The Praise and Worship Band Bassists Club part 23

[khutch]

Originally Posted by JebDude

I have come to the conclusion after reading thru the last few pages, and in considering my own church's situation(split about 3 years ago), that music is picked on because it is 'up front', but the real reasons for most discontent is probably a discomfort about a spiritual or doctrinal direction the church, especially the pastor, is taking.

That has been my experience too, both with actual church splits and more commonly with major attendance crashes. Everything easily visible gets picked on and then tweaked in an attempt to restore normalcy. The deeper issues get solved last because they are harder to see and much more painful to change. But it is like being the quality control expert at a manufacturing plant: you will never fix the problem until you identify and address the root cause. If you want to save the Titanic you have to fix the enormous gash in the hull, not rearrange the deck chairs and ask the band to play something different. But if you are in the band perhaps you should try doing as you are asked because if everyone follows the captain's orders he won't be distracted by insubordination and he will have to face the real problem sooner and once the boat is saved the music can go back to normal.

Ken

[khutch]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

Youth service cancelled tonight due to snow. It snowed on Monday, thawed a little, then stayed sub-zero since then. And now we have snow forecast for the next few days - it started an hour ago and isn't due to let up. Think I may work from home this afternoon...

Good call if you have that option! Chicago seems to be having another non-winter winter, like last year's. Last night the local weather man noted that Jackson, Mississippi, far to the south, has had more snow this year than we have.

Ken

[SoVeryTired]

Many of the recent posts remind me of this joke (apologies if you've heard it before):

A ship was sailing slightly off-course and passed by a remote uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean. The captain was somewhat surprised to see smoke rising from the tiny island and, when he looked through his binoculars, he saw a man waving frantically from the edge of the beach. He brought the ship closer to the island and rowed ashore to investigate. There he was greeted by the man, who said, "I can never thank you enough! I've been stranded here alone for five years after my boat capsized in a storm".

"Wow", said the captain. "You've been here alone for five years?"

"Almost to the day", said the man. "I've had to survive on coconuts and rain water. I've had to build shelter with branches and make clothes from palm leaves."

Noticing three small, crudely constructed shelters at the top of the beach, the captain asked the man, "Is this where you've lived all this time?"

"Well, the first hut is my home", said the man. "That's where I sleep and shelter. The next hut is my church. I'm a very devout Christian and I wanted to build a place of worship. I go there every day to pray for my rescue. And here you are!"

"And what's the third shelter for?", asked the captain.

"Oh, that", said the man, turning his nose up in disgust. "That's the church I used to go to."

[TodB]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

Many of the recent posts remind me of this joke (apologies if you've heard it before):

A ship was sailing slightly off-course and passed by a remote uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean. The captain was somewhat surprised to see smoke rising from the tiny island and, when he looked through his binoculars, he saw a man waving frantically from the edge of the beach. He brought the ship closer to the island and rowed ashore to investigate. There he was greeted by the man, who said, "I can never thank you enough! I've been stranded here alone for five years after my boat capsized in a storm".

"Wow", said the captain. "You've been here alone for five years?"

"Almost to the day", said the man. "I've had to survive on coconuts and rain water. I've had to build shelter with branches and make clothes from palm leaves."

Noticing three small, crudely constructed shelters at the top of the beach, the captain asked the man, "Is this where you've lived all this time?"

"Well, the first hut is my home", said the man. "That's where I sleep and shelter. The next hut is my church. I'm a very devout Christian and I wanted to build a place of worship. I go there every day to pray for my rescue. And here you are!"

"And what's the third shelter for?", asked the captain.

"Oh, that", said the man, turning his nose up in disgust. "That's the church I used to go to."

Love it!

[mtb777]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

Youth service cancelled tonight due to snow. It snowed on Monday, thawed a little, then stayed sub-zero since then. And now we have snow forecast for the next few days - it started an hour ago and isn't due to let up. Think I may work from home this afternoon...

We just a cold front run through last night too......brrrrr this morning. It was 52. Man.

[SoVeryTired]

Just checking in old measurements... about 28 here and still snowing.

[mkandolf]

SVT, send some of that snow over here to Michigan!

[iceboxbass]

Originally Posted by mkandolf

SVT, send some of that snow over here to Michigan!

Come over to the NW side of the state...we've been getting snowfall 3-4 days straight now.

[TodB]

Supposed to be about 73 in LA today, and I forgot my mittens.

[iceboxbass]

Originally Posted by JebDude

THAT is almost sig worthy. 'You're not old, I have basses older than you are.

As a soon-to-be 55 year old I can say I grew up singing hymns, so I don't have a big problem with them. But, I also grew up listening to rock-and-roll and when it really comes down to it that is where my heart is. I think the local christian 'youth' station is a little bit lightweight!

Trying to keep both ends of the age spectrum is the reason we play the mix we do. It's just we are in a bit of a rut with most Sundays being 3 hymns then 3 contemporary.

My 2 cents worth

JB

We attend a UMC, United Methodist Church, we have the "Traditional Service", where they sing only hymnals and then a "Praise & Worship", some are now calling it an "Emerge Service", we do totally CCM Praise music in that service.
I grew up in church since Age 3 yrs. young, in a Baptist Church, where we sang only hymnals. I've been attending a contemporary services now since 1998 and find singing praise songs much deeper in my worship of God and much more refreshing than the older hymnals. When we attend another church when away from home, where they just sing old hymnals, I don't find that I'm refreshed spiritually no matter how much I try.
IMHO, I believe with contemporary Praise & Worship service, there's more room for spontaneity and I feel that I can pour my whole spiritual heart into the praise & worship service. I'm also the bassist for our church praise team.

