Eight

The thought horrifies to me to be honest. Probably because I remember all the boring hours in the office it took to pay for this stuff. Anyone know how it works re: insurance if you agree to let another band use your gear and they break/soil it?

In fact, with Ableton Live 8 (including the Essential Instrument Collection) available at around £299 - there's no way I'd ever recommend spending £200 on Band In A Box (either in one shot, or by buying different sound packs later).

I have it, and the only time I use it is for quickly generating something to improvise to. As a songwriting tool... I personally don't rate it. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't suit you - personal tastes and all that. Doesn't look like they offer a downloadable trial anymore... so I certainly wouldn't advise getting the £200 version. Maybe the basic edition is worth a punt... and I believe you can add the Real Sounds packs later if you decided you like the program enough to justify spending money on some better sounds.

If you're accepting money then it's a business. And if you make a right hash of a job, damage someone's equipment (no matter how accidental) etc then you could hit legal problems... so you might want business insurance. Never underestimate how quickly friends and acquaintances can turn to enemies when money is involved. Then there's all the tax and accounting issues... Way to take the fun out of things eh!

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='700581' date='Jan 4 2010, 04:10 PM']I have a Black Sabbath bass tab book from Amazon: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Sabbath-Riff-Bass/dp/1575602652/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262621374&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Sabbath-Riff...1374&sr=8-1[/url][/quote] Ah I saw that one, what did you think? Does it include any notation (or at least the chord symbols) or is just the bassline riffs? Not a deal breaker either way mind.

[quote name='Clarky' post='700793' date='Jan 4 2010, 06:56 PM']1. To practice more ... which in turn means spending less time on BassChat![/quote] Er... Basschat [b]isn't[/b] practice???? Edit: Damn... looks like I'm really not working as hard on this bass thing as I thought I was.

[quote name='Clarky' post='700737' date='Jan 4 2010, 06:07 PM']but I have this feeling that I will never get theory.[/quote] I don't believe that for one second. But I would say I've seen more bad resources for learning music theory than good ones. In fact, most of the books on the subject that I own would confuse classical musicians and are only any use to me now because way back as a kid I had an extremely good teacher who was not only able to explain the concepts, but also put an element of theory in context in terms of what I was playing. Unfortunately I forgot it all since then and am having to try to relearn. Reading standard notation on the other hand, is very easy to learn - a good set of books which build up in complexity and the ability to bare in mind that it will take a bit of practice, is all you really need. Not that I'm much good at sight-reading anymore... but that's for one simple reason. Lack of practice. Edit: And as with every time this topic comes up, it's worth pointing out that theory and reading are two different things. Although obviously being able to read notation helps when studying music theory.

Thanks Bird, Sounds worth a look. It is more the style based stuff I'm really after. I'm at the point of wanting to analyse these great bassists to shamelessly nick their ideas and try to improve my writing/improvisation/understanding.

Going to get cracking on a better practice routine - rather than sitting down to practice and then playing Motown tracks for the next few hours. Join a band. At some point I'm going to give in and go after the first band that seems vaguely appropriate. Being picky is not working out. Buy another a new bass - an Esh Stinger II is the current favourite.

A little while ago, I asked the forum if anyone knew any good books on James Jamerson and y'all responded with Standing In The Shadows Of Motown - which has been absolutely incredible for me. It's really helped solidify a lot of stuff I've done in lessons and made a big difference to my playing. I'm still going with that (and in the middle of a real Motown phase right now), but it's time to get back to some rock/metal - so I was wondering if anyone knew any similarly good notation (or tab I guess) books or play along dvds etc. for someone like Geezer Butler. I know there's a fair few out there, but would really like the feedback from anyone who's owned one. Failing that, if you know any good books for other heavy rock/metal guys then I'd consider those too. All suggestions appreciated. 8

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='697354' date='Dec 31 2009, 05:23 PM']Cue embarrassment.[/quote] If it were me, and I felt embarrassed by a lack of knowledge, then I'd try to fix it. Are you now trying to talk yourself out of that feeling so that next time it happens you don't care? It's more important to really understand your own feelings than what we all think. Why were you embarrassed?

I'm in two minds about this one - but I've done the odd course from www.musicianuniversity.com and they weren't too bad all things considered. I wouldn't 100% recommend them, but I will 100% recommend you at least pay the site a visit.

[quote name='munkonthehill' post='683556' date='Dec 13 2009, 11:52 PM']Im not anal (oh er) with the care of my bass, but I do like to clean it at least once a week[/quote] Once a week!?!! I've been playing guitar shaped things off and on (mainly off) since I was a kid and last week was the first time I've ever cleaned one.

Only listened to Jack Flash coz I bloody love that song. For me, quality seemed very good but waaay too much reverb/chorus on the guitar. Kinda sounded like it was in the next room playing very loudly whereas the vocalist seemed to be sitting in my lap... which isn't the worst thing that could happen but I'd still push the vocals back a little. Having said that, I know f'all about mixing.

