tinyd

Lazarus - Yep, it's hard alright, plus you're "fighting the instrument" a lot at first as well. I can try and put what I described above into notation if that helps. I think I have some software somewhere...

I think that Folsom Prison Blues is pretty straightforward as you can play the roots using just open strings plus the fifth on the "second fret" of the string above e.g. open A string with the E on the D string. For Shake, Rattle and Roll you're going to need to highlight the root, third, fifth and maybe the seventh of each chord. There are lots of ways of doing this. Probably the easiest in terms of shifting etc is something like this (all notes are crotchets). C7 chord C (on A string), E (on D string), open G, A (on G string), Bb (on G string) and then back down again (that gives you 2 bars) F7 chord F (on E string), open A, C (on A string), open D, Eb (on D string) and back down again. G7 chord Same fingering as C7 chord, but a string lower (i.e. start on G on E string). If you want to simplify even more, you can just take the first half of each pattern above and change direction at that point (so for C7, you play C, E, G, E for each bar). Hope this helps - depending how you get on you can then embellish the above (or ignore it)

One thing to bear in mind is that the guitars / keys could be more bassy at higher volumes so you might need them to adjust their EQ a bit to give you more room at the bottom end. A nice 'warm' guitar sound at lower volumes can sometimes end up contributing to that nasty low-end mush in a gig setting (see the million-and-one threads about general volume for more details)...

You can definitely learn it but as you say, you need to immerse yourself in it. I learned to play a bit of Latin percussion before I even tried playing bass to Latin tunes and it made a big difference. The Salsa Guidebook by Rebecca Mauleon is a great read and it covers all the various styles and instruments.

I get GAS as much as anyone, but I've managed to transfer it to buying music books. So that way, I still get to buy something under the illusion that it's going to make me a better player but for a fraction of the cost.

I have a wood bow from Yitamusic (eBay seller) - http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Double-Basses/16222/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&_ssn=yitamusic I haven't used it enough to know how good it is but my bass teacher reckons that they're good value for money and quite a few other people online have recommended them.

I suppose another way to think about it is that the 1 is an important reference point in funk and is often implied even if it isn't actually played. A bit like the 2 and 4 in R&B and jazz, or the clave in a lot of Latin music. I guess much of what constitutes 'feel' in different genres is being comfortable with where these beats are, even if you don't actually play them all the time.

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1484074320' post='3212498'] I like his playing with the second miles quintet... but Maiden Voyage and Empyrean (sp?) Isles are great too/ [/quote] +1. That Hancock / Carter / Williams rhythm section were amazing.

On a somewhat-related note, Brad Mehldau does a great (jazz) version of Wonderwall. It doesn't seem to be up on YouTube, but this article has the tune: http://www.npr.org/2008/09/24/89304018/brad-mehldau-trio-rebuilding-wonderwall

He's one of my favourites but if I had to pick one tune it would be Maiden Voyage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwmRQ0PBtXU

He's just a bloke saying some words. He doesn't like or listen to jazz so there's no need to get upset IMO. I saw Oasis at Knebworth and I thought they were terrible - sloppy and cumbersome, but some of their records are great. Maybe Noel's live jazz experience was equivalent to my live Oasis experience?

If I was forced to pick a single rule for bass players, it would have to be "be solid". If you can't do that then all of the other stuff is irrelevant. That's what I notice most when many guitarists pick up the bass - they can find their way around the fretboard, but they often don't grasp how important it is to keep things steady. Whether or not you like some of the more elaborate stuff that Victor Wooten does, above else he's a rock solid bass player when he has to be.

@Ferretwrangler - A great way to learn more about chords and harmony is to learn how to play walking bass lines. There are tons of resources out there but a great place to start is with Geoff Chalmers' [url="https://discoverdoublebass.com/"]Discover Double Bass site[/url]. He has a lot of lessons about general technique that you might not need, but he also talks about playing over chord progressions. Gypsy jazz bass playing is a little bit different to playing over bebop-era tunes, but learning to play lines over well-known jazz standards will help all aspects of your playing. There are a lot of books about walking bass. Here are some that I've found useful: [color=#111111][font=Arial, sans-serif][size=3]http://amzn.eu/9CVLpHL[/size][/font][/color] [color=#111111][font=Arial, sans-serif][size=3]http://amzn.eu/c53XqHr[/size][/font][/color] [color=#111111][font=Arial, sans-serif][size=3]http://a.co/h1qDN1G[/size][/font][/color] [color=#111111][font=Arial, sans-serif][size=3]http://amzn.eu/1Vjgadd[/size][/font][/color] [color=#111111][font=Arial, sans-serif][size=3]Have fun![/size][/font][/color]

I haven't tried it in the emulator but there is an audio buffer size setting in the "More" screen down at the bottom. Hopefully that'll help.

