oldbass

Nothing profound here.....but Ian Hunters mastery of indecipherable language and picture building is insane....ive edited this down a bit.

Alice.

Now Alice needed money I put $10 on the breeze
As the wind died away she sank way below her knees
And as a hurricane passed by she clutched the money from the sky
She must have been at least a fathom high

She works the 42nd beat on 42nd street
With all her golden ambitions and dead rhinestones in her feet
And when a stranger said she sucked she just smiled believing luck
As she climed into his truck to make a buck

Me and my camera eyes sitting on a fence
Laughing at the lights of New York City

Alice..... you remind me of Manhattan
The seedy and the snaz, the shoeboys and the satins
Like a throne made of gilt that too many johns have sat in
Oh, I got my eyes on you

ROLL UP!
See Alice on the palace where her name adorns the boards
Ain't no flash in her Cannes, she got the willpower of a horse
And it's a long way to Broadway from a 42nd lay
Or is it really just a couple of blocks away

Me and my stupidity sittin' on a fence
And digging what I thought was New York City

Only three this year but then we have stopped doing pubs/clubs in favour of private parties and corporate do's etc.

57 here pushing 58.

On Friday nite I did my first "posh corporate" gig for 25 odd yrs for 150+ with the 7 piece I hang out with and yes it was very exciting with guest singers etc and everyone dressed up and having a good time. It seems to me it doesn't matter how old you are, the fun is still there to be had....at any age, though I make sure my gear is the lightest I can afford. If one thing can ruin a gig at my age its schleping heavy gear at 1.00am in the morning....

I think I need to have a lay down..ha

I've been to a few shows this year and at everyone the bass was either inaudible against the ever increasing trend for a louder and fuller kick drum or the tone was just turned to mush anyway, and Im talking named musicians playing active J's, to passive P's and just about everything inbetween. In fact at one very large prestigous outdoor festival I was seconds away from making my way to the desk to "making a suggestion" etc....

So, be subtle, play softly and if you think its making any difference to what the audience are getting then best of British etc...

1 hour ago, SteveK said:

Probably not advisable as your everyday technique, but it can subtley change the tone. More importantly, It can change your approach/attitude to what you're playing.

Interesting. But the audience after the sound guy has tweaked you into oblivion cant hear the difference anyway....bass is already subtle ie its not a lead instrument..so why would we try to make it even more subtle. Those who do this are literally pricing themselves out of the tonal spectrum until someday an MD turns around and says, "Im not paying the bass player he's playing so softly I can't hear him.

I seem to waste endless hrs thinking of the nearly new late Ampeg V4B and Orange 120 heads and bouncer bins I had back in the day....oh would I love to have them back now but only to look at of course...no way could I lift them.

Well it's a weird one alright.

James Brown appeared a couple of yrs ago on a tiny outdoor stage in the little ole town of Gosport in Hants....yep, you could not make it up. Band was the tightest punchiest live unit I think Id ever seen, and playing to a few dozen locals. It really was a treat.

where are you...

On 04/12/2017 at 09:32, steve-bbb said:

that widdly bit in the break in 'you can call me al' -  im told it is rerecorded backwards with envelope effects or so me such so you can only play something that sounds close effects wise  - its one of those things that when broken down is deceptively simple but the second part is the first part but inside out and upside down and the more you actively think about it the more it wants to fk up your ear/brain/finger coordination - best to learn very slowly in pieces until you can play it purely from muscle memory without thinking at all

Only ever heard one person play that spot on and it was down at my local on the Isle of Wight many, many moons ago. Mark Kings bro..Nathan. I could not beleive what I was hearing...guy was as good as his brother if not better.

......Bach

double post

Here's a true story which completely killed my interest in gear and gig/stage tone in a sec. My home practise tone is another matter entirely.

I was doing a minor outdoor festival..vintage P, old flats, tone rolled off a hair,  light touch and let the amp do the work. On stage sound seemed nice and thick with plenty of crisp low mids, spot on I thought but the tone on the video play back was that of an Alembic wearing fresh rounds......bright, gnarly, clangy. 

I've seen the reverse too. Name funk band. Active Jazz Bass..probably wearing rounds...FOH sound, a boomy indestinct mush.

Ok guys, well Im clearly in a minority of one here...probably something to do with age I guess..but to me a, it just it just doesnt look cool and b,  sounds too subtle for its own good....I play fingerstyle only and if I want to go quiet..well I simply play quiet, if I need to dampen I do it Bernard Edwards style...etc. Different strokes I guess.

