lozkerr

This, absolutely this. If I'm awake, I think I'm slacking if I'm not practising. Logic tells me that the day job and flat renovation should take precedence, but... bass!

My turn... best thing I've bought is my Fender Jazz V American Deluxe, closely followed by my Eden Metro. Worst... probably my Steinberger Spirit. It's a nice little bass, but the playing position is very different to the Fender. The original plan was to take it with me when I was on my travels and keep the practice speed up, but the different playing positions have meant that I just do finger exercises and work on new stuff on it, and polish it up on the Fender when I get home.

I thought that might be the case, sadly. Might not be a problem for a band, but drama's a different matter. I'm almost tempted to get back into it - without want to sound too much bigly, I was pretty good at it back in the day. Aye, balancing 750s was a bit of a black art. Our studio only had a single-phase supply though, so at a thousand watts a pop, they seriously ate into the juice available for general cover. I used to use them for things that needed stabbing beams of light - a cluster of them for sunbeams in an expressionist show, sometimes a couple to suggest the direction of the sun along with a general cover, a saltire using two at an angle with a blue wash and a fog machine, wartime searchlights and so on. Used sparingly, they were tremendously effective. Hm, my credit card's itching... just popping over to fleabay... X-fade --> GC/5

Red Dog seems to have gone phut. I noticed the Grassmarket branch was closed today, and their website says they're in administration. dub-a-dum-dum-dum... another one bites the dust ☹️

This trip down memory lane's made me wish I'd kept my lighting rig, but my partner - now my ex - insisted I got rid of it. Those were exactly the lanterns I had - four Patt 23, eight Patt 123, a Patt 60, eight PAR 56s and a couple of Sils. I had a pair of colour wheels for the Patt 23s, plus an effects unit and three telescopic stands with scaff bars. I had my own desk - after being given some horrendous rubbish by hire companies, I bought a Zero 88 24-way two-preset manual desk and a Betapack with a ten-metre length of Socapex. I'd hire more dimmers when I needed them, but that desk was mine and woe betide anyone laying a finger on it. I never got on with computerised desks - I was taught to take cues to match the performance and occasionally had to alter things on the fly. I had GAS (or maybe that should be LAS) too - I was always on the lookout for half a dozen Patt 750 beamlights. Lovely lanterns - they had far more punch than a PAR can, although they did need constant cleaning to keep the beam well-defined. I'll have to defer to your experience with LED lights, but I can well believe it. I've noticed lighting seems to be more garish these days. I'd be interested to know how well they fade, if at all - once the voltage across the pn junction of an LED drops below the threshold, out goes the light. How does it work - are the LEDs turned off incrementally, or can they actually fade properly? Oh, and according to the Lee swatch book I've kept, surprise pink is 194. LQ2: DBO

I can recommend two good books on the subject, if anyone's interested: Francis Reid - The Stage Lighting Handbook Robert Pilbrow - Stage Lighting If time and money are tight, I'd recommend starting with Reid's book. Both concentrate on theatre rather than bands, but the principles are exactly the same. My editions pre-date the LED and cheap demux era, but the methods of painting with light haven't altered.

117 steel and 103 straw were the colours I used to use for a general cover, to the extent that I'd keep a roll of each in my gig bag, along with electrician's tools, adjustable spanners, gaffer tape, baling wire and fuses, plus 63- and 32 amp sockets with bare tails attached. When you rock up to a village hall and find there's no lighting, the cooker supply is your friend 🙂

They do, but by proxy. Consultants convince permie manglement to launch change initiatives, which by pure coincidence just need the consultants' consultancies to be directly involved. Pure coincidence, natch.

Sieg Heil! That thoroughly un-PC expression was how I was taught to do stage lighting back in the day. Now, this was for theatre rather than music, but I'm getting the impression from the OP that an expressively-lit face is crucial. So this is how it's done. Stand on the stage in the position you want lit. Make a Nazi salute and then turn your arm 45 degrees to the side. You are now pointing at the centre of the light that needs to illuminate the right side of your face. Repeat this gesture with your left hand. You are now pointing at the centre of the light that needs to illuminate the left side of your face. Rinse and repeat for every musician that needs to stand on the front row. That will give you the number of lanterns that you need mounted in front of you. However, there is some flexibility in the 45 degree rule. You can go from 30 degrees to 60 degrees without affecting the mood, especially in a small venue. @Dad3353, you're bang on about warm and cool. I used to use steel for cool and straw for warm, which gives a nice neutral general cover when both sides are up full. There's no rule about which tone should come from stage left or stage right - rig it as you feel it. It's not a bad idea to watch which way the sun goes down and set warm towards the sunset. But just keep it consistent. Then add washes as the show demands, and mix it as you feel it.

