nekomatic

I like it!

They replied that bassists are positively welcomed because they never get any and the house band bassist would be very happy to have a break for a couple of tunes 😁 Not sure if I can make this month's, but as soon as I do go along I'll report back here!

My point (if you'll excuse the continued detour) being that the gadget pictured appears to be using a programmable microcontroller IC, that contains tens of thousands of transistors, can execute hundreds of steps of complex logic and can probably communicate by half a dozen interface protocols at megabit per second speeds, to do just this simple job: wait for the button to be pressed and if the relay is off then switch it on, else if it is on switch it off. If like me you learned electronics in the late '80s this is absolutely ridiculous overkill, like hiring a helicopter to go down the road to the shop (or something) when the 'appropriate' way of doing it would be a 'flip-flop' logic IC consisting of a few dozen transistors that did just that job and nothing else. Of course nowadays the PIC is so cheap and so easy to program that there's really nothing at all wrong with using one like this, and of course someone who learned electronics in the '70s would probably call me lazy for using a logic IC when they could do the same job with individual transistors. It's just hard to shake off one's prejudices sometimes!

A 16F PIC microcontroller to implement ‘divide by two’ logic. The world’s gone mad I tell you!

By automatic operation of sod's law a friend has chosen 18th May to get married, so I'm not able to make it. Gutted - I was getting really excited about seeing some of those basses! 😭

Well that's prompted me to drop a line to the Facebook page for the jazz jam near me, to check if bassists are welcome and if so whether I need to bring an amp (and also what sort of charts people usually play from) - so if they reply and say yes, I'll have to turn up, won't I? That's the Hot Jazz Jam at the Royal Oak in Mellor incidentally, in case anyone else knows it, or indeed is the house bassist there

I was very interested in the GPA-100 until I read somewhere that it seems to reduce its bass response significantly at higher power levels - I thought it was on here but annoyingly I can't find it again. I was aware of the GSS Sumo range but until now I hadn't spotted their Bulletpack, which looks intriguing - uses an external power brick (booo) but the unit itself is tiny, and 100 watts into 8 ohms isn't too shabby.

There's a great book about whisky, Whisky Classified by David Wishart - wait, I promise this is relevant - in which he uses a systematic mathematical process to (ahem) distil the thousands of different words people use to describe whisky into a set of about ten or twelve terms that each describe one aspect of a whisky's flavour, in a way that different people can actually understand and agree on, and between them cover the whole flavour space. So you could rank any given whisky on those ten or twelve dimensions and come up with a profile that describes reasonably well what it's like, and what others it's similar to and different from (which he does in the book, making it a great introduction to whisky for the non-expert, such as me). Anyway, I reckon one could do something similar to characterise amp and cab sounds. It'd be a lot of work though, more than anyone I think would be able to do without some funding (because you need lots of people to contribute their ratings, and I'm willing to bet it's a lot easier to recruit volunteers for tasting whiskies than for listening to a bunch of bass amps). But if someone were to try, I think that's how you'd do it.

Well I've no idea which I prefer, still less which is which - my only real thought is they'd probably all work perfectly well on stage.

As @nige1968 says, with that sort of material in that sort of context you can probably go a long way on roots and thirds (and fifths, surely) most of the time, so learning to add in a few passing notes and fills - keeping aware of what the chord notes are - sounds like a good next step. I'm a big fan of looking at the bass part for a tune I like - either finding a transcription or even better transcribing it from the recording myself, which is a great exercise - and identifying patterns or devices that give the tune its feel, then making those into exercises to practice. Try that with the original bass parts of Lola and I Saw Her Standing There for example, there's a few in there. What chord notes are they using, how do they join one chord to the next, and so on? 2002 I can't help you with, I'm not sure you even need the thirds for that one 😁

I can’t visualise exactly what you’re trying to do, can you give us a bit more detail and/or a photo of the current setup and the components you want to add?

What style(s) of music? Have you got an example chord sheet you can post?

This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel Levitin

Bought John’s Eich cab cover as it happened to be a perfect fit for my homebuilt cab. A perfect transaction, quick and friendly communication, parcel tracking info was shared, and it arrived promptly and well packed.

Welcome! I believe the jazz workshop class at Band on the Wall is highly thought of, if you're interested in that sort of format: https://bandonthewall.org/events/jazz-workshop-2023-4/ There are one or two jazz jam sessions around town as well. I keep meaning to get along to one of them one of these days…

Consider me interested 👍

Well I came here to post Corduroy's Paper Money but it doesn't seem to be on YouTube, so you'll just have to find it on your preferred streaming service - or in your actual record collection, if you're hip enough.

I jested, but I’m not sure I have a use for this album other than the next time I’m having trouble nodding off. If it was more interesting it could go on the ‘late night’ playlist, but it’s a bit too self-consciously music-for-getting stoned-to for that. Maybe if I ever need a soundtrack for a video of endlessly zooming in to a Mandelbrot set.

Apple Music Listening now. Somebody nudge me if you see me fall asleep.

Covered in this short audio documentary, I think you’ll find

When I remember to, I turn the ‘fast freeze’ on a few hours before the saving session, then off again when it starts. That way the freezer uses no power while it warms back up to normal temperature over the following hour or so. Also that way there’s no risk that I turn it off, forget to turn it on again and ruin the contents.

I would have thought you could pick up a generic stereo rack mount power amp within that budget if you look around, and if you want to drive two cabs then you don’t even have to worry about whether it can bridge. I defer to @Downunderwonder re the Sansamp’s output level though.

I’m sensing that this issue fundamentally divides people into two camps: those who can’t understand why someone wouldn’t just ask about the price, and those who can’t understand why the shop wouldn’t just make up their mind about the price and put that on the label. You can probably infer a lot else about someone’s personality from which one they are.

and the best version of it is