markdavid

One more question and this time more about sound, I like a defined bass sound and i tend to roll back lows to about the 9 o clock position and boost high mids to around 3 o clock, my bass will be going through my bass combo and not through the pa , there will be keys as well as guitars, drums and vocals so quite a dense mix, I am thinking of wedging something under the amp to tilt it back a little so I can hear my bass more clearly in the mix , I assume this should not make any adverse/undesirable difference to what the audience hears?

Thanks again for the replies, have saved lyrics for the songs in word format and added in spaces between the lines to allow me to write notes on the lyric sheets , has helped a lot

Thanks for the replies, some really good suggestions, actually feeling a little better about the gig now 

Hi all
I have a gig to prepare for in 9 days time with a band I have joined fairly recently and looking for some pointers on how to prepare.
Our singer booked the gig a few days ago, he knew we would have a lot to learn as due to various factors we can only rehearse once a week but the only reason we were able to get the gig is that the band that was booked for that day cancelled so I totally understand why he jumped on the opportunity.

So far we have around 26 songs 8 of which are originals the rest are covers, some of these songs we haven't even played together yet, I would estimate we are confident on probably half of the songs, looking for pointers on how to prepare, any tips for remembering the songs etc, even if we are far from perfect I would like to know that I did a job that was at least competent , thanks

On 20/02/2019 at 20:22, Cicero said:

I was super-excited to get home and string up a set on flatwounds on my P-Bass.

All is well, when suddenly, to my horror, the A string starts to unravel just above the nut.

There was nothing I could do about it. I dont know how or why. Never had this happen before. I know LaBellas aren't generally recommended for through body, but that wasn't even the case.

Kinda gutted... £55 and I can't play my P-Bass. No stockists locally. They were ordered online.

Any thoughts on what caused this? 😟

Sounds like a defective string, nothing you could have done to stop this

Hi All

Due to be playing with a band that does a cover of Don't stand so close to me by the Police and I thought it would be a piece of cake, started to learn the bass part and whilst it is not technically complex I just cannot nail the feel of the bass part , the pre-chorus and chorus of Getting better by the Beatles also caught me out in a similar way although I have now nailed it, any songs that you have tried to learn and thought would be easy but caught you out?

2 hours ago, gjones said:

My philosophy is, when in doubt..........play nowt.

Yes, I definitely agree with this

10 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I started playing the wrong song once. Mental block centred around associating the titles to the tracks. That was a car crash. I somehow mangled the intro of the Guns and Roses one into the Bon Jovi one (can't bring the titles to mind even now).

This is a genuine problem only really highlighted when I have to start the song.

I get around this by using ireal pro as my set list. That way the chords are there on my tablet as a reference which works on my brain in a way that song titles don't seem to.

Of course as it's a mental problem, now I can at a click bring up the chords I never actually need to. In the old days I used a magic marker to write the first bass note next to the song title on my set list; lower case for higher octave, capital letter if the first note is in the lower octave. My rationale was whatever happened I'd come in on the right note and at the right part of the fretboard. Hopefully everything else would then click into place. 

Just a comfort blanket but it worked

Done that before, at a jam night and the guitar player started playing wonderwall, the previous song had nearly identical chords so my brain was still thinking of the song before

I had a situation last night where I was playing live and I was confident before hand as I knew all the songs so I thought "this will be a breeze" , when I went on to play we played this song that is dead simple, a total of about 4 chords with a few bass fills here and there, however when we started this song my mind went totally blank for about the first 30 seconds of the song and I basically stayed on A for pretty much the entire 30 seconds, a little embarrassing for such a simple song, in retrospect I probably should have just played nothing for those 30 seconds and come in at the chorus, anyone else have moments like this ?

On 31/01/2019 at 16:37, BigRedX said:

Having now seen all three programmes, I have to say of the three I enjoyed the drum one the most, probably because its the instrument I know the least about, and I wasn't worrying about the simplifications and inaccuracies I kept finding in the bass and guitar/effects programmes (although I'm sure there were just as many and they were just as bad to those who do know their drum history).

However what was the point of the sections with Taylor Hawkins? He didn't have anything interesting to say and to paraphrase John Lennon, he's not even the best drummer in The Foo Fighters!

Actually it is a myth that John Lennon made that comment about Ringo , it was said on a Radio comedy called Radio Active https://twitter.com/marklewisohn/status/1039429309797158912?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1039429309797158912&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%231039429309797158912 but I get your point

Tried these and actually found them a bit too stiff for my liking, shame as I liked the tone and they had a nice look to them as well but compared to Labella 760fx or TI flats these were just too stiff, shame you can't buy individual strings and make a custom set

On 03/01/2019 at 15:35, tedmanzie said:

Some Kind Of Monster is a great film, I could hardly believe they allowed it to go out...

