They would. I say it's pretty friendly, but there are people there who think buying a house there entitles them to do whatever they want in as obnoxious a fashion as they wish.
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This would be a great start.
I guess some bassists ARE demoralized former guitarists? Perhaps that explains it.
I think this song illustrates a point: which instrument do you focus on when listening to an ensemble?
I gave my girl the test of listening to this song, and asked her to focus on the bass.
The nine note descending pattern that starts the song made her eyes pop open: "Wow, there's the bass!"
But at the end of the song, when I asked her about all the monumental peaks and valleys, all the joy expressed in the
bass part, she admitted, essentially, that as soon as the guitar arpeggio began, quickly followed by Jim's dulcet tones and THAT organ, she lost her attention on the bass part. There's a lot of great stuff going on at once! But the bass is not the least of it .
The guy playing that bass, incidentally, is a TB member but he doesn't hang out as much as he should because of the general air of lunkhead disrespect.
hey Jimmy ... do you know or see ' Mike Taylor ' at the Villages ..??
he's an old friend from up north ... if so , please say ' Hi ... from Dave Cuckler ' ...!!
i've played out for many decades ... i've found most folks don't care , or know much about our gear ...
according to your example , approximately > 1% noticed something ... ( 20 out of 3,000 ) , ...
which matches my observations that 98-99 % are clueless and/or don't care ..!?
he's an old friend from up north ... if so , please say ' Hi ... from Dave Cuckler ' ...!!
i've played out for many decades ... i've found most folks don't care , or know much about our gear ...
according to your example , approximately > 1% noticed something ... ( 20 out of 3,000 ) , ...
which matches my observations that 98-99 % are clueless and/or don't care ..!?
That what Homeowner's Associations are there to prevent.
And its not just Florida, every where, there are ugly houses. (lived in Polk County 30 years ago, worked in Polk County, Hillsborough county as well as Mantee County. Attended classes at Florida Southern College, Polk Community College. and grew oranges.
Heh, Heh, we're the Buccaneers, Ho, Ho, we're, the Buccaneers, Offense, Defense, now we're here to say,
Throw the drummer in Tampa Bay.
I guess it's words like 'respect', 'disdain', 'arrogant' etc. that I do have issue with. I really do believe in what you (and others) have said - you put your best foot forward, give 100%, etc. Even accepting that you don't have control over FOH, a better/more-prepared/detailed 'you' comes across in performance. Doesn't mean that the audience will necessarily notice it, but it does make a difference to that small percentage that will. And to me, that's worth it.
All I'm saying (and only speaking for myself), is it's just like writing. Know your audience. They say most effective business writing is aimed at about a 5th-grade reading level. There is a serious artform & science to delivering technical information to non-technical people, especially in writing. It doesn't mean you are disrespecting your intended audience, rather you are presenting something that you know/do, likely better than the vast majority of the audience, in a way that they will enjoy and remember.
If you are putting in the same ideas and efforts into a performance at the local pub, that you would at a TED talk on the state of bass playing, then you are bound for frustation and failure, on either side of the pendulum.
I put far too much work into details on playing and tone, song list, etc. It's a combination of personal interest, and perhaps evoking that rare response of 'hey, I noticed that!'. 99.9% of the time, that doesn't happen. But it is so worth it. When I was playing in a Rush tribute band, I put even more work into the details, because I knew the audience and their expectation. When I'm playing in a blues environment, I'm prepping in an entirely different way. Someone upthread here talked about replacing strings every gig. I'd agree that's a must in some environments, completely unimportant (even counter-productive) in others.
It comes back to things a lot of folks have said here, on both 'sides' of the conversation. The bottom line is that you are there to perform the service for your audience - it is not mandated in a contract that they respond to it, so you have to do everything to get that out of them. I don't disrespect the audience. I just want to make sure that my concern is more about them enjoying it than my personal idiosyncracies. All the better when those things intersect.
Sorry, long break/holidays leads to rambling.
Peace and love, peace and love.
I'm impressed that 20 people knew has was playing bass and not guitar!
Dude, I think you are at the wrong website and were looking for "trash bass dot com"?
