The Funk

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='386353' date='Jan 20 2009, 04:28 PM']Nice one, OG. I don't smoke or drink. I could give up food for two years...[/quote] I don't smoke or drink either. I suppose I could give up crack and prostitutes...

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='386295' date='Jan 20 2009, 03:51 PM']I sometimes think they are little more than a quick win for lazy musicians.[/quote] I get what you're saying but I can also understand the position of working musicians who might be/get the friend of a friend of a dep on the night. The only reason I can turn up to any blues gig without rehearsal or a chart is because I know enough of the standard blues changes to be able to hear and adjust to any variations. If you took away standards from the jazzers, they wouldn't have the same luxury.

[quote name='mcgraham' post='386241' date='Jan 20 2009, 03:30 PM']Touche... I don't quite agree, but I can't deny there are a lot of immensely knowledgable but dire musicians out there.[/quote] Well, you can't teach someone to have an imagination - that's all I'm saying.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='386231' date='Jan 20 2009, 03:27 PM']But my question is; how much of the GAS we experience is motivated by frustration at the shortcomings of our gear and how much from the frustrations that arise from our unhappiness with our playing and teh sound we can get with our own ability to use the eqs on the amps we have.[/quote] I know for me the first thing was to get 'my sound'. Got that now with the A rig. Then the B rig was about getting a good sound at gig volumes in as small a package as possible. Got that too now. The effects quest is also at an end for me. Bass-wise though, I am a sucker for Warwicks and Fender Jazzes - and if I had the money and there was a nice Precision or Stingray available, I'd be tempted. You can easily talk yourself into a justification for it: different basses for different things. As I mainly just play in one band - my band with my sound - that's complete BS on my part though. I do firmly believe in getting the best gear you can afford though. If it sounds really good and your playing isn't as good, it'll show up loud and clear! It also makes it more fun to practice.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='386185' date='Jan 20 2009, 02:57 PM']While I don't want to sound like I'm 'picking' on the OP - I'm not, I'm just making a general obvservation, and of course he/she has to play the right notes - something freaks me out about the convenience of the question. It's just all very... 'McDonalds'. I dunno.. I'm not getting my point across very well. If someone knows what I'm rambling about, please chip in and tell me what I mean.[/quote] Well, it [i]is[/i] very convenient to be able to ask the question and get a simple answer. Isn't that the whole point of message boards? Of course, just knowing that you could play the notes from the major pentatonic scale over some country tunes doesn't make you a country player. I think that was your point and everyone on here agrees with you. EDIT: Actually, I think you had another point, which was that if everyone approaches music the exact same way, everyone will end up sounding the same. Having heard some ex-music college guys, you're not wrong to be worried about that.

Should have posted in here to say that I took delivery of a Compact a couple of months ago. Sadly, my band has pretty much been on hiatus since then so I haven't been able to use it apart from in a couple of rehearsals. The main things I found were that it was 1. very loud, 2. kinda old school but really quite clear at the same time, 3. worked well with all my amps/basses - especially passive Jazz basses.

[quote name='noelk27' post='385516' date='Jan 19 2009, 10:24 PM']For someone who has an interesting approach to the combining of vocals and bass playing, I'd recommend listening to Jack Bruce - and then finding a dark room to hide in, as you weep in a quiet, secluded corner.[/quote] Actually, the only song I've ever been able to sing and play at the same time is [i]Sunshine Of Your Love[/i], because the bass line and vocal melody are almost identical. Great bassist and great singer though.

It's really tought. I tried singing a slightly syncopated backing vocal line over a differently syncopated bass line - total ball-ache. With a bit of practice, I trained my brain to do it properly. But picking up on Bilbo's post above, I realised that I couldn't sing and play bass at the same time because I can't f***ing sing! I've been playing bass for half my life but I've never put any time into singing and I have no natural aptitude for it. If I want to be able to do both, I'm going to need to practice singing like an actual singer would.

