ambient

No worse really than classic rock.

Steve Lawson's music is extremely beautiful, and the perfect soundscape for a lot of things.

Have you checked the little switches on the rear?

You were always on my mind was one of the two I could remember, along with West end girls. One or the other is always playing whenever I have the misfortune to hear Smooth FM, a radio station for people who don’t particularly like music.

I only thought they had a couple of hits. They were a little before my time though, and a little too Smooth FM for my tastes. I’ve seen quite a few people on Facebook saying how good it was. Is the reason for people on here not liking it due to there being no live drums or something?

I’m imagining several dozen members of the forum, using this thread as an excuse for returning from the weekend’s bass show with lots of new gear.

I keep a bike in the boot, just in case the car breaks down.

They were of their time, and should maybe stick to banging out their hits to guys that liked them then, and have the money necessary to buy the tickets. They've never done anything for me at all, same with a lot of bands and artists from that time. I can see why people did like them though, they were different from other bland bands playing then. My aunt and uncle saw them in a small pub in Birmingham. They though them too loud though, and left. The father of a guy I used to play with owned a pub in Birmingham where they played. He was annoyed when they left without tidying up; after having smashed their instruments up. He swept all the debris up and threw it all away.

Just transcribe loads. Use a real book and work out what’s going on, that’s how I did it, and many others. There are methods that people use to teach, we were taught one at uni. They tend to sound what they are though, unmusical methods, lacking artistry. They tend to revolve around arpeggios.

I did a few dep gigs for a blues singer a few years ago. He was well into his 50s, short and very overweight. Imagine my horror when halfway through the encore, he appeared from the rear of the stage totally nude. Not a pretty sight, though surprisingly, the ladies in the audience loved it.

They’re brilliant little monitors. A friend of mine uses a pair live, I bought some after seeing him use them. I did sell mine to buy a pair of the bigger 8040 monitors, but only because they’re what's in the studios at my university.

The Police were an incredible trio. Space is a wonderful thing, why fill it?

It’s not one gig though, is it? It’s cover against future gigs that he can’t make. I’ve never played for any band that hasn’t at times had gigs that have clashed with people’s private lives. They’re organised and have deps that they can call upon. People do have lives outside of bands, especially if the band is amateur, and meant to be fun. People get invited to weddings, birthdays, they have birthdays themselves, their wives or partners have birthdays. They get ill, and they go on holiday. I’m sure he wouldn’t be popular with his wife if he told her they’d have to plan what they do around the band. The one band I play for consists of a group of retired school teachers. The one guy has a caravan in Wales, and daughters in France and Spain. In the summer he goes to his caravan at least once a month, and visits his daughters. Another guy volunteers for a local steam railway, he plays with another band, and goes caravanning. He also spends a month every year in New Zealand visiting his son and daughter in law. The band works around them, theirs friends, they organise deps....one of which is me.

Why can’t you just get a dep?

Parcelforce only insure up to £100 for instruments. It depends on the weight, and dimensions of the parcel when it’s wrapped. Best to use Interparcel or Parcel 2 go. You can add insurance to the delivery price, but check before you pay that there are no exclusions for musical instruments.

My thoughts exactly. You have to consider why you’re playing, is it a job, or for enjoyment? There’s a band I play for, they're all retired. Their regular bassist goes caravanning a lot during the summer months, the keys player has family abroad, so visits them, he also has a caravan in Wales that he goes to. So they have deps to cover as required.

Listen to and transcribe Anthony Jackson, his albums with Hiromi are brilliant. The trio album with Michel Petrucciani is amazing. Don't just cop licks though, analyse what’s being played.

Maybe, I’m away for a few days, I’ll get back to you if I may?

Good news! Is it an iPhone? If yes switch on find my phone from another device.

It’s unfortunate that we only tend to hear bad news stories about companies.

I want to perform some of my sound-based electroacoustic pieces, but in a more improvised way, I don’t just want to hit play and sit back. I was going to buy a control pad, and use it either with Reaper or Logic Pro, then I though about using my iPad. I already use various apps for sound creation. I want to be able to trigger sounds, and fade them in or out. Can anyone suggest a decent app please?

Maybe try wiping your hands and the strings down in between songs?

I love playing vocal lines, it’s nice combining them with chords, or chord notes. It’s good sight reading practice too.