I bet there was a lot to get used to, that was a crazy time to be there!
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out
- Thread starter Korladis
- Start date
One thing I liked was the fact I didn't stand out. I'd brought a black hat and got people asking me the way in Russian.
But yes, an interesting time. We gigged some youth prisons where it turned out we were the first cultural thing ever happening there. That's one thing the new reformist policy had made possible.
Depressing though, seeing how these kids had to live. Three years for stealing a TV.
Depressing though, seeing how these kids had to live. Three years for stealing a TV.
Jeez that's rough. At least y'all were able to give them something they'd probably never seen. What kind of band were you in?
Thanks for posting this! I enjoyed every minute of it.
————-
Hmm...Wonder if that’s how Limp Bizkit came up for the title of their debut album???...
(Apologies for referencing a Nu Metal band on the the Stoner/Doom thread, but that’s (sadly) where my mind went when I read your post)...
Just kinda how my brain “works” (lol-or rather doesn’t in this case)...
Thanks! \m/
Yep. Everyone of those, every time. I wont miss it.
That's kinda hard to explain, so I'd like to lazily refer you to Wikipedia, but it turns out there's only a Dutch page about it. So here it is. Warning: long post.
It is named Ricciotti Ensemble, and subtitled "a street symphony orchestra". Its stated goal is "to bring every kind of music, to everyone, everywhere". It exists during three school vacations per year, and then for a few weeks. It has done this since 1970.
They have around forty members, who play standing (except the cellos). They play on streets, in shopping malls, hospitals, old people's homes, prisons, you name it. They've been a staple of many street art festivals.
Admittedly, the "every kind of music" is mainly the music of the western world, but they've always made a point of including some pop and jazz. And there are often theatrical elements. There will be a singer or an acrobat touring along.
I was a Viola player in this group for three years, probably from 1988 to 1991. I wrote two pieces and arranged several more. It is incredible to arrive at a downtown square with some pedestrian traffic, set up in five minutes, start playing, and draw a crowd of hundreds in a few minutes. Many have been late for school or work because of us.
Man, this spurs so many memories. Here are a few:
- Friday afternoon. A business having its weekly end-of-the-week drink. It is some kind of special occasion so someone has invited us to play by the pond. The pond is very shallow, so several musicians decide to go barefoot and play in the water. One violin player, a girl, puts down her violin and grabs the Big Boss and dances him into the pond. Remember, special occasion, so his best trousers and very expensive shoes.
- Poland. New Years Eve in a club. We were advised that if a girl needed to pee, one of the guys must accompany her and wait at the door. I found out this was indeed necessary.
- Soviet Union: I've already mentioned the Red Square, but that was daytime, and among tourists. Playing Pushkin Plaza after dark was a different animal. We seriously wondered if we would be arrested. But a large number of people were listening, in a typical quiet Russian way, and no cop dared stir it all up.
We didn't always take risks though: in Poland we wanted to play at the Lenin Shipyard where the foundation of Solidarity, ten years before, was to be commemorated. But we didn't go for fear things might get out of hand. The next day we heard vibes had been excellent and we could easily have come. Bummer.
- We toured France, and national television made a documentary. When they'd made a rough cut, and were watching it at their desk, so many people stopped by and were fascinated that the 8 o'clock news started 3 minutes late. No one messes with French national television. But we did.
- Also in France, a big summer festival with street theatre groups from all over the world. We were the opening act, for which all theatre groups were invited. Only one group showed up, from Ouagadougou in the middle of Africa. Things got spirited in a special way, culminating in all 70 of us (40 musicians, audience of 30) forming a snake-like row, walking around the place, jumping, dancing. All this without interrupting our set, mind you.
They invited us to Ouagadougou, all we needed to pay was the journey there and back. One of those situations where you need an uncle with an airplane. It never happened...
I could just go on and on, but you get the picture. I looked into YouTube to give you an example, but it's all more recent stuff over there and I can't bear to watch it. It's an old love.
Last edited:
The next several pages of this thread could be solely about this and I wouldn't complain one bit. Please share more of your experiences!
I picked up a zdora 1978 pre of the bookfaces and absolutely adore it. I'm surprised how much I'm digging it considering it's a cut only EQ and is solid state. There's a lot of gain on tap and the boost does that in spades. I certainly hear the rusty box tone there, but it's so much fuller and open and I'm enjoying using the graphic eq. I haven't used a graphic eq in at least 15 years, ha!