Not sure what ur musical ability is but Ive just recently got into Jazz in a huge almost obsessive way and it happened because I became so sick of playing the same old pub standards and the same old riffs that I couldn't find a way to break free..I even had some lessons with a brilliant young guy a couple of yrs ago (I'm 57 lol...) which didnt really help cause I couldn't read well enough.

Anyway I've been hitting the dots hard for the last few years and having a ball. This is the type of thing I cant stop playing.

Fantastic as always, though don't like his tone much, too scooped for my liking but boy I wish I could read that fast...he's the boss alright.

But it's Igoe thats the draw for me.  Widdly little kit and such a lazy action but a huge sound ..amazing.

5 hours ago, Japhet said:

Shouldn't the Adam Clayton signature basses all have one string though? (Behave!).

Ha...dont get me started. I can understand the fact that he's a really nice bloke and that his life took an unbeleivably lucky turn when he was a teen but how exactly does he inspire a young person to become a "musician", his playing is erm.....pretty basic.

There's not much in our beloved bassland that pokes me in the eye but the following ..well, does.

What irritates me more than nails on a blackboard is this latest craze of ever so gently playing fingerstyle using the thumb.....in a picking mode. Aaagh!  why do u guys do it as it seems to me to make the bass tone soft, indistinct and mushy, ...how is that good. Even UB players strive for clarity. Strange indeed.

Ah..that's better. Hat, coat, door.

.

Your all missing the point.

When he hit back in 70's it was like hearing something from Mars. Like it or not he was then totally unique, mind blowing and individual..trouble is now there's a whole room full of players who basically copied him..that's why unless you were there  he now seems slightly meh...if still not brilliant.

17 hours ago, discreet said:

I've had that, too. My conclusion is that the smaller the kit, the better they play.

In fact I think there is something strangely satisfying about a drummer sitting there with a very sparse kit...he's got nowhere to hide and with a simple set up they have to deliver.

Having said that I once played with a guy who had a tidy small kit but who played 4 on the floor to every song on the list....excruciating!

He didn't get the gig...

11 hours ago, lowdown said:

Like Andy, I ended up doing shows for a living. We were both in the same circles really.

My wife was dancing on a summer show at (Butlins) Skegness in 1988 (Andy was in the pit band),

If I remember correctly, Andy was working for Chris Hocking (MD) and he was not so well then.

 

 

 

Thanks for that..nice but sad trip down memory lane..anyway reckon we ought to get back to the thread...ah yes now drummers....

3 hours ago, lowdown said:

I knew Andy. Yes, he was a lovely musician. (my wife just pointed out that he came to our wedding).

That was very sad indeed. 

Sorry for the derail but amazing!..small world eh.....I think he was pretty new to it all when I did a couple of summer seasons with him back in 83 but he was def destined for greater things. And yourself? 

12 minutes ago, Tonteee said:

Much life other life partnerships, I think there's probably more than one shoe that fits.

The first drummer I really connected with in that way sadly passed away far far too soon.

To absent friends.

Similiar thing happened to me too 38 yrs ago. Guys name was Andy Bond he was younger than the rest of us and died a few years later....amazingly crisp player..can see him now, had an effortless metronomic groove.

Happy days.

 

 

 

This.

Turns up with ...One bass drum...One snare....One h-ihat.....One floor Tom....One overhead tom...one crash and a ride.

Anything more and I walk. I've had a lifetimes fill of "drummers" who turn up with double this, extra that,  walls of rotos that they can hide behind..etc etc...

I can remember one rehearsal where 3/4 of our time was taken up with the guy setting up the biggest kit Id ever seen..none of us could beleive it.

Sfunny but I'm actually going the other way so to speak.

My dream set up right now would be to find a local jazz quintet or similiar but it ain't gonna happen so I help out now and again with a below par function band who are the most disparate group of muso's I've ever played with ranging from a drummer who plays with his index finger clamped to the top of the sticks, his timing is the worst Ive experienced in 40 + yrs through to an ex pro keyboard wizard and all levels of ability between.

Thing is none of it matters as there a brilliant bunch and a lot of fun.

1 minute ago, dood said:

I'm amazed this is a thing! ha ha ha! It's a bit like saying that an able bodied person prefers walking with their left leg rather than the right. 

My thoughts exactly. eg. depping for a functions outfit at the mo and they do Queens Crazy Little Thing etc. The Bb rundown after the bridge goes straight across the open strings, lovely and sooo efficient.

As they used say there aint no money above the fifth...