scalpy

As with any art, it is better when the artist has something to say, and says it eloquently, with genuine sentiment. Sometimes that requires a sophisticated technique, a lot of the time it doesn't.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1317146' date='Jul 26 2011, 02:57 PM']I voted Boss Tweed even though I own the (popular) black![/quote] Good man! Although I agree that the material thickness depends on the colour. A friend has the chocolate ones and they seem much more snag resistant. Liking aggies and going for black shows a distinct lack of imagination!

Sometimes I manage to blag the odd session or two and if there's one thing that marks a good one that has everybody happy is the speed it all kicks off. If the songwriter or producer asks for something you have to be able to say "yes" and think of the part quickly, and play it right in one. There seems to be an inverse proportion to the amount of time you spend playing and the amount you get paid, in other words, the best session players only need to do two or three passes and that's it, job done. More often than not the key to this is the accuracy of the rhythmic playing and the feel you provide. Being gig sharp isn't necessarily good enough when you hear playback, you might find you're not smack on the one after a fill for example, and people like Nathan East will be, no matter what! What I've done to prepare for the next mystery session is actually practise recording with a jazz fake book and different drum feels. I'll do a few goes with a motown loop, then a straight rock loop, and just keep listening back for when I'm pushing (my worst habit). Todays standards normally dictate that every note is microsecond perfect with the attack of the rhythm track, the need for old school behind the beat playing comes across as sloppy now, with the two studios I go to. At one session the Keyboard player was in Joan Armatradings band and he was absolutely pedantic about note length, finishing every note at exactly the right point. For instance, one track required a funk style "one", but he wasn't just interested in the emphasis, he wanted every crochet to come off right on the tick of the snare just starting on beat two. Proper producers pay attention to this kind of detail, plus it really tidies up your playing. Sorry if you've heard all of this before but noticing this kind of thing has proven really useful for me.

I thought the first hour of the Lemmy film was interesting but after that it lost it's way. It would appear to be first class rock god you have to be a very unusual person, and all of the people interviewed were martyring themselves to the cause. I've seen and read this before and drawn the same conclusion but it was most evident listening to Lemmy's comments on fatherhood and his attitude to women. And I bet he's got a lot more memorabilia in that crazy apartment that he doesn't show to cameras.

Reading music seems to be a mental hurdle for many people but it gets much easier if you just view it as a graph. Lots of notes close together left to right, play fast. Lots of dots far apart, up and down, play big intervals. Likewise, lots of dots close together, up and down, don't move much. Apply this knowledge in any combination and you won't be far off. Scalpy. BMus (Hons) P.G.C.E

If you're using poly pockets for copies, buy decent ones from WH Smiths. The cheapo jobs have an alarming habit of breaking around the ring binder holes and going flying, normally on that really tricky turn that you also have to repeat in 16 bars time... I normally just pencil in the upcoming chord as well on the bottom right hand corner of the right hand page as well just to free up a bit of brain space so I don't have to concentrate on fretting, turning and remembering all at once. Finally, sit near your keyboard player if they're reading as well, it's a good safety net if it all goes belly up!

Let G&L do their thing without worrying about the older siblings. Aaaah, the perils of being the youngest in a successful family...

The last time I saw my HH it was sticking out of the top of the skip I had thrown it in. Never been happier to see it.

Only have 1 bass to save! When I wanted it, I couldn't find one. Then one day I got a tax rebate for £X. The next week I got overpaid by £X. That weekend I walked into my local music shop and there it was- for £X+X. I bought it on the spot, despite having told work that they didn't need to pay me the next month. I then spent 4 weeks sweating, and sure enough they had forgot all about it and paid me anyway. The fates were smiling on me, and the ol' girl has never missed a beat since. I might have,but she hasn't!

The little mark tube is great for a big, thick, clean sound. It picks up muted notes and makes them speak beautifully, so it's perfect for Soul and vintage funk stuff. It will give you floor shaking lows even at low volume, so it's great in a orchestra pit. It doesn't do grit, doesn't have 2 speakons out, and the pull volume mute switch is really stupid, and despite reassurances it doesn't matter, I hate the fact it clips with the gain above 8 o clock with my ASAT. However it's dead easy to tailor the sound to venue for me, I just adjust the VLE to suit. Lots of people on here say they can't tell what the tube adds to the sound, but I love it, and it's left on full tube constantly.

Congratulations on finding yourself someone to sell you some, they will serve you well!

Agonisingly close!

