The Funk

[quote name='Geek99' post='384072' date='Jan 18 2009, 03:37 PM']I've been working on my timing and I have made some progress. I've been to the link recently posted where you could test your timing across measures and I was .006 fast (i'm guessing thats 6 milliseconds) according to the results. I've been working with a metronome whihc marks beat 1 as a slighter louder click. My problems are these: I never could do the foot tap thing, I'd find my knee or foot was marking out the rhythm of what I was playing, not the beats. I do find forcing my foot to do it very artificial and odd. I know there's a different method by Putter Smith where each up or down marks one beat and the half beat falls halfway between. Anyone tried this? I kind of lose sight of the beats after about beat 2, I know where I am in what I'm playing adn I usually hit beat one again, but I stop hearing the metronome so its like 1, 2 ......1 ,2 ..... Thoughts?[/quote] Stop trying to tap your foot. The number of people I see with bad time whose feet tap all over the place! Also, stop having beat 1 louder than the rest. Have them all the same. And think of 4/4 this way: there's a big accent on the 1 and a pair of accents on 2 and 4 (where there's often a snare) - this is called the backbeat. Once you can hear 4/4 that way, with an accent on the 1 and the backbeat on 2 and 4, you'll never get lost again. I never count btw except for when I'm trying to work out a tricky song in an unusual time signature.

[quote name='dlloyd' post='383179' date='Jan 17 2009, 12:52 PM']Imagine playing in C minor... they'll use C harmonic minor, then when there's a G7-Cm cadence at the end of a phrase, they'll play G harmonic minor over the G7. At first glance, that might not seem like a good idea, but it works.[/quote] Interesting! So that's a Klezmer trick - do you know if people have used it successfully outside of Klezmer?

[quote name='BigRedX' post='383176' date='Jan 17 2009, 12:51 PM']My dream bass gig would be in any of my current or previous bands if they were actually popular enough for me make a living out of them.[/quote] Good answer!

[quote name='dlloyd' post='383048' date='Jan 17 2009, 10:20 AM']Harmonic modes: [...]They'll also do cool stuff like superimposing the harmonic minor scale rooted on the V over a V7 chord in a V-i cadence... Wacky.[/quote] Je ne comprends pas.

[quote name='MythSte' post='383126' date='Jan 17 2009, 12:17 PM']they look foul, thats such a shame [/quote] Agree 100%. The only part od the range that looks ok are the guitar practice amps.

Who would you be playing bass with in your dream gig? I'm picking living people but as it's a dream line-up, dead people are allowed. I'd be in a quartet with Stevie Wonder, Jeff Beck and Bernard Purdie - with Prince depping for me. EDIT: If I had to play in an established band, it'd be The Black Crowes.

[i]Stand By Me[/i] - Ben E. King Just got in from my friend's wedding.

Count me in.

Isn't this total madness?

Brilliant. (Wrong forum?)

Signed. Does anyone get the feeling that music is going to become more and more of a rebel outlaw thing in the future, with people having to congregate at secret, unlicensed locations late at night to get a fix?

[quote name='Tech' post='380640' date='Jan 14 2009, 08:04 PM']usually half a pint before we play, and a pint to be drunk throughout the course of the set is the way to go, never nervous! but I am bricking it for an audition next month. 600 in a crowd - no worries. 1 judge in a chair - [/quote] What's the audition for?

I feel bad for you. Rehearsing there must cost a bomb though: first you've got to pay for reherasals and then any money left over goes to the strippers, right?

In one of my first few weeks in halls at uni, I went into the main reception to ask the security guard if he knew where The Peel was. "Ah yeah, strip club" "No, no - I'm going there for a jam session... see, bass on my shoulder?" *handed him the flyer* "Yeah, The Robert Peel - strip club" There was a really attractive girl waiting in line behind me. It was so embarrassing. Anyway, I went down to the jam, told a couple of friends who went with me what this crazy security guard had said. Had a great time at the jam and on leaving discovered there was another door round the back - leading to the strip club part of the place!

Haha, I remember seeing this on TV and thinking Trujillo was about 1000 times better than the others - even though some of those guys are pretty damn good!

Just put an order down. I'll let you guys know what I think when it arrives!

I was thinking of picking up a copy purely to cop as many Charlie Parker licks and phrases as possible - nothing more sophisticated or noble than that. Has anyone used the Omnibook before and if so, what do you think of it? Can't find the publisher's page, so: [url="http://www.jazzwise.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=6086"]http://www.jazzwise.com/catalog/product_in...roducts_id=6086[/url]

Superb! Love this entire thread. And just to pick up on something tBBC said, you don't have to be gay to have a rent boy chained to your wall.

[quote name='westoneblah' post='380277' date='Jan 14 2009, 02:22 PM']my mind-game is 'This is my gaff, my stage - you're the visitors'.[/quote] [quote name='westoneblah' post='380277' date='Jan 14 2009, 02:22 PM']Practice is over, this is about Performance - and that means just letting it happen - and enjoying it![/quote] Very good attitude and I wholeheartedly agree with your approach!

Thanks for the feedback guys! The stuff about the mix is especially helpful. We asked Barry to mix 9 songs in 8 hours on a Sunday so shortcuts were taken. You guys are right about the compression, some of the EQing and some of the levels.

On our myspace and facebook pages I've uploaded some live recordings from a gig we did at Bush Hall last October. Just before Christmas we had them mixed by a guy we knew as Barry. After looking him up online we discovered that he's previously worked with The Rolling Stones and Prince! Anyway, have a listen to what he managed to knock out in a few hours. All the songs apart from When are from that gig. No overdubs btw - for us live means live! I'm happy with it overall. We've played better than that and some of the solos (esp. mine) are a bit aimless but it gives a good representation of what we're like live. We're also probably going to get Barry to adjust the mix slightly as some of the levels aren't quite right. Click on the myspace and facebook logos in my signature to get to the band pages. Thanks Syed

It's an awful place. We've played there twice. After the second time, as we were walking off stage, two of the band asked me if we could never play there again. They still ring us every few weeks asking us to come down and play there. Why the f*** would we want to do that?

I use modes. They're helpful up to a point. Sadly not the answer to everything.