Oh boy. This, absolutely this. But when you crack that first phrase and suddenly it all drops into place, even if what you're playing doesn't exactly match the recording you''re trying to mimic - hell, you feel on top of the world. Zero to hero in an instant. I've been working on some Passions basslines recently. Apart from I'm In Love With A German Film Star, which everybody and their dog knows and it's dead easy, they're about as common as rocking horse sh|t, so I've had to to spend ages recording little snippets and sussing out the basslines by ear. But that feeling when I've nailed just one phrase and the whole song's opened up as a result - well, there's nothing to beat it. I have to keep reminding myself that Claire Bidwell wrote the basslines wile she was working with the band forty years ago and she never published them, so I'm having to put in more graft than she did. I think impostor syndrome's a good thing, even though it plays hell with your psyche - it's the direct opposite of complacency, which is fatal for a musician. There's aye someone better than yersel!

Well, I've finally had a chance tonight to sit down and annoy the neighbours while I tried it out. I'm well impressed. My Metro is still in store, so I had to use my little Eden EC8 solid state practice amp. But the richer tone was really noticeable straight away. It's very responsive but I found I needed to fiddle with the mix and crossover controls quite a bit to avoid fuzziness. But I did manage to get a lovely warm and rich sound out of it. Having said that, the overdriven sound is fantastic, so if that's your thing, just plug and play. I suspect I'll need to find the sweet spot when I hook it up to the Metro, and maybe mark the settings with a spot of paint. Then I just need to remember to turn right for the fuzz and left to dial it back. But this pedal definitely delivers the goods. whaz hot: solidly built, responsive controls, LED to show if it's on or off, gorgeous tone, does what it says on the tin whaz not: the PSU is (a) 15 volts and (b) really flimsy. It flexed so much that I thought I'd broken it when I first plugged it in. That's a drawback in a pedal costing north of 100 quid. overall: well chuffed. This beastie's a keeper - I'll just have to put up with two PSUs on my pedal board.

Same amp as I've got! I l love my Metro - I just wish it didn't weigh so much. But the tone's gorgeous. I'm hoping the Glowplug will give it just that little extra. All the reviews I've read have been positive, with the only gripe being the 15V PSU, so I'm hoping it'll be a worthwhile investment.

And two years on, what's the verdict? I've just bought one and I'm looking forward to trying it out!

For some reason, this sprang immediately to mind...

Father, forgive me for I have sinned. I didst count the strings to four and all was good. And then I didst count yet another string. Five was the number of strings and the number of the strings was five. And yea, did I allow myself to yet pluck the string and the sound was good. I turned aside from the path of righteousness and found within myself that I did yet make music that was pleasing to the Lord God of Bass with sinful lack of effort, and the music didst exceed that which I could yet play when the number of strings was but four. And Lo! The band of disciples - for always shalt the other players of strings follow the Lord God of Bass - did say that it was good and did promise to wreak a plague of locusts upon my soul should I worship at the Temple with but four strings. They spake in tongues and didst proclaim 'thou now hast a decent instrument and we do dig thy grooves, man'.

Lo, verily I crave that thou dost save me a seat; for I too have been cast down from the path of righteousness by the temptation of BEADG.

Thanks Dad! I really appreciate that. The lines still need a fair bit of work - some of it feels cringey and it doesn't flow as well as I'd like - but I think the overall feeling is about there. There is some personal stuff in it - the last few years haven't been the easiest for me - but it's not relating a specific experience. I just let my imagination wander about a bit. The sound I have in my head is something like this: Tanita Tikaram - Little Sister Leaving Town and Tanita Tikaram - Preyed Upon Not an exact copy, but that sort of moody, sad and empty feeling. I think the drums are a tad too intrusive on Preyed Upon, but that's likely just me. Plenty of slides on the bass and yes, a distant sustained guitar would work well. I'll have to persuade my other half to dust off her Gibson 🙂 I think the trick will be to see what sort of bassline seems to work and build it from there. Melodies aren't my strong point though, so it might be a bit hit and miss. And 100% agreed - no bagpipes! The chap on Castlehill was squawking away when I was jotting some of that down earlier and it was really jarring.

I've had another play with it, and it's coming together slowly. The idea is the narrator is reliving his last day with his true love. It's still more doggerel than lyricism, but this is where I've got to: I'm sending you a letter saying where we went today. The park, the zoo, on the terrace on a seat for two. A glass of wine, a bite to eat, we had so much to say About our lives together, where we'd go and what we'd do We arrived here bleary-eyed on the early morning train The one on which, that fateful day, that she first caught my eye The sunrise lit the fleecy clouds with a soft pink primrose stain And we caught our breath in wonder at the castle in the sky We ran through the dewy gardens, gazed at the flowered clock Climbed the sandstone rocket and looked out across the bay Her hair fluttered in the breeze as she said I was her rock We would face the world together, starting right now here today (split up and meet later - both want to do different things) (accident) (funeral) (leaving - will return to relive perfect day) As I walked with my head down I swore I would return So I'm sending you this letter saying what we did today The sights, the sounds, the smells, I could go on and one But when the waiter asked me, I had nothing real to say She was only there in memory, reality had gone Once I've put something together for the verses described in brackets, I'll see if I can tidy it up a bit. It takes place in and around Princes Street Gardens - the 'castle in the sky' is Edinburgh Castle, the 'flowered clock' is the floral clock and the 'sandstone rocket' is the Scott Monument. Bit too purple at the moment, but I think it's heading in the right direction.

