Haven’t been very outspoken lately, had loads of things to do and to re-consider some of my career paths. Anyway, still alive and kicking, fighting acute tinnitus but things are at least stabilized for now. Have to take care of my hearing, otherwise I could prematurely call It a day. Looking for a new career challenges, slowly working on something new.
Peace, B
I’ll be back.
UFO Re: “Nooooooo! It all works just fine. Almost :)”
I don’t really know If words are in order today but I really do have to write …
I could just be perfectly fine on a lazy Sunday morning and grateful to have a chance to enjoy the best racing events of the day and afterwards fiddle around in the kitchen as It was my mum’s birthday. We’ve planned to have a nice, cozy party later on but It was racing time first. Couldn’t wait for the grand race to start. But … just few minutes past ten everything had just darkened. Horribly darkened. It all happened in the blink of an eye and It was, so unfortunately, easy to realize that Marco Simoncelli crashed very, very badly. My heart stopped. Couldn’t erase the still picture of Marco, Colin and Valentino out of my head for hours and hours. Marco sustained severe body and head injuries in the second lap of the Sepang MotoGp race and was declared dead at 10:56 (CET). I didn’t want to believe It, I just couldn’t, how on Earth was crash like this even possible at this level of racing? Had quite some time to rethink everything but I am still absolutely gutted. Speechless. Motosport is extremely dangerous, we all know that, but the situation like this always seemed quite impossible to me. But unfortunately It happened. As Davide Brivio wrote down, It really was a horrible series of circumstances. We just lost one of the great characters and an amazing, wild driver indeed. There was something special about Marco that I’ve always admired. His raw speed, his persona … He was just so great and always made me feel good, smiling.
It sadly wasn’t any better last year, though. We were on our way back home from our vacation quite a bit earlier in the day just to catch the motogp race. At the start of the premier class Toby Moody and co. shared the terrible news that Shoya Tomizawa died at the circuit accident an hour ago. I felt really sad, just sat there, staring. I liked that sweet Japanese boy so much, his smart, hungry racing style, his biiiig smile, his spirit … It was really, really bad. I named my phone Shoya that night. I know what speed is and I know that death is always around the corner waiting whenever someone simply just starts the engine. And somewhere deep inside I always knew that when driving on the limit. That day was just as sad, so bloody sad. Driving hungrily for 9 hours just not to miss the race and to find out that the teenage boy left us way prematurely, was like hitting the heaviest concrete wall.
I can still feel the speed and related amount of adrenaline in my veins as I devoted my teen years to some petrol and mtb racing. Karting attempts were the last effort to stick to my petrolheaded dreams but one day I ended with broken ribs, no money, etc and so I’ve decided to pursue music career over the racing one as been heavily split between those two. But still, I almost didn’t miss a single Motogp or F1 race in years, It is rooted somewhere deep down. Many just don’t understand this drive of mine but It is the way that my soul wants It to be. Simple as that. It just cannot be shut down and I guess I really am able understand what drives these immensely brave guys to do what they are doing. I know It sounds very corny, but yes, If he really had to die, he at least died doing what he was living for.
I’ve succeeded to hurt some of my body belongings during my petrol and mtb racing attempts, saw others crashing, coming out badly injured but was still lucky enough never to experience a death cause at the place of the race. But unfortunately I did experience It today and I feel totally sick about It. I still cannot accept the fact that Marco, Shoya, Dan, Daijiri, Ayrton, Roland and (unfortunately) many others are not among us anymore. Huge talents, pure racers.
Marco was not a circuit cruising accountant, he was a pure bred racer. I admired him so much for everything he was, what he represented on the track. He was so extremely fast, that he really had to tame himself. Marco was The Great One in the making. One of the real deal characters of MotoGp. … Goodbye #58, we’ll miss you.
Condolences to Marco’s family, friends and the team.
Sincerely, B.
There is no such thing as the world’s best set of strings for a bass guitar, objectively speaking. One claiming It is either lying or taking the point highly subjective. I own quite a few basses and I know that many of them are strunged with different brands, models etc of strings … Why? Because I strive to get the best sound (personal taste, of course) needed out of each one of them plus the wanted feel, control and comfort while playing. Although I prefer some certain strings, they even remotely don’t work for everything.
