urb

Fight for your right to play bass... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRZdiu1UE

That sucks beyond words... wow, Ill Communcation is one of my all time fave albums - the BBs played a big part in my formative listening life - always loved them Adam will be massively missed.

[quote name='NJE' timestamp='1330944071' post='1564963'] I was very privileged to play a fellow basschatters Sei Jazz yesterday and I havent been able to get it out of my head since. I had some Sadowsky GAS after trying on in Newcastle last week but that just vanished as soon as I saw kjb's Sei yesterday. I cant see any sensible reason why anyone would pick a Sadowsky Metro over a Sei which often go for less secondhand than a new or even used Metro. I have to have one now, so I am starting to save and once I am part of the way there my Stingray 5 is going. Until then i shall continue to flick through this thread endlessly. Let me know if any Sei owners want to sell a 5 string Jazz... [/quote] I couldn't agree more - I am still absolutely loving both my Sei basses - the 5 string single cut is not only a great looking bass but it's a real workhorse too - I gig it regularly and last night I ran it through a completely sh*tty Torqe guitar amp, that looked horribe and had the most basic EQ set up - treble, bass and volume - and I still got a really sweet, rich tone from the bass, full of creamy mids and nice rounded lows - the bass simply rocks. Re Sei Jazz basses - they are utterly wonderful - why you'd spend 2.5 - 3K on a Sadowsky when you could have Martin custom make you one to your exact spec for the same money or slightly less I have no idea - my 4-string is killling and looks the biz too - I love this bass: Investing in a Sei is a wise move - they only improve with age and will pay for itself in a couple of years and will be yours for life!

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1336079954' post='1640732'] Just got in (its been a long day) and mine was waiting for me on the mat. So thats good. I notice its the May issue, which means we've lost April. Mine's a gift subscription which started in December. So I hope it will finish in Dec as well so I get the 12 issues my friend has paid for. [/quote] I might be wrong here but the April issue did come out but just really early like halfway through March - I'm pretty sure no issue has been lost - it's just over a month since the Aptil one came out - though I may be mistaken I'm too tired to check right now Re BGM going forward I think / hope there's going to be fresh content etc - hopefully this new set up will be a new start and new era for BGM...

AJ is an out and out all time great - end of.

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1335697647' post='1634631'] That'll be the third editor in the last twelve months. That might indicate problems. [/quote] Hey all Firstly I want to say that I'm just a contributor to BGM and in now way involved in the publishing/editing process - but just so you all know the new publishers look like they are on a much steadier footing than Oyster house and hopefully these guys are in it for the long run. I too look forward to the next issue - I haven't seen it yet! Mike

I love it overall - a bit "Smurfs sing Adele" on the vocal side but musically amazing - I know what you're all saying and the original IS still a great song and if this turns a new generation of kids on to learning their instruments and exploring harmony and rhythms beyond more X-Factor style karaoke - then for me it's job done...

Sorry - I couldn't leave this one languishing in the Recordings forum - this is rather funky even if I say so myself - a live cut from my gig at the Spice Of Life in Soho a couple of weeks ago with my funk band Groove Digger and very fine alto sax man Simon Willescroft of Duran Duran/Incognito fame - hope you enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV-U4MX-r_w (Next gig there is May 3rd - come on down there's jam too so come and play if u like) M

Hey all Here's a very recent live clip of my lil' funk band doing our spot at the Spice Of Life in London - playing that old Meters chestnut but with some fresh energy and a great solo from Mr Willescroft who was our special guest - he had a ball as did we - hope you enjoy the grooves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV-U4MX-r_w Our next one is with Dave O'Higgins on Thurs 3rd May so do come along and there's a jam in the second half so come by and let me have a rest and a beer! Cheers Mike

Me

Just in case anyone hasn't seen these guys live lately they are still amazing - just funky as hell - great songs and great playing/singing etc - try and get to this if you can: https://agmp.ticketabc.com/events/incognito-mario-bion/ I saw them at Ronnie Scott's last year and it was killing...

Nice one Garry - I'll have a look at that later - I may well end up using Live to perform some music I've been working on with a singer - I know it can all be played 'live' but I think it's exciting to mix 'studio' and live stuff - the boundaries are disappearing between the two and I think that's so cool....

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1334313203' post='1614222'] Such as one of these: [url="http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/midi-keyboard-controllers/"]http://www.dv247.com...rd-controllers/[/url]. I'd recommend one with at least 49 keys so you can get a few octaves at your disposal. I use an M-Audio Keyrig 49 (discontinued now but has replacements) and it's simple, cheap and works well. It's velocity sensitive too which I think is essential. If you want some other instruments for it to control, check out the free players from [url="http://www.native-instruments.com/"]http://www.native-instruments.com/[/url]. The free Kontakt player has a good selection and they have a couple of synths (Reaktor Spark) too. [/quote] Yes the Impulse keyboards are very cool - I am borrowing one at the moment and it pretty much does everything you could need - I also use a Novation Launchpad as it's great for Ableton and also I've just got one of these Akia LPD8 ones as they are £37 and have both rotary knobs and 8 pad/triggers that are great for MIDI mapping and all that jazz: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Akai-LPD8-Laptop-Pad-Controller/dp/B002M8EEW8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334319831&sr=8-1 I'm hopefully getting an iPad for my b'day in July so that'll be added to my MIDI controller collection - so I can use the Lemur app - which looks amazing: http://liine.net/en/products/lemur/ Lots of fun....

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1334270307' post='1613764'] Once you have the Synth/VSTi [EZdrummer] inserted in ProTools [Or any DAW] and a Midi track assigned, you can just write in a drum part in the Piano roll view, or the score/editor view. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiSTBjsRdCo&feature=related[/media] Garry [/quote] You can also use a MIDI controller, or your computer keyboard, or a keyboard to play a pattern with the track armed and recording - you can then quantize the parts as much or as little as you need to and then even write in more complex bits and bobs into it in the piano roll view...

