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1993-03-10
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Issue #285
January 29, 1993
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To post: Subscriptions, deletions, requests:
bass@uwplatt.edu bass-request@uwplatt.edu
(Bitnet: bass@uwplatt.bitnet) (Bitnet: bass-request@uwplatt.bitnet)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's topics:
poached bass strings
Functional harmony
Where to get a Guitarron?
Wasserman / Bad Gigs
liminating Guitar players...
BABol
graphite necks & fret buzz
RE: Alesis Quadraverb
"Mingus"
T-Shirt Slogan....Da Winner!
Peter Cetera
Valuable Issue of Bass Player
Routing effects through crossovers
Ratings.....
worst gig?
RE: Jaco with Joni
Rickenbacker for sale!
----------------------------------------------------------
Not even close to being Administrative notes:
Just had to mention that I caught a brief clip of the Arsenio
Hall show tonight just as the Posse jumped into a ripping, although
brief, rendition of Tower of Power's "What Is Hip?" There are
some times when I just want to drive to the network headquarters
and throttle the execs there, 'cause they went to a commercial
just when John B. Williams was really hitting the best parts of
Rocco Prestia's 16th notes line. The man can play (both of 'em)!
Kevin
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 01:44:32 EST
From: bluemuse@aol.com
Subject: poached bass strings
Someone asked about cleaning strings, and although they don't have access to
a stove, I thought I'd repeat something I read in the letters section of the
Jaco issue of BP. Someone wrote in and said to clean strings by boiling them
for ten minutes, drying them well with a hair dryer, then dousing them well
with WD-40, and wiping them dry again. I tried it last week, and it did a
much better job of restoring some tone than just boiling them does. Of
course, it does absolutely nothing for the worn spots on the strings where
they've been slamming against the frets.
On the subject of strings, maybe I'm nuts, but I like Rickenbacker
strings. They are less bright sounding than Rotosounds or Boomers (I don't go
for a lot of bright) and I can still get a good growl out of them. Problem
is, they've been hard to find lately. Does anyone know of a good, reasonably
priced source?
--Bob Farace
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 00:03:22 -0800
From: jimlynch@netcom.com
Subject: Functional harmony
ron@math.tau.ac.il (Ron Vinocourt) asks about harmony:
>Hello Jim,
>
>In a recent TBL you write:>
>
>>If you're interested in learning functional harmony (a _must_ for most
players;
>>all others will benefit greatly), you must read. Not necessarily sightread,
>>but at least be able to get the notes out fast enough so's you can follow
>>what is being said about it.
>
>For a long time I have been suspecting that what I need to do in order to
>improve my bass playing (creativity-wise) is to study functional harmony.
>I was hoping you could spare a minute and tell me (via e-mail) a bit more
>about the subject (I'm not sure I even precisely know _what_ it is), and
>perhaps you'd know any good book for starters?
>
>(BTW, my sight-reading is quite poor but I'm working on it...)
Well, first off, if you read it's easier to teach functional harmony in a
_traditional (or even somewhat non-trad) classroom_ situation, partly because
most harmony texts use staff notation. Note also that you just need to read
somewhat quickly, not necessarily sightread in order to learn this.
Having said that, let's proceed to _what_ functional harmony is. What you
learn is how to _smoothly_ join passages of n-part harmony at chord changes.
You are generally given introductory material including scales, intervals and
chords as well as a treatment of the harmonic overtone series for the purpose
of creating voicings that are intended to last awhile. The longer they last,
the more the harmonic overtone series should be used to produce clarity in your
voicings, however the melodic content of the individual lines overrides voicing
increasingly as the tempo picks up.
So, the study of harmony is approximately: how to create several concurrant
melodic lines that, taken together at a single instant in time, is a chord.
This is called 'voice leading'. It is very useful when creating such things
as endings for blues tunes.
