Leonard Smalls

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1451672856' post='2942336'] I think putting this together if you don't plan on gigging is cool. But, for me if your gigging it's always about what the audience wants to hear. Blue [/quote] For me, playing in a band is [i]only[/i] about producing new music, or if we do a cover, putting and interesting new spin on it. As a result, the audience will only come if they want to hear our music. It's much more risky than being a glorified jukebox, but for me, far more satisfying! This means that I can't (yet - but who knows when pigs will fly!) make a living playing music. But, I'm in 2 bands; the first got back together after 30 years - 2 of the members had succesful careers in that time with chart singles and even supports of u2 (eek!) - and plays good time funk-rock of our own devising involving the wearing of very silly clothing. We gig 1-5 times a year and are recording an album at the end of the month. The other band plays no gigs - mainly because we haven't found a venue for our type of racket - but jam completely improvised free jazz/noise. And we're happy with that! However, it takes all sorts... Some are very happy with playing (or listening to) covers - look at the success of the X Factor! It's about enjoying and playing music. If you're just going through the motions and it's no longer enjoyable, that's the time to give up!

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1451728920' post='2942752'] As per normal I reserve the right to completley miss my own brief by a country mile [/quote] For some reason I see the inside of a large music shop; there's a drummer, fiddling about, a keybord player or 2 testing attack and intonation, and 2 bass players noodling. All are oblivious to each other, or the pained looks of the shop staff or other customers... But then it is raining outside!

Can I just apologise for what I've just done? I think that the MoR/AoR Police will be visiting me to investigate Crimes Against Music! Be afraid...

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1451650663' post='2942048'] You always are, Len. You always are [/quote] I'm off to see how many notes I can squeeze into a "song" where every single one of them sounds not only wrong, but such that even Steve Lacy would consider it to be a tuneless cacophony!

Lawks! I was right about the experimental stuff!

Aye! I'm guessing that this months pic will encourage lots of free improvisation and experimental stuff!

Talking of rocking it up, a band I was in 25 years ago (how time flies!) used to do a "We are Family" in the style of the Chilli Peppers crossed with the Dead Kennedys... It was the only cover we did though!

Yea Bubba! [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G09DdUu8v_0[/MEDIA]

It depends entirely on how your stereo is "voiced"... Most speakers, and even some amplifiers, don't have a flat frequency response as they're meant to sound "nice", or to make up for other shortcomings. So in practice they'd tend to have a hump in the 50-100Hz range to make them sound more bassy, and some now have a hump above 10KHz in order to make them sound more "hifi". So using your hifi for monitoring is perfectly possible, so long as you're aware of what the relative sound of your stereo is. I use my stereo for monitoring, but the amp's a Bryston (like the BBC use at Maida Vale) and the speakers are Leema - built by an ex-BBC sound mixer who also used to work at Air Studios and are designed to be pretty well flat from around 30Hz to 20kHz... However, it doesn't mean my mixes are any good - it's all down to practice and having a better ear than mine!

Free improv, Daddy-o!

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1450799352' post='2935990'] Ok, I'm done. A short and hopefully sweet number. [/quote] That's cheating, that! I think we should make a rule that all singing should be at least as bad as, if not worse than, mine! Tis the thin end of the wedge, I tell you. It'll be real musicians as well next!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1450716395' post='2935165'] Not while Lenny's in the House..! [/quote] Aye! I have an aversion to most things that are at all sensible or serious. But I realise that some of our older members have delicate sensitivities, so I've held off from producing my Fanfare For Four Flatulent Fellows and their Fetid Four-Legged Friend...

"Layin' in the cut" by James Carter is an excellently groovy album featuring Calvin Weston, Jamaaladeen Tacuma on bass and Marc Ribot on guitar: [size=4][MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy4zEunFoqY[/MEDIA][/size]

:santa2:And [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivG0JfYKDo8"]SOME PRETTY TUNES[/url]!

Nurse! Bring the butterfly net!

I think you'll find that this is actually "Nice" [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1FA_O_rZyI[/MEDIA]

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1449664196' post='2925687'] its playing now, Ive no idea what Dad is talking about. Its a marvel to the ears. Excellence as usual Mr Smalls. Dad, you can stick your apostrophes up your semicolon. [/quote] Ta! And BangBangRomeo were remarking on my Star Wars theme; Figrin D'an and the modal notes were a band in an early Star Wars movie - they were masters of the Jizz and Jatz musical forms. Max Rebo was the leader of a rival band (in Return of the Jedi), hence the 2-fingered salute to Figrin!

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1449662462' post='2925656'] can't get this to play in soundcloud. Really bugging me. I need a cup of tea. sort it out mate...... [/quote] I've replaced the link just in case, but it works for me! Yer tis again: [url="https://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/xenofunk"]https://soundcloud.c...s-weed/xenofunk[/url] And Douglas tends not to like my more "tuneless" (or modal, as I call it ) offerings, though this month we've got a drum solo and some Stevie Wonder-ish clavinet!

Jazz has always been about innovation as much as virtuosity, though for some jazz has to sound like it did 50 years ago otherwise it's "fusion". So here's some modern jazz: [size="2"]http://soundcloud.com/gary-willis/sets/slaughterhouse-3[/size] [size="2"]​[/size]

Here's mine, with 3 basses (all Wal), keyboards and EZ drummer on beats... Don't forget to do your vogueing during the drum solo! [url="https://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/xenofunk"]https://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/xenofunk[/url] [size=4]​[/size]

I've started fiddling already. So far we're somewhere between Ornette Coleman's Prime Time,The Bad Plus and early Stevie Wonder! And I'm enjoying my new Hohner Clavinet sound...

That's my new inspiration! Xenophilic funk...

Looks like a prime candidate for some modal jazz-funk!

Yet another fine crop, and well done Skol! Now where's the next pic?

I use a pedalboard, together with a rackmount multi FX and rack compressor. On the multiFX I have preset eqs so I can jump from clean to rock snarl to funk toppy sound to deep reggae tone accurately. Then the pedalboard is used for wah-ed Bootsy sounds with or without distortion (3 x envelope followers!), and the large pedal multi RX is mainly used for volume swells or manual wah. I think I just like twiddling with knobs...