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I Am Lost With This One

#21
After a certain age your supposed to put on a Hawaiian print shirt and play Brown Eyed Girl and love doing it.


I am stuborn about my age, really to a fault. I have two words for any guys of my vintage that come to me with that "Brown Eyed Girl" stuff.

GET LOST!

Not that theres anything wrong with Van Morrison, it's just not for me.
 
#22
bluewine said:
After a certain age your supposed to put on a Hawaiian print shirt and play Brown Eyed Girl and love doing it.


I am stuborn about my age, really to a fault. I have two words for any guys of my vintage that come to me with that "Brown Eyed Girl" stuff.

GET LOST!

Not that theres anything wrong with Van Morrison, it's just not for me.
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I hear ya there. I hate that song to play it hear it ..whatever. I hope I never have to go back to covers but know this is only hope. If and when that day comes I will be picky on what I play. That why I guess I enjoy blues or blues rock the most...I can hang on that all night.
 
#23
bluewine said:
... they do all their songs in E flat. Is that normal for bands today? I am concerned it will limit my style of playing....
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+1 to tuning the whole bass down 1/2 step.

I would say its typical from what Ive exp'd.
4 of the last 4 bands I've been in tune down 1/2 step.
(a lil easier to sing some of the songs that way.)


Now, the confusing part. (well.. confusing to somebody I have to deal with..)

If the cover you're learning is ALREADY down 1/2 step...do you still play it 1/2 step lower[than that]? :hmm:



But yes, just tune er down 1/2 step, most tuners nowadays have a selection std,down1/2, down1, down 1 1/2...in 1/2 step increments..so you "feel " like you're tuning normal...and the tuner sets you straight.


Man, I Babble
 
#24
I would do this with one bass and bring that bass to the auditon. Practice the songs in standard tuning on your own to the recording so you develop muscle memory. At rehearsal you probably won't notice a difference.

We do songs tuned to E or drop D depending on what the singer wants. I hate changing or tuning guitars on stage so I'll let the tune one string while I play a 5 string.
 
#26
I'm in the same boat you are. Old??? Always looking for tone??? Can rock with the best of them??? Love loud and heavy???

I don't like down tuning. Seems to suck the live out of all my basses and rig combinations. I usually just play in Eb.

Call me the odd ball here.
 
#27
dmusic148 said:
For God's sake don't try to 'compensate' by playing a 5'er. Just to play in Eflat, it's the biggest PITA in the world, and not even remotely worth it. Will the guitars have a B string? No, they will not. Tune as they do. Simple.
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It's only a problem if either A) you aren't experienced enough with your 5er to easily transpose, or B) the guitars keep looking off you to figure out what they are supposed to be doing. The second one is their problem. The first one can be overcome with practice. There are some songs that can be difficult if they were intended in a different tuning, but I find it's usually an issue with drop tuning, not flat. Just pretend that the 4th fret B string is open Eb and work everything from there.
 
#28
Atticus said:
It's only a problem if either A) you aren't experienced enough with your 5er to easily transpose, or B) the guitars keep looking off you to figure out what they are supposed to be doing. The second one is their problem. The first one can be overcome with practice. There are some songs that can be difficult if they were intended in a different tuning, but I find it's usually an issue with drop tuning, not flat. Just pretend that the 4th fret B string is open Eb and work everything from there.
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Yes but I think Blue said he has 9 basses and If I am not mistaken all are 4 stringers. I wouldnt run out and buy a 5 for a gig to tune down a 1/2 step...no way. I used to play 5 stringers and they were cool...not again thou.
 
#29
bassbully said:
Yes but I think Blue said he has 9 basses and If I am not mistaken all are 4 stringers. I wouldnt run out and buy a 5 for a gig to tune down a 1/2 step...no way. I used to play 5 stringers and they were cool...not again thou.
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Yeah, I'm sure the 5 stringers are cool, I saw a used straight 5 Jazz Bass, I almost purchased it. i am sticking with what I know, 4 strings.

BTW, Tuning down was no problem.
 
#31
I'm not sure 1/2 step will make enough of a difference to require heavier gauge strings, unless he's already using a light gauge to begin with. Also may not be enough to bother readjusting the intonation.

Just try it, leave that one bass in Eb and see what happens. If the strings are too floppy, get larger gauge. Check the intonation, and if its affected, keep that bass set up for Eb as long as you have 4.

I'm having a hard time believing downtuning makes it sound "heavier" in a way that playing it on a 5 string wouldn't duplicate.

Its the same pitches, the B string is heavier gauge than any E string. If you like the sound of heavier strings, get heavier strings on the 5 string.

You guys think you need to uptune the bass to play in the key of F?

If you're relying on open strings to play lines, that's just a bad habit to get into. Guitar players have some leeway, when fingering chords in open position if that's how the song was written, and they have to drop it to accomodate the singer.

With one note at a time, there's no such excuse for bass players.

Generally speaking, the reason they put all those notes on the instrument is so you can play in any key without having to retune the instrument.

Randy
 
#32
I don't understand why, if you've been playing for 40 years, still take lessons, and rock is your thing, you had to ask this question.