After the introductory stuff comes a catalog of the harmonically dissonant
intervals in order of increasing density, sharpness and tension together with
the _traditional_ "resolutions" of those dissonances. For example, go to a
piano and play B and F close to the middle of the piano. The F wants to fall
one scale step (whether it be whole or half) downward. Let's be in a major key
and resolve the F to the E immediately below. At the same instant, the B shows
a strong tendancy up toward the tonic of the scale (C in this case). (to
demonstrate this, play a C major scale stopping on B. Notice your strong
desire to play the final C if even in your mind...) So back to the B and F:
Play that B and F and then make the two resolutions simultaneously: B up to
C and F down to E.
Now: let's add a bass player! Do the same thing again, but this time play a
low G with the B and F and go up or down (your choice) to the nearest C (with
the C and E.)
This is only one example of zillions. It shows how much the bass player is in
control. For an example of this, change the bass line to go the opposite
direction. Now try G going to E. Next try Db going down to C. Now THAT'S
power!
Excuse the re-post; I screwed up.
-Jim
P.S: I'm also sending this to TBL.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 08:29:22 -0500 (EST)
From: Len Moskowitz <moskowit@Panix.Com>
Subject: Where to get a Guitarron?
Foote wrote:
> On the subject of acoustic bass guitars -- can anybody fill me in on
> something called a "guitarron?" [sic]. I think it's Latin American in
> heritage, fretted, and sounds nicely twangy. (Violent Femmes guy played one,
> I think.) Where does one obtain one north of the border?
There's a luthier on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood who makes guitarrons.
He's across from Guitar Center and a few doors down from Carvin. Sorry,
forgot his name.
On the east coast try Mandolin Brothers in Staten Island, NY (area code
718).
Len Moskowitz
moskowit@panix.com
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 28 Jan 93 09:22:54 U
From: Oz Barron <oz_barron@pharlap.com>
Subject: Wasserman / Bad Gigs
> Rob Wasserman - Mr. Versatile. If you don't own his album "Duets" go
> buy it. His duet with Aaron Neville on the song "Stardust" is still
> amazing. Gotta go home and listen to this. "Trio's" will be out this
> spring.
AGREED!!! "Duets" is astounding! What other album has Lou Reed, Stephan
Grapelli, and Aaron Neville? And is "Trios" REALLY coming out? This has got
to be the longest album "foreplay" in history! I've been waiting at least a
year for it. AAAAGH!
Oh and Kevin, after she drove the car into the bathroom, you want more? Ok,
here goes:
I played at a biker bar years ago in Tyngsboro, MA. I mean it was all bikers!
As they danced in front of us, you'd see their guns poking out of the back of
their pants, knives on their belts, strapped to their legs, etc. (No joke) As
the night ended (And they liked us) we said, "We'll gotta go" and the leader
said, "No way man. We love you guys and we want you to keep playing!" We told
him that the owner had to close the bar due to his license, and the Bike leader
said "No problem!" He informed the owner that we would be staying and playing
another set, the owner was obviously not pleased, but also seemed used to this.
The owner then said, "Well, I'm going home" Threw the Biker the keys and said
"Just lock up when yu leave, OK?"
Well we played another set, they loved us, and helped us catty the stuff to the
car afterwords.
The Bikers were very nice, very receptive, pleasant, and loved what we played.
We decided NEVER to play there again.
-Oz
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 28 Jan 93 11:12:00 EST
From: "John D. Kimple" <KIMPLE@vax.cns.muskingum.edu>
Subj: liminating Guitar players...
SOmebody wrote...
>On stage, this is a lot more difficult. One gig I had I found it impossible to
>get a satisfactory sound -- I couldn't hear myself except at ludicrous volume,
>and noone else was playing that loud. After listening A bit I noticed that the
>guitarist had his BASS EQ ALL THE WAY UP! (Grrr! Get out of my register!)
>After some diplomatic discussion he agreed to a flatter eq which naturally
>solved the problem.
Well...as a guitar player who is almost fanatical about sound and tone, I
really LIKE the sound of the guitar with lotsa low end. So how does bass come
thru on my projects? Different EQ, and some chorus, just enough for an
"aural-enhancer" effect"...
When Playing bass for other guitartist,I've found that some guitarist are just
too damn loud, and by the time I can hear myself, all that the house can hear
is me (no, I'm not comfortable with that, 'cause I'm not the focus of the
group...)
and someone else sez...
