Steve Lawson

not sure if this should go here or in 'events', but anyway... [b]March 17th, Tower of Song in Cotteridge. £7/£4 concs. [/b] Me, Italian bass genius Lorenzo Feliciati, and fab solo bassist Russ Sargeant Promo blurb below: FB event page is at https://www.facebook.com/events/274957155969270/ hope to see some of you there! [b]The first ever Birmingham Bass Night is here next month! featuring three amazing performers.[/b] Joining Brum’s resident solo bass maestros, Steve Lawson and Russ Sargeant will be headliner, Italian bass-legend Lorenzo Feliciati. [b]Lorenzo Feliciati[/b] - one of Italy’s most respected bass innovators, Lorenzo Feliciati’s combination of electric jazz with progressive rock and electronica elements, coupled to his amazing dextrous skill on the instrument, make for a compelling and exciting music-world. Receiving his initial impetus to play bass from seeing Jaco Pastorius with Weather Report, Lorenzo added Mick Karn, Pino and Percy Jones to his list of fretless-inspirations and forged a celebrated career as both a side-man and a band-leader in his home country, and further abroad. His latest project, Naked Truth, featuring King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto, brings together his twin loves of jazz and progressive music, and has been critically acclaimed worldwide. [b]Steve Lawson[/b] - it true that there aren’t too many musicians who’ve managed to forge an international music career as solo bass guitarists. But in the last 13 years Steve Lawson has toured the world, produced 20 albums (10 solo, 10 in collaboration), been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers, played most of the major bass events, had radio airplay on four continents, and built a reputation as one of the respected bass teachers and ‘new music economy’ thinkers around. His approach to looping and layering his bass in real time builds complex and beautiful soundscapes that sound very little like a bass at all. Has to be seen (and heard) to be believed. 'Steve Lawson is a brilliant musician. I've known about him and listened to him for many years. He may not be one of the most famous bassists but he is definitely one of the most talented' - Victor Wooten [b]Russ Sargeant[/b] - Russ Sargeant is a bass player and multi-instrumentalist based near Birmingham. He uses live looping and effects to create beautiful layered music - sound upon sound; sometimes with multiple instruments but mostly only using electric and acoustic basses. His music is a blend of Ambient, Jazz and eclectic sounds and has been described as, “subtle layers of sound that emerge gracefully like cinematic soundtracks”. [url="http://www.lorenzofeliciati.com/"]www.lorenzofeliciati.com[/url] [url="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stevelawson.net&h=cAQEP0t63&s=1"]www.stevelawson.net[/url] [url="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.russsargeant.co.uk&h=kAQG9-0kQ&s=1"]www.russsargeant.co.uk[/url]

I did a guest gig/Q&A at Victor's camp a couple of years ago, and was REALLY impressed with the set up. Some brilliant people involved there, and all the students I spoke to were really inspired. One of my Beyond Bass Camp students went about 3 years ago, and she had an amazing time. So seems well worth it!

there are two vague schools of notation - what you're hearing and what the artist is playing... it's it a transcription of what's being heard, or performance notes for the artist? The split is pretty stark... 'accurate transcriptions' can actually end up being infuriatingly unreadable, as someone writes out a 7 against 4 line that was just the musician slowing down a bit for that phrase... so the reader ends up trying to count 7 against 4 when that was nothing close to what the original performer had in mind... So your transcription of the ambient loop stuff could easily be a very simple set of free time notation with extensive instructions for how to strike the notes and what the processing was that you used (right down to delay and reverb times/saturation/feedback levels). There's a pretty strong history of graphic scores being used to represent music that had either an aleatoric element or that just didn't fit inside the norms of staff/bar notation. ....the other element I've used when presenting looped performance pieces as scores is to use coloured note-heads to indicate whether a line is being played by the player, recorded at that moment, or playing back (if such distinctions are critical to understanding what's happening at any moment). Hope that helps... Steve www.stevelawson.net

just to echo what everyone else has said, it def. looks/sounds like a Lane Poor - the hologram sticker is the giveaway. EMGs look different, and the Bartolinis tend to the company name embossed on them... I've got Lane Poors in my 6 string fretless and my 4 string fretted and they sound amazing. Bartolinis in the 6 string fretted... Steve

this coming weekend is the two-day Beyond Bass Camp session - it's possible to come to one or either and there's one (possibly two, awaiting confirmation) spaces on each day left, if anyone's interested - see http://www.beyondbasscamp.com/2012/09/october-classes-and-a-new-structure-for-beyond-bass-camp/ for details. Steve

Check out the Keith McMillen Softstep - it's by far the best MIDI foot Controller I've ever used. Also sends CC messages which could be really handy with the Pod volume/wah settings... Steve

Like Kiwi, I've got 2 Lexicon MPX-G2s. Though my other one's a back up (I used to use it for post processing loops but have a Kaoss Pad for that now. To do what I do with the G2 with stomp boxes would require about 60 pedals and a really tricked out wiring system I do own a few pedals (mainly loop/delay units) and currently have two AMAZING boutique overdrive pedals on loan from a friend, that are in the FX loop on the G2. Am having a lot of fun with those Steve

Worth mentioning here that, in addition to the Beyond Bass Camp classes (see other thread), I do currently have a number of slots for private students as well. Drop me a line if you're interested Steve www.stevelawson.net

[quote name='Pinball' timestamp='1346932511' post='1794938'] Interesting sound from Clatter in particular. Big contrasts in sound. [/quote] Yeah, Amy has (I think) three separate amps running at anyone one time - clean, distorted and processed - that plus the 12 string bass (4 strings, doubled twice ala Doug Pinnick/Jeff Ament) gives her a MASSIVE range of sounds

