baboom

I answered Mike's wanted ad and he popped around the next day to try out my Fender MIJ 62 Re-issue 1996. He's a top bloke, we had a good chat when he came around, and cash was produced within minutes of the the sale being agreed :-). Enjoy the bass Mike, and hope to get down to see you and the Shiverin' Sheiks in residency at Blackfriars one tuesday night soon! Cheers Tim

I've been quite seduced by the DB as well. At my first jam session the other night with the DB I simply suggested we play songs that mainly had E,A,D, or G in them (or at least one of them!!) and was pleasantly surprised at how satisfying even that was. And, wonder of wonders, I've been invited back :-). That's a result in my book. I can definitely see a lift in the number of *unpaid* gigs one could do on the DB - e.g. with acoustic acts at unpaid gigs in cafes/pubs on their new music nights. Mind you, round here, not having to pay to play is a result for me.... :-)

Lee Ho Gyo / Saturday's DB pin-up certainly challenges the perception I received from others that the DB is not an agile instrument.... (my musical diet is almost 99% Americana at the mo, so apologies if this is just par for the course for the rest of you!) Having said that, I'm staggered to think how much of his life he has given to learning to play like that, particularly around 6m30s when he was, well, shredding in a way that a lot of guitards would still aspire to be able to do on their lil' 6-shooters. Also, I like the way he dismisses the broken hair from his bow in a break. He was looking so tough, I almost expected a bit of Jackie Chan breaking-stuff at the end... :-)

thanks for the replies - great to know that this is not a totally surprising place to be when learning the DB (albeit not a good one!) The lump disappeared pretty quick but I will be keeping an eye on the area and see how things go. I'll be off to get another lesson fairly shortly me thinks, esp to check this over :-) I'm 6'3" as it happens.

[quote name='Circle_of_Fifths' post='1122269' date='Feb 10 2011, 06:39 AM']Fortunately I get to play 600+ full-Watts where I live, but I can be heard downtown, about 8 miles away. I typically play 40-acre BBQs and dances, so I need the power and when we're playing the whole city parties with us.[/quote] Sorry, slightly OT, but after hearing this I've got a Tim Taylor / Home Improvement moment coming on .... moooooooore poooooowerrrrrrrrr! :-)

I'm not in any shape or strength condition for DB yet it would seem ... On Tuesday after a 5-10 mins DB practice I got a slight sharp pain and then saw I'd managed to develop a bump on top of my left wrist that (after extensive googling) appears likely to be fluid buildup following tendon strain. I managed EB for 3 hours the next day (regular band practice) and a bit of turn on the mandolin at an acoustic night without much bother at all, but am thinking I should give the DB a rest for a day or two? Has anyone got any tips for getting into condition here? I might have been keeping my elbow out to the side quite a bit (arm horizontal and parallel to floor) - way more than Rufus Reid does (just got his DB DVD and book, his arm is vertical and parallel to neck more or less - i.e. the forearm is a normal vector to the fretboard) - I'm now thinking that keeping the elbow closer to my side and wrist straight like Rufus would mean my arm weight is more naturally pulling down on the strings and I can grip less? I know this sort of thing is best dealt with in person by teachers but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts before my next visit.... Cheers T

Just bought a Boss ODB3 pedal from Status09/Mike. It arrived this morning and am very pleased - it is even shinier and newer than promised, it arrived promptly and was well packaged. Very straightforward to deal with. Look forward to meeting in human-space sometime. Can't wait to get home and see what this pedal sounds like with my rig :-) Cheers Tim

[quote name='fender73' post='1104485' date='Jan 26 2011, 10:24 PM']Ok, new to the upright thing - who should i be listening to to get a feel for the instrument? (awaiting an EUB any day now). I'm looking at incorporating it in my covers band set on some tunes (bluesy/rocky set with the usual wedding tunes in it :-) ) Thanks guys and gals Graeme[/quote] Hey hey a fellow noob at the upright! I'm only a few weeks ahead of you - if that. What sort of EUB have you ordered?

+1 on being interested in this question - last night at my lesson I found the best position for playing (which matched Rufus Reid's piccy in his book - he can't see his fingerboard either) meant I definitely could NOT look at the fingerboard (well, at least half position) IIRC but it definitely *felt* way better - less stress on my arm/hand.