[quote name='Tinman' post='385243' date='Jan 19 2009, 06:41 PM']I'm thinking along the lines of a stereo power amp (using the V bass as a pre). You would have to fit XLR connectors to the amp end of your leads but I reckon that would work. [/quote] Perfect answer. What's your budget, ped? You can pick up stereo power amps for very little these days.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='385397' date='Jan 19 2009, 08:57 PM']Thanks all - you're very kind! It's partly fuelled by lots of threads recently where the emphasis has been on 'what scale do I use for xxxx' and 'what scale would be good for yyyy'. It juts makes my blood run a little cold... it's like music-by-numbers. There's far more to it than just being armed with 'the right notes'. You have to feel it. Christ, I'm getting old and miserable.. ha ha.[/quote] Nah, you're right. But if you've got the feel down and all you're missing is the right notes, then the 'what scale do I use for xxxx' threads can be helpful. It's also a whole lot easier to explain in written words than feel, which is probably why we don't discuss that side of things so much - but feel is the difference between an ok player and an outstanding player.

Bilbo and Garry are right. Follow my advice if you just want to get started and not sound like you're experimenting.

My keyboard player has absolute pitch while my guitarist has relative pitch. Both have a phenomenally good ear but I can always tell when the keyboard player is blagging on a tune - he'll be about 2 beats behind every change!

Major pentatonic, innit - dropping in minor 3rd as passing tones every now and then.

[quote name='josh3184' post='385009' date='Jan 19 2009, 02:51 PM']What i find is that the the people i play with will often be more out of time than me, so to being able to adapt your timing to the drummer's wayward one is all the easier for not having a solid sense of time stuck in me [/quote] My old bass teacher used to say that the majority of drummers in this country have appalling time and so it's the bass player's duty to keep everyone - drummer included - in time. Drummers were scared of him!

[quote name='Leowasright' post='384794' date='Jan 19 2009, 11:15 AM']3. Tap your foot!!!!!!![/quote] NEVER!!!!!!!!! There's no need for this whatsoever - and for some people it distracts them from playing in time.

[quote name='Hoppo75' post='384504' date='Jan 18 2009, 11:15 PM']Last one from me, as there are so many, John Illsley - Dire Straits, One of the UK's finest and held an absolutely rock solid bottom end.[/quote] Can't agree with that one at all, I'm afraid. Forget Root-fifth, that guy didn't even bother with fifths!

I have 2 preamp/power amp set-ups. Both have a valve preamp going into a 2-channel power amp. Main one: Aguilar DB680 + Eden WT1000. Way out of your budget. I think it cost me around £1100 in total. 2 x 500 Watts. Spare one: Warwick Quadruplet + QSC RMX850. Possibly [i]just[/i] within your budget second-hand. 2 x 300 Watts. Don't bother with a bass-specific power amp (says the guy who has one and swears by it). It's probably not worth the extra money for your needs. The advantage of a preamp/power amp set-up is flexibility: you can get the tone you want with the power output you need - and you can upgrade/change one without having to change the other. If you want a small, light-weight option, this is probably not it (although the first example photo doesn't look all that big). Any preamp/power amp set-up would realistically be between 2U and 5U in size, with 3 or 4U being the norm.

That doesn't sound like Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - and I'm pretty sure the cover by The Who didn't go like that either (although I can't find a copy in my collection).

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='384277' date='Jan 18 2009, 07:35 PM']Just one thing... I kinda thought that if you have worked out the key and you know what chord it is, you should know what mode it is. However, thinking some, that's the whole point of this isn't it - not that simple [/quote] What I said above was basically the reverse: when you don't know what key it is or what chord it is, how you might work that out. I used to play with people who couldn't even tell me what chord they were playing or what key their tune or idea was in - and I had a crap ear. Nightmare!

I love mine. Will post pics as soon as I take some. f***ing hell though, Lee! You've got to 728 to go with it! That must sounds MONSTROUS!