> Does anyone have tips on getting a good tone in the studio? I have an
>SVT-III with an SVR-215 cabinet for most work, but I'm wondering if I'd be
>better off using my old B-15 Portaflex in the studio. My reasoning is running
>along the lines of: To my ears, amps develop their tone better at higher
>volume (relative to the amp), but I can't crank up the SVT-III, at 350 watts,
>in the studio, so maybe the tone won't develop as well as if I was to crank
>the 60 watts or so of the B-15. Does this hold water? Seems to me that
>guitarists do the same thing, recording with a cranked Fender Champ, but
>playing out with a stack of Marshalls.
>--Bob Farace
I've heard that the potaflex was used VERY much as a recording amp...try it!
and then another person sez...
>-rm@centerline.com suggested a volume pedal for bassists that would turn the
>guitar player down.
>-the folks from House of Cards had an idea for a guitar player box; whenever
>you needed a guitar solo you would step on the pedal, and you could end the
>solo whenever you wanted by simply hitting the pedal again.
How 'bout a box that'll take out half the notes from a bassist that uses
*everything* he knows in *every* song? :*)
Some people don't seem to know about groove...
>Eventually, new technologies may enable us to eliminate the tantrums, egos, and
>bleeding eardrums normally associated with having a guitar player, by
>eliminating the guitar player altogether!
THe GUitarist in me sez...AAAAAAIEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! NEVER!!!!!!!!!
the BAss player in me sez....that might be kinda cool...
Then the guitar player in me sez..."HEy! MAybe we don't need a bass player
if there's two guitars!"
The Bass player in me gets insulted, and vows to steal the guitarist'
girlfriend...I hate this. Now I'm fighting with myself, and I'll probably get
a black eye...
And, since this is my first post to the group, gotta do the introductory
thing...
Equipment: A Synsonics headless bass, short scale. Yes,It's cheap, but I *LIKE*
the sound and feel of it much more than my previous Fender and Aria Pro II
Basses. Plus, if it gets dinged up,I don't feel so bad. Also, there's the
preamp, and ART Powerplant (yeah, primarily a guitar pre, but it sounds nice)
to a 60 X 60W power amp...one side drives a 2-10" cab with Thruster car stereo
woofers (for the low end) and the other side drives 2-10" guitar speakers (for
mids and highs - the freq. reesponse on these goes down to ~78Hz, so I don't
Bi-amp right now, and get good results) If I need more power, I go direct
to the PA... and then there's misc. pedals, and a stomp box size MXR 10 band
EQ in the fx loop.
sorry 'bout the lenght...
jd
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 08:37:26 PST
From: mikes@sol.metaware.com
Subject: BABol
Wow, sorry I missed the BABol II. Really folks, you should make the trip
for the experience. Of course 3,000 miles is a bit of an excuse...
hmmm Wouldn't BABol work for "Bay Area Bottom Liners"?
-Michael Stebbins
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 08:43:47 PST
From: mikes@sol.metaware.com
Subject: graphite necks & fret buzz
OK, have any of you noticed that graphite necks seem more prone to
buzzing frets whilst lifting the finger off of the fretted note?
My recently acquired Zon and and Steinberger both seem unusually
sensitive to buzz while other wooden necks allow the technique of
damping the string by lifting slightly. Have I just gotten away
with bad technique all this time or must I chuck this mode of damping
to enjoy a graphite neck?
Gratzi...
-Michael Stebbins
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 11:51:10 EST
From: rm@centerline.com
Subject: RE: Alesis Quadraverb
In #284, rrathgeb@ultrix.ramapo.edu gives a very full description of
this unit and some of its capabilities. As someone who used to have one
of these and who has replaced it with an ART MultiVerb Alpha 2.0, I'd
thought I'd pass on some of the Quadraverbs drawbacks as well, since
these were the reasons I decided to replace mine. I'd definately
recommend any gigging bassists thinking about an effects unit to
consider some of these points.
