Trials of a Mid-life Crisis Bass Player...

[BawanaRik]

I take zinc and vitamin C everyday. Don't know if it really helps but i doubt that it hurts

Originally Posted by Russell L

The old fart that I am has been sick all week this week, since last Friday. But, I also had to play a high profile show this past Saturday and play in the host band at the blues jam Tuesday. Now, I'm also facing having to play out of town this Saturday. Whew, it ain't like the old days. Used to be I could handle anything. Nowadays, at age 63, it's much harder, and when I get sick it seems to be more severe and lasts longer. Maybe I'll be better by Saturday, I hope.

[Bassmanbob]

Jaame, mulebagger and Count Bassie: great to see the kids enjoying what they want to play. It really is nice to see them do their thing.

[JaamE]

Originally Posted by Bassmanbob

Jaame, mulebagger and Count Bassie: great to see the kids enjoying what they want to play. It really is nice to see them do their thing.

And now that he's done with high school he's playing around with electronic music in Abelton Live and FL Studio, trying to make stuff from scratch and learning that you can't make a realistic kick drum sound with just the low freq wave, that you have to add in the harmonics to make it sound real. I think he spent two days on that drum beat trying to do it from scratch :-)

[Astreaux]

Originally Posted by JaamE

And now that he's done with high school he's playing around with electronic music in Abelton Live and FL Studio, trying to make stuff from scratch and learning that you can't make a realistic kick drum sound with just the low freq wave, that you have to add in the harmonics to make it sound real. I think he spent two days on that drum beat trying to do it from scratch :-)

+1

[Flyingfrets]

Originally Posted by JaamE

And now that he's done with high school he's playing around with electronic music in Abelton Live and FL Studio, trying to make stuff from scratch and learning that you can't make a realistic kick drum sound with just the low freq wave, that you have to add in the harmonics to make it sound real. I think he spent two days on that drum beat trying to do it from scratch :-)

Wish my son would get the message. He was a pretty decent guitar player till about 2 years ago. Decided he wanted a keyboard, so I obliged. Then he decided he was into dubstep, so all the studio software came next. Now all I hear all day, every day are atonal R2D2 farts...

[Count Bassie]

Originally Posted by Flyingfrets

Wish my son would get the message. He was a pretty decent guitar player till about 2 years ago. Decided he wanted a keyboard, so I obliged. Then he decided he was into dubstep, so all the studio software came next. Now all I hear all day, every day are atonal R2D2 farts...

Something'll probably come of it! The process... it's one of those arcane things that are hard to follow.

[Count Bassie]

Originally Posted by Bassmanbob

Jaame, mulebagger and Count Bassie: great to see the kids enjoying what they want to play. It really is nice to see them do their thing.

Totally is man. Whatever they eventually do with their lives, music does a good thing for the soul and mind. However you engage it.

[jelly6466]

My daughters just started on Piano and Bass, taks me back to when I started. Kinda neat to see them interested and progressing.

[boristhespider9]

What's this thread about again?

[Bassmanbob]

Originally Posted by boristhespider9

What's this thread about again?

Relax. This is like a free therapy support group for middle aged bass players. "Hello. My name is Bob, and I'm a middle aged bass player..."

Group, "Hello Bob."

[phillybass101]

My wife came home with what looks like a woman's mini flashlight in pink. She opened it up and demonstrated TO me that it was a Tazor. Now she's really dangerous :-) I pitty the fool that thinks he's going to lay hands on her.

[JaamE]

Originally Posted by Flyingfrets

Wish my son would get the message. He was a pretty decent guitar player till about 2 years ago. Decided he wanted a keyboard, so I obliged. Then he decided he was into dubstep, so all the studio software came next. Now all I hear all day, every day are atonal R2D2 farts...

I wish i could afford the studio software... he's still using trial versions and the beginning software for his Numark DJ mixer. But the boy mixes so well that he can leave the room and walk back in in time to hit a button for the next song :-) Then he finds and cues the next one and dances until it's time to bop over there and hit a button again. He doesn't even use the 'auto cue' or whatever it's called, he says it's 'cheating' He's teaching his friend now.

[Flyingfrets]

Originally Posted by JaamE

I wish i could afford the studio software... he's still using trial versions and the beginning software for his Numark DJ mixer. But the boy mixes so well that he can leave the room and walk back in in time to hit a button for the next song :-) Then he finds and cues the next one and dances until it's time to bop over there and hit a button again. He doesn't even use the 'auto cue' or whatever it's called, he says it's 'cheating' He's teaching his friend now.

Yeah, most of that software is pricey, but thankfully my day job allows me to indulge him somewhat. Mind you, I can't afford to give in to every whim that strikes his fancy, but he does have enough musical aptitude that I look at it as an investment.

I let him mess around with my Pro Tools, Sonic Foundry & Cakewalk software for awhile and when he kept at it, I figured it was more than curiosity for him so we've slowly been building up his software library.

Like your son, he's mixing on the fly...and to beats he made. He's already been offered "dj" gigs at some of the clubs in our area for the past year or so based on stuff he'd uploaded, but he just turned 18 and I wasn't allowing him to start the nite-life bit just yet.

Sometimes he forgets that I have to get up & go to work in the morning & he'll have beats shaking the house at 1 A.M. (trust me, I like the electronic burps & squawks even less then than I do when I'm awake), but I'm told he's very good (I have no clue because I'm like..."old", y'know! ).

