zbd1960

I've not yet played with the type of bands being discussed here. All my experience is very different with various choirs, orchestras, wind bands.... The advantage of those is that rehearsals are usually a fixed evening each week, usually for about 2 hours (one did rehearse Sunday afternoons) and gigs (concerts) are known months - as much as 2 years - ahead. Typical pattern is 8 - 10 rehearsals, then a concert. Repeat. I worked in IT and I did have a period of being on-call, but that was only for a few years.

I've had something like it this week with photography chemistry. I wanted to try a particular developer. Where I buy most of my darkroom stuff was showing it as 'out of stock'. I could have ordered through Amazon, but they're very expensive for this stuff. I chose a well-known photography shop, but not one of the box box shifters. It was 'in stock' on their system, so I ordered it on 11th April... I e-mailed last week chasing where it was, no reply. Tried to ring them Saturday - 'mail order' not staffed at weekends... Rang Monday. It's out-of-stock he said. I said your web site said it was 'in stock'. Oh, it might have been when you ordered it, but by time of order fulfilment, it may have been out-of-stock... No, that means it was out-of-stock, or, you don't update your stock levels as you sell through the day... Tying online and shop orders to stock levels on the web site is basic e-commerce these days. What I was told is either incompetence or lies. No known date for stock, so I've gone with an alternative. A complaint will be winging its way in due course as I won't accept this rubbish anymore. Companies need telling and customers should vote with feet and wallets and take business elsewhere.

One of the problems with bass is the wavelength of the notes. The A on the 2nd fret of the G string is 110Hz, so wavelength of around 3m and the open A string around 6m. That's going to be a problem in most pub sized venues

Which pub? Nantwich isn't far away from here

I rather suspect that this is a variation on the 'wolf note' issue that acoustic instruments like violins and cellos can suffer from. Essentially it will be a resonance issue with (presumably) the note/fret being at some sort of node. This is the inverse of the issue with acoustic instruments. With cellos the wolf note is created by the resonance and you have to find a way of damping it, or moving it to somewhere where it won't be heard. I'm lucky in that my cello doesn't have an obvious wolf, but I know some people have big challenges with it. With acoustic instruments, you need to suppress the resonance or alter its pitch so that it falls in between notes. There are various 'wolf suppressors' you can get... The bass issue is obviously the other way round in that you have some sort of node/dead spot. I don't know enough to know how to change that - or if it's even possible. I don't know if strings of a different mass or tension might 'move' the dead spots? I would guess the issue relates more to the body and neck.

1960s - Bernard Cribbins and a hole in the ground of some sort?

I think it was a smidge less than 10 months for my ACG 4/32 Krell. I'm very pleased with mine. Looking forward to seeing yours when delivered.

Cafesaxophone does have sales space in the section called 'yardsale'. It's luck of the draw with regards to how quickly or slowly things shift.

I'm primarily a classical player - I play cello in various orchestras. I also play sax and played tenor in a big symphonic wind band of 90 players, although at the moment only playing in an octet. I'm also very experienced as a choral singer singing baritone (1st bass) line. I'm relatively new to bass. Currently I only play bass in a weekly session with the local Rock School. I find it a very alien world as we get given lyric sheets with chords on. It confuses the hell out of me as there just isn't enough information on there for me! I didn't start cello until I was in my early 50s - just under 11 years ago now. For cello you have to be able to read bass, tenor, and treble clefs as your music can jump around all three. The bass teacher I have is a young guy, but he's a conservatoire graduate (Leeds I think). He teaches bass, guitar, keys, and drums. He finds me 'unusual' because he doesn't have many students that are fluent readers and who understand theory to a decent level. He's on a paternity break for a couple of months and the guitar teacher has been running his sessions. They're a similar age. He regards reading notation as some sort of black magic reserved for the illuminati... I don't find memorising or playing by ear easy, but I am decent at sight-reading - you have to be playing in orchestras and ensembles. The important thing with sight-reading is less about playing the right notes (which helps) but being in the right place and playing the correct rhythm, whic is much more important. Genre is obviously a big differentiator. Playing cello in symphonic work I need to be on the right notes playing what's written, ditto playing baritone sax in a big band, or singing a choral work by Bach. That's different to playing in a rock or covers band.