[quote name='girya32' post='1102114' date='Jan 25 2011, 01:50 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300518245421#ht_509wt_1053"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...1#ht_509wt_1053[/url] anyone know Mr Murray from Glasgow ? Low feedback, not his own pictures, bids from zero feedback bidders.. etc[/quote] Nope. Not own pictures isnae great though! I'd offer to pop round and take a look if he was nearby but TBH wouldn't know a real one from a fake - never seen one of these in the flesh!

I'm done, so this'll be winging its way to MacDaddy soon as I get address details (will PM). Thanks for sending this one around guys, enjoyed reading it.

[quote name='skej21' post='1098601' date='Jan 22 2011, 01:04 PM']I'm shocked that nobody has brought this up already (and I know it's been posted on here before but people may have missed it)[/quote] Cool vid - plenty in there to play with. And for the guys mentioning "relax" - thanks too, I think I get what you're saying :-) Cheers T

I've got a Korg Pitchblack and am really happy with it.... never used a polytune so can't compare 'em though.

I felt a bit silly after reading the reply that folks who feel naturally gifted in the rhythm department might see others who are worried about their timing as people who probably shouldn't be in rhythm sections ... well, heck, I like being in the rhythm section and if I have to practice to get to where I want to go with it, so be it :-) I guess being an ex-guitard I kinda care about being able to meaningfully transition into the rhythm section....and finding out that getting timing done right is the key to making peoples heads nod, it kinda makes something I thought was "magic" much more tractable. Anyway, so this [url="http://www.georgekollias.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1487"]Drumming forum thread on RI scores[/url] yielded some results from other rhythm section folk for a quick comparison. No idea where they stand in the world of drumming mind ... The best scores recorded by each person, tapping along to a metronome running at 60bpm for the most part, were: 89.4, 84, 90.7, 79.9, 77, 59.7, 88, 101.3, 84.2, 94.1, 68.3, 66.3, 71.5, 78.4, 82.9, 127(!! - a one off for a guy that says he usually gets in the 90s), 79.2 for an average of 83.6. One of them suggested trying the whole minute test without a metronome. Given that I was getting worse with less metronome clicks per bar when I tried earlier, I was expecting carnage on this test. I''d been mucking about at 60bpm for a bit so was aiming for 1000ms period. To my surprise, when I tried 60 bpm with no metronome I got this: Rhythmicity Index (RI) = 84.1 < < < < Tested with External sound source Actual Avg Period = 1009.1 ms Beats Missed = 0 Highest Variation = 56 ms which I thought was pretty good - perhaps there is an internal clock in there afterall (even it it runs 1% slower than ordered by the brain, with 6% variation!) Cheers T

[quote name='Starless' post='1096952' date='Jan 20 2011, 11:08 PM']If I had to practice clapping to a beat or have to wire myself up to a metronome in order to develop this timing 'skill', I would probably have had to come to the conclusion that I really wasn't the best person to have in a rhythm section.[/quote] guess not all of us are so lucky.... but, go on then, let us know how good you are, take the test??? :-)

[quote name='dan670844' post='1096386' date='Jan 20 2011, 02:29 PM']+1 one and whenever you listen to music in the car, in the bath whatever try to work out the tune from a time perspective, you should be able to work out the begining / end of each bar obviously but more importantly work out when each section of the song begins and ends and you should know when that break occurs or is about to occur.[/quote] This turns out to be pretty important in dancing too - stopping at the breaks etc. Another testing ground for timing skills!

[quote name='dan670844' post='1096386' date='Jan 20 2011, 02:29 PM']P.s There is a book on this whole subject and all about anchors, pivots and dynamics, its not at all dry, called the 'untold secrets to melodic bass' by John Burr, if you can get a copy its well worth a read.[/quote] Ta - just downloaded it from his website. Looks pretty interesting. Got to the first "work out why this line won't work" question and realised I had better read it properly and play the exercises through rather than just flying through it and not taking it in, so have put it aside until I can get to it with bass in hand :-).

