Huge Hands

13 minutes ago, dyerseve said:

I'm not sure you understand sarcasm - albeit i guess English isnt you native tongue?

And the award for over patronising whilst not getting the joke goes to.... 

Hi Pete,

I play the same in a wind band so will try to help a little, although I'm not the greatest at theory.

I was told that Tuba is written an octave below bass guitar, so the B two ledger lines below the stave on a tuba part is the same as the B on the second line of a stave of a BG part in terms of pitch and voicing.  With this in mind, I once had a visiting conductor (who was also a pro west end bass player) who told me "just transpose everything you read up an octave".  He was probably right, but as I play a 5, I like to keep the notes as low as possible so play the low C's and D's as much as I can, mainly to help the band "rumble".

The only thing that worked for me was to learn the low notes as written.  I still struggle when I come across a fast run and have to jump it up an octave, especially if I've started low and run out of fretboard! 

If you have access to their library, a lot of wind band scores often have a string bass or electric bass guitar part which is written in your octave.  Be warned though, if you're the only bass player, if they are different and not just transposed, the tuba parts often have BG cues, but the BG parts don't have tuba so you may be sitting there resting whilst everyone is looking at you wondering where the low end is!

My only other tip is, if there are tuba players, concentrate on playing the main music.  Any fiddly semiquaver bits - let the tubas handle them and just pretend you're playing at this point 😉

Welcome.  I did a similar switch, although a lot earlier on in my musical journey.

The only problem I found was I kept getting invited to join bands that needed both a drummer and bass player, and often ended up back on the drums as it was much easier to find bass players (not good ones might I add) than drummers.

I do try to keep my feet (and hands) in both camps as much as I can though!

Quote:

Anyway, back on subject, sometimes mic'ing up the percussion can get a little ... strange.

Thanks @Happy Jack - that made my day!

That tractor sounds a lot more reliable and smokes less than a lot of drummers I know!

Interesting that my 16 year old 2L petrol Honda C-RV which loves to drink the stuff is exempt from this!

Hi Andy, I guess I'm a bit the opposite of you.  I was gigging a lot until early last year when I got sick.  Nothing life threatening, but enough that I had to drop out of my various bands.

I can manage about an hour and a half with the bass, then I get too sore/tired.  Lugging gear around is hard because I've spent so long housebound, my back muscles can't cope.  

I keep hearing little projects that I could get involved in, but I'm not well enough and they pass me by and fizzle out.

I keep looking at my gear and wondering if I should move some on, but I'm desperate to get back into it!   I've just been referred to a new hospital/specialist, so I'm hoping my problems will get better soon!

I recently  tried to be a good person and permanent loan a friend's teenage son my old gigging Squier bass (the one I used before I got my Sire).  I wasn't using even when I was well, and should be happy it's being used, but when I see photos of it on his Facebook, I get reminded of the gigs I played on it, and want it back!  How silly, I know! 

OMG - Lollipops, blocks and blue.  I think something has just happened in my trousers...

I wish I had that sort of cash spare.  GLWTS.

I would have loved a trip back up to my native north east too - used to love Saturday trips to Hexham park in the summer!

My question would be - has your drummer played to click before?

As a former drummer, I tried it for the first time in a studio setting back in my uni days.  I thought I would need to hear the click really well and got them to turn it up and up - til it was almost bashing my ear drums across my head into each other!

Suffice to say, it wasn't great playing or a great track.  A few years later, when working as a live sound engineer, I spoke to one of the pro drummers about it and listened to his click during a rehearsal, it was much quieter.  He had it at a level where you barely heard it, then if you started falling behind/speeding up, your brain would suddenly notice it and concentrate on it.  When I then tried it a year later at these sort of levels with my own band, it worked really well for me.  When on time, the click almost disappears and you are able to enjoy the music.  As others have said, depending on what is on the track, you may not need to hear it at all, especially if it is washy strings or effects.

