endorka

Hi folks, I've been clearing out a cupboard and came across what I believe is an old guitar amp, the H&H model IC100. I've no idea if it works, as I can't figure out the AC power socket! It looks like this - does anyone have a clue what it is? I'm hoping that my continued clearing will reveal an appropriate plug, but I'm not holding my breath. Jennifer

[quote name='Jobiebass' post='631653' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:52 PM']Any chnace you have a tab or preferably guitar pro tab for that Bowie song?[/quote] Labyrinth is indeed a great film :-) I don't have a tab forit, but it's not too hard to work it out by ear - the verse & chorus are mostly based around the use of tenths. Jennifer

"As the world falls down" from Labyrinth, by David Bowie. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VppuD1St8Ec"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VppuD1St8Ec[/url] Just about anything by Talk Talk! Jennifer

[quote name='Clarky' post='629582' date='Oct 18 2009, 04:35 PM']Can I ask the experienced DBers what is a reasonable action - at the moment it measures about 1.5cm on the G (if not more) at the end of the board, which is really hard for me to hold down[/quote] My double bass is about 1cm at that position, and I'd say it has quite a high action, suitable for orchestral playing - most jazz oriented double basses would have an action lower than this. So I'd say 1.5cm is pretty extreme. [quote]Also can I simply shave down the bridge or would it need a new one etc?[/quote] You should be able to shave it down - not a tricky job but it has to be done correctly. There are instructions on the internet about how to do this; [url="http://dennishavlena.com/bassetup.htm"]http://dennishavlena.com/bassetup.htm[/url] Although I am sure you could do it more simply than that if necessary - assuming the relative string heights are already ok, just trace an arc of the same curvature a bit lower onto your existing brige, sand down to this curve, then re-cut the string grooves. Jennifer

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='623237' date='Oct 11 2009, 05:11 PM']I remember her from back in the day, didn't she have to call herself 'Horse UK' because of a band from USA?[/quote] From what I gather, Horse had been going for quite some time prior to the inception of the band from the USA, and so were able to use the name unqualified. I think the USA band are known as "Horse The Band", or similar :-) BTW we're playing Brighton Komedia tomorrow (Thursday) so if there are any folks from Brighton reading this please pop along! Jennifer

[quote name='ironside1966' post='623291' date='Oct 11 2009, 06:23 PM']When you do a gig you are there to entertain, If you or any member of the band has a face like a slapped arse for what ever reason it looks bad on the band unless it's part of the image.[/quote] Ironside speaks the truth - many audiences need the band's "permission" to enjoy themself, and signs of obvious negativity such as blatant boredom will deny them this opportunity. Why should they enjoy themself if the band are not? If even the band look bored, clearly there is nothing to be getting excited about. However, I do not think that musicians concentrating on what they are doing counts in this regard. There is a difference. I think insisting that musicians grin like a bunch of synchronised swimmers is a step too far. Jennifer

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='624169' date='Oct 12 2009, 04:58 PM']Serious question... is 'gospel' that specific a genre? I thought it was just soul, blues & R'n'B?[/quote] When I plalyed in a gospel quoir that was pretty much my approach, and thus the words "what would Jamerson do?" were always in my mind. Worked really well for me. That and a bit of J.J Burnel, anyway. Jennifer

[quote name='Balcro' post='622144' date='Oct 9 2009, 11:22 PM']Super voice with character, deserving of a wider audience.[/quote] Indeed. She has a back catalogue of eight albums and a strong cult following, and some almost top 40 hits, but I think her songwriting and voice has a far wider appeal. We'll be doing some big shows and a significant tour in Janurary/February next year, so hopefully that will help bring the music to more people. There's a bit more about Horse on her website here; [url="http://www.randan.org/"]http://www.randan.org/[/url] and on her myspace; [url="http://www.myspace.com/horserandan"]http://www.myspace.com/horserandan[/url] There is some great bass playing on her back catalogue - I'm told that Graham Brierton, the bass player on the first Horse album, was the first to bring slap bass to Glasgow :-) Jennifer

[quote name='cheddatom' post='620780' date='Oct 8 2009, 05:12 PM']It might be worth trying some IEMs.[/quote] They're probably not appropriate for acoustic situations such as the one in that video, and especially in the orchestra; it's not really a problem when everything is acoustic and relatively quiet, as you can hear yourself well enough to play in tune, and it's best to keep things simple - you just have to compensate for the different sound behind and in front of the instrument. IEM's for amplified gigs is something I've been thinking about though, do you have any experience of the various systems? Jennifer

[quote name='Golchen' post='620753' date='Oct 8 2009, 04:52 PM']"Hi Horse, why the long face?" Sorry bout that ..............[/quote] Neigh bother :-) Jennifer

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='620592' date='Oct 8 2009, 02:29 PM']I love playing things like that where there's loads of room for the bass to bloom...[/quote] Yeah! You don't feel the need to overplay or anything, just let these big fat carefully chosen notes ring out with meaning :-) The album version of "Heaven Can Wait" has some more instruments on it; rhodes, organ, drums, and some strings. It's on Horse's myspace; [url="http://www.myspace.com/horserandan"]http://www.myspace.com/horserandan[/url] Jennifer

I recall reading somewhere once, with respect to speaker cabs: cheap, loud, good: you can have two of these. I paraphrase, but the idea seems to work. Jennifer