One of the best things about "Real Housewives" is the show has electric bass beginning to end. And it cooks!
I always watched it with bass in hand, really great for ear training.
The use of electric bass on that show and all over TV and movies drives home the fact that the instrument just ain't going away.
I didn't see the new "Twin Peaks" -- did they use standup bass throughout, I wonder? Lynch always features superlative standup bass cues in his movies.
Or did nobody
notice
I was thinking the same thing. I’m surprised 20 people even noticed the bass player.
I can count on one hand how many people have commented on my bass tone. I get an ” atta boy” now and then on my playing but even that’s rare.
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I hear you, but out of curiosity what's your rig/signal chain?
Part of the take-away to me is that new strings can really cut with treble power.
That may not be the sound you like. It's not for either, but I think one could conclude from even this one circumstance
that it catches the ear of the audience. Even >1% coming up to comment is a pretty good response, as you and I both can attest!
The question I have for Jimmy upon reflection -- did you perhaps get that crowd feedback because the bass was a wee too much treble relative to the material you were playing?
I posted some of who live at leeds here at TB the other day, and had forgotten how much the treble sizzle of Entwistle's bass is part of the thrill!
Don't call me doopit!EDIT: Sorry if posted in the wrong forum. Had no idea where to post it.
Did a gig last night at an outdoor venue at The Villages in Fla (a big giant retirement community) that I play once a month, and we get a lot of regulars. I've been using my Hammersmith with a very dead set of Dunlop Super Bright Nickels there pretty much exclusively most of the year. Tonight I got a wild hair and brought out my modded 76 Precision with a newish set of the same strings instead. Both these basses have Geezer PJ's, and to me they sound about the same when the strings have comparable wear. Everything else was the same as usual...REDDI into the PA, same pedals I've been using all year set the same way and used in the same songs, same sound tech we usually have there and the same PA, which is a decent but not particularly great PA (a souped-up and somewhat customized Bose PA...one of the bigwigs of the Bose family lives at the Villages and has the ear of the family who owns the Villages).
I probably had 20 people who are regulars at our gigs come up to me on break and ask me how come the Fender sounded so much edgier and aggressive than the Hammersmith. Only one of them plays an instrument, and while most were guys, plenty of women said the same thing.
So if I ever hear any of you jokers try to claim that the audience doesn't know or care about your sound again, I will tell you that you're a very arrogant person who has zero respect for your audiences. Of course, I have been saying that for years, but now I've got proof. A big outdoor venue with about 3000 people there in various states of inebriation, and several non-musicians noticed that the strings on the Fender made it sound edgier.
The lesson I learned is I need to change my strings more often
Happy holidays, everyone!
I darn sure do know Mike, Dave! He's been there even longer than we have, and we've been playing there 19 years. He's head of the AV dept now.
Anyway, I'm not going to get bogged down nitpicking about percentages. Just know that there are more people who care than you may realize and we should respect them instead of constantly dismissing them as morons..
Nope. As a matter of fact, the folks who commented were unanimous that they liked the extra little sizzle better. It's not like I went from Jamerson to Entwistle overnight, you know?
Not to overuse the stock answer, but here goes: it depends. Some audiences are as sharp as a tack, some are as dull as mud. Many people are too busy interacting, distracted with their damn phones, or are too stoned/drunk/otherwise incapacitated during a show to notice much of anything, others don't miss a thing. You may have stumbled on an audience who make you want to give it that little bit extra.
Dude, I think you are at the wrong website and were looking for "trash bass dot com"?
Chill, dude, you misread me! I was referring to the fact that a lot of people don't know the difference between a guitar and a bass.
I need to pay more attention to the music in the background. My wife watched that show and in sitting down with her I got hooked too. Being in around that same age group it was interesting to me to see how these well to do NY women (mostly single, not really even housewives) dealt with dating and so on. Regarding bass in TV, I always hear the same two questions ..... "Can you play Barney Miller?" and "Can you play Seinfeld?" I do need to learn some Seinfeld riffs. Some of them were quite tasty. I haven't watched any of Twin Peaks, but it sounds as if I may need to check that out. Some great fretless bass though to the intro of the Northern Exposure TV series.