I have just about zero experience of the types of bands and playing being talked about here. I have a lot of experience of performing in concerts, either as a singer in a choir, or as a instrumentalist on cello or sax in various sizes of orchestra/band/ensemble. The advantage of that is that such groups have a music director whose job it is to sort out and plan repertoire and to run the rehearsals and ultimately conduct the concert. The downside of that unless you're part of the administration and involved in the decision making is that you get no say in what is to be performed. It's a very different world, since you typically have 8 or 10 rehearsals on a programme and then one concert, and then you start all over again. You could go ten years and not encounter the work again.

Agreed. Beethoven made his reputation first as a pianist, composition starting with piano followed after.

Didn't the 'precision' bit arise from the fact that it was fretted, unlike a double bass, notwithstanding other design elements?

It's the same issue with hi-fi. If you're an aficionado, you know what you're listening for. If you're not a specialist, you don't know what to listen for. I have some serious hi-fi kit. The kind of things which distinguish it from a less able sound system are often quite subtle, but it is things like properly resolving the bass so that it has pitch. When a sound engineer friend first heard my hi-fi system his response was 'wow, that's neutral - you've got good ears'. I've more experience of hi-fi than basses, but I can tell they vary a lot. What I have trouble with is people posting comparisons on Youtube etc. First of all, the sound is compressed. Second if you're listening on a phone/tablet/PC the sound is seriously compromised. And even if you push it through a decent sound system, you've got he limitations of Bluetooth etc to deal with (and YT is still compressed). In theory, higher price should mean a better spec, better components, better build quality etc. In general, that's true but we can though all quote examples where a less expensive supplier hits the right mix and produced a really good piece of kit that is not premium priced. We can also think of big 'name' makers of stuff who trade on their name and don't deliver the goods.

Hi, welcome. I'd recommend finding a teacher to get you started to help avoid acquiring bad habits.... 🙂 (I play cello and you can cause yourself some longterm issues if you're not careful).

Zombie thread I know... The sax equivalent of here is Cafesaxophone.com

I agree. I bought a weekend ticket, obviously not going today. I ended up on a very crowded train from Crewe to Liverpool (it was a London train with a lot of people on it for football). I wore a mask and very few others did. I will be very cross if I've picked up you-know-what as a result as I'm going away tomorrow.

... we just need your bank account details....

There's another thread appeared... But I'll comment here as well. My guess is that exhibitors, especially smaller ones like makers, are going to be very wary of splashing too much cash on high fees to rent a space on a speculative couple of days. The organisers have some questions to answer since it looks likely that they have over-priced it to exhibitors who are recovering from two years of very difficult trading circumstances. The general level of communication, including social media updates, has been very poor. They're going to have to give this a big re-think if they want to succeed.

A lot of people, including me, have reported in the original 2020 thread. I went - I had a weekend ticket. When I arrived and had to queue to get in, I thought it would be busy. Turned out that the drum show WAS busy... Bass show was in a separate building, but the number of exhibitors was very disappointing. I've not been to one before, so I have nothing to compare it to other than our own bass bashes... But speaking to an exhibitor he said it was very small. I was expecting makers to be there and more bits and pieces / accessories types, but very little. I suspect if they are unsure about turnout they're going to be reluctant to pay the hire costs for a stall, which are probably £££. I'd booked for Jeff Berlin as well - I didn't even get the tee shirt offer... which I would have refused anyway. Shame as a good venue. Don't know what went wrong, but something did. I suspect they overpriced it to vendors who've been through very difficult times.

OK got home about an hour ago. Nice view out of the windows in the Arena... Just not a lot going on from a bass perspective. I don't have a previous show to compare it to, but exhibitors indicated it was much smaller than usual.

First time I’ve been to Liverpool Arena. It’s a nice venue with plenty of space and nice location by the river. Five minute walk from Liverpool One.

Very small . One trader I spoke to says it’s half the size it should be. The good news is drums are a long way away

I was a barman in late 70s early 80s. At the start of that, bitter was 23p a pint, lager and Guinness were 25p. Your baby/split drinks (Britvics, tonics etc) were 13p...

The only thing I can comment on is my experience with choirs/orchestras using school halls / civic centres and local authorities tend to insist that you carry PLI

Hmm I've just noticed that Jeff Berlin isn't there and I have a ticket for that... I booked the tickets last October.