Nicko

First Impressions of Earth by the Strokes has a better selection of songs than Is this It. I'll happily listen to both albums end to end but overall I think FIOE is just about edges it.

Is This It by the Strokes American Idiot by Green Day What did you expect by the Vaccines Bring it On by Gomez Blizzard of Ozz by Ozzy (Yes I even like Dee) Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden

I do this every month and still realise some of the the others are much better😀

I agree with @NickD Deservedly won at a canter, and if I was worried about winning I wouldn't have bothered submitting an entry after hearing it.

No, but the one labelled a 3rd is actually pointing to a flat 7th. In slightly less than 50 years I've learnt to draw straight lines and put my fingers behind the fret though.

Me too. My reading was so bad I had to memorise the piece. If I got lost I sometimes used to just pretend to play. The beauty of being 3rd cornet is that no one noticed. I've tried to improve my reading - or more importantly my writing recently to help with programming via the piano roll but still struggle with more complex rhythms and I'm not sure I'll ever get to the point where I can write out something that I have in my head.

Having heard that I'm wishing I'd actually based my lyrics on a station announcement - in particular the reported utterrings of Jah Wobble "I used to be somebody. Repeat. I used to be somebody"

TNT a band name inspired by our collective love of all things AC/DC formed by a bunch of school friends of whom only the drummer had any idea what they were doing (he eventually went on to a successful session career and now owns a drum emporium). Thankfully we never progressed past playing in the drummers bedroom. Pearl Necklace A covers band formed by a bunch of construction workers on a massive petrochemical refinery project in Qatar named the Pearl GTL project. The name lasted, even though the entertainment team (unofficially the ministry of fun) found out what a pearl necklace was. Played an eclectic mixture of southern rock, indie pop and classic rock. The only time I've heard a set contain stuff by CCR and Colbie Caillat. The band split when I decided to come back to the UK, although more because the gigs were bad for the leaders alcohol problem than me being irreplaceable. Nearly Dead A bunch of ageing friends who'd been together for years mainly playing dad rock. I joined then when their bass player left and we met about once a month for a year or so. They talked of gigs but nothing ever happened. Albion Named due to the guitarists obsession with all things Libertines - fell apart before gigging due to musical differences - that is other members suggesting songs that weren't written by Doherty or Barat, and partly because the guitarist was ex RAF and couldn't get on with the singer who was still an NCO in the RAF. Rock Lizards Guitarist was a believer in the conspiracy that our leaders were Lizards in disguise - a spin off from the previous band Ruled by Lizards. It's no surprise this didn't last long. Mainly post punk with a bit of punk thrown in. Firefly. Chosen by committee as the least offensive of the options. Mainly 90s pub covers. Lasted until the drummer and guitarist couldn't be in the same room without a fight. Blacklight a random suggestion while sat at a pub in Chertsey after practice one night. Our art teacher drummer liked the juxtapsition of light and dark - I liked the fact it's what the police use to look for bodily fluids. Came up with quite a good logo and played a few gigs before Covid killed it off - playing pretty a fairly similar set to the remnants of Firefly. Doing this has suggested that there's considerably more to band names than meets the eye and the worse the reason for the band name the more pain the band will bring.

I'm guessing if I were to use a mic'd cabinet my lack of understanding of placement would have a more significant impact on the result than selecting a different model of mic. I can see the benefit of such tech in the hands of someone that really knows what they are doing.

Here it is guys. When I saw the image I initially thought it was Baker Street - a station i used for my daily commute for a few years - but it's obviously late at night and I don't work late so the only reason I ever saw it like that was when I'd been for after work drinks. Tech stuff - as usual. A Fender tele was used for both guitar parts - lead using a Mesa Triple Rectifier and rhythm using a Marshall both simulated in Amplitube The lead guitar has a tough of delay added which is synced to the BPM and seemed to tighten it up a bit (yes I know it's still a bit loose). I've not used this idea before but it seems to work). Squier CV Precision again using Ampeg SVT simulations in Amplitube. MT Power Drums, keys from Xpand II and some dodgy vocals by yours truly. BVs are panned hard left and right on separate channels with different eq but are just copies. I had a bit of trouble with tuning - I think because the temperature has been up and down like a whore's drawers the last few days but hopefully sorted in the final mix.

See my recent thread on your recording method. I get this every month. This month is nearly done - and it's a cracker.

I'm about the opposite. I tolerate playing gigs as a necessary evil of being in a band that doesn't simply drift along.

If it's plugged in it really should be played standing up and loud enough to hear through the soles of your feet.

I've always hated the way that the jack socket on a Fender Precision is on the front. I tolerate a straight jack into it because all my other kit has a jack in the correct location, on the side of the lower bout.

This may be a bit heretical but I never really enjoyed David Bowie's stuff that much - perhaps it was the theatre of it all that put me off. I'm now appreciating some of the nuance a bit more and appreciating how brilliantly written (at least some) of his songs were.

He should love me more. I completely forgot I offloaded an Ashdown Mi10 in April. So I'm +5 😀

I was a long time guitarist before switching to bass. I tend to think of guitar chord shapes on the fretboard of my bass which is helpful in picking out chord tones. My time playing cornet in a brass band was utterly useless in helping me play bass.

Finally finished the planned offloading of equipment and I'm now +4 for the year. Fender American Special Precision sold in February Markbass Blackline 250 turned out to have developed a fault and was given away (technically I sold the soft carry case and included the amp for free) in July Markbass 102P traveller was collected today I must say that the BC marketplace is an absolutely fantastic way to trade. All the people I've had dealings with have been thoroughly decent and there's been no messing around at all.

If I was doing stuff for anything other than a bit of fun I'd agree, but there is a limit to how many versions of the instrumentation I can lay down, and how much time I can spend polishing the monthly turd. If I carried on until I thought it was the best it could ever be I'd never actually end up doing the final audio mixdown.

I can't wait for the oud, saz and bazouki to make an appearance - presumably something written (or hummed) in phrygian.

You should always improve your technique and know how to play across the whole fretboard, using as many strings as you have. I don't think anyone here would state otherwise. Whether playing all those notes is really effective for the instrument's role in an ensemble is another matter. Some band structures and songs permit more notes than others - some of Flea's work in the RHCPs is an example where he not only plays lots of notes but in some cases includes two or three different bass pats at the same time. Sometimes he chooses not to play anything and that's just as effective..

I think writing and recording as a band would be entirely different for me too. Firstly I'd expect the other musicians to be vastly superior in ability and technique* to me so once I'd got a rough idea it wouldn't make sense to restrict the various parts to what I can do rather than what they could do. The only time I've recorded as a band in a studio we basically did it live because none of us were experienced in playing the songs in isolation - I'd have missed the changes without having the other members doing what they normally did. *I'm competent at playing guitar - no more - and use a few techniques that others might find unusual.

I always wondered how your entries to the monthly comp were posted so quickly - now I know.

Glad to hear it's not just me.

The playing and techniques seem to be very similar to the stuff that Joe Satriani and Jennifer Batten have been doing for years, with the addition of some slap bass. I find all those guitar virtuosos technically brilliant but for the most part unlistenable and the only saving grace for this bass part is its short. When I took guitar lessons Midnight by Satriani was virtually a set piece for the exam for one of the levels (level 6 IIRC) if you wanted to demonstrate your proficiency in right hand tapping technique. Personally I think it's a technique that should be used sparingly if it's not to become an exercise in showing off. Thew tapping part in EVH's eruption is the only part of it I can play (he only taps with one finger of the right hand) and is my go to show off bit for playing in guitar shops.