TKenrick

Cheers guys, Cimple are just up the road from me so will probably take it there.

Had a quick search of the forums but couldn't find anything on this... Earlier this year I bought a [url="http://www.ciao.co.uk/Novation_Bass_Station__47924"] Novation Bass Station [/url] off ebay. It has a few wobbly knobs and could generally do with a service - can anyone recommend a synth repair guy, preferably in the london area?

Owing to the purchase of a rather shiny flatscreen I'm looking to get rid of a 28" Hitachi TV, good condition, full working order. Pickup from Chiswick, W4 (just of the M4 junction 2) I'm keen to shift it asap as it's taking up space in my practice room! Pics/more info available on request

Hearing and Writing Music is a great book that I've been working from for a while now. It's a very clear and structured approach to ear training and transcription: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hearing-Writing-Music-Professional-Training/dp/0962949671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258912429&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hearing-Writing-Mu...2429&sr=8-1[/url] As far as advice on transcription goes, here's my two cents: 1. Start out with something simple (I think the first tune I ever wrote down was a stereophonics song) 2. Regardless of what you're transcribing, work with short sections (1 or 2 bars at a time) 3. Make sure you can accurately sing back the line you're trying to write down and recognise the intervals rather than using your bass and 'hunting' for the right notes 4. Notation software is a massive help when it comes to putting the dots onto a page. This doesn't mean you have to spend lots of money on Sibelius, IIRC there's a trial version of Finale that's free to download. If you have a MIDI keyboard this will also help to speed up the process of inputting notes. 5. Take regular breaks to prevent your ears/brain getting fatigued and making silly mistakes 6. Don't just transcribe bass players. 7. If your ears/voice can't catch a fast lick then windows media player/quicktime both enable you to slow things down without changing the pitch 8. A decent set of headphones can help things considerably, particularly when working on bass lines. I can't emphasise just how important no.3 is - I find that singing is the key to improving my transcription skills. Of course, all of this is just my opinion based on personal experience. I'm fairly sure there's something on Lucas Pickford's site with some advice on transcription, and he's probably much more informative than I am. hope this helps, Tom

A few that I find useful: [url="http://www.bassbooks.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=245"]http://www.bassbooks.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=245[/url] [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256035502&sr=8-5"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Standing-Shadows-M...5502&sr=8-5[/url] [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sittin-Rocco-Prestia-Tower-Like/dp/1575605953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256035534&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sittin-Rocco-Prest...5534&sr=1-1[/url] I'm a big advocate of transcription as a means of really getting deep into a genre, so I'd suggest getting hold of something like this and stealing as many licks as possible: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Time-Greatest-Hits-Brown-James/dp/B000001DUP/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256035594&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Time-Greatest-...5594&sr=8-1[/url]

It's been a while since I've posted anything up here, this is the first of several Me'Shell tunes I've been working on - the rest will be put up in due course. The intro/chorus line is played on a synth on the record, so getting the phrasing and articulation together on an electric bass might take a bit of experimentation (it did for me anyway). Chords are by ear, please feel free to correct! Tom [attachment=33782:Shoot_n_...t_n_High.pdf]

There's an organisation called BAPAM (www.bapam.org.uk) that specialises in treating musicians/performers, they were a great help to me when I had problems with my shoulder. As for technique, I'd definitely recommend going an seeing an experienced teacher to make sure you're doing the right things - maybe have a look in the teaching section of the forum and see if there's anyone in your area that's recommended. Best of luck with it, I know how frustrating it can be when all you want to do is practice and your body refuses to cooperate!

I don't know if you'll find it any less dreary, but Mick Goodrick's book 'The Advancing Guitarist' is probably the most comprehensive book on the subject that I've found. Yes, it's aimed at guitarists, but 90% of the concepts can be applied to the bass. An hour a day should get you up to speed in no time!

www.sheetmusicdirect.com seems to have quite a few songs available to download, although i couldn't get the preview to work so I don't know if you get notation as well as tab on the sheet music, but I guess you would. If you'll excuse the self promotion, I have a few transcriptions available for free on my blog page (the link is in my sig). Not exactly thousands, but there should be some there that'll offer some reading practice.

Gary Willis has a page on his site that I've found to be extremely beneficial for my pitch reading abilities: [url="http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/read.html"]http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/read.html[/url]

[quote name='Mikey D' post='512135' date='Jun 12 2009, 02:08 PM']What harmony is this played over?[/quote] Sorry, my bad, its E7#9, although there's no other harmonic instrument playing at that point.