[quote name='Burns-bass' timestamp='1481646201' post='3194000'] I had no idea how utterly amazing that iReal thing was. I'd never seen it before, but it's absolutely brilliant. Thanks! [/quote] It's a great bit of software, probably the best tenner you'll ever spend (as a musician, anyway). Drumgenius is also really good to practice along with - it's just drums, but the loops are really high quality and a bit more realistic. I'm sure there are other apps out there that other people can recommend but these two really help me when I'm learning to play tunes and there aren't any real musicians to hand..

I find that playing through a load of tunes along with iReal Pro really helps (or along to recordings if you prefer). I try to play for at least an hour each time if possible. For me, a lot of tiredness at gigs is caused by being tense because I don't know the set well enough. It sounds like you've been working a lot on actual technique so I reckon getting "gig fit" is more a matter of learning the tunes.

One other thing that I found helpful once I had some basic walking knowledge was to play over as many different tunes as possible - moving smoothly between chords is a big part of walking so doing this over unfamiliar chord sequences really forces you to think about what works, and why.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1479302821' post='3175440'] A nice arrangement of 'So What'. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xakwGW9IBsI&feature=youtu.be[/media] [/quote] Really nice! Thanks for that

IMHO, a lot of creativity in general comes from working within constraints. For music, this is why different genres exist i.e. each genre has a certain set of assumptions about how the music sounds and is made. Of course, those assumptions change over time as the music evolves, but it takes skill (and time) for this to happen. But all of the great innovators who've really pushed music in different directions have always started with the same fundamentals as everyone else. Also, people tend to get very hung up on the melodic and harmonic side of music - rhythm and groove are at least as important. James Brown tunes tended to be relatively static in terms of chords, but what he did rhythmically was hugely influential. Similarly, a lot of pop tunes that I hear now use vocal phrasing taken from Jamaican Dancehall, even if the chord progressions are pretty standard.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1478276806' post='3168138'] I can't think of any other tunes/pieces/cues with a 6/8+3/4 combination? [/quote] Not sure if this is quite what you're looking for but some Cuban tunes do a nice job of using both time signatures at once - Afro Blue by Mongo Santamaria is a good example. The conga pattern is 6/8 (or 12/8) but the bass line is 3/4. When you play it, you feel either the "1-2-3" of the bassline or the "one-and-uh, two-and-uh" pulse of the congas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbE7jf_Hp5w

A quick update for anyone who's considering one of the J-Tone pickups - I used it at a full band rehearsal last night and really liked it. Nice even, predictable sound which is just what I'm looking for. I'd recommend them to anyone - even if you're pretty happy with your existing setup it would be a good backup and what would probably work really well would be to blend its output with another pickup or mic.

This guy is similarly interesting on some people's magic belief in expensive digital cables: http://www.mcelhearn.com/audiophile-hi-fi-journalist-defends-expensive-cables-admits-he-believes-in-magic/

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1477065207' post='3159665'] Saw Graham Day's instrumental band the Senior Service a while ago. They were excellent. It's a hard job to pull off though, The only thing I would say is the gaps between songs need something happening or they feel like very empty spaces for an audience with instrumentals only.. [/quote] Yep, good point - the changeovers between songs are important. If guitarist needs to fiddle around with instruments/pedals/his nose between songs it's a good idea to have a mic and to have a very brief chat with the audience - introduce the tunes and band etc.

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1476978900' post='3158969'] That sounds very encouraging and hope it works well live. In my experience mid-range honk from piezos is often exaggerated. It can always be taken down with some mid reduction, that's when you hear it at home. But you might find that on a gig you need that mid back again and surprisingly you don't notice the honk. Funny that. The J Tone seems like a winner, especially now the Underwood seems to be difficult if not impossible to find these days. [/quote] Yep, I think it'll be good live - it would always be nice to have a true "my bass, but louder" tone but I suspect that achieving that would take considerably more money and hassle than I'm prepared to throw at the problem. Maybe if Brad Mehldau ever goes deaf and accidentally invites me on tour with him I'll be able to justify it But for now, I think that a solid working sound is going to make me happy.

Just a quick update - my J-tone arrived today and I gave it a quick go at home. I'm really pleased with it so far. Nice even sound, loud, not too much of that nasty piezo mid-range 'bark' and not fussy about exactly how it's placed in the slot. As @Beer described above, it has a slightly artificial tone but to be honest in a gigging situation this isn't an issue. I'm really looking forward to the next rehearsal / gig so I can see how it stands up. What I really like about the even-ness of the sound is that it works well up the fingerboard and in thumb position, whereas other pickups I've tried were very patchy in this regard. For it's £30 a complete bargain to be honest. Thanks @Beer and others for the recommendation!