ambient

The fact it broke in the first place seems a bit worrying to me, especially as it was used with care. I've got some Ultimate support GS100 stands, some of which I've had for 3 years or so, with some quite heavy basses on too and they've never let me down. They can accommodate the wider necks of my two 6 string basses too, something the Hercules I had once couldn't do.

Garageband is actually really good, expecially considering you get it included with your laptop. You just need to experiment with it, and learn to use it. I use a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, which works faultlessly with my Macbook, it has a headphone monitoring output, a separate volume level for monitoring and you can adjust the balance between the headphone output and the main monitor output from totally headphones to totally monitors.

I have a pair of Yamaha HS80's, I think they're really good quality, and certainly wouldn't class them as 'low range' monitor, mid range yes. They got excellent reviews in Sound on sound [url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun06/articles/yamahas80m.htm"]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun06/articles/yamahas80m.htm[/url] They're based on the legendary NS10's, though obviously are active but do share some of the same type of sound.

This site is REALLY useful for ear training, plus a load of other stuff. I spent hours using the interval and chord exercises in the 1st year of my degree. It's free too . [url="http://www.teoria.com/exercises/"]http://www.teoria.com/exercises/[/url]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1378201349' post='2196846'] The X Factor is not just a talent show. It's a show that offers a serious financial and personal reward to whomever wins (and often the final 10!). Why should it be that some 16year old sod from wherever should be able to bypass all the years of hard work and sweat and tears that everyone else has to put in and, in all likelyhood, will make enough money to live off for the rest of their lives? It's complete horseshit. I appreciate that it's just some Saturday night entertainment. I appreciate that, in a real sense, only a few select people actually do quite well for themselves out of it. But it just makes me feel sick. The only reason people that enter this competition is because they're under the impression that they can work for a few years and then retire to a life of luxury and gameshow appearances. It makes a complete mockery of all the working people in this country who have to work all their lives for a percentage of what these guys get given. I've said it before and I'll say it again; horseshit. Alex [/quote] They don't make any real money, it's the production company that they sign to that makes the money. One of my tutors is lead singer with quite a well known band. She gets asked every year to go along to songwriting sessions for the winner's album. She gets put up in a country house for a few days together with a couple of producers and programmers etc. They're given the brief of how the album should sound, and left to get on with it. The album is all recorded music-wise by the end of the series, the winner just has to go along and track the vocals. By the way, this is early on in the series, they already know who's gonna win it.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1378141873' post='2196227'] And just to add to that - Jobs created for Musicians..... This show and the likes of SCD/BGT use Musicians on the live shows, Musicians to record the tracks for some of the shows, associated tours that go out each year, the acts going out on their own tours, recording of albums and so on. [/quote] I don't think it's the show, rather the low level of talent on it. There's been talent shows for years, but the participants on shows years ago had usually been playing around clubs prior to going on the show. They had talent, and could sing and knew how to perform in front of an audience. Nowadays the bar is set sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo low.

Another usefull thing is to read through first, and decide where to play it position wise. Look see what key you're in, and check for awkward bits, maybe highlite them. Losing your place suggests that you have to keep looking away from the chart ? The above should help with that, if you can decide the best place to start playing.

Songs, that;s how I remembered them. Major 2nd - Happy Birthday. Minor 3rd - Greensleeves. Major 3rd - While shepherds watched. Major 4th - Auld Lang Syne. Minor 6th - The theme from love story. Major 6th - And now (Frank Synatra) I can't remember what I used for a minor 7th Major 7 I used the theme from superman. After a while you just know them without referring to a song.

Slightly off topic, but the in ear buds for Ipods and the like cause damage too. Better off with a pair of proper headphones.

I think crap like this is to blame for how poor modern mainstream pop music is. With the bar set this low, how can it be otherwise ?

I had the privilege of seeing him with Mike Stern a few years ago, amazing ! Thanks for posting that link.

His playing in any genre can only be described as sublime. I love the early Chaka Khan albums for the funky side of his playing, and either Michel Petrucciani or Michel Camilo for the jazzy stuff.

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1378053573' post='2195165'] would these help someone who can still `hear` the gig a couple of hours after thus stopping me from sleeping? i had a hearing test at work 2 weeks ago and my hearing was pretty good to say im 46, apparently ive the hearing of an18 year old in left ear and 26 year old right ear probably through lack of use cos i never listen to the wife ive found the musicsafe pro on ebay for £18.50 [/quote] They're designed to filter out the dangerous higher frequencies, and attenuate the volume level to protect your hearing. I used to find that cymbals caused the most problems.

I got a pair of these earlier in the year. [url="http://www.hearingprotection.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=123"]http://www.hearingprotection.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=123[/url] Expensive I know, I did get a discount though. They're extremely good, highly recommended if you're gonna be using them regularly. I had a pair that I bought from Amazon for about £20 before these, these are a lot better though. They take moulds of your ear so they fit properly, and you get different filters for them.

I've done rehearsals with bands that've been loud and walked out when they're refused to turn down. A rehearsal is just that, what's the point in being so loud that you can't actually hear what everyone's doing properly ? I do more composing and production than playing at the moment, so my hearing is extremely valuable.

People who can't spell or punctate properly annoy me. Don't ask why they just do !

Nice video here of SW on tour recently. This is probably my favourite track from the last album. Nick Beggs on bass and Adam Holzman on keys, great band ! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZtZIUgY0IM&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-9mlH6az1Q_XUP3fw1N4Fg[/media]

There's a live show being streamed tomorrow night .

Why are their (otherwise brilliant) basses always such a horrible shape ? Kinda like the designer has a jigsaw puzzle fixation .

Gotta say I did see a recently filmed live DVD of him a couple of years ago, and that was rather good. An amazing band with him, so that may have had some baring on it though.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1377900133' post='2193543'] To be fair, the cheap end of gear is not his market. He doesn't do MIM Fenders, or BB series Yamaha etc. he does high end gear with some mid ranking stuff. No shop would put Squires next to a Lull! He's had several thousand out of me and he'll probably get more too. [/quote] I wasn't actually after the cheap end of the market, I've got 6 basses, 3 worth well over a thousand (USA made Marcus Miller V, Pino P bass, Yamaha TRB6-P, and and 3 just under and I'm shortly getting a Celinder. A sale is a sale after all. I visit the Gallery quite often, and always feel more valued somehow.

I've been there a few times and gotten a similar response to some other guys on here. It seemed to me that if you're not buying a Roscoe bass and bergantino rig to play it through then you're wasting his time. I did phone him once asking if he'd got something in the store, he said yes so I drove 30 miles to him, only to find he hadn't, but that could probably happen with other shops too.

A friend of mine does PAT testing, with anything electronic i.e. keyboards, some amps etc, he'd actually only test the lead for fear of damaging the circuits. Computers in offices only have the detachable lead tested too, for the same reason.