I like this - I think I'll have a play with it and see where it goes. I've thought of an ending, though. It needs work, but the basic shape's about there: So I'm sending you this letter saying what we did today The sights, the sounds, the smells, I could go on and on But when the waiter asked me, I had nothing real to say For she was only there in memory, reality's long gone

Heh, Country's easy. Here's a starter kit: DO-IT-YOURSELF COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG KIT I met her [1] [2]. I can still recall [3] she wore. 1. 2. 3. on the highway in September that purple dress in Sheboygan at McDonald's that little hat outside Fresno ridin' shotgun that burlap bra at a truck stop wrestlin' gators those training pants on probation all hunched over the stolen goods in a jail cell poppin' uppers that plastic nose in a nightmare sort of pregnant the Stassin pin incognito with joggers the neon sign in the Stone Age stoned on oatmeal that creepy smile in a treehouse with Merv Griffin the hearing aid in a gay bar dead all over the boxer shorts She was [4] [5]. 4. 5 sobbin' at the toll booth in the twilight drinkin' Dr. Pepper but I loved her weighted down with Twinkies by the off-ramp breakin' out with acne near Poughkeepsie crawlin' through the prairie with her cobra smellin' kind of funny when she shot me crashin' through the guardrail on her elbows chewin' on a hangnail with Led-Zeppelin talkin' in Swahili with Miss Piggy drownin' in the quicksand with a wetback slurpin' up linguini in her muu-muu and I knew [6]; [7] I'd [8] forever; 6. 7. 8. no guy would ever love her more I promised her stay with her that she would be an easy score I knew deep down warp her mind she'd bought her dentures in a store She asked me if swear off booze that she would be a crashing bore I told her shrink change my sex I'd never rate her more than "4" The judge declared punch her out they'd hate her guts in Baltimore My Pooh Bear said live off her it was a raven, nothing more I shrieked in pain have my rash we really lost the last World War The painters knew stay a dwarf I'd have to scrape her off the floor A Klingon said hate her dog what strong deodorants were for My hamster thought pick my nose that she was rotten to the core The blood test showed play "Go Fish" that I would upchuck on the floor Her rabbi said salivate She said to me [9]; But who'd have thought she'd [10] [11]; 9. 10. 11. our love would never die run off with my best friend there was no other guy wind up in my Edsel man wasn't meant to fly boogie on a surfboard that Nixon didn't lie yodel on "The Gong Show" her basset hound was shy sky dive with her dentist that Rolaids made her high turn green on her "WorkMate" she'd have a swiss on rye freak out with a robot she loved my one blue eye blast off with no clothes on her brother's name was Hy make it at her health club she liked "Spy vs. Spy" black out in a Maytag that birthdays made her cry bobsled with her guru she couldn't stand my tie grovel while in labour [12] goodbye. 12. You'd think at least that she'd have said I never had the chance to say She told her fat friend Grace to say I now can kiss my credit cards I guess I was too smashed to say I watched her melt away and sobbed She fell beneath the wheels and cried She sent a hired thug to say She freaked out on the lawn and screamed I pushed her off the bridge and waved But that's the way that pygmies say She sealed me in the vault and smirked

Or do some people watching: I stand alone on a silent street in a town so far away While they picture me as I post a letter saying where I went today Did this, did that, got drunk, bought tartan tat As the rows of blank-faced windows glared and told me to go away ... etc 🙂

Sound advice. Also, try free writing - you just write and write. Doesn't have to rhyme, look like lyrics or even make sense. It can be doggerel, obscenities, anything you like, but if you try to keep a theme or idea in your head while you're doing it, things can pop out of nowhere. It might be something alliterative or onomatopoeic or a play on words - anything. But even a short sentence can be enough to get you going. I'm working on a TV series at the moment, and free writing is a godsend when I hit a wall. I just put my characters into mundane situations and type away. Most of it goes into the bit bucket, but I've come up with some gems that I'm very pleased with. You do have to be ruthless and self-critical to a fault, though. It's quite normal to write ten thousand words and chuck almost everything away; and what's left may need a lot of changes before it works. But when it does work, it's immensely rewarding.

Same here. When I first learned it, I did try fretting the E on the B string but my fingers got tangled up, just like they normally do 🙂 I mute the open string with my thumb, which seems to work OK.

Aye, I picked up on that too. I'm no Suzi Quatro, but I'm definitely a wee bit ahead of that. The first thing I thought was 'HTH do you play Living On A Prayer on a four-string without the open E?' Unless you detune, of course.