[quote name='adledman' post='1094060' date='Jan 18 2011, 04:39 PM']hi john, ok mate all the same cheers. ad[/quote] I'd be keen for a read of this one too... :-)

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1080932' date='Jan 7 2011, 12:12 PM']Id love to check this out![/quote] me too...

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='385737' date='Jan 20 2009, 09:56 AM']Link us, please![/quote] /starts time machine for old thread..../ Here's a link to a [url="http://www.gotofocus.com/rhythm/"]Rhythm test[/url] where you can use you own metronome (in fact you have to unless you have internet explorer) I'm currently working on my timing so it was useful to quantify how my timing degrades when I reduce the number of metronome clicks per bar, but I'd be really grateful if someone with "known good" timing wanted to try it out and post their results (or PM me) so I can get some kind of benchmark to aim for.... or if other "improvers" want to post where they're at that'd be cool too (like cyclists posting their best times for known routes?) I used an external metronome at 70 bpm (it said not to use 60 bpm if using an external metronome, else prob would have gone for 60bpm) Here, the table lists my results as I made it progressively harder - i.e. the metronome clicks only every Nth beat I'm tapping on the spacebar (the higher N, the harder the test) N=1 (metronome = 70bpm), tapping period = 855.8ms (70bpm), worst error = 64ms, or 7.5%, RI = 84.5/100, category superior N=2 (metronome = 35bpm) , tapping period = 855.9ms (70bpm), worst error = 89ms, or 10.4%, RI = 67.5/100, category marginal N=4 (metronome = 20bpm*), tapping period = 747ms (80bpm*), worst error = 109ms, or 14.6%, RI = 60.4/100, category marginal * my metronome wouldn't go below 20 bpm so couldn't do N=4 for 70 bpm. Test conditions: up to a few tens of second of practice on each setting beforehand to get the beat into my head, then one shot at the test. I suspect it is graded a bit too easily for bass players because the OP mentioned being out by 0.006 in their test, so if my 64ms is "superior" on this scale, then the OP's 6ms is right off the chart ;-) Cheers T ---- From the results explanation page at the website above: In musical terms, rhythmicity is the ability to follow or maintain a steady beat. We calculate the Rhythmicity Index (RI) to help us understand how well a person is able to be steady while following or producing a beat, and how well they can focus and concentrate. The RI is a standardized method for describing how well a person can maintain a steady beat. RI Range Category 0 to 28 Severe Difficulties 28 to 38 Extremely Poor 38 to 48 Very Poor 48 to 58 Poor 58 to 68 Marginal 68 to 78 Good 78 to 88 Superior 88 to 100 Elite An RI of one hundred (100) shows the ability to keep a very steady (absolutely steady) beat. It is mathematically possible to get an RI higher than 100, but few will achieve this level. An RI of less than 28 is an indication of great difficulty having focus, concentration, or attention. At this level there is little connection to their environment or context. At this level a child might make good grades, but would probably not fit in with the others in the class and would probably have poor coordination. An RI between 28 and 48 is an indication of extremely poor and very poor coordination. With this RI, people will have difficulty controlling their behavior and they have difficulty maintaining focus, concentration, or attention. An RI between 48 and 58 is an indication of poor coordination. With this RI, people could have dramatic improvement in focus, concentration, and coordination by increasing rhythmic activity. With this RI, people often pop-out of focus for long durations. An RI between 58 and 68 is an indication of marginal rhythmicity, focus, attention, and coordination. Pop-out is common and severe. Increasing rhythmic activity will improve focus, attention, and coordination, and reduce the effects of pop-out. An RI between 68 and 78 is an indication of good rhythmicity and good focus, attention, and coordination. Pop-out is common and not severe. Increasing rhythmic activity will improve focus, attention, and coordination, and reduce the effects of pop-out. An RI between 78 and 88 is an indication of very good rhythmicity, focus, attention, and coordination. Pop-out is uncommon and not severe. Increasing rhythmic activity will improve focus, attention, and coordination, and reduce the effects of pop-out. An RI above 88 is an indication of an elite level of rhythmicity, focus, attention, and coordination. Pop-out is uncommon and momentary. This is the rhythmicity level of professional athletes. By increasing rhythmic activity, professional athletes can improve their performance, even if they start with an RI at this level. The higher the RI, the better the focus, attention, and coordination, and the less severe the pop-out.