Bros film is hilarious too - although they are both twits I changed my mind who was biggest about half way through.

The most awful doc I’ve seen (in a good way) was about Bucks Fizz - that guy from Dollar had bought the band name and was trying to pass his version off as the real one  while remaining members of the original band were trying to stop him. Really awful. Not sure if it’s available anywhere. 

On 17/01/2019 at 09:21, Monkey Steve said:

I put off watching it for years because I thought it would make me dislike the band that I'd loved - I actually saw it for the first time over Christmas (as I found it on Netflix).  I'm glad I did, because I think I would have hated it at the time - Hetfield is controlling, as is Lars but in a slightly more charming and conciliatory way, Kirk just seems pleased to be there while around the band, and then goes home silently fuming that he's not been given a say in anything.  And the irony of the film - all prompted by a bass player quitting because of how badly they treated him, they recognise that they must do better (as appear to do so when they hire Trujillo - his face when they give him a $1m advance, and when they reject the lawyer's suggestion that he shouldn't be a full partner in the band) but dismiss any suggestion that maybe they should re-hire Newsted (who presumably will never be sending Bob Rock a Christmas card again after he led the discussion about why they didn't need him...coincidentally when he's been playing bass on the new album...).  But watching it now, and especially watching the half hour follow up from ten years later, I think they come out of it OK.  And worth mentioning that in the follow up, Lars concedes that the therapist comes over as very controlling and doesn't get the credit for the work he did holding the band together.

Also, now that I understand what they were trying to do on St Anger, it's made me view that quite differently.  Still no excuse for Lars' drum sound though

On 17/01/2019 at 10:45, lemmywinks said:

I always wondered whether the therapist guy (Phil something?) was intentionally intrusive, as if he was deliberately engineering a situation where the band rejected him as a cohesive unit. At the time I thought that was why he was going as far as suggesting lyrics etc, maybe he was just a complete berk.

I watched Some kind of monster the other day (well most of it, I still have about half hour left too watch) and found it an entertaining watch. I have the following observations

James Hetfield - Complete control freak, all that crap about I can only work 4 hour days so all of you should only work 4 hour days.  The bit about him hunting bears at the start didn't fly with me either, he was like I killed 2 bears on vacation, one of the other guys asked "can you eat them" to which he replied that you couldn't.

Lars Ulrich - Another control freak, him telling Kirk that he cant play solos on the album, I felt a bit sorry for Kirk, just let the guy play some solos for god sake, he doesn't tell you not too abuse the snare drum on every song

Kirk Hammett - Seems like a nice enough guy, pretty easy going compared to the others, he does actually come across as a nice guy without the huge ego of Hetfield and Ulrich

Jason Newsted - I loved the bit were Metallica went to see his new band and they stuck around to speak to the band after the show and Jason disappeared before they could talk to him, obviously had no interest in talking to them  lol

The therapist - what a complete tool

Dave Mustaine - What a whining self pitying silly billy, decades on and still crying about Metallica sacking him , all this crap about "how do you think that made me feel"

Hi all, thought I would update on this thread, have made some good progress, am still struggling but somehow managing to get through it , have been practicing more and working (although not always successfully) towards certain musical goals.   

I have also been working on trying to expand a little on the more mundane, simple bass parts that I often have to play, sometimes with good success, sometimes not (sometimes root fifth is what is perfect for the song) but focusing on trying to play more interesting bass parts has brought back some of my enthusiasm for playing and I now have some nice basslines to play.

One thing i am still suffering from is brain fog, I went to a jam night the other night and me and a friend started playing the first song and my mind just went completely blank, I totally botched the first minute of the song, thankfully I redeemed myself a little later in the set .

1 hour ago, steantval said:

It was just one slide too far 😀

It was just the once , you would have thought he could have let it slide 

On 19/01/2019 at 17:37, subaudio said:

I've discovered a very irritating trend among "musicians" lately and am wondering how widespread it is 

I'm not talking about changing covers for artistic and creative reasons, that's totally valid in my opinion,.

I'm talking about bands that just CBA to learn the parts or even arrangements of covers.

I started playing professionally many years ago on the working mens club circuit, the band could all play, learned their respective parts and nailed the arrangements, we'd sometimes change bits such as endings to segway or such and I learned a huge amount about song construction and bass lines. All good.

Fast forward to now and the last several bands I've auditioned for went like this:

I get a call for an audition, I ask for a set list and the keys the songs are played in so theres no mix up if they changed key for the vocalists or the copy I'm working on is pitch shifted, as sometimes happens on YouTube to confuse copyright bots.

I learn said songs, note perfect and know the arrangements.

I turn up to the audition and no one is playing the right parts and they are playing a campfire arrangement of the song, nothing in the right place or order and big sections missed out altogether or with random extended "jam" sections

I'm trying to compensate by second guessing what might happen next or when the singer decides they might fancy doing a bit of singing at some point in the song and it makes it sound like I can't play because they all know their own way of "playing" the song.