I'm saying this because in my opinion, some drummers will never get their heads round playing with a click.  Some may just need some adjustment on their levels and then get it fine.

Apologies if your drummer is well experienced and knows this all already!

17 hours ago, spectoremg said:

If there's any rebooting to be done with Later they should boot Jools off it. 

Careful what you wish for - you could end up with Chris Evans....

21 minutes ago, ped said:

I really never saw the fascination with Buddy Rich.

As a kid, when I first started saying I wanted to be a drummer, my Dad's mate would lend me cassette tapes of Buddy rich just soloing constantly for about 60mins.

It used to turn me right off.  However, I was later given a tape of him playing with his big band, and in a musical context, thought he was amazing.   

10 minutes ago, ped said:

Ah so that was a rank of people on the prog? Well either way I think Weckl should be there! I think he's got more drum skills than Grohl has in his little finger but I suppose it's partly taking into account album sales etc?

Also should have Harvey Mason, JR Robinson.. Vinnie Colaiuta..

I really never saw the fascination with Buddy Rich.

They (Steve White) claimed it was the top drummers mentioned by other drummers.  He also said putting a list together was tricky - "...the 30+ drummers involved in this program... " which would suggest only a vote of 1.5 was needed to get on the list of 20!

One drummer (the guy from the Libertines) suggested Weckl, Colauita and Jim Keltner were obvious disciples of Steve Gadd, which was obviously their single justification for not including them as Gadd was on there.  I totally agree that Grohl is nowhere near their talent, but I guess if you ask drummers who grew up with Nirvana who their most influential drummer was?  I must admit that watching by Nirvana unplugged back in the day, I was inspired to try Hot Rods and used them for many years in low level gigs.

I don't think the show was perfect at all, but there were some interesting interviews and playing. 

EDIT: @ezbass according to my Sky box that was episode 4 of 4, but happy to have more!

7 minutes ago, ped said:

No Dave Weckl? Dave Grohl!? I'm out.

Dave Grohl is on the list.  Dave Weckl did partake in the program - his Buddy Rich impersonation (playing, not personally) was very impressive. 

4 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I haven't watched all of the programmes yet, but thanks for the spoiler.  Really appreciate that.  Did you know th

at Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's dad?

Sorry NJ, I did wait nearly a week for this reason.  I can't keep everyone happy 😉 

2 minutes ago, discreet said:

Any list of 'best' drummers needs to have Dave Mattacks, Steve Gadd and Nigel Olssen in it. Just sayin'.

Yes!  Nigel Olssen!  Forgot about him too!  I have to admit I just had to Google Dave Mattacks, so maybe these lists are doing their job!

I'm also fairly sure that in the first episode, when they used a clip of James Brown in his Bootsy period and very artistically split the screen/graphics to show/name Jabo and Clyde, it wasn't actually Clyde in the clip.

It's been bugging me that, I'm sure the internet would provide the answer... 

4 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

I’m not surprised he wasn’t on the final list but the exclusion of Bill Bruford from the whole series was a surprise.

Good point.  I think I heard someone briefly say his name but surprised he wasn't more prominent.

Did anyone else watch the whole 4 episodes?

In the last one, they did a list of the "Top 20 Drummer's Drummers" - basically the top ones mentioned by the contributors.  They are below.  Discuss!

Note before you get angry, even the program (Steve White) said it wasn't the definitive list, it was just theirs, so don't take it too seriously.  No surprises with most choices, but I just thought it would be good to hear people's thoughts.  Like they said, if it inspires someone to go check someone out, it's worth it. 

1. Buddy Rich

2. John Bonham

3. Hal Blaine

4. Ringo Starr

5. Gene Krupa

6. Dave Grohl

7. Louie Bellson

8. Bill Ward

9. Billy Cobham

10. Ian Paice

11. Neil Peart

12. Earl Palmer

13. Ginger Baker

14. Steve Gadd

15. Cindy Blackman 

16. Dave Daddy Kane (didn't get mentioned in all 4 episodes until the list)

17. Carlton Barrett

18. Jeff Pocaro

19. Clyde Stubblefield

20. Keith Moon

Personally, and I am by no means an expert nor right, I was surprised they had Jeff Pocaro and not Bernard Purdie, as he just went further with BP's idea?   Also, with Cindy Blackman, it felt like they had put her in because they felt they had to include a female?  I admit she is good (and most likely much better than I ever was), but top 20 ever? 

