xilddx

[quote name='D-L-B' timestamp='1375608739' post='2163297'] Totally agree. The amount of "tone chasing" on this forum is ridiculous. It just shows a lack of musical understanding, IMO. Even the original artist doesn't actually sound like what you're listening to. The tone on a recording is a concocted sound moulded out of what was captured on the day, often quite distinct from the raw sound actually captured. Listen to a band live and the tone can vary considerably from gig to gig depending on conditions. The music of Rush leaves me cold. They're like a joke band, I can't take them any more seriously than I would Spinal Tap. However that doesn't stop me admitting that I have occasionally admired Geddy's tone. This however is not one of those occasions. It sounds pretty bog standard and a bit thin to me, like a programmed bass sample. I believe I could approximate it, as well as anyone including even Geddy, on most of my basses with a pick and the tone rolled back. [/quote] Yes yes, we all know the produced sound on a record is vastly different to the recorded sound and that there is much tone chasing on here. So what? How did you learn about tone? Or do you even care about your tone? Chasing tones you like is a great motivator to refine your own tones and learn about eq and how tone profiles work in a band setting. I would not advocate spending loads of money on the same gear as your hero, however, it's possible to approximate tones on the bass gear you have already, and if you get a tone that works in your band and delights you, wtf is wrong with that? You don't come out the womb with pre-concieved notions of bass tone, you learn initially by imitation of what you like, then refine to suit your own evolving tastes. I won't comment on your remark about Rush being a joke band.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1375355189' post='2160131'] We'll have to come up with another way of getting the stems to people though. IIRC there will be too much duration to get on a free soundcloud account. Any ideas welcome! [/quote] Wetransfer to the contestants' email addresses?

Tonight! headlining The Bedford in Balham, we're on about 10pm. Hope to see some of you there Nx

Congratulations Garry, it was a great number!

I was in a band in Wales in 1984 and they got a Fostex X-15. It worked ok. My first studio kit was a Fostex X-26 4-trk cassette recorder, an Alesis HR16 drum computer, and a Yamaha SPX-50D rack effects, that was about 1990. I used it day and night, brilliant fun. This is what it sounded like [url="http://soundcloud.com/silddx/no-feet-allowed-1992"]http://soundcloud.com/silddx/no-feet-allowed-1992[/url] I had two Yamaha 8-trk MT8X over a few years in the late '90s, Lexicon effects, HR-16 and then a SR-16. Then a Zoom MR8 Then a Tascam 2488 MkII until a couple of years ago. Now a MacBook Pro with Logic9 (I had Reaper before that), and a Focusrite Saffire Pro24 DSP, also a POD X3 LIVE and a Novation Impulse controller keyboard.

[quote name='MisterFingers' timestamp='1375271201' post='2159024'] By all means cautiously mod the Squier, but you might not find the new pups and circuitry to your taste, so have a revert option, just in case. I would strongly recommend trying out as many J's as you can in a local store to give you a feel for the (wide) variety of necks/sounds/action. There's a lot of people here still buying and selling basses through the For Sale and are still searching for that special J but never seem to find it- but you seem to have found it... [/quote] I have found mine! A 1983 USA Standard Jazz. I love it to bits, it's a total beast! The only mod I was thinking of was a John East J-Retro (I've had three before), but I love it as it is, except Bass Doc is making me a gold pickguard for it The best thing is to get the right strings for starters, I use Cleartone EMPs, they bite and growl and punch like a sex-starved Rottweiler.

[quote name='ashsagar' timestamp='1375263684' post='2158910'] Y Yeah, not bad actually. Here's my link. [url="http://soundcloud.com/a-sagar/gary-burton-jazz-improv-lesson"]http://soundcloud.co...z-improv-lesson[/url] I'm listening to yours at the moment. Nice, nice phrasing once you get into the higher registers (the low end it quite hard to hear). How are you getting on with the new homework? I'm finding the first scale (A lydian b7) a bit of a bugger learning all over the neck but the others aren't too bad. [/quote] Thanks mate I was really asking about the piano solo analysis, I learned a lot doing it but since I don't know much theory or read music beyond the most infant level, I found it difficult and very useful to do. I've had no time really for Lesson 2 but I have watched all the vids and piddled about with learning a couple of the scales. Seems like a great way to learn them. I plan to use the weekend for this. Best of luck!

Very best of luck with this! It's a geat cause.