Claiming that e.g. Musicman Stingray is the same/better/worse thing as Jazzbass or Precision bass would be a … emmmm … mildly put, stupid. They are all totally different; construction, sounding and playing wise, yet all of them are awesome. So equal string choice will most likely not work for all basses and applications. Btw, all of these words can only be valid If one cares about those things, of course. If not, yes, every single bass guitar can be treated as the same thing.
Understanding the difference with choosing a set of strings is quite similar to car tires choice, for example. Family’s SUV has different type and size of tires on It than brother’s Impreza or neigbour’s huge lawnmover. Why? Because every single one of them is designed differently, for different purposes etc yet at the same time one can find loads of very different tires for each one of them. Very same with strings. Just by changing the set of strings whole package will turn out quite different. And when considering replacing your old bass with a new one just because It doesn’t deliver the sound (this is aimed especially at beginners), try few different sets of strings first. You may not believe the difference approx 20 euro can make. And yes, improving right hand technique always does wonders :)
Stringing my old P-bass with half-wounds results in a very different sounding axe when compared to bright sounding roundwounds. In fact, I am pretty sure that nobody would blind guess It’s exactly the same P-bass. And what does that teach us? Experiment for the sake of best sound, feel under finger tips, tension etc. Of course It is combination of bass, strings and an amp, that provides the end result and fine tuning the whole combo usually takes time and experience. Great sound and feel depend on so many different factors. And It’s not just that sparkling 3000 euro price tag. Not at all. I own couple of basses that cost under a grand but they worth a fortune to me. Exactly the same as those with three, five, whatever times higher price tag. Why? Because they are simply amazing package. They simply work for me. Why fix something If It’s not broken. But I’ll talk about that in a forthcoming post.
Finding right strings for certain instrument can change the whole package significantly :) And It definitely is way cheapest component to change/improve. As every one of us is different, various manufacturers, types, gauges, versions of materials used apply. So which strings are the best … Those that were made for you. Just have to find them :)
Peace, B
I’ve been playing bass guitar for more than 20 years now and during my career I did get quite a lot of clear signals from my body, obviously signalling to me that I should change, adapt or refine my playing technique, hands positioning, fitness etc.
Playing or practicing bass for an hour or more per day is physically not as easy as It might look, especially for the hands and the back.
Hand itself is a very complicated “device” and when inspecting closely at what we are doing with It while playing, there is a lot to be seen and to learn about. We have to be extremely careful about the whole package. If one plays bass just at the rehearsal place and maybe does few gigs per year, I don’t think that any of serious problems might occur (presuming that he/she holds the bass at least above knees).
It’s the combo of hard practicing, gigging and holding the bass wrong, wrists too bended and at the same time one ignoring the pain. That’s the road to the end for sure. It’s the issue that youngsters are usually not even remotely interested into, but seriously, doing It wrong on a long time basis can end the story in severe hand and back injuries.
So, when starting to learn how to play an instrument is essential to learn and understand all the important basics first. Yes, I know, It’s boring, It doesn’t get you loads of top bands and chicks after first three lessons but hey … its only a bass, innit, It should be dead simple. Ok, lol. Some people think that playing 8th and 16th notes in the let say AC/DC style, holding the band together big time is dead easy, right? Wrooong! It’s physically very demanding as there is no proper relaxation/recreation for the left hand. Playing a bit more complicated, diverse bass line rather than just changing root tones with the left and hammering with the right hand is actualy easier when playing a hour and a half gig.
My left hand sometimes gets cramped while gigging with driving r’n'r band and very rarely with pop, funk or more jazzy oriented bands. Because fingers and the whole hand can move, blood can circulate and there is not so much time spent in one position. I’ve never experienced a cramp in the right hand while slapping but more than a few while driving 8th and 16th notes for an hour and a half, trying to glue together marshalls, mesas and the drummer :) Usually a mission impossible but there are rare moments.
Ok, seriously, bass guitar has longer neck than a guitar, so left arm has to stretch more to get to the first playing position, wrist starts to bend, fingers trying to deal with all of it and at the end, there are at least four strings to deal with. Quite a job for an elbow, wrist and fingers. And one of the nastiest self-induced problems that can happen to us bass players is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Just google It and read a lot about It.
