Stub Mandrel

Well given the number of fires caused by inadequate speaker connections I'm not surprised action had to be taken...

Today, the big room at the Earl Haig. Got a last minute call saying venue PA is out, can we bring our own. Caught alex on phone just as he was leaving, so sorted. But meant late set up. Opened to punters at 5, very empty big hall with maybe a dozen or so as we got close to soundchecking. A few verses of Johnny B. Goode with ten minutes to go and more like 20-25 people. Got a cheer, but then nervous discussion about rain, bank holidays and record numbers going away for the weekend. It's a pay to enter gig and we were worried we mighg play to a couple of dozen people. We need not have worried, it didn't get packed but we had as many people in as I've seen for one of these Sunday gigs. First song was ok, second was Oh Pretty Woman and my sound was glorious, huge throaty growl. Went down a treat. All three of us played the best we ever have, Alex's vocals have really strengthened and his guitar work was on fire. We had a great time and really put on a show. Tried to finish on time but no option but to do two encores. Afterwards great feedback, happy punters, happy venue and very happy band. That was definitely the best gig I've played ever, just felt spot on. Downhill all the way now! 🤣

So did my two Dep gigs with Up To Eleven. A rocky covers band doing unashamed crowd pleasers. First was a local fete second a rugby club so very different crowds! Despite most people just carrying on doing bouncy castle, space hoppers cake eating etc. We had a good receptive audience for the fete if far away! Not helped by the damp but the rain held off. The club crowd ebbed and flowed, times were 8 to 10 which was unusual! Lots of very rowdy dancing and singing and it really was good fun. I did get lost when they did a medley of play that funky music and superstition and changed songs a verse early...

My first two deps 4pm and 8pm today! No safety net!

I fitted a blackout blind instead of curtains. But light still gets in around the edges.

After >9 hours of rehearsals in four days (plus practice at home) Ibuprofen is your friend...

It really works on bare wood. The hot water softens the fibres, then as it becomes steam and expands it forces the fibres to push out. If done right they keep their shape. I was surprised how well it worked.

Fair enough, but I'm not crazy! Someone posted notation for Dancing Queen on Facebook yesterday... with a note to play it a semitone flat!

My better half met me because she came to one of our gigs to see if we were worth booking, so she understands! 🙂 She's coming to all three of my gigs at the weekend as she's never seen the dep band and the Sunday gig is at our favourite venue... but we go to see a band she book on Friday and Son of Man, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, and Hawkwind on Monday. What a weekend!

Not trying to be dense, but why not just teanscribe in C and add a note to play half a tone up?

Aha! I think I have a solution. My 'default' view is content I have posted in. It seems I can instead use 'content I follow', which I can, hopefully, manage by unfollowing threads. I just have to convince Firefox to offer it to me as default.

My first dep gig, to be followed by the second a few hours later!

Half way through four rehearsals in as many days with three different bands. At the weekend looking at two gigs with one band on Saturday so very glad the gig with another on Sunday is 6-8pm!

Sorry! Obviously e sounds fine over Cmaj.

Usually true as c-f is up a fourth. The simple rule is up a fifth, down a fourth. The f will sound dissonant against the e in Cmaj but may be OK against the Eb in Cm. YMMV.* *Your music may vary.

That's an example of creating a tension then resolving it, usually described as 'leading into' a chord. The circle of fifths theory tells us nothing about this.

If root-fifth is the next step from just hitting the root, root-fifth, flat-seventh, octave is the next note group that works over MOST chords including both major and minor. If I have to improvise for an unfamiliar song, it's what I start using until I have sussed the key/mode.

But if you are only doing it to learn a song, what benefit do you get from transposing the notation for an instrument like a bass that is essentially 'key blind'? (Unless the piece requires open strings in which case detune and play transposed anyway).

But that only stops notifications it doesn't affect 'content I posted in' (normally).

I have a 1980s Hohner B2. Early on it was converted to left hand drive and back again. Holes filled. Then resprayed. Overpainted, stickered, decorated. Then vinyl wrapped. I stripped it. Filled it. Sanded it. Primed it. For weeks. Colour sprayed it. Left for weeks to cure awaiting a vinyl logo and final lacquer. Logo wrong size. Couple of weeks later... fell off the hanger and got scratched chipped and dinged... Refilled, sanded, primed. Fell down again less damage. Filled... I am on the point of giving up on a good finish and either spraying it with textured stone paint or airbrushing it with German WW2 tank camouflage and weathering it...

First... the DoI has returned to my feed. Second, there are some threads you post in and regret ever having done so. The word association thread being my own bête noir. Rather like a cyclist who fixates on an obstacle and becomes powerless to avoid it and the resultant catastrophe, I'm afraid the advice to 'simply ignore the thread' ignores certain universal human failings. After all, curiosity killed the cat.

In that circumstance, I would just move everything up a fret. That's when having a mental picture of how to play various intervals can be more useful than 'knowing the fretboard'.

My hpf is 24dB/octave -3dB at 30Hz. I hear what people say about the value of getting the low harmonics, but I use a cab with a -3dB point at 35Hz and di into a PA with subs that go down to 32. I sometimes play 5 string or drop D so having a setup that can handle it, why not use it? To me the value of an hpf is losing handling noise and rumble not gaining headroom I don't need by losing the fundamental.

Played Superstition the other week and the keyboard generously let me do all the funkhy bits!