You might spend hours and hours developing your playing but you can't always produce your top form if the people you are playing with haven't matured that quality that the top players play with- feel, dynamics, space. Experience doesn't always develop this either, you need to be working with musically intelligent people who understand this. Doing lots of dep work, playing in orchestra pits and a ceilidh band with an open line up I know that I can't always bring out my top game if part of my concentration is worrying about and trying to predict what some other musician is trying to do. When I was doing lots of brass work I was extremely lucky, right place right time, and got asked to do a recording session with the Black Dyke Band. I quickly realised once it had started that I was in the situation I had spent years training for, everything was at it should be, and I played the best I ever did. (Not well enough to get a regular gig mind...!) The next week I helped my old youth band, thought I'd walk it due to the previous weekend, and found it really, really difficult, it was like I hadn't progressed since leaving at all. I don't think you're a fraud at all, your concern just demonstrates you're light years ahead of most musicians in that you're listening to your playing, being critical and shouldering the responsibility to improve. You will have to work on the drummer though...

I really, really like the look of these. The LMT is great but it's niggling away in a few areas. I'm itching to have a go with a TH500 but live miles away from anywhere that stocks one. Has anyone cracked one open yet and given it the beans?

Wish I knew this 15 years ago! So many mistakes...

Thanks for the heads up just watched it on iplayer. Tight, tight, tight.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='1255057' date='Jun 3 2011, 09:07 AM']in a similar vein, don't tell the string section the (true) reason strings can sound so lush is because they are all out of tune with each other [/quote] That's what vibrato is for!

DBs + loud outdoor gig= new sensation never before experienced whilst playing. Trouser flapping but closer to waist level than the ankles. Focusses the mind mid-way through bleedin' JBG I can tell you. No, mine aren't for sale.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1251903' date='May 31 2011, 07:08 PM']I have a friend called Ceiri Torjussen, a trumpet player and composer who I knew when he was a kid. He went on to become an arranger/composer in Hollywood and worked extensively on films like Terminator 3, Blade, Day After Tomorrow etc. Big name stuff under the composer Alan Silvestri. Ceiri wrote his own stuff and was offered the opportunity to hear it played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra - no pressure then . During rehearsals one of the musicians commented that the stuff he had written was unplayable. 'That's funny' says Ceiri. 'The Los Angeles Philharmonic managed it easily enough'. Now THAT is a put down.[/quote] Should have taken it to the LSO! Some of the American guys have chops that beggar belief, but the traditional brass band route of our brass players still produces players that the rest of the world can't touch. The new principal of the LSO auditioned against players from across the world, got the gig at the tender age of 21. Former top chair of the National Youth Brass Band. Back to reading scores, the actual notes are usually only the players concern. The conductor will refer to the rehearsal mark or bar number and if necessary comment on the tuning of intervals or the like, which read the same in any clef. The above posts about looking for lines etc are all bang on, and transposition is not strictly necessary if you're looking for the shape of the phrase for example. (At Uni I studied with several members of the Halle and they stood by 2 theories, 1. play the wrong notes in time and you might just get away with it and 2. it's better to play sharp than out of tune.) However if you are scoring then, it does become very necessary, but Sibelius (the software) has been a god send! Sibelius himself of course did not need it...!

This post reminds me of a great story about the late, great Maurice Murphy, principle trumpet of the LSO. Bernstein was conducting a rehearsal, and asks Maurice, "you going to play that with a mute or not?" Maurice replies, "Well, on the score it says with, but it's been pencilled out." Bernstein- "So, hot shot, what are you going to do?" Maurice- "You tell me, you wrote it."

Never had an 800 bass amp, and I'm not entirely sure how similar they are but my 800 guitar amp is a double edged sword. It sounds fantastic, but the PCB bends as it gets hot and over the years a crack developed and it's very difficult to fix. Marshall at the time weren't splashing out on top quality components either so I've blown capacitors etc. They are now "vintage" but they weren't considered in the same league as earlier models even at the time. I gave up repairing mine all the time and just bought a newer one. I'd ask whoever sells you theirs to let you rag it for the length of time of gig at least and see how it holds up.

Got cheated out of first prize once in one of these. The limit was 3 covers, which we stuck to. However, the crowd knew the words so well to one of ours the judge decided it must be a cover as well, and therefore we cheated. The judge, resident of a small gaelic country near here, gave to another band from the same neck of the woods, who he happened to be friendly with. Our lot were so pi**ed off after singing so well the bouncers had to escort the judge driving out of the car park like he was in the movie In the Line Of Fire.