slaphappygarry

once up to speed its a pretty simple tune but, IMHO, it gets MURDERED live from bands that play it way too fast. Sit back on it, muse don't play it any faster live. G

[u][b]A MASSIVE SENSE OF HOMOUR![/b][/u]

Tasty Fretless tones! Nice stuff. Garage band is a wicked little prog innit!? G

Its kiwi's celiender G

sexy i likes it G

Bass. Spare strings, gaffa tape, multi tool, fuses, spare leads/strap and a 9v battery. Di in the back of my amp which can be removed from the amp signal chain if the amp fails. Other than that, i think thats all you need to keep the show going. Anything over an above that is just not your day. G

In a magazine its inevitable that there are gonna be months that just don't interest you. Sound on Sound is much like this. Sometimes its full of techniques, gear and people i wanna know about, other times its full stuff that doesn't interest me in the slightest. You gotta roll with the punches and you will never please everyone. Keep up the good work. G

well... Imangine being a 9 year old with your first 4 string and not knowing what the strings are called, let alone why yours has one more than his... 99% of starter basses are 4 string. Most cheap entry level ones are too... Could be tricky in the long run... G

Hey Steve, you can come play my flat if you want Seriously, all basschatters welcome G

The artist at the very very very top of my 'must see before they/I die' is playing on my friggin' door step! [url="http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/artist/956941"]http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/artist/956941[/url] Got me a ticket. I cannot wait! G

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOT GOLD! Black is the way forward G (gold hardware detestee)

Slight side line but, a mate of mine - rodger - is in the band representing the antarctica continent in live earth. He is the bass player. Last gig they did was to 17 people at a 13th birthday party, this one is estemated at 2 billion Cool! G

Vox - Mike Patton Guitar - Tom Morello Bass - Chris Wolstenholme Drums - Mike Portnoy Can you imagine that line up?! G

I think more important than the BIN forum would be a dodgy listings heads up and FAQ section. G

funny you should mention this as its being discussed by the mods. I think perhaps an ebay sub forum would be good. Perfect for pointing out bargains or even warnings of potential dodgy listings. Will point the mods to this so keep the sugestions coming. G

Send me a cheque and ill send you a rag and a bottle of water What about that fast fret thingy? G

