TimR

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1472598583' post='3122575'] Can one self-identify anyone else ? [/quote] I suppose not. It doesn't really add anything but the sentence didn't seem compete without the qualifying 'ourselves'. Doesn't make it bad grammar though. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-concept

[quote name='Trueno' timestamp='1472586045' post='3122423'] Have you thought about taking a degree in Philosophy? You may ponder such questions as: does something exist if no-one is looking at it. As it happens I do have a degree in Philosophy, but if anyone asks, I don't call myself a Philosopher. [/quote] I'm more of a psychology man myself. My daughter starts A level psychology next week, I'm hoping to steal some of her books. But the whole thread is a philosophical question. A musician is someone who makes music. End of discussion. What is music and are they a musician when they're not actually making music are key to the question I think. And yes. I think it's been proved that things are just a collection of electromagnetic waves. It's only when other electromagnetic waves interfere with them and then activate our visual cortex does anything actually become 'real'. Which is odd because then it's just a collection of electro-chemical impulses.

I find it funny when people are asked what they do on quiz shows. "I'm an unemployed computer programmer". No you're not. You're unemployed. It's funny how we self identify ourselves. An injured runner? No you're not a runner if you can't run, your wardrobe may be full of running clothes and trainers but you're not a runner. But do we all stop being computer programmers, runners, musicians when we are asleep at night? I suppose you only stop being an X when you actively declare you're not going to do it anymore.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1472579083' post='3122328'] Absolutely. IME if it is necessary to be able to read a chord chart, it can be taught, but people who have no idea about image generally never will, and even if they can be persuaded to dress appropriately generally look might uncomfortable in their "stage gear". Sometime it's easier not to bother with these. [/quote] I agree to a certain extent. We had a guitarist who couldn't even look smart in a suit.

As a musician/bass player, I would hope that 'must be able to read chord charts' and 'good musical communication skills' should be pretty much a given. Then it's just a matter of refining the image of the bass player you're looking for. I can't imagine someone with exactly the right image is going to be able to learn the songs ready for an audition if they can't actually play bass. I suppose it really depends on how prescriptive the image is and whether the person writing the advert is being too rigid. Does a metal band actually need players to have long hair? Isn't that a bit 80s? Maybe in an 80s hair metal tribute band it's quite important, otherwise hair is completely irrelevant. Black bass? Possibly, if that's the look, black basses aren't hard to find. Black shoes, trousers, tie and white shirt is a bit predicatable now for function bands. They were wearing that in the early 2000s and it's quite passé really. Shows a lack of imagination AFAIAC. .

I use Goldwave. https://www.goldwave.com I paid (the $15, now $45) to get the additional features. Well worth it. Of course if you want to save to MP3 you have to install the LAME encoder. But that's extremely easy and free.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1472507679' post='3121745'] Wow., I've never read anyone say that about being in a band. I suppose if you just turn up, play, get paid and go home, and you are happy with that, then good luck with it. I can now understand your being replaced comment. [/quote] I'm the same. Tell me what tunes to play. Tell me when the gig is. I'll make suggestions that sometimes get listened to but they're suggestions. I've spent too many years in too many bands where too many people have had too many opinions.

[quote name='zbd1960' timestamp='1472501909' post='3121670'] I don't get this either. Drums are inherently LOUD, neither they nor trumpets, trombones nor saxes need amplifying in small venues.... [/quote] The theory is the drummer (or brass) player can then play at comfortable volumes while the PA projects the sound at ear level rather than the drummer trying to make the sound from the bass drum travel through the front row of the audiences knees. Unfortunately, not a lot of bands understand what the PA is for.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1472415871' post='3120999'] A musician is someone who makes music. The rest is adjectives, one of these being 'a bad musician'. The tools are irrelevant, the skill set irrelevant, the methods irrelevant. The only defining characteristic is the presence of a person and the creation of music. ... [/quote] There we go. I was waiting for someone to say this. If you play music you are a musician. End of story. The real question is what is music? That's really in the ear of the beholder. I don't think you can call yourself a musician. Anyone who owns a musical instrument can make a noise with it. It's up to the audience to decide whether it's music. If they think it's music, then you are a musician. A painter paints, an artist sells his paintings.

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1472249121' post='3119888'] thats ok I think the "camera" was infact a phone and bearing in mind this was recorded 10+ years ago, certainly not hi fi! [/quote] That'll be why it sounds ok on my phone speakers then.

I can hear cymbals perfectly. What are you listening on.

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1472239479' post='3119793'] Nice...but...unless it's just how the camera mike picked things up.... I can just barely hear the vocalist. So, no doubt the bassist can be heard , but the vocals can not. [/quote] The camera is behind the PA speakers.

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1472211761' post='3119470'] In defence of guitarists, I play guitar in lots of bands, and I always take my old 15w Wem Dominator, it never goes above three, and it seems surprisingly loud to me anywhere above 1. I will always turn down when asked, and know just how helpful a horrid ugly tinny sound can be once everything else slots in underneath. Similarly, my bass sounds utterly dreadful solo but sits very nicely in the mix. [/quote] When a guitarist sees the light it's a pretty good moment.