1. Power Cord. Alesis uses transformer plugs (you know, AC
adapter-type plugs, where the thing that plugs into the outlet is a
little black box with a thin low voltage wire coming out of it. The
connector to the power input on the back of the unit was very easy to
plug in, and very easy to pull out by mistake. I would invariably pull
this out by accident when setting up (amp and all effects in a rack
case). You can just duct tape the thing in, but then the tape covers
the connector, so you can't just look at it to see if its in. This
might not be a problem for lots of folks, but it was just one more
potential point of failure for a gigging musician to have to worry
about.
2. Full range. The quadraverb is not, contrary to advertised specs, as
other TBLers have pointed out. It seems to roll off the bottom end
pretty dramatically. You can demonstrate this yourself by setting up
the box for the "none" effect (I can't remember the effect number) and
turning the mix up to full wet. Play a bass note, and while it's
sounding turn the mix down to full dry. You'll hear the difference.
3. Reliability and repair. I have had 5 different Alesis effects boxes
at various times- three of the analog micro series boxes, a Midiverb and
a quadraverb. The analog boxes were all quite bullet-proof. The
Midiverb was in for repairs three times and the quadraverb once. Alesis
does not authorize local service centers, so all repairs must be done by
them. In all cases, the turnaround was 4-6 weeks. For a long time,
they never charged for repair. They do now, and the minimum for my
repairs was $75. It is really hard to draw any real conclusions about
reliability from this. I mean, statistically, these few data points don't
mean much. But I do not feel comfortable, personally, with their
reliability from my experiences. And I found the folks I dealt with
there in the repair department to be friendly, but not too knowledgeable
(and very slow).
Now all of this just might be my own personal priorities coming through
here. I see quadraverbs in the racks of more bass players around here
than any other unit- in fact, this was the main reason I looked into it
in the first place.
Now I would like to balance out this very negative summary of my
experiences with Alesis products with raves for the ART unit I currently
use, but I've only had it for a year and so can only say that it does
what I need and has been reliable so far; it is truly full range; and it
has a nice fat power cord that goes directly into the box. So far it
has been a very good unit. Oh yeah, it has a builtin tuner- it seems to
have more coarse granularity than other tuners, but it's close enough,
and it is nice to have it in the same box.
In summary, this is neither a rave for the ART unit or a slam for the
Alesis one, just a note really on some things to consider if you are
looking for a rack mount effects box for bass.
rm
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 28 Jan 93 14:42:56 U
From: Oz Barron <oz_barron@pharlap.com>
Subject: "Mingus"
> I hardly think his "LaBella strings" or "Japanese production" have
> anything to do with whether or not this is a good album. I think that
> Joni Mitchell's "Mingus" album is one of the worst pieces of junk
> ever recorded--not because I don't like her voice (or heaven forbid,
> *Jaco*) or the songs--I don't like the butcher job she did to Charles
> Mingus's compositions--words to "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"????? come
> on...But this opinion is formulated not off of what strings Joni
> uses, but what I think is a an inappropriate (albeit adventurous and
> ballsy) interpretation. If you have differences with an artist, state
> why, not how. :)
Hmmm...Inappropriate interpretation? John, How can we say an interpretation is
inapproprate? Gutsy, yes. Ballsy, ok. Overblown, maybe. But inappropriate
or wrong? I think an artists interpretation is their own, therefore always
appropriate. We don't have to like it, but it's still their interpretation.
An extreme example of this I heard a while ago was a review of a Suzanne Ciani
album. The reviewer didn't like the album because "That's not what a
synthesizer should do." Hmmm...
By the by, the Mingus album was done with Mr Mingus's input. He was in the
studio with Ms Mitchell while she was working on it. It became a sort of
tribute as he died while it was being made.
{And i kind of like the idea of words to "Pork Pie" Ella sang words to
"Stompin' at the Savoy...}
With great respect,
-Oz
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 15:00:04 -0500
From: mlaurenc@world.std.com
Subject: T-Shirt Slogan....Da Winner!
Well, after much tallying of votes (and system troubles galore),
the winner of the Bottom Line T-Shirt Slogan Contest aappears to
be (drum roll... uh, sixteenth-note riff, please...):
Craig Hicks!