A shameless promo...our Praise & Worship team was able to record/cut a 11 song CD last summer, 2012. Someone in our church wanted a CD of us and paid to have a professional studio bring their recording equip. to our church to record us. There's a couple obvious mistakes like singers coming in at wrong time but that's the way they wanted the cd...to sound like Sunday morning. It was an awesome experience and "My dream come true".

[invalidprotocol]

Originally Posted by TodB

Supposed to be about 73 in LA today, and I forgot my mittens.

I'm pretty sure that bragging on your SoCal weather is in violation of this threads rule. You just keep your mild, consistent, shorts and flip-flops temperatures to yourself!

[Dave the Bass]

Originally Posted by steve_rolfeca

Sigh. I just decided to face up to the fact that I'm just not a fretless guy, and traded the neck off my Squier VM fretless for a fretted CV P-bass neck.

Seemed better to have it as a lightweight backup to my active fivers, than to have it spend another year gathering dust.

I think this was my fourth failed attempt. For me, fretless is like a 12-string guitar- an interesting sideline, but not worth the hassle and expense of keeping it maintained, or the extra practice time required to master it.

I guess we all have our blind spots...

The Squier VM fretless is what I have as well. I had to try different sets of strings until I found some that worked for what I wanted. I use light gauge roundwounds and it really brings out the growl and "mwah". That driving bassline in Furious sounds great played with a pick on the fretless, nice and grindy.

[BlueLine1]

Amen, Ken, about the captain and the boat......
Alan

[Dan Knowlton]

Yeah, I understand, but when it only gets up to 76 where I live it is pretty hard to take. I even have to wear a jacket to work!

At least it will be sunny and warmer for the weekend!

Dan K.

Originally Posted by invalidprotocol

I'm pretty sure that bragging on your SoCal weather is in violation of this threads rule. You just keep your mild, consistent, shorts and flip-flops temperatures to yourself!

[steve_rolfeca]

Originally Posted by Dave the Bass

The Squier VM fretless is what I have as well. I had to try different sets of strings until I found some that worked for what I wanted. I use light gauge roundwounds and it really brings out the growl and "mwah". That driving bassline in Furious sounds great played with a pick on the fretless, nice and grindy.

My trouble was intonation. I'm a pretty relaxed person in most senses, but I veer perilously close to OCD when it comes to tone and intonation.

The intonation thing is what makes me a shameless wuss about fretless. I've been told that my intonation actually isn't that bad for a beginner, but every miss, no matter how slight, drives me crazy.

[TodB]

Originally Posted by steve_rolfeca

My trouble was intonation. I'm a pretty relaxed person in most senses, but I veer perilously close to OCD when it comes to tone and intonation.

The intonation thing is what makes me a shameless wuss about fretless. I've been told that my intonation actually isn't that bad for a beginner, but every miss, no matter how slight, drives me crazy.

The irony is that since you notice when the intonation is off you'll get the hang of it. It's the guys who don't notice anything wrong who are the real problem with fretless.

That said, I went back to a fretted bass a while back in part so I didn't have to worry about intonation so much.

[Mike M.]

Originally Posted by Dave the Bass

The Squier VM fretless is what I have as well. I had to try different sets of strings until I found some that worked for what I wanted. I use light gauge roundwounds and it really brings out the growl and "mwah". That driving bassline in Furious sounds great played with a pick on the fretless, nice and grindy.

I picked up one of those as well. I never had a fretless bass before and figured if it didn't work out then I wouldn't be out of too much cash. It's really a cool little bass that has a good sound to it! But wow, talk about having to concentrate on where you're going! That bass gives me a definate mental workout...but that's a good thing!

[mtb777]

Originally Posted by invalidprotocol

I'm pretty sure that bragging on your SoCal weather is in violation of this threads rule. You just keep your mild, consistent, shorts and flip-flops temperatures to yourself!

Yeah. I got cheated. I had to take the long sleeve shirt off at 9:30 this morning because evidently our winter ended. Blasphemy I tell you. South Florida just ain't what it used to be.

[SoVeryTired]

I've not owned a fretless but I've tried in store and borrowed one for a week. My intonation was quite good, but 'quite' isn't good enough for me. I also found it took a lot of concentration which wouldn't allow me to MD properly or to focus on the congregation or my own worship.

It may well be that such things come with lots of practice but for now I've got plenty of practice to do on my fretted bass. I also like the sound but not all the time. As Steve mentioned 12-string guitar that resonated either me but on sound rather than playability. A really nice sound - sometimes. My first electric was a 12-string and no matter how I played it or what effects I used, it always sounded like a 12. That's my personal take on fretless as well. A great sound on occasions but, for now, too much work for something that wouldn't get much use.

[MissingHighs]

^^^ I share your feelings here, there is still far to much to learn on fretted to try and jump to fretless; lets just say I admire the folk who do manage to pull it off. The one thing I unashamedly admit is, when it come to God's music, I am OCD! IMVHO we should be putting more effort and practise into playing music for Him than even the most prolific pop star puts into their's; and anyone on the team who doesn't or isn't prepared to 'get it' is letting the side down! Just let it not be me

Sorry, what was that..... oh,.... you say I'm not perfect!? That I will make mistakes!? Huh! Has anyone ever told you that you have a rather unique way of encouraging others?