Right now, I have it going into the power section of my matamp, but will try it with my mesa m190 tube power amp. I'm really tempted to get a class D power amp, but am also very leary of such. I honestly wouldn't know where to start, as it seems the tech on those change from month to month and the older class D heads I used were a bit too brittle.
Right now, I have it going into the power section of my matamp, but will try it with my mesa m190 tube power amp. I'm really tempted to get a class D power amp, but am also very leary of such. I honestly wouldn't know where to start, as it seems the tech on those change from month to month and the older class D heads I used were a bit too brittle.
I think Class D in general is pretty mature at this point. Any innovation seems to be in the pre section of the amps. I bet you could find a decently priced Class D amp that has an effects return so you could use it as just a power amp. The Quilter BB802 is probably a solid choice, though I have no idea how much they go for. I like my BB800 a lot.
Well that'a a way cooler answer than I ever would've expected!
Quilter Bass Block seems legit as mentioned above. I haven't had a chance to run mine louder yet in a rehearsal unfortunately because my band situation has fizzled yet again.....drummers....
Let me see how much more I can dig up from memory after three decades.
- The audition was in Amsterdam. After travelling an hour and a half on a bicycle, a train, and a tram, I arrived at the address I'd been given. It turned out to be one of these centuries-old buildings that line the canals. It was high, and had many doorbells with names I didn't recognize. The orchestra's name wasn't among them. I'd been instructed about this over the phone, of course, but in my nervousness couldn't remember any of that. So I had no idea what to do.
By extreme luck, at that precise moment one of the orchestra's sax players arrived at the door. He wasn't in the audition committee, he had absolutely no business to be there at that moment, but he had painted his soprano sax and was dying to show it to the management and the conductor. So he pressed the correct button, which opened the door, and led me through dark corridors and up innumerable stairs to the orchestra's office.
For the next few minutes, everyone there was totally focused on the sax player and his black sax with bright red pads. No one paid me any attention, and this had a strangely relaxing effect on me. As a result, and in spite of my expectations, I did a killer audition.
- There's a café around here that's a tad isolated. It's in a very rural area with a few small villages, none of which are anywhere near the café. This doesn't stop the café from having many regular patrons, most of whom get there by bicycle.
We were to play in the front yard, which is large and can hold 40 musicians plus a large audience.
Rain was pouring like mad, and wasn't expected to let up all night. People had arrived in droves to see us, and many were sitting under umbrellas in the yard, as they couldn't get into the café which was absolutely packed. Now what?
Someone in the audience had a freight truck, the kind that has removable sheets on both sides. So the truck was brought and parked on the little road, fully blocking it. The sheet was removed on the side facing the yard, and we found the truck could hold half the orchestra. So we played every piece that was doable by either just string instruments or just wind instruments. To an audience that was completely invisible under a sea of umbrellas.
- The last one is a bit sad. Word was that in Australia, sheep farmers had collectively decided there were too many sheep, cutting profit margins. Ten percent of all sheep were to be killed with machine guns and buried using bulldozers. This led to some indignant reactions, and here in the Netherlands a guy decided to organize a concert for sheep, to generate publicity. (He knew at the outset it would bankrupt him so he must have felt strongly about it.)
Whether it did the Australian sheep any good I do not know. But I know I played to an audience of ten thousand sheep. Top that!
Last edited:
Got a new fuzz today. It's pretty hairy from about halfway up on the fuzz knob and will go to glitchy murder when maxed, but still has the capability to be smooth with the knob below that. The sculpt switch will make it go very super-fuzz, and the tone stage gives you pretty wide control. I don't think it will replace the Fuzz War for my go-to fuzz at home, but I really like it from what little I've played with it so far. It doesn't cut the bass frequencies at all from what I can tell.
What classic octave fuzz circuit is it based off of? I have no idea. Why's it called the Eisenhower Fuzz? My only guess is because it's German for "iron hewer", but I'm probably wrong. It also comes with the very nice leather bag in the picture. Why include that with a pedal that comes pre-beat up? I dunno. You can always put your weed in it.
Either way, I've got a lot of fuzz pedals, and I'm pretty dang happy with this addition to them. I also got another Mystery Pedal from Idiotbox last week. But I'm not sure if Novarocker has received his yet, and I don't want to spoil the surprise.