Water? A damp towel between songs? G

Special Thanks to Bass Guitar Magazine and Lenny_B for the Copyright and Contracts articles. [center]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center] [b]AN OVERVIEW OF COPYRIGHT by Leonard Bendel (Lenny_[/b] The Music Industry is based on the ownership and exploitation of copyrights. In the first of this occasional series, we’ll have a look at the copyrights that are most likely to affect you. Copyright literally means what it says – it is the right to copy a piece of creative work, whether a musical or literary work, or a recording, film or broadcast. The creator or author of a copyright work has exclusive rights over that work, which he can license or permit others to deal with, such as to copy, reproduce or publicly perform that work. For copyright in a work to exist, it has to be original and must be “recorded, in writing or otherwise”. You can create a song, but until it is notated, transcribed or recorded, there is no copyright protection for it. You don’t have to post yourself by recorded delivery a copy of a tape for it to be protected (a common fallacy) – this just helps in the event of a dispute to prove that you had created that work by a certain date. A very important point to be aware of is the different copyrights that can exist in a piece of music and to distinguish between “the song” and “the recording”. In a composition or song there is a copyright in the “musical work” – that is the copyright in the musical element, and a separate copyright in the lyrics as a “literary work”. These are collectively generally known as the “Publishing rights”, as it is these rights that are assigned or licensed to music publishers (more on that next time). The copyrights in music and lyrics are treated as two distinct and separate rights, which can be owned and controlled by two different people. If you and a songwriting partner together write the music AND lyrics in a song (such as Lennon & McCartney) then you are held to be joint authors of both music and lyrics and cannot do anything with the song without permission of the other writer. On the other hand, if you write the music and your partner writes the lyrics (such as Elton John and Bernie Taupin do), then unless you agree to the contrary, you will own the copyright in the music and your partner will own the literary copyright and you can both deal with your copyrights as you wish. It is very much the norm that in a song the music and lyrics are either weighted equally, with each deemed to be worthy of 50%, or else the melody, lyrics and music are split three ways. These are conventions rather than legal principles though. Songwriting income is mostly generated from record sales and from public performances of the song (from radio and TV airplay). The copyright in a song lasts for a period of seventy years following the year of the death of the author (or last-surviving joint author) – these copyrights are assets that can be inherited by your children and grandchildren. This can be a very valuable income stream, especially when you consider that currently in the UK, the songwriters on an album are entitled to share between them the Mechanical Royalty - this a royalty of 8.5% of the dealer (or wholesale) price of the album. Recording artists generally only get between 15-22% to share between all band members! These musical and literary copyrights are different from the copyright in a “Sound Recording” - each and every recording of that song will have a separate copyright which is owned by “the Producer” – this is the one who “makes arrangements” for the recording to be made. This is often interpreted as the one who pays for the recording, and will often be the record company. As an artist or performer you will collect royalties from sales and performances of your recording. The copyright in a sound recording lasts for a period of fifty years following the year of release – it then falls into the “public domain” – which means that anyone can then deal with that recording without paying royalties. There is currently a high-profile campaign to extend this to a period of seventy years (as in the US and other countries) or even longer – this is a campaign to pay attention to! The best way to think of the difference between the copyright in a song and the copyright in a sound recording is that Lennon & McCartney’s publishers will earn royalties every time someone records “Yesterday” (and there are several thousand different versions!), but the remaining Beatles and their record company will only earn money from the Beatles’ version, not from any other. Many bands choose to share the publishing equally (such as the Red Hot Chilli Peppers or Radiohead), regardless of each member’s contribution to the writing of it. Bands that do this often claim that this helps band spirit, but in cases this has led to resentment from the main songwriter that the others aren’t pulling their weight and are benefiting from his talent! Bands that don’t have this policy will have to agree at the completion of each and every song whom contributed how much and what their share should be. There have been many legal cases arguing over the share of copyright in a song – for example, does contributing a bass line to a song warrant a share of the ownership of a song? A few years ago the members and former members of Spandau Ballet were involved in a large lawsuit on this area. Unfortunately, the answer is always dependant on the circumstances of each band and each song – how integral is the bass line? If someone else covered the song in a different style (such as for a big-band), how important would your bass line be? Is it part of the composition or part of the performance? As a session player, you're more than likely to be asked in return for your session fee to agree that any copyright in your bass line will belong to the principle songwriter, and that you will not make any claim in the future for a share. This is par for the course, but unless you’re doing the session for free or there are exceptional circumstances, you’re unlikely to be come out with a share of the copyright. As a songwriter you should contact the PRS (Performing Rights Society), MCPS (Mechanical Copyrights Protection Society) and BACS (British Academy of Composers and Songwriters) and as a performer, you should contact PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd.) for more information on protecting your rights and collecting income due to you. [center]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center] [b]AN OVERVIEW OF MUSIC INDUSTRY CONTRACTS by Leonard Bendel (Lenny_[/b] As we saw previously, copyright holders have exclusive rights to deal with their musical works and sound recordings. These rights can be exploited by licensing them for a period of time or by selling them. These are all based on; “what rights do you want, how long do you want them for and what will you give me in return?” The answers should always be in a written contract and will be subject to each side’s bargaining power. Sound recordings and compositions (musical and literary copyrights) can generate income for the copyright holder in several ways. Firstly, from sales of recordings which generate royalties (including “mechanical royalties” as we saw last time), secondly from public performances of those recordings on radio and TV broadcasts (collected through specialist collection societies) and also from fees and royalties generated by licensing the recordings and compositions to (for example) TV programmes, films, adverts, video games and indeed to other record companies for use in compilations. As we saw last time, record companies will usually control the copyrights in sound recordings, and music