moonbass

I have a H2 as well (and it's great) but for a really simple solution try the voice memo recorder on an iPhone. I've got some surprisingly good results at rehearsals!

I can't believe no ones mentioned the brown note yet... so I will!

Find the right drummer and the rest will follow my son. Find the wrong drummer and thou shalt never be funky! Also, nothing wrong with playing the same pattern repeatedly; that's probably the essence of funk... A.

...can be rackmounted into a standard rackmount case? ...just that really...! A.

Maceo Parker said the hardest thing for him was learning to play on beat one of the bar. So even the greats have to 'learn' funk to an extent. A.

[quote name='nottswarwick' post='1344895' date='Aug 18 2011, 09:45 PM']Ours cost £170 for a year I think. Well worth the cost since we do 70-100 gigs per year, and is often required for these types of venues. That and up to date PAT testing certificates are the main costs of running the band, but a little aside from each gig easily covers it. Chris[/quote] Which company did you use Chris? Cheers, Andy

I've been looking around for PLI recently for exactly the same reason as the OP. I would love to know if anyone has any suggestions of companies that will insure a band rather than individuals? Everyone I spoke to would only insure members individually and had to be for a full year. As we're an 11 piece this makes it pretty unfeasible! I get the impression though that venues really just want to see a piece of paper to say they've ticked a box. One way to get this is to insure some equipment with a musician specialist insurer. I think the cheapest I saw was £30 for a year to insure £300 of equipment. But obviously this wouldn't actually cover anything other than injury due to that item of equipment. In short it does seem difficult to get what most bands need, ie: whole band cover for the occassional one off gig where PLI is needed. Solutions on a postcard please. A.

Sadly I think the studio version is the worst of the three! The phasing on the cymbals is pretty terrible, and they seem to have forgotten to mic up the kick drum. So many people have Logic or similar nowadays you might be best getting the original tracks from the studio and doing some 'buffing up' yourself as I'm sure they could be made to sound much better with a little time and effort. A.

Although not specifically acid jazz there are a few more recent bands who are doing the retro funky jazz thing really well that you might try: Lettuce Speedometer Haggis Horns The Apples Lack of Afro And from back in the day you should check out Freakpower's 'Drive Thru Booty' if you haven't already. A.

I'm not sure if the trombone solo is genius or the worst thing I've ever heard... Sadly I suspect the latter! I reckon that was a fairly uncomfortable stage to be on that night.

A quick twopenneth: look carefully at what music you're learning to read. There's a good reason most music tutor books start with simple well known tunes like nursery rhymes. If you can already play you won't have a problem almost playing without really 'reading' but your brain will start linking finger positions to the visual cues. Practice them enough that you are not having to 'think' too much, then move onto a new tune. I would advise against learning transcribed bass parts to stuff you like as learning melodies is much more powerful for learning to read. If you can't find a decent bass tutor book then try a trombone one (like Tune a Day) as they are pretty much in the same range. When you've got your confidence up a really good way to progress is with pit bands for amateur dramatic musicals as you get loads of practice, it's fun and most parts tend to be pretty easy. A.

Clip 2 is the SR5 I reckon. The clicky treble seems to be a good giveaway, plus the more unruley dynamics!