He's enjoying himself and it looks like he"ll be making a few bucks of his own with it, so even though things get a little tight financially now & then, I don't regret it in the least.

[JaamE]

Originally Posted by Flyingfrets

Sometimes he forgets that I have to get up & go to work in the morning & he'll have beats shaking the house at 1 A.M. (trust me, I like the electronic burps & squawks even less then than I do when I'm awake), but I'm told he's very good (I have no clue because I'm like..."old", y'know! ).

Mine's been very thoughtful when it comes to volume and the house. We did build the house with 6" walls with insulation on the bedrooms because we knew we'd have teenagers, but even when i can't hear it outside his room he'll come out and hold his hand against the wall by my antique wall clock to be sure it's not vibrating too much. i <3 that kid! I dont mind the bass, but the high treble stuff drives me batty. He did show me though that if he EQ's that out the music does lose a lot, but it still makes me want to scream.

[shadven]

Originally Posted by Flyingfrets

Yeah, most of that software is pricey, but thankfully my day job allows me to indulge him somewhat. Mind you, I can't afford to give in to every whim that strikes his fancy, but he does have enough musical aptitude that I look at it as an investment.

I let him mess around with my Pro Tools, Sonic Foundry & Cakewalk software for awhile and when he kept at it, I figured it was more than curiosity for him so we've slowly been building up his software library.

Like your son, he's mixing on the fly...and to beats he made. He's already been offered "dj" gigs at some of the clubs in our area for the past year or so based on stuff he'd uploaded, but he just turned 18 and I wasn't allowing him to start the nite-life bit just yet.

Sometimes he forgets that I have to get up & go to work in the morning & he'll have beats shaking the house at 1 A.M. (trust me, I like the electronic burps & squawks even less then than I do when I'm awake), but I'm told he's very good (I have no clue because I'm like..."old", y'know! ).

He's enjoying himself and it looks like he"ll be making a few bucks of his own with it, so even though things get a little tight financially now & then, I don't regret it in the least.

My son is 23 and just moved to San Francisco (from Tampa) with his entire band to be in a more creative music scene.. and to be in San Francisco His band is starting to record everything to tape and then bouncing to digital for mixing. I love that they are discovering analog.

[Flyingfrets]

Originally Posted by shadven

His band is starting to record everything to tape and then bouncing to digital for mixing. I love that they are discovering analog.

That's why my son is begining to appreciate my being "middle-aged." He likes a lot of the old effects from the 60's & 70's and can't understand why the digital counterparts don't sound the same. He's learning that with digital, if you're able to "defeat" the software at all, you're just going to get a very unpleasant white noise for your effort, but defeating analog equipment...well, that opened up all those effects he favors. You should've seen the look on his his face when I explained that the term "flanging" came from a recording engineer holding his thumb against the "flange" of old studio reel-to-reel tape spools as they were recorded or played back At first he thought I was yanking his chain. Then I kinda saw the light bulb go on and he said, " So then digital flanging is just a simulation of what real flanging is supposed to sound like?" I said, "yeah, that's about as concise as I've ever heard it summed up."

So I'm glad he's learnining that old stuff like analog (and "Pops" ) are still pretty useful...

[Count Bassie]

Great stuff about the young'uns learning the old way of doing things. Always back to square 1!

[SBassman]

I only read the first page.

But, I can sympathize, being the father of a large family.
Large enough that I won't shock you with the details.

My advice - manage it one day at a time, while - trying to do it all. The people who put gigging on the shelf to raise their family - sometimes never live to see it come back off the shelf.

Just you being at the party is enough for your kids. They won't know whether you put 100 hours into it in advance, or winged it along the way. As long as you are really There when you are There.

Beyond that, keep playing. It will keep you a happy man, and it will make you a better Daddy.

[I tell ya, I really, really miss the days of the girls being - little girls. Those days are behind me now, and, it's sad that they are gone.][Man, are they gone.]

[pgolliher]

Originally Posted by SBassman

I only read the first page.

But, I can sympathize, being the father of a large family.
Large enough that I won't shock you with the details.

My advice - manage it one day at a time, while - trying to do it all. The people who put gigging on the shelf to raise their family - sometimes never live to see it come back off the shelf.

Just you being at the party is enough for your kids. They won't know whether you put 100 hours into it in advance, or winged it along the way. As long as you are really There when you are There.

Beyond that, keep playing. It will keep you a happy man, and it will make you a better Daddy.

[I tell ya, I really, really miss the days of the girls being - little girls. Those days are behind me now, and, it's sad that they are gone.][Man, are they gone.]

Thanks Frank. I appreciate what you said. Luckily my wife understands that I am a happier and more balanced person when I am playing. I can only imagine what you mean about missing the days when your kids were young. My daughter that turned 6 is tall and lean like her mom- she doesn't look like our little baby anymore and our two year old twins are getting bigger everyday. I am trying to make the most of these years.

[Count Bassie]

Originally Posted by pgolliher

Thanks Frank. I appreciate what you said. Luckily my wife understands that I am a happier and more balanced person when I am playing. I can only imagine what you mean about missing the days when your kids were young. My daughter that turned 6 is tall and lean like her mom- she doesn't look like our little baby anymore and our two year old twins are getting bigger everyday. I am trying to make the most of these years.

Just watched 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' with my 12 and 14 year-old tonight. A worthy experience- it's fun when your kids laugh at the same things you did when you were their age. Being Dad is a good thing.