 4 of the same Bantam basses. 1. 1998 XB500 (twin humbuckers; panpot selection of the pickups). Translucent green finish. 2. Probably a later (1999 to early 2000s) Custom Shop XB925. We know it's a later one, as it has the signature "dodgy neck" that eventually twists, and fail. Neck remade by Mike Sherman, who ran the original Washburn Custom Shop, and also designed the Bantam bass. There is a whole thread on this particular vanity project... Twin Barts, pan pot pickup selection, stack-knob bass and treble controls, plus a midrange control too. And an active/passive toggle switch. Purchased from Hungary, along with the other XB925. 3. Probably an earlier (pre 1999?) XB925, with zebrawood top. We know it's an earlier one, because Mike Sherman told me so.... And he made them, at the time. The neck is asymmetric (fatter on the bass side). Same control configuration as for the previous XB925. 4. 1994 XB500 (twin single coils; switch selection of the pickups). So, "Where are all those Washburn basses?" I have them all. Or at least, four of them...

...fax machine ". At least, it is when I dance. (A historical anomaly, lots of whirring, and rarely plugged in nowadays). I once signed up for a workplace session of 5 Salsa classes, and paid up-front. I was so dreadful, that I shimied out during the first session, and when they offered a refund, I let them keep it (watching me, they had suffered enough).

I am curious whether the band is still running, and what the final outcome was. And did the the BL's wife learn the bass?

If that was a recorder, everyone would be laughing at you! However, I see that it is not (it only has two holes on the body). So, well done, it's lovely! And for £40, it would be rude not to.

Those are great photos! I am tempted to go along to Sutton, just to see if the musicians are as good-looking in real life...

...indeed. However ... .... Pythagoras only needed one string...

Oooh, just like the electric bass guitar, then!? I feel another Tier 2 fail coming on... But first, let me exhaust the possibilities of my current instrument. My daughter's orchestral violin teacher used to joke, seriously, with people, when they said his fiddle had great tone. He would hold it up, and put it to his ear, unplayed, and shake it. "I can't hear the violin's tone...". His point was, the tone was only released by the player.

Yamaha have a good resource - a Web page that allows one to select a note on a stave, which produces a diagram of the relevant fingering https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/recorder/play/play002.html As for this video, ...that pure tone is what attracted me to the instrument - sweet, woody, dry (very few overtones and no vibrato). However, I am struggling to get that sound. My fingers don't cover the holes consistently, my breath control gives wavering notes, and my playing doesn't feel as in-control as yours. I have a friend who teaches recorder, so, I will approach her for a couple of technical lessons. But first I must learn (memorise) the fingerings, so that I better understand what my difficulties are. I am encouraged to play more. PS where can I find the sheet music for that Tielman piece of music?

She is in a state of silent awe, as she admires the tone that a skilled Grade 4 musician can muster from a recorder. She is also pretty impressed that the recorder player also laid down the octave mandolin and bass guitar tracks too. That would humble most musicians, especially a percussionist. An impressive video @Rosie C - I even tried to subscribe to your channel, in the hope of more of the same.

By playing it, or by using it as a stick to beat them?

"....and finally, the bass player is using roundwounds, probably .45 to .105, that were on the bass when he bought it 15 years ago. Plectrum is a Jim Dunlop XL Jazz III. The drummer is banging drums with sticks; the guitarist is strumming a guitar; the vocalist is singing into a microphone, and wearing a lilac sparkle suit from Top Shop. Buy our album. "

I recently picked up a recorder - a woodwind instrument. Many of us will have experienced them at primary school. Cheap instrument, sounds shrill and painful when played badly. Rarely played well. I have a Yamaha with an arched windway, which gave a more mellow tone than the other instrument at a similar price range. I have found that it is a very sensitive instrument to the skill of the player- blow it too hard, or unevenly, and it will punish one with an unpleasant tone. However, it is an accessible instrument - a fingering diagram and some music and one can play a tune - usually London's Burning or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.... I also see that the fingering diagrams are different for (say) A flat and G sharp - because, strictly speaking, they are different notes. Any other recordists on here?