ambient

I use Ultimate Support GS1000's, I think that's what they are anyway. I find them better for the wider necks in my basses, the Hercules ones are wide enough. For ultra compact there's the tiny Hercules one, that's actually really good, but doesn't work on jazz basses, or any other with an offset bottom.

No. I just found this [url="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3625?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US"]http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3625?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US[/url] And this [url="https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5720282?tstart=0"]https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5720282?tstart=0[/url] For anything Mac related, I've found the above forums to be really useful. Mine's a mid 2012 model MacBook Pro. I got a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 for a good price and highly recommend it, the headphone or monitor out is far superior to the built in one too.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1390309699' post='2343804'] Just a thought... With Garageband open, have you went to "Preferences" > "Audio/Midi" & then selected the Input Device as "Built In Input"? [/quote] On mine it doesn't actually say built in input, just built in mic.

[quote name='Stu-khag' timestamp='1390162449' post='2342215'] My mac is almost 4 years old and has the separate input. I record quite a lot without any latency issues without an interface.. I thought the whole point of garage band was to just plug in and play! Very disapointing to think you have to fork out even more cash. [/quote] It is plug in and play, but the audio has to be transferred to digital. For that you need a sound card or interface. They can be bought from £30 up into the thousands of pounds, all depends on your budget and the quality you want . Any digital recording software is the same, it's not a case of Apple ripping you off.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1390239752' post='2343022'] Good grief ! Why do you need to slow that down by 50% ? Only kidding, it does start to get a bit hairy later. [/quote] I was trying to work out what was going on at the 3rd bar of the solo that's not actually in the bit I put on sound cloud. But that first part is quite noticeable at 100% speed, I was intrigued at what he was actually doing. It's not just one note.

Here's the normal speed version. [url="https://soundcloud.com/ambientbassist/02-the-fifth-copy-1"]https://soundcloud.com/ambientbassist/02-the-fifth-copy-1[/url]

[quote name='Bassman Rich' timestamp='1389901021' post='2339405'] Follow up to NYE The bassist was pretty ropey, spent all night reading from his song cribsheets, and whilst not playing too many bum notes, it was a very poor facsimilie of the songs, kinda like he'd never heard them before, with no feel or emotion, just the right note according to what was written in front of him. I hope to never have to dance to his lacklustre basslines again!! Venue and band remain unnamed to protect the guilty, but pm me with why I should tell you, if you really must know the gory details . Yours Basstastically [/quote] Oooh dear .

[quote name='topo morto' timestamp='1390181480' post='2342425'] Oddly I quite often feel the need for a low D or C but I quite like the discipline of trying to make the bassline work and "stay bassy" without it, throwing in an extra arpeggio or chord here and there (I love using chords and double stops as a way to thicken things up timbrally). An example of a technique I use that I'd find hard on a 5 or 6 is using thumb, index, middle, ring on E, A, D, G, each basically muting the strings unless they are plucking them. It allows the string to be deadened really quickly directly over the pickup which is great for use with gated fuzz and tracking effects. I'm not down on sixes or anything, would like one again, more so than a 5 actually - I'd string the 6 like a guitar, E-e, or maybe B-b would be cool too. [/quote] Funny, but I was transcribing an Anthony Jackson bass line earlier - 'what I'm said' by Steve Khan from the 'suitcase' album. All of a sudden there's this huge low C thrown in from out of nowhere. Sounded amazing but totally unexpected , the there's a high bit followed by another low C.

I'm doing a lot of transcribing at the moment. One of the ones I'm doing is Jimmy Haslip's solo on the Allen Holdsworth song 'the fifth'. It's a live version from the 'blues for Tony' album. Here's the start of the solo - [url="https://soundcloud.com/ambientbassist/02-the-fifth-copy"]https://soundcloud.com/ambientbassist/02-the-fifth-copy[/url] I've slowed it down using transcribe, what's going on with the first note ? It sounds odd at normal speed, but here slowed down it's as if he's trilling between another note at a ridiculous speed.