Some of my personal idols that didn't make the series (not necessarily the list) were Mitch Mitchell (surprisingly barely mentioned at all) the Motown drummers, Al Jackson Jr (Stax), Greg Errico and UK drummer Pete Ray Biggin. 

I did love hearing Jabo Starks humbly praising Clyde Stubblefield as though he was nothing in comparison! 

I also have renewed love for Ian Paice, both his drumming and his personality after watching this series.

...and no doubt the most inflammatory bit for some - I totally agree with Ringo's inclusion - he was a massive influence on me.

I'm sorry, but I can't help but think this is some sort of penis extension bragging thing...and I say that as a former drummer myself.

It also reminds me of the percussionist at the concert band I play with.  There is a separate guy who plays drum kit, but he will show up half an hour early to wheel out glockenspiels, xylophones, gongs, tubular bells, timpani, congas etc etc, just to end up playing "ping" on a triangle on one piece before having to put it all away again.

He's a lovely bloke and has a lot more patience than me....

1 hour ago, casapete said:

Think there still may be - 'Bucks Fizz' has one original member, whilst one now calling themselves 'The Fizz contains the other 3 originals. Just don't ask me how I know this please...😅

I used to work with Bobby G's version on the holiday camp circuit about 15 years ago.  It was quite a litigious mess.  If I remember correctly, Mike Nolan and David Van Day (Dollar) had joined forces and were doing hits from both, but when Mike quit, DVD kept plugging away calling himself Bucks Fizz, or something like that.  However, I think all the legal stuff has forced a wedge/hatred between Bobby and the rest of the original members.  Shame, I used to think Bob was a lovely bloke when I knew him.  His missus used to bring us cakes!

Just a thought, but perhaps Ric put them at an angle for a reason, such as they've found that the tone improves if the E string end is further back and the G string end is further forward? 

Not sure if a few mm angle would make much difference, but the two examples on this thread seem to be wonky in the same way?

Another massive fan here.  Jamiroquai were never the same after he left, in my humble opinion, no disrespect intended to the later bass players.

29 minutes ago, fleabag said:

Redicluous post.  Must be some teenager. Who else types like they're texting ?   He cuts the 3 letter words ' you '  and ' for ' down to a ' y'  and an ' f '  yet types out words like   ' waiting ' ,  which is nearly 3 times as long.  Moron.

Might be an accent thing - perhaps Yorkshire?  I notice a lot of my old school mates from the North East typing Facebook statuses in phonetic Geordie, but with the added complication of zero punctuation or grammar.  Takes me a while to work it oot mesel....

15 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I Like his style: david G.: ah think y waiting a long time f an offer!

Hmm, I certainly am not a fan nor would I make an offer, but I don't understand some people's need to put comments like that on someone's listing...?

As a former drummer myself, I have been enjoying the series so far.  Interesting choice of guests too.

Was it just me or did the guy with 6 pedals struggle to keep the time constant and start to slow once he started playing everything?  I'm sure he's an amazingly gifted technician, but that is what it sounded like to me.

In the first episode, it was odd they glossed over Motown and Al Jackson at Stax by just playing the types of feel without naming actual the drummers, but loved watching Jabo playing Clyde's funk - RIP to both of them.  

Lets see what the last two episodes bring....

I'm sure Dave (obbm's) offer will be great, and I haven't looked if you still can, but you used to be able to buy new parts including the removable lead from Canford Audio. You could buy all the bits to make a new pair! I bought several sets of new drivers for mine over the years when I was in the industry.  (I'm sure other suppliers are available too).