That's right, and the winning slogan, by a small margin was:
"The Global Electronic Bass Line"
Succinct, concise, accurate, informative, and non-innuendo!
There were many other good ones, and a few others came close,
but people seemed to like the straightforward nature of this
one and others like it. So Craig, keep in touch and when the
shirts get rolling, one will wing its merry way to your door,
gratis.
Sorry for the delays in this whole process everyone, but I've
recently started freelancing in Mac Graphics (if anyone in the
Boston area knows anoyone who needs and in- or out-of-house
Mac expert, please let me know!), and my system has been giving
me troubles for a while. But they seem to be squared away, and
perhaps now we can get this thing moving. If you get a chance,
please take a look at the graphic on the ftp site (address is
at the end of each digest) - it's in the "graphics" folder. And
once I have a design for the back, I'll stick it there as well.
Paul, Kevin, drop me a line and we can discuss further what
needs to happen with this.
Sorry to have missed BABoL II - sounds like a good time was had
by all... I'll have to make it a point to catch III!!!
Matt
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 15:16:52 -0500
From: "Nathan F. Janette" <nathan@jacobi.biology.YALE.EDU>
Subject: Peter Cetera
> >Peter Cetera! Ok, he's become a wimpy pop signer, but
check out the old
> >Chicago stuff (especially 1-5) and he plays very
melodically. On many
> >occasions, the bass is the 4th horn in the horn section.
>
> Even though Cetera is known as a singer, he was a jamming
bass player.
>
> Those early albums are killer! I wish I was in the band,
they sound like
> they're having a lot of fun! Chicago I & II are essential.
Too bad the
> sound quality is generally poor.
Peter was (is?) a jamming player! I have to disagree about
sound quality
of Chicago I & II: I think they sound *great* for albums of
the period. All
of the instruments and vocals are recorded and mixed very
well IMHO.
Perhaps what is coloring your perception is the bass sound,
which lacks
high end compared to modern recordings, since Peter only had
flat
wounds to string up his bass. Personally, I love the sound
of the picked
flat wounds, even though I prefer ground wounds myself.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 08:56:53 PST
From: mikes@sol.metaware.com
Subject: Valuable Issue of Bass Player
OK, Third post and last!! I forgot to mention that while visiting
GPI publications (Bass Player Magazine) they asked me if I had the old
Geddy Lee issue. They said it's worth some money.
A funny coincedence: During the very time I was at GPI, my wife (45 miles
away) was going through old magazines and found the one issue I bought off
a rack two years before I subscribed! Guess what one it was.
Anyhow, I don't remember what month it was, but it was a special issue in '88
with a white background and a photo of Geddy (of course) holding a black
Wal (yes?).
-Michael Stebbins
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 10:29:14 PST
From: Chris.Jercha@EBay.Sun.COM
Subject: Routing effects through crossovers
rrathgeb@ultrix.ramapo.edu writes:
>>>I'm running a Hartke 3500 head into a 8x10 1974 SVT cab....
>>>The signal then goes through the Quadraverb and into a BBE
>>>SonicMaximizer 422A. Then back to the head and out to the speaker.
I've tried something similar. I run a Quadraverb into a BBE 383 into
a GK 800RB. The only problem I have is, the low end throbs too much
when using chorus or flange (I understand why Nightbass has the ability
for the low end of the signal to go through unaffected). I tried minimizing
the amount of programmed effect, and that still didn't do it for me so
I took the Quadraverb out altogether. If the Hartke 3500 is stereo (?)
then you don't have that problem because you can use the crossover on
the 383 and route the highs only through the Quad. But with the 800RB,
that's not an option. I am considering rewiring (or having rewired) the
800RB effects loop plugs so they affect only the upper power amp (the one
that when crossed over affects the highs). Does anyone have experience
with this type of modification? I don't want to carry around an extra
amp or buy a stereo amp just to get some effects into the signal chain.
On a wholly unrelated topic...
>>>>>[flame on]
>>>>>Boys and girls, I'd really rather not see any more of these in TBL.
I'm against censorship, period.
