Big_Stu

[quote name='paulbass' timestamp='1364651522' post='2029232'] Hi all i hope i'm in the right forum for this question! In my band its been left to me to design some posters/flyers to advertise our band when doing gigs as im the only one with a colour printer. I havent a clue where to start! Do any of you know of any useful design sites or programs i can use for this purpose? Cheaper the better as i'm pretty useless and it would be a complete waste of money for me to spend on anything too complicated! Thanks for reading, Paul [/quote] While I agree with everything BRX has said, since you've been dumped with the job here's my 2cents. Firstly I wouldn't dream of using my own colour printer for such a job - you'll be using all your gig money on ink cartridges, cheapy refills or not. Use it to proof check your design (in your place I would recommend making it no bigger than A3 & putting a blank white window on it somewhere - usually at the foot area). Save your file as a .pdf that any half-decent printer can use & get blanks made; so that you can overprint them with gig details in the blank window at your local Asda or copier centre for pennies as gigs require them. NB. Make sure it's a digital printer - as traditional print could possibly mess up the copier that does the overprinting. How to make .pdf artwork? Do stuff cheap & you'll get limited results, but there is a free programme download called Avery that has templates for many things, including CD labels, covers etc. Once you get the hang of it you'll find your own way. You will also get bombarded with sales spam from Avery. [i](NB. Last I heard Avery was free, & ditto it's ability to "Save As" a pdf - so check for either before.................)[/i] Personally as an absolute minimum I would suggest you club together & buy a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements - PC World discounts it down from £70 every so often. Not only will you be able to do posters with it but you can also dick about with photos & text for effects. I'd be surprised if there aren't instr vids on Youtube for it. There isn't a quick fix, it's why - as BRX said - folk spend a few years at uni/college & a fortune on kit & keeping it's programmes up to date as well as being on a constant learning curve. It also forewarns them about the NB situations I've noted & a whole load of other insider odds n' sods.

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1364658185' post='2029328'] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_recorded_by_Rihanna"]Rihanna[/url] is listed as "co-writer" (her name's Robyn Fenty) on a number of her songs. How much she actually wrote of each song is a different matter entirely! [/quote] I know a song-writer who had pressure put on him to release 50% of his song-writing credit by a studio in return for having his work used. Payola still going strong then. Not saying it happened to any of those named but it is still a possibility in the music biz.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1364566721' post='2028260'] It helps stop reflections that cause feedback; it covers cables and stage seams so you don't trip over anything and fall on your arse; it recreates the same [i]ambience [/i]at each venue on a tour; and it looks good! What's not to like? [/quote] For those singists who spend a lot of stood at their mic & who do long gigs (ala Springsteen for eg.) it helps prevent sore feet by the end of tour by being stood on the spot for hours.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1364577177' post='2028442'] Live shoes ? [/quote] I had some "live" shoes - I think they were made in China .......... they were Lou-Ping (Scottish only joke). It may be a sign of old age (see previous thread on the subject) but I could walk past the vast majority of today's top acts in the street & not recognise them. It may be you have to achieve a certain level of notoriety or dickheadedness to be a superstar but I believe instant recognition is a part of the marker. Eg. Liam Gallagher once walked into the hair-dressers I used in Edinburgh to ask what time the pub next door opened; they talked about it for months after, even though Edinburgh has a high % of "star" visitors. Super-star? Hmm - in his own mind maybe, but famous more for being a knob than a music star (IMHO).

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1364502940' post='2027489'] I sold a guitar on Evilbay this week and the buyer decided to send his own courier to collect...queue an unmarked van turns up and the guy says hello mate I've come to collect a package! I said have you got the correct address labels....no he says, fortunately I had already put the address on the box....Am I going to get a receipt....no we don't give receipts he says...well I am not letting the guitar go then....so finally he gives me a City Link missed delivery slip with collect guitar written on it![/quote] I had very similar with ParcelFarce. The driver admitted he was a temp, in a plain white hired van, no uniform, no ID, no receipts to take an SG to Holland. I told him I wasn't letting it go & he started a rant about wasting his time & schedules etc. He started to get heavily stroppy so I told him to take a hike before I did the same. It was after that that I found out on here that they don't insure musical instruments anyway.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1364464725' post='2026763'] The garage was in Dalkieth. And the Jambo thing is massively ironic as Fish is a huge Hibs fan! [/quote] That's the one; I used "tae stay" a couple of miles from there. Oooh, calling a Hibee a Jambo! Fate worse than death!

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1364463506' post='2026734']Fish was the only Scot in the band![/quote] Didn't know that, Edinburgh rumour was they were all Jambo's. His mum & dad used to run a nearby garage/filling station. I heard a story that in their pre-fame days Fish had some stage banter about them not having eaten for days & a punter threw his sandwich on the stage for them, hence the buns tradition. Dunno if it's just a story or true tho'.