This one? [attachment=26899:Bona_Lick.pdf]

[quote name='Faithless' post='474782' date='Apr 29 2009, 08:45 AM']TKenrick, fellow Basschater, has a few transcribies of Jamiroquai on his web.. But not the old ones, i mean, Runaway, for example..[/quote] Thanks for the shout out, i'll do some old jamiroquai tunes next month when I get some more free time. In the mean time I'm going to have to edit and re-post Runaway as I was using it to teach the other day and noticed a few glaring mistakes!

Thanks for all the responses guys, its good to know that this kind of stuff is appreciated There are now a few more transcriptions on my blog site (the link is in my sig.), with more hopefully being added as the weeks go by. If anyone has any specific requests then let me know and I'll do my best to transcribe them. cheers, Tom

I had this listed in the amps and cabs section a while ago, I really need the space so I'm letting it go free of charge. Made in 1991, 8 ohm cab rated at 240W rms. Weight is roughly 25kgs. I'm located just off junction 2 of the M4. cheers, Tom [attachment=23651:IMGP3296.jpg] [attachment=23652:IMGP3297.jpg] [attachment=23653:IMGP3298.jpg] [attachment=23654:IMGP3299.jpg] [attachment=23655:IMGP3300.jpg]

I've got a Bacchus Strong EXT36 (previously owned by a couple of other BCers) and I'd recommend their basses, great build quality and playability. The only downside to mine is that it's a tad on the heavy side (11lbs), so I don't tend to use it for longer gigs.

Thanks for the replies guys, I spoke to Mark at bass direct and they don't have any in stock, although he said he'd ring SKB on monday and see what he could do... It looks like i might have to go to denmark street and grab a hiscox case - the management company can pick up the bill though And yes, the management are a bunch of cheap asses. I gave them the exact specs of the case I wanted from Castle over a month ago, it came to last week and they still hadn't sorted it so now it's too late to get one, they assured me that they'd sorted out a suitable alternative which turned out to be the stagg cases, luckily my Bacchus didn't fit in the case so I had to say no - I couldn't believe how badly made the stagg suff was, looked like something a 5 year old had made out of tin foil and card after watching blue peter.

Due to the gross incompetence of a certain management company, I'm frantically trying to find a decent case to take my basses on tour with (management bought stagg flight cases, which are the worst things I've ever seen). I don't want to be worrying that my basses are going to arrive at each destination in several pieces I've heard nothing but good about SKB bass safes so I thought I'd get myself one, only problem is that the gallery don't have any in stock and neither do gear 4 music. I leave on tuesday morning, so I need to get one asap - does anyone know of any other places that sell the SKB bass safe? Shure distribution are closed on weekends so I can't get a list from them until monday... Any help/suggestions would be hugely appreciated! Tom

Here's my two cents regarding beaming of notes: If I'm writing out parts, I'll always try group notes and rests to make each beat of the bar as clear as possible for whoever reads the part, so if you had the rhythm that you suggested of 8th - 8th - (8th rest) - 8th then I'd beam the first two together but have the last one on its own. Regarding the use of dotted crotchet rests vs quaver then crotchet rest, it's up to you - I find that i'll use dotted rests in simpler parts and subdivide each beat of the bar in more complicated things. As for whether you present your transcriptions as sections only charts, note-for-note scores or a combination of the two, I think it largely depends on the piece that you've transcribed. I'm trying to do more note-for-notes transcriptions to improve my accuracy, but if the song is simple or largely riff-based then i'll do a sections only chart. Tom

I wouldn't advocate shelling out money for ear training courses or software, just use cds you already own as a basis for ear training. Take small sections of songs (the simpler the better to start with), listen to what the bass is doing then try and sing the part being played. Once you've got the notes, find them on your bass. This will develop the link between your ears, your voice and your hands and should help to speed up the process of being able to play by ear. As an add-on to what Jake already said, don't just limit yourself to bass parts. Try and work out vocal melodies, sax lines and piano stuff on your bass. And be patient, it may take some time.

[attachment=20530:Use_Somebody.pdf] This was requested by one of my students, I thought I'd post it here for general consumption. Corrections, advice and comments are always welcome! Tom