[quote name='lowdown' post='384199' date='Jan 18 2009, 05:47 PM']Do you have a couple of commercial tracks in mind you like? And want the sound / volume of your mix to be heading? If so, pull them into SX3 and use them as reference against your trax. A/B them, then try and adjust your EQ/ Comp / Limiter or whatever towards that sound.[/quote] I remember seeing plug-ins several years ago which would attempt to clone the characteristics of a reference piece and apply to your recording. Not sure if I overestimated the plug-in I saw in use. Can't remember the name of it either!

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='384165' date='Jan 18 2009, 05:15 PM']Ok... and this is probably stupid me. You know the notes to expect if you know what mode it is. I see that. But how do you know which mode it is?[/quote] That's not a stupid question at all. My post above isn't all that clear. I kind of know what they sound like now, as mcgraham says, but when I was starting out it was a simple case of a process of elimination. First off, listen for the root note. (If you can't hear it at all, you can always try a cheeky slide up the neck until you hit it). Second, assume the 5th is a perfect 5th. (Only the Locrian mode has a flat 5th). Third, try to hear if it sounds like a major or minor chord. If you can't hear it, try playing the major 3rd. If it sounds out, style it out by sliding up to the 4th. Assume that the 4th is a perfect 4th. (All but one of the modes have a perfect 4th). If you've got a minor chord, then it's either Dorian, Aeolian or Phrygian. If you've got a major tried, it's either Ionian, Lydian or Mixolydian. If the perfect 5th you tried was wrong, then you've got Locrian. So, if you've got Dorian, Aeolian or Phrygian, you've got a minor 7th - and all you have to work out is whether you have a major 2nd/minor 2nd and major 6th/minor 6th. With the major triads, if you play a minor 7th and it sounds right then you've got Mixolydian (the V chord). If the minor 7th sounds wrong then you've got either Ionian or Lydian. If you try a perfect 4th and it's wrong, the you've got Lydian, not Ionian. So once you've figured out one of the chords in a modal piece, you'll know what all the notes for all of the chords in the tune should be. So, if you've figured out that the D chord is a Dorian, when it goes to G you know automatically that that should be G7 or Mixolydian, and if it goes to C it should be C Ionian, or A Aeolian etc.

For PC, limit the f*** out of it. It'll sound turd on anything else though, so unless you want to do different mixes for myspace and CD/mp3, then I'd just go for what will sound best on a hi-fi.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='383735' date='Jan 18 2009, 08:37 AM']Mmmm.... I (technically) understand modes and have seen places where a mode is employed [...] However, in more general playing I don't see/understand the application. [...] I think the important bit they miss is what they actually *do* with them?[/quote] Well, say you're born with a crap ear - like me - and you want to work out which notes you can play in a tune. Say you can hear the root note of the chord you're on. Great, you know it's an A. And then you can hear that there's a perfect 5th, so an E. Then you can hear that it's a minor 3rd, not a major 3rd - great, it's a minor chord. Then you take a guess and try a minor 7th - great, the G doesn't clash. You have a minor 7 chord. What are the other 3 notes? Well, if it's the Dorian mode, then you'll have a major 2nd/9th, Perfect 4th/11th and a major 6th/13th. If it's Aeolian, you'll have a major 2nd/9th, Perfect 4th/11th and a minor 6th/13th. If it's Phrygian, you'll have a minor 2nd/9th, Perfect 4th/11th and a minor 6th/13th. So you know that the 4th will be D. Unless the chord sounds Phrygian, the 2nd will be B. And then if the 6th sounds Dorian it'll be Fsharp and if not it'll be F. Once you've figured out which chord it is, eg. Dorian, and the root of the next chord is D, then you know you can play all the notes of D Mixolydian. All of the above applies only if the chords and changes are all strictly modal (and not using Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor or Wholetone/Diminished harmony). If there are any substitutions, you'd need to work that out too. If you were born with a great ear, lucky you. Otherwise, knowing these little bits of theory can speed things up and help you through.

[quote name='JPJ' post='384116' date='Jan 18 2009, 04:19 PM']I don't think its really about being mathematically right on the beat.[/quote] I tend to play ahead to add a bit of urgency whereas my keyboard player tends to play behind to give things a more laid-back feel. (The two can even fit together if the drummer and guitarist play dead on).