Thanks for the comments folks :-) The sound people were happy to use a mic for the double bass, which I always think sounds better in low volume situations. It is really strange hearing the double bass from the listeners perspective, as it always sounds different from when I am actually playing it. Presumably being behind/above the instrument considerably affects the tone and volume, as I always perceive it as fairly thin and a bit quiet. I'm getting better at adjusting to this discrepency as time goes on, although it can still surprise me sometimes. Jennifer

[quote name='fatback' post='618589' date='Oct 6 2009, 02:28 PM']lll just have to go to Scotland to watch. hehe. Love the place, lived there for years. fatback[/quote] <plug> Come over and see us when we play the MacRobert Centre in Stirling on October 17 :-) </plug> No seriously, we are normally a five piece, also with keys/vocals and drums, and it is a great band and great show. The drummer usually does the "stirring the porridge" thing with brushes on the snare drum during that particular song, so it takes a lot of concentration to create the correct feel of the tune without him. Jennifer

There's a specific web page for it now, right here; [url="http://programmes.stv.tv/the-hour/news-gossip/128148-horse-performs-her-song-heaven-can-wait/"]http://programmes.stv.tv/the-hour/news-gos...eaven-can-wait/[/url] No idea if that will work abroad or not! Jennifer

[quote name='cheddatom' post='618551' date='Oct 6 2009, 01:57 PM']fatback - search for "UK http proxy"[/quote] We're trying to get it made available globally but I had no idea there was already a way round it... will have to investigate this, thanks. Jennifer

Thanks folks! I was really pleased with the bass tone they managed to achieve, it sounds well deep through my stereo. Just a single microphone pointing towards the bridge/treble side f-hole, not more than a foot away from the instrument. [quote name='waynepunkdude' post='618523' date='Oct 6 2009, 01:31 PM']Why does she call herself Horse?[/quote] That's her name :-) Jennifer

Guitarist Gordon Turner and myself accompanied Horse playing her new song "Heaven Can Wait" on "The Hour" on Scottish Television yesterday. We're quite chuffed with the result so thought I would share it here :-) You can find the song at the following link, it's in Part 4 about 6:00 minutes from the start; [url="http://player.stv.tv/programmes/the-hour/2009-10-05-1700/"]http://player.stv.tv/programmes/the-hour/2009-10-05-1700/[/url] There is also an interview with Horse at the beginning of Part 4. Jennifer

[quote name='Major-Minor' post='617501' date='Oct 5 2009, 02:57 PM']But this also throws up the question of intonation at high volume levels. Do we lose our sense of pitch as the noise level increases ?[/quote] I find that my perception of pitch becomes poorer at high volume levels, for another example I find it more difficult to "busk" unfamiliar tunes at high volumes than at low or moderate volumes. Whether this is due to the volume itself in relation to the ear, or due to the increased likelihood of the distortion from amps occuring at high volumes, I am uncertain. Jennifer

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='614138' date='Oct 1 2009, 07:24 PM']Thanks Jennifer. I knew about the 'arco' trick. Someone told me the factory strings were a version of Helicore Hybrids. Can anyone confirm that?[/quote] It's been a long time since I used the factory strings, so not definitively, but from memory they were different. Perhaps the Helicores are supplied on the high end basses? Jennifer

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='613216' date='Sep 30 2009, 07:50 PM']Any suggestions?[/quote] I've used Pirastro Flexocor and Helicore Hybrid strings on my WAV4 - both worked well, with the Flexocors being the darker/thumpier of the two. If you want the instrument to sound like a double bass make sure you have it working in "arco" mode using the selector switch - "pizz" just sounds like a fretless bass guitar. Jennifer

Nice tone! Jennifer

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='596521' date='Sep 12 2009, 01:13 PM']...You also need to know where the notes are on the fretboard, and in many cases there are two or more positions in which the same note can be played.[/quote] For this reason (and others) I find it helpful to work out a fingering scheme for each piece or exercise to ensure that I am playing it in exactly the same way every time, thus allowing the brain to train itself quicker than it would if you were playing the same exercise a different way every time you played it. It also helps you work out the most effecient fingering and shifting patterns necessary to play the part. Just write the number corresponding to whatever finger you use above each note in this way: 1 (for index) 2(middle) 3(ring) 4(pinky). It may sound trivial but I find it really speeds up the learning process, and is a staple of classical string playing. You'll get to the point where you don't need a number over every note, just the odd one here and there to keep you right. Jennifer

That's me done the last night of the show tonight - as mentioned above, it was great stuff to play, the band were cooking, and I really like the way the bass is featured a lot more than you usually get in shows. Probably my favourites would be the high widdly fretless stuff such as Halloween and the gospelly tunes like "Seasons of Love". The real rock out tunes are great as well, but having the closing number finish in F# major is just sadistic! :-) Santa Fe did give me a few problems, some real awkward shifts in it if you are reading it, so as stated it is best to remember that one and the other couple of numbers with similar parts. I imagine it would be easier on a 5-string. It's not often you get an excuse to have a total rock out, do slap bass & noodly stuff, with the bonus that it actually sounds good :-) Jennifer

Great, would have liked to have seen that! Do you have any other gigs in Glasgow soon? Jennifer