Definitely worst was a 15w Squier practise amp I was given as part of a package. Worse that one of those tiny Marshall/Vox/Fender battery powered jobs. So bad I gave it to the local school's music class the next day. By popular repute, my worst "proper" amp should be a mid-70s Marshall Lead n Bass tranny 100w head. They don't seem to get much love, but I really liked mine, they couldn't take full tilt for long but they had some good tones. gave it to the bassist in my son's band of the time & he used it for years as a back-up amp & occasional keyboards.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1364455172' post='2026637'] Marillion were a band I really tried hard to get into back in the day (all my pals were well into them around the time of Brave)[/quote] Me too. A mate of mine who was on their crew got me a pass for their "homecoming" gig on their '85 tour in Edinburgh. I was fairly unimpressed, I've seen better but I've seen a fair few a lot worse. They got a lot of stick for being a Scottish Genesis but I never saw it myself. But I did think having the whole of the stage floor as a giant Beano comic was inspired, though you couldn't see much of it after a while because the whole of it was covered by bread rolls thrown by the fans. It was distinct "WTF" night. Used to drink in the same boozer as Fish up there & he was a grand lad, always stood his round & took a lot off stick off the punters.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1364315972' post='2024761'] I've often thought there is more appreciation of technical skills than musical beauty from the majority of players on here. I know we are obviously striving to improve our skills so we listen to great players, but are we forgetting what music is all about?[/quote] When listening to any YT links posted on here for interest it always comes down to the bottom line for me; does it move me enough to want to know or hear more? Though when it doesn't there are times where you're taking your life in your hands saying so. Can I just say; that you've been asking a lot of deep questions lately Nige - which I've enjoyed seeing the responses to, without it turning into a musical snobbery or brow-beating contest. Thanks!

My guess would be that it feels as natural for a lefty playing as it does a "normal" person (BlueJay will batter me for that!) so your dominant hand is whatever it is. I've been told by two lefties that play righty (Dave Hill & Cropper - who also said Duck Dunn was the same) that in the "old days" it was because they could never find a true cheap enough left handed guitar, if at all, when they hadn't much money to pay for one.

[quote name='Tricycle' timestamp='1364295075' post='2024368'] Is this the slightly dull sequel to Snakes on a Plane? I think after this one you should do 'Guitar on a Bus' and ' Piano on a Bicycle' [/quote] and "Hair On A G-string"?

............. and only took it up as an alternative to buying a Harley when they hit 40?

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1364250626' post='2023985'] This is a great forum, love it. Some of the 'high numbers' posters seem to fall into one of two categories. 1. Middle-aged men who think others take them seriously. 2. Middle-aged men who are frustrated comedians. For me, the most entertaining part of Basschat is the interactions between these two tribes. [/quote] Fixed it for ya!

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1364284866' post='2024197'] Get a full flight case. I fly with my bass all the time. Always in the hold in a full flight case. I really don't understand why you lot all make such a fuss about flying your basses - umpteen flights and never a problem. [/quote] I think for most it's the big weight difference. They're not practical to carry for any distance at all, so in effect it's a comparatively expensive piece which sits in a cupboard most of the time, in favour of a lighter case or gig-bag for week to week playing. I'm not disagreeing with you - as to the best course of action for the OP, I have one myself - the insurance insisted on it. I do remember seeing a young guy with something electric size in a gigbag put it in the overheard locker, that was fairly recently so it must be possible with some airlines which is why I said to check too.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1364250891' post='2023989'] What the hell is a 'false mirror', anyway? A plank of wood? [/quote] It's one that lies, makes you think you look like Clooney instead of clungey.

Just a bit of Yin & Yang thread bump to counteract the negativity that's going on in a couple of threads. Gaun yer'sell BC's gaffers!

That looks like my ex trying to work out how to put a Onesie on.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1364230090' post='2023528'] Only [i]one [/i]sock, actually. [/quote] I'm not sure if that's bigging-up or bigging-down ........... my head hurts.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1364227544' post='2023469'] I was trying to big you up but now you've gone and blown it... [/quote] He usually uses his spare pair of socks for that!.............allegedly

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1363197367' post='2009660'] There was a JB Rick that lasted for ages on Ebay because it just showed a pickup[/quote]

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1364213572' post='2023181'] I used to do 'walk like a man'[/quote] "Rag Doll" was one I could do no problem, now it becomes a rusty croak before I get half way.

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1364211319' post='2023139'] Now you've made me feel even older! In my old band I was always elected to sing the Frankie Valli numbers - & play bass at the same time wasn't a problem in the 70's but it sure is these days [/quote] I used to be able to do a passable Frankie Valli voice in my "younger years" & could do the "[size=6]Fame[/size], [size=5]Fame[/size] [size=4]Fame[/size] [size=2]Fame [size=4]from that Bowie song (I forget the name of it just now) until I had a severe throat infection at 25 which I've never recovered properly from.[/size][/size]

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1364210676' post='2023127'] .......and the next stage of old age is not being able to jump up [/quote] True - now I'll probably need a hand to untie my shoelaces tonight. That wasn't a euphemism.

Is it a sign of old age that I just jumped up to crank an old song up on the radio? For the brass as well as the bass? The depth of the bass, the clarity, and the richness of the brass.............. I am so going to add to my shopping list a VBO of............... Frankie Valli!!! Anyone know what bass was used, I'm assuming Fender? [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdYGjQtNLW4[/media]