>>>>>Everyone's entitled to express their opinion.
EXACTLY!!! Unencumbered by some real or imagined set of rules or netiquette.
[ Well, that would all be nice in a perfect world, but just as there are
certain "rules" regarding, say, responsible behavior in a public building,
we have our own here. Number one for this list is to conduct discussion in
a way to avoid flames, or heated, personal arguing. While I am personally
against most censorship myself, if I see a post that I -know- is going to
encourage these problems, I will send it back to the author and ask for
revisions. Luckily, I've only had to do this once in my work with this
digest. The people assembled under this electronic roof have been mature
enough to avoid the problems plaged by other lists, and I'm confident it
will continue this way. Thanks for your support.
(steps off soapbox) Bass Mgr. ]
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 18:33 GMT
From: Stuart Mawby <0005004069@mcimail.com>
Subject: Ratings.....
I must confess, for those who pay little attention to the 'by-lines', I was the
'OVER' rated suggestor.... my, how I do get into a mess!
At times my fingers run amok attaining speeds at which my brain ceases to
function. It has since become quite obvious to me that ratings of players is
something I intend to avoid. (for what it's worth, most 'critics' rate me
pretty low.... I prefer to think of my playing on another level and in a style
that the 'critics' cannot comprehend.... it keeps me same.... uh, sane)
Without attempting to slam (which was never my intention!) we can indeed have
fruitfull discussions of playing style and methodology.
Take the 'Ron Carter Issue', or perhaps 'CarterGate'. ;-) One person has come
out in defense of the CD in question calling it 'interpretation' while most
have opted to call the work something less than quality. Here is a great
chance to talk about 'interpretation' of compositions.
What is the definition of 'interpretation'? When do you stop interpreting a
piece and begin creating something new (not necessarily good or bad). Is there
some measure by which an interpretation can be seen as better or worse.
I think that we should analyze the motives of a composer/performer before
delving into what we perceive as his/her success or failure.
Finally, (whew!) I the words of a great author:
The contents of _The Bottom Line_ are solely the opinions
and comments of the individual authors, and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the authors' managements or the digest
management.
So whatever you think.... it is no more than that. I may hate your style of
music and vice versa, but those are mere opinions and we all know what opinions
are like.....
This is probably the single *best* 'subscriber-publication'; keep it up.
(good work ed.s et al.)
- Stuart
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 28 Jan 93 14:04:35 U
From: Paul Desjarlais <paul_desjarlais@pharlap.com>
Subject: worst gig?
Ahh, best/worst gig stories you say? I think this is a "worst" but then again
it was almost fun so maybe not... a tale underlining the irrepressible
sillyness of youth...(fadeout)...
In early 1982 I was a sophomore at Boston University. I was in my first band,
the Uncalled Four, which was a sort-of hardcore punk band. Attitude rock. It
was the latest thing... anyway, we got to play a dorm party out at UMass
Amherst because our drummer's brother went there. Another band played before
us and they played all the radio hits; Stones, Police, that kind of thing.
They went over great, everybody was dancing like crazy. We were saying to
ourselves, these people are in for a little surprise... Our singer (screamer),
a large man, had bought an ill-fitting used suit for the occasion and looked
like Herman Munster. The drummer played, as always, like a maniac. The
guitarist was just strange. (Of course, I was normal...) We were too loud.
By the end of our set we had CLEARED the room. We killed the party. See, at
the time, the hardcore thing was happening in Boston, in the punk clubs, but
this was a rural setting, an agricultural community. Exactly ONE person stayed
for the whole set, the roommate of our drummer's brother... our attitude, as
snot-faced young would-be punks, was "screw 'em, we had fun."
