ambient

I recently ordered a bass rig from a music shop, sadly I didn’t like it. The seller agreed to me returning it which I’ve done - at my expense. I used DPD courier service, I’ve used them previously and always been pleased with their service. They sent the shop an email and a text to let them know the date of delivery and the expected time slot. Despite that they weren’t there when DPD turned up. DPD have left a card, and sent a text message and an email with details of how to rebook. I sent them an email when I realised what had happened, politely asking them to contact DPD and arrange a new date/time. They've replied telling me it’s my responsibility to do that. I’ve never in all my time of buying or selling encountered that. It’s always been the person the item is being delivered to that’s rearranged delivery. Am I right with that?

I did one a few months ago organised by a small independent label. It worked fine. It was nice seeing the live comments left by the audience. It was just me solo with a MacBook and a bunch of midi controllers. I used my iPhone as the camera. Logic Pro makes a great performance tool, I used Soundflower to connect Logic to OBS.

That’s exactly what I’ve just found too, I just got a quote direct through DPD’s website.

I was looking at DPD. There’s a small combo and I’m returning an amp head and a cab (separate parcels) to a shop. Booking through Parcel2Go the insurance adds £40 to the total cost.

I have a few items of equipment to send. The total value is about £900, I’m always wary of posting expensive items uninsured, it’s quite a lot of money though. I came across this company and wondered if anyone had any experience of them? https://www.secursus.com/en-gb/

I think you’ll be fine with those gauges. My high C is a .028. I’m pretty certain I used a .020 gauge for a high F - my 7 string was an overwater 35 inch beast of a bass, I never encountered any strings breaking. Just tune slowly. This is one of the great things about extended range instruments, there’s no right or wrong.

How have I never heard of Michel Hatzigeorgiou? Thanks for sharing that.

I used to play a 7 string bass with a high F. I used D’Addario strings, they sell singles. I think I was using a 0.020, though I’m not 100% sure now, it was a few years ago. You probably won’t get a wound string to go that high, at least I didn’t manage to find one.

He hasn't looked after that very well, has he?

I’m pretty shocked that you’d risk My Hermes to deliver anything more than a pair of socks.

You’ll probably need work permits/visas now.

It’s certainly rare in my house, in fact I’m pretty certain there’s not even one in my road.

Will do. It’s probably best to get a used one if you can. I had it set up and new strings fitted. It’s a really lovely instrument.

I believe Wilton Felder played bass on I want you back, though Jamerson was credited with it too. There’s a couple of different takes featuring different players. I don’t know who actually composed the line.

This is actually quite interesting. At university we had to learn the bass part to a well known song each week, we’d then have to play it as part of an ensemble. I often used to wonder what had prompted whoever originally composed the line to use a particular note or phrase. I think a lot of the more interesting or unusual lines that you hear, were probably originally composed by a pianist/keyboard player. If the recording features a known bassist, then I’d guess he’s been chosen to add his particular flavour of line to the song - Pino springs to mind, especially in the 1980s, he’d have been booked to provide his trademark fretless lines to a song. I suppose most of us would have done something different if it had been us writing the line, rather than just recording it. We have our own particular style of playing, and make our own choices regarding notes etc. I tend to play quite melodically for instance.

A friend of mine has an Alien. He gets a lovely sound from it. The bodies do tend to be rather large, I believe that’s part and parcel of achieving a reasonable bass response though.

What instrument does Alexa play?

I don’t have perfect pitch, but I’m pretty good at identifying notes and my relative pitch is very good. It was just the physical action of standing there and singing. I could hear the note I wanted in my head, but what came out resembled the sound produced by standing on a cat's tail. I found it quite intimidating too, which didn’t help. I have the utmost respect and admiration for people who can sing, particularly if they can play an instrument at the same time. I think people like Mark King are incredibly talented to be able to do what they do.

I had to do a weekly singing class as part of my music degree. In the very first class the tutor confidently expressed the opinion that everyone can sing, then she met me.

I’ve encountered drummers, guitarists and singers who count in on one tempo, then actually start playing at a completely different one. I met a drummer once who had absolutely no understanding of the fundamentals of drumming, ie beat subdivision or anything. Yet he had a ridiculously expensive drum kit. He didn’t understand that a fill is meant to be in time, he’d just hit the drums a number of times. I recorded for a singer songwriter who’d learned to play guitar by watching Noel Gallagher on YouTube. Consequently he had no idea what the chords were to his songs. I had a student once who absolutely refused to engage with anything that was even vaguely connected with musical theory/harmony. He’d come for a weekly lesson to learn to play a Stranglers songs, a different one each week. That was all he wanted to do. The one week he phoned and complained that I’d taught him to play a song wrongly. It turned out that he’d gone along to an open mic night with some friends, and after a few drinks had been encouraged to get up and play. Unfortunately for him the house band did the song in a different key to what he’d learned it in.

A shed? With a TV, and a heater for the cold evenings of course, you wouldn’t want your wife to catch cold while you’re playing your bass.