mikel

16 hours ago, leschirons said:

Now been relearning drums for about 10 weeks. Really enjoying it as I'm now confident about doing my pal's three gigs. Wouldn't surprise me if the basses ended up in the loft and I  continued with drums. I think the physical side of it is doing me a lot of good. The down side is that I'm now buying new heads, another snare drum and now looking at changing a couple of cymbals.

The instrument changes, but not the GAS. 

Cymbals? Dont get me started. An endless search for the perfect "Tish" sound. And a very expensive search.

The banjo, no contest.

I am  a drummer who plays bass. I came to bass after 30 years of drumming. It has made me a much better drummer as I now realise I was not leaving enough space for the bass. The mechanics of a good rhythm section are much more obvious to me now I do both. And I appreciate how difficult the bass is. Guitar and vocals??? Ha, easy peasy, they are the icing on the musical cake.

First ever gig with our band of mates, given a 15 minute half time slot supporting a well known local jazz funk band. In the days before affordable tuners, we spent ages getting the guitars and bass in tune before the headliners first set. Stood all the guitars up against the bass drum to keep them out of the way. Called up for our debut, drummer sits down first, whacks the BD, as you do, all the guitars crash to the floor bringing his ride cymbal with them. Audience go silent, we go white as we were nervous anyway. All guitars way out of tune, no time to re tune so our debut out of the window. Doh.

No it doesn't. All of the Focus back catalogue is in Dutch, and its great. 😀

9 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

I completely understand this. However, how does this work in the context of a Les Paul, 335 and big bodied 175, all with the same pickups, controls etc. They don't appear to sound the same but maybe there's something else at play.

Are they not hollow body instruments? That would effect the tone.

2 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

'Can you remember the first time you sang in public..?'

'Yeah - that was about two years ago in a pub...'

 

That's got to be the dictionary definition of a meteoric rise, especially when you consider she was (and is) pretty much unique.

Agreed. And If you consider she wrote Wuthering Heights and a few others off the first album when she was 17. A prodigy would be my take on Kate.

17 hours ago, stewblack said:

I loved Dire Straits. First three albums at least. But that wasn't my point.

Popular had become bland, manufactured, and safe. Oasis and the rest of their ilk brought it back. 

It goes in phases, or at least it did. I don't know what popular music sounds like any more

For me Oasis define "Bland".

7 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Well, I dislike both of them, but don't see it - there is no genius in the 3 chords and whining of oasis, simply reds songs had better instrumentation for however annoying they were. So I would say Simply Red were genius compared to oasis (which probably goes for most bands), however I would still rather not listen to them!

Quite, and If anything it was Dire Straits who got people playing guitars again. Like them or not.

On 05/05/2022 at 10:21, T-Bay said:

I loved her music but came across her briefly in real life and she was foul, proper diva.

Funny how peoples perspectives differ. Mark Radcliff interviewed her when she had been off the radar for ages. Its in his book Thank you for the Days. He said he was surprised at how ordinary she was, no airs and graces and even cooked him lunch. There was no "Get your people to arrange things with my people" type of thing. He spoke with her on the phone and arranged to meet at her house. Rang on the bell and she let him in, then apologised for only having a quiche from the freezer. Nothing was off the agenda and no publicist or management present.

Glen Cornick's solo in Bouree, by Jethro Tull. The bass in the rest of the song is not too shabby either.

When is good good enough? When you enjoy what you play and it fits the music.

Loved BC, and the Skids. Some great songwriting and inventive musicianship. For me they were the epitome of what a band should be.

Chris, by a mile. Why? Note choice, note placement, musicality, and making the bass the standout instrument in a ludicrously talented band.

Massively underated band. Became famous after they broke up really. Saw them in South Shields about 15 years ago and they were superb. As long as that voice and those keyboards are original all is well.

Played in both, and nothing beats the rush of an audience getting off on music you and your mates have written, rehearsed and arranged. Its special.

