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...it had crossed my mind... 😂. Having recently replaced both my alto and tenor saxes, I need to feign restraint for a little while....

I’ve been around for a while, but dropped out due to loads of issues with trying to find a teacher etc. Experienced amateur musician playing cello in orchestras, so used to performing in groups. Also have a lot of experience as a choral singer. I also play sax in various groups. Mostly tenor can can do baritone and alto. So I’ve got no probs reading music (currently working in grade 7 theory). But playing bass I’m a novice as I’ve never played any sort of guitar. Would like play in something like a big band and jazz group. Live in north Shropshire - about 20 miles south of Chester.

I like Renaissance music, so quite partial to 4/2 and 6/2. If you want a hard time counting, I can recommend trying to sing the opening page of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, virtually every bar is different before it settles over the page into 7/4...

The wind band I play with has 4 percussionists at most gigs and rehearsals: drum kit, timps plus two to hit/smash/wallop assorted toys such as glockenspiel etc. The amount of schlepping to get stuff in and out of the venue is significant, especially if there are stairs. They've got quite a hard job, especially with arrangements that bands play as it is not the 'four square' sort of stuff. Now volume is another issue...

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1477240385' post='3160788'] Well the trombone is pitched to Bb so you're playing a Bb when the sheet music tells you it's a C. I never got why brass instruments did that, used to drive me nuts when I played trumpet. [/quote]In brass bands yes, but not in orchestras...

I'm a cellist, not a double-bassist, but I would suspect lack of rosin. Does the bow skitter over the strings? That indicates lack of consistent grip, which means either lack of rosin, or the hair is worn. You can get it if the strings get caked with rosin, which is why you need to clean the string by giving them a rub with a clean dry cloth after playing. Now if you were talking underhand baroque grip on a violone... This vid is violone played with a baroque bow: [url="https://youtu.be/CunZ_ciJ6bI"]https://youtu.be/CunZ_ciJ6bI[/url] And this one is played with an underhand bow, but nearer to Renaissance style bow: [url="https://youtu.be/hbYfSAtuR6E"]https://youtu.be/hbYfSAtuR6E[/url]

I'm not up to gigging on bass yet, but I will if the opportunity arises. I would probably go for jazz or similar as I'm not a rock/pop sort of guy. I have done loads (hundreds) of concerts/gigs with my other instruments and voice so live performance is something I'm used to.

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1476033682' post='3150656'] Music theory just baffles me after you get past the rudimentary stuff. Modes, for example, complete mystery. Keys, chord tones and some other little bits and bobs is my limit. But then I've never really been in a situation where knowing any more would have been helpful...other band members would have just looked at me blankly if I'd been asking more in depth stuff. It's a struggle to get guitarists to tell you what chord they're playing let alone anything else. I wouldn't want the gigs that require a better theory knowledge though, or the ones that require you to read, they just don't interest me. People like what I do, I get the gig. If it ain't broke... [/quote] As someone said earlier in this thread, a lot of theory is much easier if you have a keyboard to hand as it makes things much easier to 'see' as well as hear. I think modes is one of those, since if you play a scale of C, then see and hear what happens as you play a scale starting on each degree of the scale, it becomes really obvious what modes are and how they work. Agree with the comment about jazz theory 'monsters' - I tend to think it is often excessive and I'm not always sure it's that helpful

Hello Whereabouts in north Wales? I'm only a mile from the border in north Shropshire...

It's worth making some noise. My limited experience is that some attention is paid and despite sometimes justified levels of cynicism, they try to do the right thing, sometimes. I think we are seeing a problem created by the 'need' post crash to encourage local development which does seem to have given council's the idea to authorise stupid developments which previously would have been turned down flat.

I saw 'All Star Big Band' on Friday in Stockport Plaza. I think it was a scratch band for the event. Lead tenor sax was Mike Hall who is the head of jazz at RNCM and 1st alto was Rob Buckland. There was an unflappable guy (Dave Turner) on bass (both DB and electric). Extremely good

Toft's are dealers, hence the mark-ups, but they are open to haggling. I got my first cello from them. There's the big workshop at the back with I think three luthiers. A friend bought a nice violin there and with haggling got the price down nearly 30%. They have separate 'rooms' for cellos, violins, basses...

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1475994790' post='3150232'] Sounds like The Film Orchestra with Ed Malpas! Must admit I find it bizarre that any number of people will bang on about off axis response of cabs, how to link 3 drive pedals together or why they need a bass that's got a neck 1/16th of an inch thinner than another- but are quite happy not to be bothered how their music works! [/quote]Indeed it was - I've done several gigs with them on cello. I play in one of the smaller groups on tenor sax as well. I'd do more with them, but I'm the wrong end of Shropshire for it to be easy

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1475958596' post='3150143'] Exactly, it all opens doors for you. I came to bass playing via playing violin at school, then classical guitar. I had weekly lessons for both instruments, learning to read etc. When it came to playing bass, I expected to be given charts to read from, it never occurred to me that you could play any other way. [/quote]I know

I also play cello and tenor sax. The music world isn't very large and I've had a few calls over the last couple of years to dep in various concerts for several orchestras (I should be doing one tonight in Kidderminster, but I decided I needed a rest). Now, I don't want to imply I'm a genius, I'm not - I'm around grade 6 or 7 on cello, but my sight-reading is pretty good (because I'm an experienced choral singer and used to reading lots of stuff). I've done a lot of theory (because I like doing it). The end result is I can go to one of these gigs and do a decent job - I'm not being held back by my reading and the theory means I'm not thrown by weird things happening (e.g. odd time signatures or performance direction e.g. bowing spiccato or col legno as happened with a piece of Piazolla recently ([url="https://youtu.be/dMXoyJ8P1oE"]Tangazo[/url])). But, that's me.