I know you've been having a lot of trouble with auditions. For getting quality responses before auditions I recommend video taping you playing covers through 5-10 songs in the genre you're auditioning for. I had a terrible time finding a working band I could just step in with until I did that and then I had an audition with a great band of normal people in a day.

Link those to the people you respond too, that way if they aren't cool with your image you're not wasting your time learning songs and crap for a bunch of losers.
 
#34
zephyr_words said:
I don't understand why, if you've been playing for 40 years, still take lessons, and rock is your thing, you had to ask this question.

I know you've been having a lot of trouble with auditions. For getting quality responses before auditions I recommend video taping you playing covers through 5-10 songs in the genre you're auditioning for. I had a terrible time finding a working band I could just step in with until I did that and then I had an audition with a great band of normal people in a day.

Link those to the people you respond too, that way if they aren't cool with your image you're not wasting your time learning songs and crap for a bunch of losers.
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I think this droped stuff finally caught up with me.

Up until now I always avoided it and would take no part in it, so I never learned how to do it. Back in the 60s and 70s we all played 4 stringers and nobody was drop tuning.

Hell,as far as I know "Whole Lotta Love" is in E and not dropped. If Led Zep didn't drop tune why should I.

BTW, I tried dropping to E flat and I really like it::)

I do the video tape(web cam) thing, I usually have at least a week to prepare for an audition and understand the covers and the band.

Believe me, I know from the past what it feels like to audition and you don't know the material that well and your in this room sweating it out with strangers cause your not prepared.

When I audition now, I know what I am going to sound like and look like.I usually know the songs better than the band does.

I don't really have a problem auditioning,I think it's more a problem with truely understanding what I want. I have had 2 offers and neither were matches for me.

Thing is I try to be open to knew things (genres),I think that is why I have auditioned for bands that might be doing things that really is not what I am looking for. However at the end of the day that is not working.

Read my next post for an example.
 
#35
This thread started out as a place to get help about drop tuning. I got the help and I am fine with it and understand how to do it.

However, a few have starting pointing out the problems I have had with auditioning.

Yes, it's true there have been problems.

The primary problem is not being true to what I want. However, there have been age and race issues.

There are some South Side White dudes that ain't gonnna bring in a Black bass player.Thats cool no problem, because there are also some South Side White dudes that will. Get where I'm coming from? I think you do.

Heres the example of fine tuning my search. I had an audtion tentivly set up for this Tuesday, I cancelled it.

This is why, The songs were from Korn, Alice In Chains, Candle Box and STP. I thought, well, is this good for me. I asked a fellow bass player he says yeah those bands and the songs are cool and bands like that get bookings. Even Jive from TB told me he thought the songs were cool.

All that stuff probably is cool, but not cool in the sense that it's the type of band I match up with.

To make a long story short, I checked out some of the bands vids. Man, am I a bigot. I judged them, I couldn't get beyond the bald heads,cargo shorts and gym shoes. Just like some bands can't get beyond my age or being Black.So I really see this stuff from both sides.

Anyway I realized when I was reheasing those songs it was no fun.

I started playing to some of the clasic Rock, that I love (AC/DC) and it was fun.I also love playing stuff like Paramore. I like music that is pretty, happy and that people can dance to, not mosh to(whatever that means)

I am going to limit my auditions to clasic rock or the happier Pop Rock stuff and deal with it from there.

Needless to say it's going to be a while before I find a match.
 
#36
bluewine said:
...
Needless to say it's going to be a while before I find a match.
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But when you do find one, it will be great!

Another option: Just go with whatever pops up, even if it's uncharted ground for you, & see where it leads. Might be fun, might be a drag, might not last long, but you're bound to learn something. It can be fun to turn over random rocks, just to see what's under them!
 
#37
bluewine said:
Ok, cool, that’s a nice thing. But what confused me was, they do all their songs in E flat. Is that normal for bands today? I am concerned it will limit my style of playing.

I really need help with this one.
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Normal? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Depends on band. My sense of it, playing in a band (now) that tunes to E flat, is that provided you also tune to E flat, it will change your playing/approach little if any. Detune by 1/2 step and you'll do just fine!
 
#39
rosanne said:
I applaud your being true to yourself! You may find a match sooner than you think.
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Thanks, I was trying to be open to new ground and a lot of those newer and not so new sounds were not working for me. I am sure Alice In Chains, STP, Korn and Candle Box have some rocking tunes but for the most part that stuff is not for me.

Too bad our my band broke up.

In hind site I don't think the members understood or realized how much better we were than most of the local Pop/Rock Bands. We had the best female lead vocals front person in the city, after a year our sound was coming toether and we looked great.
 
#40
Almost everything Stevie Wonder did was in Eb. 'Superstitious' 'I Wish' and 'Do I Do' are a few examples. Many Michael Jackson songs ala Quincy Jones ('Rock With You')are in Eb. Actually, tons of songs and artists tune down a half step and play in Eb. It keeps thing simple for the guitar and bass players and is better for many vocalists range.
 

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