After the gig we decided to celebrate by drinking heavily, and certain people
had some magic mushrooms. I won't say whether I ate any mushrooms because I
might have to run for president someday, but suffice to say that if I DID eat
any of the mushrooms, our singer had MORE. He tried to crawl inside a washing
machine. He was stomping up and down the halls of the dorm at 5 AM in his
Herman Munster suit, yelling such things as the words to "Let's Get Physical"
by Olivia Newton John. Or, to quote him directly, "It's so cheap. It's so
TAWDRY!" We didn't know WHAT was cheap and tawdry. He wouldn't let anyone
sleep. But when we did finally get up, like at noon the next day, the guy was
nowhere to be found. We searched everywhere, asked everyone if they had seen a
big, disheveled, Munster-esque fellow, but no such luck. It's a pretty big
campus. After having a snowball fight for a while, we finally had to leave
without him. Turns out he woke up in DOWNTOWN Amherst, miles away, and didn't
know how he had got there. Had to take a bus back to Boston. We actually
passed his bus on the Mass. Pike and he tried to wave to us but we didn't see
him.
Back to the present--thanks for all the advice on recording. When you're
trying to self-produce (without a license), every little suggestion helps. I
really enjoy being involved in the production, but it means that if you get
something wrong, you have to chalk it up to "learning experience", and there's
only so much learning experience we can AFFORD. Also, it means that you have
to be more selfless about your instrument. For example, I don't mind sharing
the bottom with the kick drum, or the middle with the guitar. If it WORKS. So
getting it to work, that's the trick. As Lindsey Buckingham once said, "Oh,
you can produce. Just turn the knobs 'til it sounds good."
-pd
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Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 22:06:44 GMT
From: Paul.Arthur@Eng.Sun.COM
Subject: RE: Jaco with Joni
I just got the latest copy of the Audiophile Imports catalog. They list two
versions of "Shadows and Light" CD. One is the domestic (U.S.) version which
is listed as "edited." The other is a Japanese CD, apparently unedited, which
I assume means more songs. Did anyone see the "Shadows and Light" tour? It must
not have come through where I was living at the time. There is a video of this
and the "Refugees Of The Road" tour (Larry Klein on Bass) that is direct from
laser disk available from Audiophile.
[ I've got the edited version, which claims that "due to time restrictions,
the following tracks that appear on the LP were omitted: "Black Crow",
"Don's Solo" (Don Alias, drummer), and "Free Man in Paris"." Is the
Japanese version a two-CD set? Bass Mgr. ]
One Audiophle listing that may be of interest is a CD by Manu Katche, who plays
drums for Peter Gabriel, amoung others. Bassists on the album are Pino Palladino
and John Paul Jones. Sting and Peter Gabriel do a couple of vocals. I ordered
it and will post a review if it turns out to have anything interesting on it.
Most of Peter Gabriel's band also plays on it so it'll probably sound something
like that.
later
paul a.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 15:50:05 PST
From: Wesley Y Keller <keller@sparta.sjsu.edu>
Subject: Rickenbacher for sale!
Just like the rest of you fine gentlemen, I am feeling the crunch of this
recession where it hurts the most. I have to make a choice between getting
my degree or keeping my Ricky. he fee increases this year and next are gonna
strangle me to death! My measly 6$hr job as assistant unix administrator at
CIC/SJSU isn't gonna covor it either. Therefore, I am offering a great price on
my 1991 Rickenbacher, if it gets a good home. She's a custom made white on white
with all chrome hardware, a hardshell case, and 'll also throw in my lea
ther
strap. I paid an outrageus 900$ (Case and custom charge included) for
this beautiful instrument. I'd like to get 650 or so for her. But make this
starving college student a decent offer if that's too steep.
EMAIL me at keller@sparta.sjsu.edu
or RL MAIL me at 375 south 9th street apt #904D
San Jose, CA
95112
phone 408-924-8974
Or you can finger keller@sparta.sjsu.edu for this information
Thanks for your time, guys!
Wes
----------------------------------------------------------
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_The Bottom Line_ is a digest dedicated to the art of playing
electric and acoustic bass. It is distributed on a basis that
coincides with the amount of material received, from the
University of Wisconsin - Platteville, USA;
Kevin Tipple, Erik Habbinga, editors
Copyright _The Bottom Line_, 1993
The contents of _The Bottom Line_ are solely the opinions
and comments of the individual authors, and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the authors' managements or the digest
management. The editors do not assume responsibility for
copyright infringement of submitted material.
***************************
End of The Bottom Line #285
***************************