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1472201501' post='3119323'] ...and give the guitarists an excuse to up their volume to compensate...? I don't think any gear change is required. What does need to change... (downwards...) is the volume knob on said gear. [/quote] I think your issue is TWO guitarists. I've been in a similar situation where finding a tone that fits in the mix is practically impossible because both guitarists are using 'Their sound' which is the sound that they like when playing solo in their bedroom/practice space. This leads to volume wars where everyone just tries to turn up in an effort to be heard over everyone else. As mentioned above, it may be an idea to alter the position of their amps so that they're angled at their ears which will reduce the volume. The other thing you will have to do is get them to cut some frequencies for 'Their tone' so that they compromise and have a 'Band tone', which has to be different for each guitar and has to leave a big frequency gap in the lower mids to allow the definition of your bass to be heard. You will also have to compromise as well. Bass is not just bass there are other just as important frequencies. You will need rehearsal time specifically for this excercise. I promise you the time spent doing this will improve your band 200%. .

Just play what your practiced. Everyone is looking at the guitarist and singer anyway. The difference between a pro and and amateur is - the amateur practices until he gets it right. - the pro practices until he can't get it wrong. Although all my pro friends say practice is cheating.

I've never used a backup. I have had a failure that I got round and since then take a backup but 1 failure in 30years? How high profile are the gigs?

European Tour Dates 2017 Sun/Mar-12 Cardiff, UK Cardiff Arena Mon/Mar-13 Birmingham, UK Birmingham Symphony Hall Wed/Mar-15 Brighton, UK Brighton Dome Thu/Mar-16 Bournemouth, UK Bournemouth International Centre Sun/Mar-19 London, UK London Hammersmith Apollo Tue/Mar-21 Nottingham, UK Nottingham Royal Concert Hall Wed/Mar-22 Edinburgh, UK Edinburgh Usher Hall Fri /Mar-24 Glasgow, UK Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Sat/Mar-25 Manchester, UK Manchester Apollo

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1471282355' post='3111809'] We do this in our 80s tribute, its one of those that when you get it the rhythm really kicks, but it can also be not quite right easily if your not careful [/quote] I seem to remember trying to play it in the late 90s with a drummer who 'didn't get it'. I think we tried for about 15mins before giving it up as a bad job.

Yes. The only people who know what you're supposed to be playing are the people playing it.

I'm a firm believer that a bass will speak to you when it's the right one. Until then, just keep trying different ones and don't worry, if it's not the one, it's not the one. Play sales, arpeggios, and have a 'guitar shop special' piece that you always play so you're not sat there with red light fever. Doesn't need to be flash, no one is listening.

[quote name='luckydog' timestamp='1470726798' post='3107885'] Well, there is practicing retuning so that it becomes like an Olympic sport - make it quick ? Guitarists should be [i]encouraged[/i] to check tuning throughout a gig, not many rehearse doing it to make it slick though! Same with pedal reconfigs. For string breaks, the rest of the band can have a good well-rehearsed groove thing that is worth listening to, and gets reeled out each time guitarist has some complication ? Thing is to make it strong, and easy to stop once guitarist is ready. It's better than radio silence, and peeps get to know what is going on and recognise it without the band saying anything in the end, seems like part of the act which it is ! LD [/quote] Yes. They should be rehearsing the breaks with the detune and be using silent tuners. You can get away with a slightly longer pause if the singer has a pre-scriped 30second chat. No one will know the guitarist are doing anything. Get the singer to write down some words if he's not able to talk on the fly. Tell him to go watch some successful bands and steal what they say.

They need to learn how to tune their guitars quicker.

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1470604867' post='3107100'] There are several differences on the YYZ track. It's certainly not the Moving Pictures recording. [/quote] Yes. They're not what's on the final cut. I think if I'd been asked to find some recordings of me playing bass 35 years ago I'd struggle to find the final mix, let alone individual tracks and remember which parts had drop outs and overdubs. They're certainly not what's on the recording of Moving Pictures. Exactly what they are it would be interesting to know. My money is still on a complete re-recording by Geddy for GarageBand. That's what I would have done. .

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1470575432' post='3106808'] My bass will go into the DI box and then be fed back to my amp which is my stage monitor. [/quote] So if you were using inline effects where would you take the DI? It would have to be after the FX. Compression would be part of your FX chain rather than being used to compress the signal. I don't see the soundman would have any problem with that. If you were using compression on your pre-amp stage in your amp then that wouldn't be fed to the PA anyway.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1470243901' post='3104456'] Invaribly thru a DI box so amp is bypassed in that regard for signal. I'll have a chat with the Engr and give him a demo of the sound I'm using. My stage monitor is primarily the stage monitor and it will be run loud for the stage. If we have a stage mix Engr my main concern is the stage sound still. [/quote] Are you saying you don't have a backline and you're using the PA monitor or that you're using backline as a monitor? It really depends on the engineer, the size of the stage, the type of PA. Too many variables. I've had engineers who won't put any bass in their monitors and engineers who'll blow you off the stage from the monitor. .