It makes you re-think thing or two about practicing, commitment to the details etc. One of the main reasons for cts hurting the bass players is because wrists are often bended at up to 90 degrees (wrist tissues and nerves find that torturing position a bit annoying, I am sure of It), while playing.
And that just calls for the cts. And cts can quite quickly become the reason for “I had to end my career as a bass player” sad story. I guess nobody wants quit playing this way.
I would say the one that you are most comfortable with, allows you to play everything you want with the least effort and pain.
It takes time to find It, though, but It’s very rewarding at the end. There is a universal standard technique that is commonly taught and used (I guess we all are familiar with It :)) and there are many derivates of It which can always work for some. I guess It is nothing wrong with a bit of utube while looking for answers, but always, always do your homework by checking If the player is the real deal and not just someone who talks and teaches bull shite (loads of that on tha tube). I’ve dealt with such problems trying to “clean up” my students in the past. Not good.
If you feel that something regarding your playing goes in the wrong direction do yourself a favor and start from scratch, consider different approaches and experiment with every possible option. I always teach my students the “common technique” at first so they can get the overall feeling for the bass but later on we experiment a lot with hands adjustment and overall fine tuning. Every one of us is different and I am sure that there is no “this is absolutely the right way” to do It. It’s what is right for you to get the most out of both hands, to provide you with the most ergonomic way of playing possible.
I consider Nathan East a player with very friendly, extremely fluid technique; a good, close look at his playing can reveal to you why is It (he) so fine. He is not making It hard for himself, not at all. His left hand technique is not anything like (almost weird, space-age) technique(s) that some of the modern bass players are using/displaying today. No, but It definitely is (and also sounds like) one of the most comfortable and pleasant playing styles I’ve ever seen. Like a breeze :)
Thought or two from good ol’ Bernie.
Peace :)
I’ve decided to get myself a small bass cabinet for cozier gigs and practices as I don’t always need the power handling and headroom of my Markbass 4×10″ STD104HF , although definitely lightweight and great sounding. So I chose Markbass NewYork 121 and what an awesome piece of gear this is, indeed.
I was (and still am) blown away by the huge tone, clarity and punch that this little devil delivers. It’s so small that can easily be overlooked when packing up all of the gear but stage presence is simply awesome. It’s just 12″ + tweeter but shakes the air beyond any sane expectations. Honestly, at the first glance It kinda looks like traditional 65W practice amps do. And weighs way less but still handles 400 watts.
In combination with my Markbass TA503 amp It really shines and more than usually needed tone variations are possible but NewYork 121 handles them very well. Modern slap tone? No worries. Dub? No worries. 35″ B-string? I guess you know the answer already :-) Etc …
Of course, It is still just 12″ so don’t expect 18″ subs but, man, this is The small cab. And … car’s trunk suddenly appears to be a lot spacier :-)
Had a thoroughly great gig yesterday. Played at one of the nicest venues I’ve ever seen, quite small but very cozy with great acoustic, thumbs up for this one, Ravne :-) We’ll be back soon, I am sure of It. Mr. Pestner’s first great hit titled 30 let (30 years) will be 40 years old in April. Had to take a (phone)photo of him and my bass, tough :-)
Took some sort of a month off after exhausting December but not without daily practicing, though. Tested some new bass gear but as I am more than satisfied with my current line-up I decided not get anything new to probably just collect dust. Ok, maybe I’ll try to build myself a custom JazzBass, DIY thing just for fun, haven’t tinkered with some stuff for ages :-)
Still trying to tame that enormous (a bit annoying, have to say) subs produced by my MM Stingray 5 fretless’ piezo mode, no luck so far. Have to talk to my bass technician or to Ernieball If thats normal; I know that piezos are huge sounding but so huge?
It turned out quite good, have to say, despite very chilly night and the fact that the gig was held outdoors. People seemed to have a great time and endured with us till 2:00h. Thx to everyone and Happy New Year :-)
I wish you happy, healty and as carefree as possible New Year 2011 :-)