On 15/03/2022 at 11:53, Woodinblack said:

 

Like frothing because other people express an opinion?

 

Just to be clear, if it happened, which it won't, it would affect everyone who used the marketplace in some way so everyones opinions would be valid.

Errr no it wouldn't, quite the opposite. Judging from the posts so far most people have no time for short scale so the market place would be freed up of those adds.

21 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

"Frothing"? Charming. Unless in this context it means "people not saying what I want to hear".

No, it means people getting hot under the collar about something trivial that will have no adverse impact on them anyway.

I think its a great idea. Trying to find info or sales concerning short scale is a chore. If I want info on short scale I have to use the dedicated site but obviously that is only one source. I only play short scale so obviously I am biased. Seems like a lot of frothing about this topic, surely if you aren't interested in short scale it wont impact you one bit.

18 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

 

That really is uncanny. I did indeed present her with the dustpan and brush from the boot of my car (kept for sweeping out the detritus from the dog when Ive been shooting) and she used it to sweep up the bits that had broken off her MX5..

 

I didn't gift wrap it. While I am a fan of preparedness, I never foresaw the need to carry wrapping paper, tape and scissors just to satisfy you.

 

You can feign as much indignation as you like. It has actually happened, and to the one female member of my band.  When the topic comes up it's usually her the first to take the rise out of herself.  

 

 

You shoot your dog????? Then heartlessly sweep the bits up? I am contacting the RSPCA and the Police.

On 05/03/2022 at 10:24, WAYNESWORLD said:

Before I start could I say the following is probably down to my inability to multitask. Something I have noticed over the years when listening to music and even reviewing some of my previous favourite bands is. I now appear to be picking not only the bass lines to hum  to but dissecting the whole composition and doing the same at the detriment of the lyrics. On reflection I realised that this is something I have always done and only really learnt backing harmony lyrics as required. Occasionally the main lyrics stick but for me become secondary.It’s like everything is musical but the lyrical content washes over me,even when I make an effort to listen to them . When I was very young and was learning to playI worked in a record shop and used to be able to help parents that we’re trying to buy records for there kids based on a single line of the lyric scribbled on a bit of paper but didn’t know what the record was called. That ability to put the vocal first diminished as I concentrated more on learning to play.Anyone else have this problem. Apologies to all the great lyricist’s out there.Please be gentle concerning my inadequacies.

Always done it. Close to the Edge, by Yes, is probably my all time favourite album. I can mentally isolate every instrument, and vocal, on the album. I can chose to listen to the sound as a whole, or an individual instrument. I love it. I also play drums in an originals band. I find that knowing the lyrics by heart, and the chord sequences, enhances my enjoyment of playing and also means I always know exactly where I am in the song.

Its one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. You dont have to be a musical genius, but playing music with other musicians, in a band, and making it work on stage, feeling the band lock into a groove. Its mesmerising, like magic.

Its got 4 strings and its lower in pitch than the other stringed instruments.

Its simple really, and no need to go in circles. Do you like the music the band plays, and, do you get on with the other members? If the answer to one of those is no, then leave. Life is too short.

3 hours ago, Storky said:

I play upright bass in an acoustic band. It was formed by the guitarist and I was 2nd one in. Guitarist is very limited so I recruited fiddle player to add some lead. We also have drums/percussion. Female vocals have recently changed; guitarist chose her without consultation with rest of band and in my opinion she is also limited. Fiddle player loves it and is getting loads of gigs, guitarist loves that fiddle has improved the sound and is getting gigs. They are now getting gigs when I’m not available (I’ve missed last three) and it seems they are quite happy to go ahead without me. Guitarist has admitted she can’t hear the bass anyway, so I don’t think I’m much valued. So question is should I stay, or should I go? Waste of time, or worth sticking with it?

If you were not available for said gigs its hardly their fault. Acoustic bands seem to get away with almost anyone missing, except vocals. If you enjoy the music then stay, if you don't enjoy the music, leave. It's all about the music for me, as long as the other band mates are not complete idiots.