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In need for some impressive stuff.

#21
Playing the bass all by yourself is a scary proposition, let alone in front of a camera, so the fear is certainly justified.
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Absolutley!!! I feel naked without a drummer, man I hate it! I have solo sections in songs, intros and actual bass solos, but when I do solo I always want drums in there, just to keep me rolling along nicely - I also like to play with mild drums as acompanyment- a good drummer doing this during a solo can make it!

I'll try to rephrase what Howard said, sans the baseball bat diplomacy (just teasin' ya Howie )..
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No that's quite alright. You're right, small feet, big mouth that's me. Sorry Squice :rolleyes: guess I was a 'tad' brutal there!

So how did it go, tell us?! :)
 
#23
If I had to play something for broadcast I'd remmber that it has to make a good short sound-byte. Conciseness is necessary.
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Precisely.

I might play the opening verse of Jeff Berlin's tune, "Joe Frazier."
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...why not play your own thang?

What is with performing other peoples material? Am I the only person who wants to do my own thing, to play my bass lines, my music?

I mean to get on TV, that's cool!, a once in a lifetime opportunity right? So I say grab it with both hands and show everyone a bit of "yourself"
If that were me I'd wanna say "this is Howard K on bass, check the fkn groove!!".

I can't think of a bigger waste of an opportunity like that than playing someone elses material, regardless of how flash it is!
 
#26
I agree 100% Howard. It's not improvisation if you're playin' some other cat's sh*t.

And you can emulate another player's style too much as well...being a "clone", as it were.

That bugs me even more. I stumbled upon a cat's mp3 site, listened to a bunch of his "original" compositions, and when I say this cat is a Jaco clone, it's the understatement of the year.

Now here's someone with a ton of knowledge and facility, and not a single itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny little bit of originality.

If you can play just like Jaco, or Victor, or fill-in-your-favorite-bass-God-here...people ("civilians" anyway) will be impressed. But odds are you'll toil away in obscurity if you don't develop you own unique voice.
 
#27
this is it, i mean being able to play like Jaco - wow, that IS impressive, some serious technique a feel all rolled into one.

I guess I can some it up by saying I'd rather sound like me than Jaco, or Marcus Miller, or Pattitucci, or Mingus, or Ray Brown, or Steve Lawson (my teacher), or Mr Manring...

my other opinion on this is that I'd rather play a great bassline than a flashy one. Sure I do solo's an my fair share of nifty little fills and stuff - to the best of my ability, but in the end I'm a bass player - it's a supportive role that requires total dedication to the song and that's the way i like it :)
given that 5 mins of fame i'd play something that came right from me, nothing more and certainly nothing less :)
 
#28
I don't get you guys. If you are playing for strangers who are going to evaluate you for steady employment (a rare opportunity) you have to play something that gives them a frame of reference, some familiarity. Solo bass is not what people hear every day. How will they remember your effort if they never heard the music before, and probably never will again?
Unless you will have to compose for the gig on a regular basis, your audition needs to show your command of your instrument and your ability to groove; how well you'll fit in with other players. Your interviewers must REMEMBER you FAVORABLY at day's end. It may even make your potential employers think you won't work well in a cooperative setting; you're a maverick or a showboater.
I'd like to take a survey of people who responded to this thread to see how many work steadily. And I don't mean an original music showcase once a month in a club for next-to-no-money.
 
#29
I don't get you guys. If you are playing for strangers who are going to evaluate you for steady employment (a rare opportunity) you have to play something that gives them a frame of reference, some familiarity. Solo bass is not what people hear every day. How will they remember your effort if they never heard the music before, and probably never will again?
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This is a good point - and exactly why I was saying I wouldnt play something flash... but on the same basis playing someone elses solo is weak, end of story.
Playing "a SIMPLE classic line" however is a good idea, hence my sugegstion of Another one bites the dust, or maybe Billy Jean or something - you get waht I'm saying here right?

Unless you will have to compose for the gig on a regular basis, your audition needs to show your command of your instrument and your ability to groove; how well you'll fit in with other players. Your interviewers must REMEMBER you FAVORABLY at day's end. It may even make your potential employers think you won't work well in a cooperative setting; you're a maverick or a showboater.
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So where did this Jeff Berlin suggeston come from? You're saying that solo bass is a bad idea right cause non one ever knows any of it, yet you suggested the guy?!

I'd like to take a survey of people who responded to this thread to see how many work steadily. And I don't mean an original music showcase once a month in a club for next-to-no-money.
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I'll resist the desire to be deeply sarcastic...
What are you saying here? That because you play professionally your opinion in this matter is more valid?
I hope not because that's nonsense. I play for next to no money (expenses), but that doenst mean I'm any less valuable as a musician, or as a band member. Best believe I'll give anyone a good run for their money in the right audition.

You choose to play prfessionally. I choose a steady wage. I'd love to turn pro, but not enough to suffer a for a 50% pay cut.

Q) What work did you do last week?
 
#30
Originally posted by Dondi
I don't get you guys. If you are playing for strangers who are going to evaluate you for steady employment (a rare opportunity) you have to play something that gives them a frame of reference, some familiarity. Solo bass is not what people hear every day. How will they remember your effort if they never heard the music before, and probably never will again?
Unless you will have to compose for the gig on a regular basis, your audition needs to show your command of your instrument and your ability to groove; how well you'll fit in with other players. Your interviewers must REMEMBER you FAVORABLY at day's end. It may even make your potential employers think you won't work well in a cooperative setting; you're a maverick or a showboater.
I'd like to take a survey of people who responded to this thread to see how many work steadily. And I don't mean an original music showcase once a month in a club for next-to-no-money.
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Um...how many non bass players do you really think are going to be familiar with the opening riff of "Joe Frasier" by Jeff Berlin, or "Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) by Cliff Burton?

