Boodang

Inspired by a thread elsewhere on BC, I've been listening to Nik Bärtsch. As it happens he has just published a book; Listening: music, movement, mind - a useless guide to everything! 

Only just started reading it (I might start a separate thread on this as it's quite interesting) but there's a section on 'band balance' which got me thinking about band breakups. 

As Nik B says, band life is an extremely complex social organism.... an extremely fragile one; it is also one of the most inspiring and creative forms of being together as human beings.

Given the intensity of emotions in a band, it can often be a fraught experience, especially when it all boils over and ends up with band members falling out and the breakup of a band. 

Which led me to thinking there must be some interesting (if that's the right phrase!) band breakup / being fired from a band, stories... especially when the passage of time has dulled the intensity of the experience!

I've been relatively lucky in that there's been the inevitable breakups but few that's been acrimonious. The only, vaguely, amusing one was when I was chucked out of the band by the cowardly method of disbanding the group only to then instantly reform but with someone else in my place. A few weeks later I got a phone call asking nicely if I could teach the new bass player how to play some of the songs as he couldn't figure it out.... you can imagine my response!! Shame really because if chucking me out the band was done in a less cowardly way we'd probably still be friends.

8 hours ago, krispn said:

If you simply wish to become more proficient with the technique then play every sucker you can until it feels natural

 

Yeah, let's get deep into the philosophy of pick playing... or NOOOO, as the title of the thread suggests, let's just have fun and pick our fav pick songs!

I grew up listening to Yes, and Roundabout was the 'must play' lick when I picked up bass.

But as that's already been suggested I'm going to go for Bobby Vega and the 'Gosh' groove which is simply funky and so satisfying to play.

I was watching some old footage of Bonham playing the other day and if you play like that there's no way you can play to the room and it's just going to be loud.

Having said that, I get what @Doctor Jis saying about not wanting to play a synthetic version of their instrument but there's no point in the drummer playing away and having a great time at everybody else's expense. Sometimes we all have to compromise as musicians. 

8 minutes ago, CliveT said:

Isn't this true of many preamps?  It will have a basic sound of it's own which you then tweak to build upon, so all knobs at 12:00 isn't necessarily the same flat response as bypassed.

I did try this pedal and liked the eq, compressor, aux in and headphones out, but couldn't get a good drive sound.

Yeah, I was just hoping the spectradrive would be neutral with the eq set flat but it doesn't appear to be the case. I found the same thing with the spark as well. The spectradrive has a great inherent tone though.

26 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

The mechanics are the same but they're not the same instrument. There is a visceral pleasure to playing an acoustic kit which is entirely absent on an electric kit. How about telling a great Hammond player that he should be playing a Casio? The mechanics are the same but... you know what I mean? 🙂

Yep! A much better analogy I think.

45 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

It`s funny Chris, the drummer in the classic rock band I`m in is probably the tightest drummer I`ve ever been in a band with, his timing is impeccable, but he`s just soooooo loud. So on one part he excels, whereas the other it`s major failure. 

Without wishing to derail the thread, I have a theory as to why drummers tend to play loud.... when your drummer plays a single bass drum stroke, where does he leave the beater? If you listen to old jazz drummers they feather the bass drum and bring the beater back away from the head and thus the rest of the playing dynamics are similarly brought down in sympathy. Most drummers today drive the beater into the head and leave it there. Now factor in the money the drummer has spent on a pedal with the word 'power' in it (and we don't want to waste that power do we!) and all the playing dynamics go up in response. 

Tell your drummer you think the song would best be served by feathering the bass drum and see if the overall volume goes down. Oh, and surrepticiously change his bass drum pedal cam for one that's not designed for a power stroke!

10 minutes ago, Boodang said:

Hmm, I get your point but in the case of drummers, the playing mechanics are the same. I play both electronic and acoustic drums and have no issue with doing either.

Not, of course, that means all drummers should feel the same way but I do feel electronic drum kits have a lot to offer not least of which is an opportunity to be more musically creative which a much wider pallet of tones at your disposal. 

2 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

How do you react when a drummer asks you to play bass on a synth?

Hmm, I get your point but in the case of drummers, the playing mechanics are the same. I play both electronic and acoustic drums and have no issue with doing either.

2 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Find a drummer that doesn’t beach about being on an electric kit.

Me!! Well, that's not quite true... given the choice I'd probably play acoustic but I have to say there are advantages to electronic besides the volume. Having a choice of sounds is quite liberating and being able to add percussion at a flick of a switch even better.