Two new dates for October - 13th and 14th - if you want a whole weekend of bass-focussed learning, they will work together as a two day course! 13th is 'Tier one' for anyone who hasn't done B*B*C before (it's not ability-streamed at all) and Tier 2 is for anyone who's been to a Tier one class, or has had 5 or more one-on-one lessons with me. more info on the blog here - http://www.beyondbasscamp.com/2012/09/october-classes-and-a-new-structure-for-beyond-bass-camp/ see you soon Steve www.stevelawson.net

Clatter are well worth a listen - bass/drums duo, and Amy who plays bass also sings. http://clatter.bandcamp.com Also Theories Of Rocketry by Flat Earth Agenda http://stevengbass.bandcamp.com/releases cheers Steve www.stevelawson.net

Quick update - the Looping class this month has moved from Saturday July 28th to Sunday July 29th - I know a few of you had trouble with Saturday scheduling, so please let me know if this fits better... it's for any instrument and bassists are obviously most welcome... details here - http://www.beyondbasscamp.com/upcoming-classes/ Steve

Hi Henry, good to see you here, sir - hope to see you soon, Steve

I've had flats on my fretless 6 for 12 years - LOVE them. Had then on my fretted 6 for about 4 years too, and only changed them because I the basses sounded very similar, and I wanted a more drastic alternative to the fretless! I use Elites flats, which I think are some of the brightest - I liked the Labellas too, but didn't get on with some of the others that seemed a little too dark... I like to be able to get some bite by playing with my fingernails and I can still get a really nice slap sound with the Elites too... plenty of sparkle when I need it... It also feels like the treble boost 'sparkle' switch on the John East U-Retro was made for flats - adds just the right kind of 'air' to the sound to give the tone an acoustic vibe. Lovely. Steve

oops, sorry I missed the last post here - yes, the LP1 is the one (the LP2 pedal is coming out soon, but is a single mono output, as far as I know...) - the LP1 is on a production hiatus at the moment, while the OS is rewritten... should be relaunched later in the year. So for now, the Boss stuff is WAY easier to get hold off (though there was someone selling a *really* cheap LP1 on one of the Facebook looping groups the other day..) and will cost a lot less dough... Enjoy! Steve www.stevelawson.net

...here's the extra detail for the Looping class - http://www.beyondbasscamp.com/2012/06/looping-masterclass-28th-july-the-details/ cheers! Steve

Have just announced two dates for July - the 14th is a normal B*B*C bass masterclass, and on the 28th I'm doing a class focused on looping, for any instrument (bassists most welcome!) details are on the blog - http://www.beyondbasscamp.com/2012/06/bbc-classes-for-july-2012-bass-and-looping-classes/ cheers Steve www.stevelawson.net

there are a number of hardware and software options - software, you could do it all using a laptop running Ableton live and either Mobius or SooperLooper. Or any other looping plug-in, there are quite a few now... With syncing multiple machines, the new Boss floor unit, i think, has MIDI - as does this one http://www.strymon.net/2012/04/30/looping-with-strymon-timeline/ (no experience with the Strymon at all, so just going on what's on the site). Or there's the Looperlative, which is what I use - which has one stereo input, but three different outputs, to which each of the 8 stereo pairs are assignable. I manage to loop me and whoever else I happen to be playing with into the Looperlative, and post-process them separately. I use a MOTU Ultralite Mk III as the mixer at the heart of my set up (which means I can also record everything multitracked). The Looperlative does have external sync, but it's a little flakey at the moment - Bob who makes them is redesigning the OS at the moment, and it should fix the sync-drift problems... Steve www.stevelawson.net

Thanks to a cancellation, there's one space left for the Beyond Bass Camp class on June 9th - if anyone is interested, let me know! Steve www.stevelawson.net

The May class is now full, and there's one place left for June 9th... more classes to be announced soon Steve

Hi all, you may remember a couple of years ago, I did a teaching series in London called Beyond Bass Camp. It went v. well, and I'd intended to run it again while still living down there, but parenting, gigs and other work got in the way. Anyway, I'm starting it up again in Birmingham. First two dates have been announced for May/June, with all the details on the Beyond Bass Camp blog - http://www.beyondbasscamp.com/?p=all any questions, let me know. Steve www.stevelawson.net

if there's any way I can be of help with the dissertation, do let me know. Sounds pretty interesting to me Steve

Was lovely to meet so many basschat people at the weekend! I can't remember anyone's usernames here, and am sorry to anyone who caught me as I was running from one place to another. Was a silly busy weekend, and I completely missed seeing some old friends all together. All in though, what an amazing event! I've been to a LOT of bass-day type events round the world, and it's one of the best organised with the most exciting vibe. The noise on the expo floor is ridiculous, but I'm not that sure how they'd get past that. I was really inspired by Yolanda Charles, Jon Thorne and Doug Wimbish's masterclass sessions... all three gave some serious food for thought and quotes I'll remember for a long time. Special thanks to all of you who were so encouraging about the masterclass - really glad you enjoyed it. Was a whole lot of fun to do, and I think Dave Marks will post some video of it v. soon Hope those of you who bought the 'everything stevie' USB stick are enjoying the mammoth amounts of music See y'all soon Steve

...have just updated the title of this thread to reflect where I now live and teach Get in touch if you want lessons in the Midlands. (I am planning to still teach on occasion in London, but it'll be infrequent...) cheers! Steve