[quote name='topo morto' timestamp='1390178398' post='2342408'] I prefer 4 strings because I can thrown in all sorts of techniques without having to think too much about the muting. With a 5 I have to play more conservatively to keep everything under control. If I wasn't rubbish that would help, but I think with any given level of talent the same thing applies. I often don't like B strings because when a string is that thick compared to its length it sometimes seems to act more like a gong or chime than a string, you can get all sorts of weird metallic overtones. The B string also needs a different technique with all that extra weight, needs a gentler touch. I don't like C strings because they don't have any notes on them that are bassy, and I picked up the bass 'cos I wanted to play [i]bass[/i]. Agree that it's nice for chords though. [/quote] It's all just practice and working on technique. I use a 125 B string, so it sounds balanced with the rest of the set. It all depends on what you play. If you play in a blues or soul band then I guess learning to play and develop your technique to play a 6 string is a bit pointless. If however you play music that's a bit more out there then it's probably worth the extra effort. I think a 5 string is indispensable, at least to me. I admit I hardly ever have to play anything lower than an E, but it's a positional thing. I tend do do most of my playing from the 6th fret upwards. Low F's, G's etc are played on the B string. I do like the high C string though.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1390160232' post='2342167'] I like it. Those orchestral samples are incredibly realistic. As sampling has got better, the chances of employment for orchestral musicians must be few and far between. [/quote] Thanks . I got quite a good mark, so I'm happy !

I posted the other day about my thoughts regarding the low B string. When people say that they don't use the low B, then in my opinion they're not using the bass properly. The benefit of having a low B isn't just the new low notes, it shifts everything up so you can play everything up from the 6th fret onwards. Making position shifts unnecessary, and following charts or scores easier. The high C is personal. I've spent the last couple of hours transcribing one of Janek Gwizdala's songs. It's a lot easier having the high C string. I've only just started transcribing it, but there's a lot of high A's, B's and C's (9th, 11th and 12th fret on the C string). It's also really useful for chordal playing. I think it's best to have the string and only use it occasionally than not have it and miss it. If you're comfortable playing a 6 then why change ?

[quote name='John Cellario' timestamp='1390142052' post='2341835'] Thanks for the info on the Scarlett...so do I connect this with a USB cable into the USB port on the back of the Mac, then select that as my input device? I thought the whole idea of Garageband was that you can simply plug in and record (even though at a very basic level). [/quote] Yes, very easy to use. Your Mac should automatically see the device and use it for input and output. What I like about it is it's got a headphone output (that sounds far better than the Mac's built in one), and it's got outputs to monitors, you can adjust the level between the two. You do just plug in and play with garageband, but you need something to change the audio to digital and vice versa.

Have a look on the DV247 website, there are hundreds of things you can use from £30 up to £thousands .

Try one of these, it's what I use and is great. [url="http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/focusrite-scarlett-2i2-usb-audio-interface--90034"]http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/focusrite-scarlett-2i2-usb-audio-interface--90034[/url] Or try one of the others from there, you don't need to pay anywhere near £500. I've had Mac's for about 7 years, I've never been able to plug straight into one.

Yeah, I hadn't thought of that, the Jazz does have quite a long body. I didn't realise you could take out the pad at the bottom, not that I need to.

That's odd, 2 of my basses are 35" scale and fit with loads of room above the headstock.

I don't think a strap would go in the pocket. I got 160 page A4 book of Bach Chorales, a coiled lead and a cheese sandwich in the pocket, nothing else. My clip on tuner has to go in my shoulder bag. Maybe being a bit cynical, but I'm guessing they're hoping you'll buy the extra clip on bag thing .

No problem with that, I've got Dunlop strap locks on my basses, and Wednesday I used a bass with a Richter strap and Thursday a comfort strap. Both fitted in OK. Just read your post, sorry. I kept the strap on the basses, there's heaps of room inside the bag, possibly more than the M80, and definitely more than the Protec Contego.

I just bought one and used it everyday this week. It's betterer inside than the M80, I like the boot and the nice neck holder bit. It's very well padded and the protection level is very high. It does seem to ride very high on your back though, I'm 6ft tall and very skinny, the straps are as long as they'll go but it still bangs on the ceiling of the tube train and other trains. Like I say, it's well padded though luckily . Definitely lacking in the storage department though, books and leads are catered for, but nowhere for my clip on tuner. Great case though.

[quote name='thebassist' timestamp='1389709621' post='2337087'] When I get the 5 I intend to use it exclusively for a long time to try to get used to it as quickly as possible. [/quote] A good idea is to [i]'think'[/i] about it before you even get it. Imagine you're playing it, visualise the new notes in your mind, see a new low D on the 3rd fret of the new string, imagine playing a low G, not on the 3rd fret of the E string where you'd usually find it, but it's now also at the 8th fret on the new string too . Sounds a bit daft maybe, but it worked for me when I transitioned from a 4 to a 5, and again when I moved from a 5 to a 6.