2 minutes ago, gjones said:

The problem with drummers is they don't have a volume knob (unfortunately) which means they will hit their drums as loud as they need to hit them, in order to hear themselves.

 

So blame the guitarists......yet again.

Drummers do have a volume control if it's an electronic kit!

As an update on this I messaged hotwire basses to ask about options and they said yes, they could do it as a set neck or through neck.

Not a fan of bolt on construction (it's too bulky when you're up the dusty end for me) so looks like I could fulfill a dream of having a set neck jazz bass, but not sure at what price as I haven't asked that question yet.

Was in a jazz trio for a while, the drummer had such a light touch volume was never a problem even in the smallest of venues. I play drums occasionally but I'm a bit heavy handed and love rim shots so volume is an issue, consequently I bought an electronic kit. Not quite the same but actually really enjoyable and volume is controllable. 

Any chance of your drummer going electronic?! That would break the guitar/drums volume cycle and your audience would thank you.

Can't help tinkering! Every bass I've had I've enjoyed the ensuing conversation with the custom pickup guy, describing what I want for my latest bass.

Has worked out recently tho, changed everything on my Squier jazz fretless (the only thing original now is the wood) and not only is it a keeper but I literally couldn't be happier.

Maybe in the end you get there and all the tinkering is worth it.

Back in the 80s, 90s & early 00s, I was either at ludicrously loud gigs or playing in a band and creating ludicrously loud gigs. Then, mid 00s work decided to do baseline hearing tests as we were using headphones regularly. At the test, went into the booth, after the 1st set of tests there was a long pause. At the end I asked what the pause was about and was told that the test result sheets only went down to -50dB and my hearing was in the -70 to 72dB range (just above referral for a hearing aid apparently), so they had to add a couple of lines to the bottom of the test sheets.

My hearing hasn't got better in the intervening years but what has changed is my physical tolerance for loud volumes and now it just hurts. 

Moral of the story, get IEMs and buy the drummer an electronic kit.

I guess that's why I haven't taken the plunge and bought a ric yet. I mean,  I like the neck and the way it plays but I just know I'd end up changing the bridge, the electronics, the pickups and all the hardware to get it how I wanted it!

4 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Does this count? It’s technically one pedal, but running two of them in parallel:

bef duo.mp3 937.5 kB · 25 downloads

Have to say I'm a big fan of running pedals in parallel. I use a Seamoon funk machine and SGFX supa funk together to make it a 'supa funk'.

9 minutes ago, Clarky said:

Thats a part, but also I cannot get my right hand comfy either with a pick or fingerstyle due to bridge mute screws and the design of the bridge pickup. By comparison, to me a Jazz or P bass is just like a pair of old slippers

Is it worth getting the hipshot replacement bridge and ditching the neck pickup surrounding hardware? 

27 minutes ago, Clarky said:

 

Does the ric perform any better in the sack?!

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

So in keeping with best of the year purchase theme - if you had to save just one of the three "from the fire" which would it be (and why)?

The one getting saved would be the Seamoon Funk Machine.... super funky in envelope mode (obviously!) but if you roll off the depth control it has a great bass boost sound which, strangely as it's just supposed to be in dub mode at this point, adds presence as well. Consequently it's an always on pedal.

Oh, and the pedal looks fantastic!

Quick note on tilt eq's; the Aguilar octamizer uses one and it has more or less become my main means of controlling my overall tone. 

When I kick in my compressor it can be a bit too forceful in the bass frequencies for some situations but I like the overall tone, so the tilt just redresses the balance nicely. 

Conversely when I kick in my phaser it can get a bit treble heavy but with a little bit of tilt it's sorted. Simple but effective. 

Apparently the compressor is based on the Diamond pedal, so if it sounds as good as that you're on to a winner.

On the Diamond comp, the EQ knob controls a tilt eq (they don't specify the tilt frequency point), so you tilt the overall tonal balance more to the bass frequencies or more to the treble side, 12 o'clock being neutral.

The compressor you have is the same as their 'pressure tank' pedal and they describe the eq knob on that as a tone control. From what you're describing it does sound like it's acting as a tilt eq. 

Oh, and if you're fed up with your speakers and want an excuse to replace them, get this, plug it in and blow them up!

Seriously good pedal though.

Both awesome and both now permanently on my pedalboard.

16 minutes ago, DarkHeart said:

A Fender Blacktop Jazz can be had for a fraction of the price.

The head agrees with you but unfortunately the heart... that's going 'look at the roasted, bound neck, the pearloid scratch and the gold vintage finish blah blah blah buy buy buy!'.

Standard price starts at £1800, which is not silly money but.... starts is the appropriate word though and this is far from standard!