Soundcloud seems pretty good for that from what I've heard.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1375095071' post='2156545'] One man's dog is another man's dream. I know most basses I play in shop's I would probably unfairly class as a "dog" because I simply like a stupidly low action. And the action I play with requires a serious fret dress... which isn't going to happen with stock instruments. To be honest, the only thing that bugs me about (some) shops is that the staff sit around and piss about in quiet periods, when they could be doing something useful like setting up guitars and checking that everything is in tip top condition. [/quote] Bang on. I've tried some very expensive instruments which have been badly set up, dusty, uncared for, even dead corroding strings on some of them, while the staff, like you say, just piss about twiddling their f***ing thumbs.

The Steinberger Spirit is a pale shadow of the Hohners, poor build and pissy weak pups. Go for an active S/H Hohner, should be around £300 for a near mint one. The Hohner Jack Bass Professional is fantastic, but you want a boat paddle so go for a B2A or B2ADB, also superb basses for the money.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1375015221' post='2155739'] Don't get me started. Such a wasted opportunity. Most of the time it feels like its a school magazine. I've long since given up buying it but I shall buy it on the odd occasion that something in it sparks my interest. Last time was for the Larry Graham interview - cheers Mike B, appreciated it. What made me laugh though are the terrible reviews. How can they get these areas so wrong? My current gripe is the 'cons' section. I mean. WTF. Take that issue alone. The AV Guitars is a PJ Precision clone. The con? For this price tag it could have been made more aesthetically pleasing. What? It's a clone?! If you changed the look of it, you are changing the market to who you have pitched the product at. Are you expecting a coffee table top or something... a feature that most PJ players wouldn't be interested in anyway? The Nate Mendel Precision? Superfluous 'damage' to body work. Well... I guess the people that are buying this bass are doing so because of the signature not because of it looks. Anybody wanting a mint P bass will buy one and do a few mods if need be. It's like saying the Jaco signature should have a scratchplate... and oh, some frets would make it easier to play in tune. The violin bass one made me head palm the most though. Nowhere near versatile enough when compared with the current crop of similarly-priced basses on the market. Jeez. You buy that bass because of the one sound that it does. No bass yet can do it all. It's as ridiculous as saying that my P bass with flat wounds can't nail that Level 42 sound. Well guess what, all those other basses at similar prices can't sound like that violin bass. It's as though the writers have to really scratch their heads to come up with a minus point. Utter tripe journalism at its best. [/quote] they've forgotten why they write reviews. They can't possibly be proud of the mag so it's just another sh*t day job, no heart in it. They should probably just give up trying. It's the waste of opportunity that pisses me off the most, pathetic.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1374954355' post='2155263'] What kind of questions do they ask you ? Are they along the lines of " Do you have a skin disease ? " [/quote] I have world class eczema if that counts, although it's generally well managed with steroids. Questions are always along the lines of 'why do you wear gloves?' 'don't the gloves impede your playing?' etc. First answer is I like the way they turn me into Audrey Hepburn. Second answer is did I sound like they impeded my playing? and they actually feel like a second skin and I like how smooth the bass sounds and feels with them on. [quote name='Maude' timestamp='1374955901' post='2155281'] I hope they're the type that go up past your elbow ........................... erm .... sexy? [/quote] I don't wear t-shirts or short sleeves on stage

[quote name='bobpalt' timestamp='1375009146' post='2155629'] Is it me, or do the review and the photos not seem to be of the same bass? The reviewer mentions the bass as having a quilted maple top, 3 knobs, passive electronics and having soap bar pickups. The photos are of an ash bodied (no maple top), active, non soap bar pickuped and more knobbed bass. He also says that the graphite neck contains "wood", and whilst I am no chemist, I wouldnt have thought that this was likely (I know the phenolic fingerboard is different). If I were Mansons who had lent them the bass to review, I would be mightily miffed with what they produced. I have owned 4 or 5 Zons and they are wonderful basses, deserving of a lot more care from a prestigious magazine. [/quote] I haven't seen it, I gave up on BGM last year. Despite all the rhetoric from the 'new' experienced editor on his thread here, it's clear nothing has changed, just the same substandard editing and proofing there's always been, not to mention the next to useless reviews. Mike Flynn's been the only ray of hope for BGM for a couple of years but the hope has faded. We do two world class things in the UK, music and whisky, the rest is mostly mediocrity and poor quality. I have never understood why BGM don't give a sh*t about quality and rising above mediocrity, such a depressing waste of opportunity.

