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Let's spread some musical misinformation

#9,622
Base Bass Players...
650820c7d5ef4d8dfcaf7a4559c06588.jpg
 
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#9,626
Common Tater said:
Wow. I didn't know "base" was a musical instrument. Wait, "misinformation"? So... it's not a musical instrument? What do I say to my drummer now?

She also wants to know what the fifth position is on the bass.
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in bassball, only played with double basses, a glove with a web between the thumb and a finger is worn, the web is atraining device to prevent the neck from resting in the palm.
To determine, positions American baseball is used in early training. So when you layout out the band, the bass in the fifth position, stands plays about 90 ft and to the left of the bass in the 2nd position, and to the the right of the bass in the first position, using the baseball analogy, the 5th position bass looks like third base.
Bassball is played with up to 10 positions, depending on whether you play American leak rules or national leak rules.
Any reference to the kama sutra, indicate a cricket analogy, so wicket bass must be controlled.
Arco on
 
#9,627
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#9,629
Bad azz tone said:
In certain instances,like yours,the 5th position is under the dummer. :smug:
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Okay, but I'm having some trouble here. So the drummer and I have been working on keeping a good rhythm going but in the fifth position the bass tone is rather muffled. Someone mentioned a book, is this still in print? I think some visual aids would help.

Oh, gotta go, the drummer got here early for practice.
 
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#9,630
PillO said:
Careful, musical misinformation, not physics misinformation. Movement of electrons is electricity, and because electrons have mass, they do not travel at the speed of light.

Having said that, users of lightwave pickups must play ahead of the beat in order to be in sync with the band due to the timing difference between light and electricity.
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Actually, electrons drift along fairly slowly. The signal, however, propagates at what is effectively the local speed of light in the wire's surface. This turns out to be about c/2.

As a result, all the C notes on electric instruments need to be tuned an octave higher.
 
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#9,632
Common Tater said:
Okay, but I'm having some trouble here. So the drummer and I have been working on keeping a good rhythm going but in the fifth position the bass tone is rather muffled. Someone mentioned a book, is this still in print? I think some visual aids would help.

Oh, gotta go, the drummer got here early for practice.
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The book is recommended to hit the drummer. They can't read, remember?
 
#9,633
Common Tater said:
Okay, but I'm having some trouble here. So the drummer and I have been working on keeping a good rhythm going but in the fifth position the bass tone is rather muffled. Someone mentioned a book, is this still in print? I think some visual aids would help.

Oh, gotta go, the drummer got here early for practice.
Click to expand...

First off I'll go on a bit of an aside since I think the drummer is losing her mind. She shows up to rehearse but without picking up the guitar player on the way. When I ask why she says she told him practice was canceled because of the wind chill advisory. I say that's legitimate, it truly is freezing outside, but that doesn't explain why she shows up alone. She just shrugs her shoulders and says we can practice without him. So that's what we did.

Anyway, we practice all the positions I've learned here and when she's ready to leave she says something that confused me. She asked if I intended to put a ring on it. I'm not familiar with this musical term, and I didn't want to look stupid by admitting ignorance, so I just said something about how I'd think about it. She seemed satisfied with that and left.

So what did she mean? I searched the internet for "bass ring" and came up with a bunch of stuff on fishing for bass, not musical instruments but a species of aquatic animal. I narrow my search terms a bit and I get things on how people complain on how difficult it is to play a bass with rings on their fingers. Is this what she means? Should I be wearing a ring while playing? That doesn't seem like it'd help. Maybe she's not talking about some kind of device but some kind of technique. Is there a technique that would add more "ring" to my playing?

Oh, another odd thing about the drummer. It's below zero outside and she knows my house is always cold. Normally she arrives to play wearing an over-sized sweatshirt. Today she shows up wearing one that's like two sizes too small. I loaned her one of my flannel shirts to wear while we played because I thought she might freeze to death otherwise. She's so absent minded she left still wearing my shirt. She had to notice when she put on her coat, right? I'm pretty sure she took it since I didn't find it lying about. I hope she brings it back the next time we play, I really like that shirt.

(Yeah, I wish that's how my day went.)
 
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#9,634
Mr_Moo said:
Actually, electrons drift along fairly slowly. The signal, however, propagates at what is effectively the local speed of light in the wire's surface. This turns out to be about c/2.

As a result, all the C notes on electric instruments need to be tuned an octave higher.
Click to expand...
The propagation of electric signals through wires is slightly frequency dependent. There's also the skin effect. The wiring for electric guitar amplification has to be thicker and shorter in order to get the guitarist in sync with the bass. I guess that's why so many guitarists seem to suck on timing.
 
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#9,639
I'm only half way through this thread, so I don't know whether this has been mentioned. I hesitate to mention it, since I'm not on the same pay scale as the more 'senior' posters.

You are probably aware that the very best music teachers avoid teaching any songs or other complete works. Rather, they insist on relentless practicing of scales. And this is so their students can get on the right pay scale for any gig.

The best paid scales are G major, E flat minor and B flat. (This is why Hendrix tuned down a half step, and why brass players are always so horny).

Then there are the unpaid scales: F, A flat, and so on.

The ones to avoid are the pay to play scales, of which the most expensive is D minor.
 
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#9,640
Mr_Moo said:
I'm only half way through this thread, so I don't know whether this has been mentioned. I hesitate to mention it, since I'm not on the same pay scale as the more 'senior' posters.

You are probably aware that the very best music teachers avoid teaching any songs or other complete works. Rather, they insist on relentless practicing of scales. And this is so their students can get on the right pay scale for any gig.

The best paid scales are G major, E flat minor and B flat. (This is why Hendrix tuned down a half step, and why brass players are always so horny).

Then there are the unpaid scales: F, A flat, and so on.

The ones to avoid are the pay to play scales, of which the most expensive is D minor.
Click to expand...
Nigel-Tufnel.jpg
 
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