publishers will usually control the copyrights in the underlying compositions (and will collect the Publishing Income from them). Licensing a recording to films, adverts and computer games will usually require the permission of both record label and publisher – there are blanket agreements in place between TV broadcasters and the collection societies who agree rates for broadcasts. [b]Recording Agreements[/b] There are two main types of Recording Agreement. In the more common “Record Deal”, the Record Label will (usually pay for and) own the copyright in the recordings themselves, whereas in a License Deal, the artist creates and owns his recordings and then licenses them to a Record Label for a specific length of time, and to specific territories. [b]The most common clauses in recording agreements will deal with: [/b] Exclusivity – will the artist be allowed to record for anyone else? (Record Deals are usually exclusive.) Term – what will be the length of the Record Deal? Will it be measured by time, or by the fulfilment of a number of recordings, or a mixture of both? Will there be “options” to extend the term? (Very often a “four-Album deal” means the Record Label may release up to four albums, and, depending on the commercial success of the previous albums, they will decide whether or not to exercise that option.) Territory – what territories or countries will the deal be for? Most Recording Agreements will be for the world, but License Deals can be on a country-by-country basis. Royalties – Record Labels generally pay artists in one of two ways – either on a “Net Receipts” basis, where the label and artist shares profits from a recording, or else on a “Points” (or Percentage) basis, where the label pays the artist a percentage of the “dealer price” (or wholesale) price of the record, usually somewhere between 15-22%. Advances – will the Record Label pay any advance? Be aware, that whatever sum of money that a label will pay upfront, they will recoup these before you see any royalties! Accounting – when will royalties be paid? This is usually every three or six months. [b]Publishing Agreements[/b] Publishers deal with compositions rather than recordings, and can offer a variety of services to a songwriter. Firstly, they will collect and administer publishing income (created in the ways I mentioned above), from the UK and overseas. Some publishing deals go no further than that and are commonly referred to as “Administration Agreements”. Some Publishers will also look to actively promote the songwriter and exploit his catalogue – they may seek cover versions, or synchronization licenses (where the song is “synchronized” with a film or TV programme), they may assist with trying to secure the writer a record deal, or provide much needed financial assistance. Where Publishers are more pro-active, they will often sign the composer to a “Term Agreement” – this means that for an agreed period of time (“the Term”), the composer will write exclusively for the Publisher and assign it the rights in his compositions. Similarly to Record Deals, a Publisher may also pay an advance against future royalties, but would also wish to have options to extend the Term. The same contractual points as set out above for Record Deals would also apply. There is often a “minimum commitment” of number of compositions that the composer must provide within each Term period. The Publishers will generally also seek a “retention period” – this is the length of time after the Term that the Publishers can continue to collect income from the compositions (often between three and twenty years). It used to be the norm that Publishers would seek to control compositions for the life of copyright, but this is thankfully not the case anymore. Publishers commonly commission between 15-30% of income generated from the compositions. This will vary depending on what type of Publishing Agreement you enter into, how much is paid as an advance, and other factors. [b]Contracts generally [/b] With all music industry contracts you are strongly recommended to seek independent legal advice from a lawyer who is experienced in the music industry. Any reputable record label, publishing company or manager will insist that you do take such advice before signing you. Indeed, contracts have in the past been overturned by a judge because legal advice was either not given, or was given by lawyers with no music business experience (as happened to the Stone Roses). However, be warned that not taking legal advice should not be relied on as an excuse to get out of a contract – it can take a great deal of time and money before you or your lawyer will come before a judge who will then decide whether or not the contract is fair. Your copyrights are your assets – before you enter into any contract that will license or let anyone else deal with them, you should know exactly what you’re getting in return, whether this is fair or industry standard, and that if you’re not going to be getting these rights back, that you’re getting an appropriate fee to compensate you. [center]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center] [b]Function Rates – A rough Guideline[/b] There are many factors involved in live rates, so before you start thinking about rates you need to work out what sort of event it is and what the client expects. Remember, anything above the pub circuit is considered a professional outfit and as such, the fee is likely part of the musicians living. Here are some rough Rates: [u][b]Event Types:[/b][/u] Corporate Events (£500 - the sky is the limit with these things) Function/Private Party/Wedding (£500 - £1600) Pub Gigs (£150 - £400) Originals Gig (ticket cuts if you are lucky) [u][b]Factors in pricing a gig:[/b][/u] [b]Number of band members. [/b] £1200 looks nice, but split 10 ways, after expenses, isn’t much. Same fee for a 3 piece outfit and its a nice fee. [b]Expenses. [/b] Fuel, accommodation, equipment hire etc etc…. [b]Playing times.[/b] -Corporate. Anything goes. These events generally have BIG budgets so they expect a lot from you. Expect early set ups, long sets and specific -Function/Private Party/Wedding. Anything from 2x45 minutes to 8-12pm with a couple 20 minute breaks. -Pub Gigs. Anything from 2x45 minutes to 2x1 hour sets. -Originals. As long as you can get normally [b]Distance Traveled[/b] At the moment the Musicians Union are stating 15p per mile after the first 30 miles. This goes to and from the venue and is on a per musician basis. Again, £100 for a gig sounds nice, but add 5 hours travel time each way and it stops adding up as well. [b]Equipment Required[/b] Is it your own? Is it hired? Do the band own it? What does it cost to maintain? This will have to be taken out of the gig fee before the musicians are paid. For in detailed advice contact the Musicians Union: [url="http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/site/cms/...w.asp?chapter=1"]http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/site/cms/...w.asp?chapter=1[/url]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KC7uhMY9s"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KC7uhMY9s[/url] Stunning, quite simply. G

sweet jesus that is stunning! Brilliant effort man G

I don't use Gak, Although not their fault, i have bought three pedals on three seperate times from them and they were all clearly ex-demo or faulty on arrival. Getting it sorted took far too long. They also sent me the wrong leads from what i ordered on one occasions as well and never sorted it out. I just don't use them any more. G

Kiwi, We need Victor Wooten That would sell tickets G

Idiot. G

aye, lukeward (the mod) has a STUNNING white P-Bass that he put together for him. Its on the bravewood site too. G