[quote name='TransistorBassMan' timestamp='1374976546' post='2155455'] Glad you enjoyed it! Lozz, wasn't "New Glamour" the third song last night? [/quote] [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1374977251' post='2155457'] Did we do Glamour third then? Thought it was second. Oh well, good job I do finance for a living with that wonderful grasp of numbers [/quote] New Glamour was second, it was the one after it

[quote name='ashsagar' timestamp='1374528066' post='2149852'] I only had a little look at that to be honest. Thanks though, I hope I'll get better. [/quote] How did you get on? Here's my playalong https://soundcloud.com/silddx/berklee-improv-lesson-1

Wear silk gloves. I never have that problem of sticky sweaty necks now. And the massive bonus is the gloves make you look like a right slag and people notice the bass and ask you questions after

Oh Billy, wish you would have been there man! It was a top night of music! The first band were called Giant Hamburger and they were hilarious, do anything you want music, I liked them a lot. Lozz's band were superb! Loving the old military outfits, the mad bloke singer and the statuesque ladyvoice, they made it a great show and were great foils for each other. Loved the music, like the bastard baby of the B-52s and the Cardiacs. The third song blew me way (Lozz, what was that? where can I hear it again, wickid riffage and drums in that one). They have two basses and the timing and tones, and the way it sounded like one big bass was very clever. A very tight band that managed to LOOK shambolic but sound highly rehearsed. Roger (Transistorbassman) provided subtle but very effective keys, and got a solo with the lightwave hand thing on his Juno D, that sounded ace and people really noticed the magic hand A great night and sorry I had to dash after your set. Thanks!

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1374706642' post='2152365'] Number 2. [/quote] Me too.

Listening now man! Some good vibe going on

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1374675962' post='2151693'] I've just gone back to Joanne Shaw Taylor's most recent album and I'm left with the same nagging doubt that I had when I first put it on. I like the songs, and her guitar playing is still excellent, but there's something about the overall production that doesn't sit right with me. I'm increasingly convinced that this album has become a victim of an overly zealous compressor in the "loudness war," but I just wonder whether somebody with better ears can verify this for me. Exhibit A is the first track from the most recent album: Is it just me, or does it sound like somebody just pushed all the faders up to full on this one, and the mastering engineer just compressed it to buggery? Exhibit B is the first track from her debut album: I of course realise that the instrumentation's a little different on this one, but this one just seems to have a lot more space for the mix to breathe. It's not just me, is it? [/quote] They are both treated insensitively, all about marketability, I don't like either. Here's one that has been tret much more carefully but retaining some punch and yet much air, not got the guitars like yours though .. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvuyYj5ROmk[/media]

Well, initially I thought charic had gone mad, but I have an idea

I love it, Donnie is a funny geezer to watch Rebecca really looks like the quirky character she comes across as on the song, and the American urban vibe is bang on. Fits the song beautifully and I can't wait for you to get the EP out. Wickid! Mike, the bass is ace and along with your Rae Forest work, the best musical setting for your style imo.

I'll be there Lozz, when are you on mate?

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1374586100' post='2150503'] I'm not so sure about this. Traditional Asian is actually pretty simple -- almost entirely pentatonic and within a couple of octaves. It's actually very similar to cowboy music. Play the melody to "I got spurs that jingle jangle jingle" on a koto. It's very Chinese sounding. Now if by "Asian" you're including Indian music, yet, there you'll find the use of the drone. And because of it, there isn't much chordal movement. And the tabla creates a bit on "low end" whereas in in "eastern oriental" music the tonality is thin. That could be for no other reason other than they like it or no one came up with a bass instrument since it seemed impractical. That was even the case in Western music until 1650 or so. (A tradition carried on with the "Justice For All" album). Why are there no cymbals in western music until the late 19th century? (Oddly enough, cymbals were in Asian music since the beginning). [/quote] Well Asia is f***ing HUUUUUGE, and there are folk and classical traditions to take into account. The OP's question was way too broad really. Stringed bass instruments don't feature in much music anywhere historcally unless I'm mistaken. As far as rhythmic and melodic complexity goes, and highly nuanced execution for the purposes of evocation for that matter, I'm talking more about the classical traditions. We could extend this to Africa and the Middle East too.