I've long maintained that there is a much more substantial and obvious difference in sound when going from stale to flat strings than most bass players give credit for. A set that is truly fresh rings out with an abundance of complex harmonics and makes the bass pop right out from the mix in a way that just turning up the volume can't match. If I could afford it, I'd change my strings right before every single gig. In fact, I always change my strings right before I record even if they are less than a week old. But I don't record that often so it doesn't kill me financially. There are a number of full time professionals who do change their strings every day they play a gig or record.
I have no doubt at all that even many non-musician audience members can tell the difference in strings that are 6 hours old and strings that are 6 months old. They won't know why, but they can hear that the bass just sounds "better" and more "alive".
I have no doubt at all that even many non-musician audience members can tell the difference in strings that are 6 hours old and strings that are 6 months old. They won't know why, but they can hear that the bass just sounds "better" and more "alive".
Awww... come on, are you LOOKING for an argument? Trolling? Can't we be adults here and state opinions without being jumped on and referred to as stupid? I have said here a few times that most of our audiences don't react to some of the subtle nuances of our craft and changes in our gear - BUT I NEVER called them STUPID! I never would. Those are YOUR words. Please refrain.EDIT: Sorry if posted in the wrong forum. Had no idea where to post it.
Did a gig last night at an outdoor venue at The Villages in Fla (a big giant retirement community) that I play once a month, and we get a lot of regulars. I've been using my Hammersmith with a very dead set of Dunlop Super Bright Nickels there pretty much exclusively most of the year. Tonight I got a wild hair and brought out my modded 76 Precision with a newish set of the same strings instead. Both these basses have Geezer PJ's, and to me they sound about the same when the strings have comparable wear. Everything else was the same as usual...REDDI into the PA, same pedals I've been using all year set the same way and used in the same songs, same sound tech we usually have there and the same PA, which is a decent but not particularly great PA (a souped-up and somewhat customized Bose PA...one of the bigwigs of the Bose family lives at the Villages and has the ear of the family who owns the Villages).
I probably had 20 people who are regulars at our gigs come up to me on break and ask me how come the Fender sounded so much edgier and aggressive than the Hammersmith. Only one of them plays an instrument, and while most were guys, plenty of women said the same thing.
So if I ever hear any of you jokers try to claim that the audience doesn't know or care about your sound again, I will tell you that you're a very arrogant person who has zero respect for your audiences. Of course, I have been saying that for years, but now I've got proof. A big outdoor venue with about 3000 people there in various states of inebriation, and several non-musicians noticed that the strings on the Fender made it sound edgier.
The lesson I learned is I need to change my strings more often
Happy holidays, everyone!
Of 3000 people at your gig you got 20 to 30 who came up and mentioned to you about the difference in your sound. That is under 1% of your audience. 99% came to hear some good music which you provided with or without a different bass with new strings. Sure, probably some more of them heard a difference but didn't come up to you and tell you about it - they were just there to have a good time and listen to good music. THAT is what MOST cared about.
Most audiences listening to an orchestra don't want to know what kind of strings the violinist uses or whether they are new or old or what kind of hair the bow is made of. WE are the musicians and WE care about those kind of things, in part in order to provide our audience with what WE think is the best kind of music we can deliver to them. THAT is the respect we owe an audience that pays money to listen to us. To do our best in the moment.
Part of doing our best is that mental attitude of having and playing an instrument that makes US feel good about playing it. That translates into better music most of the time whether anyone ELSE hears specific real differences in gear or not. Our job in front of an audience is not to impress them with our gear, but show them a good time for their money spent. WE are the NERDS - the people who easily hear(or think we hear) differences and nuances in our sound and chase that perfect sound we hear in our heads. SURE, some hear the differences we make in our gear and some tell you about it. MOST don't. That doesn't make them STUPID - just not musicians like us(a good thing? a bad thing?) Throwing the word STUPID around in a conversation about gear almost never serves any purpose but to rile people up. Please refrain. There are better uses for this website than that. PLEASE.
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