[quote name='arsenic' post='682834' date='Dec 13 2009, 10:25 AM']To Eight. I appreciate the point you made, and I must admit that I read the post a couple of times before posting, to make sure I hadn't taken anything the wrong way .[/quote] It is a difficult one, and I can see why you would have taken offense interpreting it the way you did. I just thought I'd post and say I'd read it differently in the hope that a bit of doubt over the message might make you feel a bit better while we wait for Thinman to clear it up. BTW I can only wish you luck and encouragement in what you're trying to do with the bass now. But from the way you talk about it, I'm sure your passion for playing will help you find a way.

Terry, I think Thinman might have meant that it's better to be in a band that's at least playing as opposed to joining one still forming which might never get passed the "just need drummer to complete line-up" stage. I sincerely hope he wasn't having a pop at people not playing in bands as, as you've illustrated, there are often good reasons and however someone decides to enjoy playing is up to them.

[quote name='Andy Blowers' post='681598' date='Dec 11 2009, 06:46 PM']Ha. The tone definatley is in the ears of the beholder. Guess it just works for me. Try one if you can, Eight. you may dig it, or think I'm talking complete sh*te.[/quote] Just noticed you play Ashdowns... I play through an Ashdown head so maybe we have the same bad taste in tone and it'd be fine.

[quote name='Alun' post='681544' date='Dec 11 2009, 05:47 PM']Hi. alas I don't have any at the moment but if I get chance I'll do one on the weekend . There is another Christmas tune not in the book on [url="http://alunvaughan.bandcamp.com"]Bandcamp[/url] though if you fancy a festive listen [/quote] AH - this is what I needed to hear. Going to buy your book now - I hate christmas songs/carols etc. but was really interested in trying some solo bass stuff and the arrangement of O Holy Night on that page there seems excellent to me. Cheers mate. Volume 2 next year?

[quote name='leftybassman392' post='681541' date='Dec 11 2009, 05:45 PM']Whatever you do for a living, you're in the wrong job - unless of course you already work as a fantasy writer! [/quote] Hahahaha... just too much caffeine today I think. [quote]FWIW, here's a suggestion for a serious answer to the 440Hz reference. Again it's mathematical[/quote] Damn you! You had to come along and trump me with all that cleverness.

[quote name='jake_tenfloors' post='680830' date='Dec 10 2009, 11:44 PM']There's a rather drunk video of me playing silent night on the playing videos thread [/quote] Hahaha, I did a search but only found links to Facebook - nothing on god's green earth will ever get me signing back up to that evil.

Just realised my theory above leaves a big question unanswered... if A is the starting point. Then why is the starting point around 435-440Hz!?! So... I did some "research" (i.e. I made this up) and here we go. Once upon a time, Raven (who was more known for his keen mind than his singing ability) fell in love with Canary and sought to draw her affection away from his rival Mockingbird. However, Raven realised he didn't have the vocal chops and was only able to produce one note with any clarity. Frustrated by his own lack of talent, but being a great-thinker, Raven decided to gather around him the best singers available and throw a concert in honor of Canary. Each bird invited to join his chorus was known for their remarkable ability to "know" just which sounds would follow another to make wonderful tunes. The night of the concert, Raven was confident and brash - expecting success at the highest level. However, during the first song it became apparent that something was wrong - all of the chorus disagreed on which pitch to start with and even though they moved in similar intervals, this difference in starting point created a disharmonious racket. But Raven was neither a quitter nor a fool - seeing Canary about to fly away, he stopped the concert and gave harsh instruction to the chorus. He told them all that their reference note for their intervals was to be the only note he could sing - "Awwwww". Using their theory and this new reference note, the chorus produced an aria that filled the world with music... and most importantly of all, seeing his clear musical skill and direction, Canary immediately fell in love with Raven. So there you go, the origins of Concert A and of conductors.

I'm going to wade in with a theory completely unbacked by any research. If people were tuning to a common frequency e.g. 440Hz and wanted to name this note then they might think logically and start at the beginning of the alphabet. So if A is your reference and all your other notes follow from there - it would just so happen that the major scale with no sharps or flats starts with a frequency that gets called C because of it's distance from reference A. And regarding equal temperament, my understanding was that it was derived mathematically (as previously mentioned) from an agreed reference point - which I will call A.

LOL. Wonder if Windas will let me try one... I'm sure I saw one in there at some point.

Can you put a demo mp3 back up? I'm inclined to buy, just need that little extra persuading.

[quote name='tauzero' post='679018' date='Dec 9 2009, 01:07 PM']Only as long as you don't think character names from LotR or, even worse, Harry Potter, are "cool".[/quote] Hahahahaha, nit's ot cool but I have indeed named the odd machine after characters in LotR - mainly because the spellings drive people crazy. :-)