I even got asked to play lobotomised versions of the bass lines because they "aren't used to hearing those notes" in a ska band! Bass driven music that I learned meticulously and they don't like the proper bassline!

Is it just me, where I live, or do other people get this as well?

I once played in a covers band where the drummer was insistent that everything had to be exactly note for note like the original recording.  We played Immigrant song and I put a slide in at the end of one of the lines, nothing over the top just a simple descending slide and and he stopped playing, the guitar player stopped playing and he screamed at me that the original did not have slides in it , I left that band not long after

On 19/01/2019 at 17:48, Len_derby said:

Yep. Pretty universal I think.

Just last week I watched a pub band whose bass player just couldn't stop himself playing on the verse of All Right Now. Sounded pants to me. Maybe not to most of the audience though, I don't know. Are we being too picky?

Wasn't me was it lol , no im not in the same district as you so couldn't have been.  I always play during the verses of that song, I could leave it without the bass playing but I would just feel like a pillock standing around doing nothing, my version is a lot busier than the original but strangely because there is so much open space in that song it works

I think it was an enjoyable watch but I had a couple of small issues with it

1. There discussion about Hofner basses, in particular when they were saying that McCartneys Hofner didn't stay in tune across the neck and saying that the Rickenbacker did, whilst this may in McCartney's case be true this is because McCartney did not go to the trouble of actually trying to intonate his Hofner, this is not the fault of the instrument but they (probably unintentionally) made it seem like this is some kind of issue inherent in Hofner basses which is not the case at all.

2. No Joe Osborne , how can you mention Jamerson, Kaye and not Joe Osborne

£300 though, im sure its great but thats insane for a headphone amp

Have yet to find a set that I have settled on but the 2 sets I really like so far are TI Jazz flats and the Shortscale version of Rotosound flatwounds, much lower tension than the long-scale version and sound really thick and meaty.

Gonna throw in a suggestion for Ernie ball group 3 flatwounds (not the dreadful cobalt flats which are really more of a roundwound that feels like a flat) they are nice and warm but have a good growl to them. Roto flats are ok but seem to go dead quickly and a bit stiff, also (as per the below) Roto's are rougher than most flats

On 23/08/2018 at 12:04, Balcro said:

Thanks for the info OP.

I wouldn't touch a Red Bull if you paid me. Never thought that much caffeine was any good for you. Caffeine has it's place in medicine for speeding up the intake of drugs, i.e +varieties of paracetamol, but not for recreational "boosting".

The one thing that will cause hearing loss on its own is Quinine, if taken in very large doses. A couple of bottles of Tonic Water will have no effect on the average person. Quinine used to be given to soldiers in the Boer & First World Wars as a preventative for Malaria but the doses were massive. Later, of course, it was found to cause the tiny hairs deep inside the ears to bend away from & not make contact with ( I think) the tympanic membrane. Damage was permanent. Maybe this is another ingredient to avoid if you already have a hearing problem.

 

PS. another vote here for Yorkshire Tea Decaf!

I used to love Tonic water then I was prescribed Quinine tablets for a medical condition (not malaria) and the side effects alarmed me enough that I stopped taking them and just dealt with the medical condition and were enough that I stopped drinking Tonic water completely

I use and would recommend TI Jazz flats, you will find that some of the string has to be wrapped around the tuner post but because they are so flexible this will not cause any issues. Tonally I just find them superior to any other string out there, articulate, decent sustain for flats, good mids, a little growl available too but they are definitely a flatwound in tone, none of this cobalt flatwound that sounds like a round nonsense.

Rio by Duran Duran is a fantastic one for improving technique, it is a challenge to get it sounding clean and consistent and also not forgetting the ghost notes, I learnt to play it a while ago but am still to master playing it cleanly and consistently

On 08/08/2018 at 21:19, xgsjx said:

 

I've always loved synths & synth bands.  I don't know how any of Depeche Mode would fare against a good pianist, but that's not what synths are about.  It's sound creation.

This is a very good point.

I think Nick Rhodes is a very important part of Duran Duran, imagine The Chaffeur without his synth part, even the part in the first verse that sounds like someone doing slides on a bass are synth, Save a prayer also features his synth very prominently, there are many others i could mention.

Maybe is pre programmed to play certain chords and thats what the display is showing or maybe just a prompt in case of brainfog, I know i have had a few instances live where i could not for the life of me remember the notes to a song i had played dozens of times, I know Judas Priest had a teleprompter with the lyrics on it , Bruce Dickinson famously took the fosters that Rob Halford couldn't remember the lyrics to Breaking the law.  In any case I really like what Nick Rhodes plays on Durans songs.