In the off chance anyone DID recognize the line, if they are at all like me, they'd probably find it more sad than anything else. I mean, personally, I'd laugh if I heard someone do that--imagine watching a tv show and when it comes time time to introduce the guitar player, he whips out Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption." :eek: If he didn't have his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, I'd pee my pants I'd be laughing so hard at the stupidity of it all.

And, this wasn't for an "audition," it was for a solo break during band introductions--not quite the same thing.

As for my "credentials," I do have a full time day job (what can I say? I like health insurance,and my 401 (k)), but I play out every month with both of my bands for guaranteed $$, I'm playing a benefit for the Special Olympics this Saturday for between 1000-2000 people, and I'm recording a track for a movie in July. Oh, and, BTW, all of these gigs were gotten by way of people hearing our ORIGINAL music...Good enough to have an opinion?
 
#31
You choose to play prfessionally. I choose a steady wage. I'd love to turn pro, but not enough to suffer a for a 50% pay cut.
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I don't think I could say it better myself. My band does about 4 gigs a month right now, we get paid anywhere between $100 - $300 per gig. Not exactly money to live on once you split it among 4 people.

I think a lot of us here could be pro players, but, we have houses and cars to pay for, so we have real jobs. That doesn't make us any less as players.
 
#32
How did we get on auditions, Dondi? That's not what we're discussing here. Horse of a different color, so to speak. We're not talking playing someone else's music, but someone else's solo.

But let me ask you this...would you go to an audition for a GB gig and play "Donna Lee" a la Jaco, note for note? :hmm:

And as far as "working steadily"...please define. Do you mean deriving all your income exclusively from playing? Do you do that? If you do in NYC, then you are to be congratulated and envied. Something tells me there's a bit more work to be had where you are as opposed to where I am. I could make a nice living on music if I had 20 or so students a week and played lots of weddings. No thanks. I'll stick to my original music for now, thank you...at which I work extremely hard.

If you'd like to know if I'm qualified to make the statements that I have, than follow the link to my website and check out the sound clips. If that's not enough evidence, I'll gladly send you my CD (gratis of course) so you can really dig in. BTW I put this band together myself, paid for and produced the record, and did some writing as well. Am I the second coming of Jaco? Hell no, but that's kinda the point, dig?

I'm 43 years old and still busting my hump so that I can jettison the day gig for good. It's gonna happen, and soon. Sorry to get huffy here, but I don't think it's cool for a "pro" to look down his nose at us "part-timers".
 
#33
I honestly did not mean to disparage anyones idea of what leading a musically satisfying life is!
There are so many ways of making music part of your existence that the real shame is that there are people who deny themselves a musical outlet.
I'm not trying to attack anyone's way of life here. I myself have been what you would call a full-time player (5 nights a week), and a part-time player (60-80 gigs a year on weekends). Frankly I prefer being a part-time player and collecting at the least my union scale. I have spent most of my career as a booking agent and manager. I've sat on a number of audition juries and wondered what the player was trying to prove to me by his choice of music. I also tryed to make sure there was a good drummer on hand to check is time and groove with another player. That is why I felt qualified to make my comments on what might be smart for audition purposes. Throwing in the Jeff Berlin song as an example was simply to satisfy the audiion to some extent. Frankly, I'd make sure to quiz him on any other syles of music he might have to play on the gig.I don't know what you've experienced out there, but I have found that many juries at auditions had at least one bass player friend in them. Also, there is no situation where the audience gives less of a crap about YOUR original music than at an audition to play THEIR music.
I am sorry that I sound preachy sometimes, though. I'm on your side, ladies and gentlemen.
 
#36
The technical definition of "Professional" I think means that over 80% of your annual income is derived from a specific job function. In this case, that would mean that make the majority of your money from playing gigs and getting paid.

If for instance, if I lived in a $500 a month appartment and didn't have a car payment cause I drove a '90 honda civic and made $15K a year playing shows and didn't have a real job. I would be a "Professional" bass player. hehe. Weird logic, but I think you see my point.
 
#37
I think professionals are people that the general public would pay to have any given job done in what they believe is an expert manner. In music, most of the professionals that play at corporate events and weddings, also have another field of endeavor that contributes to their earning a liveable wage. The industry does not , by and large,keep any one musician busy enough to allow him to have no other means of support, be it teaching, recording, or perhaps an unrelated field.
 
#38
So if you're an IT guy who has a car payment and makes 35k a year and pays a grand in rent/mortgage,is that a "real" job?Professional entails a lot more than the paycheck.You can get microsoft certified for 10 grand,then collect your 35k to tell secretaries how to re-boot...are you a pro?
Walk into a pit audition and sightread from the book @tempo,no mistakes,with only conducting for time,that's a pro...whether he gets paid or not.:)
 
#39
I agree in part. There is, however, a very big difference between people who are professional, and people who are professionals. The first being someone who conducts themselves in a professional manner. The second being someone who meets the criteria I already described. I also think that teaching and other similar activities would contribute to that criteria.

I think we are getting WAY off topic though :)
 
#40
ConU, I understand your point completely, being a programmer myself I can relate. I think it really depends on what definition of "Pro" you are referring to. I would definitely consider someone who has those kind of mad skills a 'pro' even if it's not the literal meaning.

I am not trying to confuse the point, just exploring the different meanings to a simple word to make sure we are all referring to the same one.
 

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