Oh and on a slightly less gig promo tip (sorry about that) I'll be at Marcus Miller's gig in Cheltenham at the jazz fest on the first bank holiday weekend in May. Hope to see you there Mike

OK - here's one from me - [b]Spice Of Life - Thursday 3rd May[/b] - I'm playing with my jazz funk band plus have the fantastic saxophonist [b]Dave O'Higgins[/b] sitting in as a guest on a few tunes. The venue is just off Charing Cross road (near Foyles) it's essentially a pub upstairs with a music venue in the basement and has a great intimate vibe - though it does have a capacity of around 100 so can get very busy... AND - there's the added incentive of turning up with you bass to sit in in the second set as there's a groove-led jazz jam - I was the only bassist last time and I had to play all night while the rest of the band went to the bar and drank beer... if you are vaguely jazz/funk inclined please come and play.... [url="http://www.spiceoflifesoho.com/"]http://www.spiceoflifesoho.com/[/url] Hope to see some of you there Mike

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1334139300' post='1611346'] Well, after nearly four years of using the POD X3 LIVE on stage and in the studio and two years after starting this thread, I am still perfectly delighted with it. I think my guitar and bass sounds are lovely and although I have been tempted to get a power amp and a Barefaced midget just for stage monitoring, I haven't and don't really see the need. I get serious thrills from my sounds, and I have no need nor desire to use anything else, unless Line 6 bring out the HD equivalent of the X3 Live. I also still believe that no-one can discern between digital and analogue and that digital modelling is the way forward. More flexibility, portability, reliability, power and control. I can't see any reason to be using such a limited and old fashioned artefact as an analogue bass or guitar amplifier and speaker cabinet either miced or DIed into the PA or recording device. [/quote] Funnily enough I'm kind of on the same page with you on this Nige - I'm increasingly going straight into my laptop and using all the virtual signal processing chains available there - and am finding I can get some wonderful tones there - using a basic amp/cab combo is fine for straight up live performances with a jazz/funk/whatever combo - but just to add that 'the real thing' surely is just the sound of your instrument - which if plugged in direct to PA or mixing desk - in theory should produce a great sound... depending on the greatness of the instrument... it's all about context I think but one should not be afraid of embracing digital technology - it's about controlling the technology, not letting IT control you!

[quote name='sgh' timestamp='1334076728' post='1610590'] Anyone know where I can get some free midi samples for ezdrummer ? [/quote] Here's a bunch of free MIDI loops you can download then drag and drop into your DAW - the Groove Monkee stuff is pretty good and covers quite a few styles: http://www.groovemonkee.com/en/free-midi And this is well worth buying for 25 Euros: http://www.toontrack.com/products.asp?item=47 The TT midi drum parts are played by great, REAL, drummers and are in the main extremely ueable - I recommend you check them out Hope that helps M

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1334049486' post='1609962'] Thats way nicer Mike, can actually hear what you are playing now in the opening. Like the way some of the bass parts end up sounding rather like a horn section in the background (to my cloth ears anyway). Like it a lot! [/quote] Thanks Si Funny you should mention horn sections - the idea with this is that those parts are played by the trumpeter/saxophonist that I'm working with at the moment - I just wanted to try and rework this tune in Ableton before taking it to the rehearsal room... glad you enjoyed this version better - so much other stuff coming just got to get working on it now...! Thanks for all the advice so far M

Being asked while playing a jazz gig with a guitarist: "Know any Kylie or Oasis songs...mate?"

This at 70BPM - very happy if anyone wants to download this a mash it up Cheers Mike [attachment=104534:easter-loopage.mp3]

Welcome to the forum - hope you have fun - lots of jazz lovers here and a few haters - but we all seem to get along OK Cheers Mike

A little loop I created this morning with no bass and some OK-ish drums - in a DJ Shadow-ish stylee - sorry it's so short: http://soundcloud.com/munkio/easter-loopage

Great posts guys - it's for all the reasons above that it was such a relief for me to hand over all the tracks on thus album I've been working on to a pro mix engineer and let him deal with all the frequency issues - although from my point of view I was entirely happy with the sound I'd got in the original tracking phase of the recording I trusted the guy's judgement when it came to slotting it into overall mix. As has been said the bass is not the most important thing in the mix it is nice to hear your playing sounding the way you hoped it would within the mix... Anyway great info on the technical side of mixing bass into a tune properly, and the fact that there are multiple layers of signal processing beyond the simple sound of bass and amp.

I just Googled this and found a couple of things - the bassist Kevin Baird - according to a thread on Talk Bass is using a mix of various FX including an MXR Octave pedal - the SansAmp pedal linked below - and some kind of simple synth pedal to double his lines. [url="http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/sansamp/bassdriverp.html"]http://www.tech21nyc...assdriverp.html[/url] Listening to the track you posted the bass is definitely doubled in some way - i.e. he's split the signal between his effects/synth part, and then the picked 'clean' signal, which also sounds like it's got some distorion on. Having been using some synth sounds myself recently I can confirm that you will get that fat, bottom-end sound via a synth as it'll provide a much wider, deeper tone than just the bass - obviously if you're using an octave pedal that will give your sound a whole other ocatave below what you're already playing and will massively thicken up your tone... Re recording it - you can obviously track both parts on separate channels and or mess with one clean track and one effected one - then there are myriad prodcution techniques to widen, fatten, deepen, compress, amplify and exagerate the sound of the bass/bottom end - this includes good mastering too... so it's a whole world of variables when it comes to the studio.... hope that helps M