I need your help.

[Mr. Hyde]

I'd like to be able to contribute some parts to the IMG in the future but my playing (speaking mostly about guitar, I haven't even picked up the bass in a long time and I'll never be as good as EC, Constantine and Eddy anyhow! ) is really not good enough anymore.
Maybe you guys could help me by describing what you do to prepare. What do you practice etc...
When I was younger, before life kicked me in the ass, I used to have the time to practice for 9 or more hours at a time, but now I'm lucky if I've got twenty free minutes at a time. How do you guys do it?

 

[Constantine]

Time, I wish we had more time........
I find myself practicing in the car as I'm driving. I work on my arm rest working on triplets. I find myself playing on the stearing wheel. At times I find myself more playing as a drummer then a bass player.
As weird as it sounds it really helps me with my timing.

I find myself not playing alot with my bass right now. Very busy at the store and with my daughters. I can tell you this. Get me a new drum track and I'm all over it

take care
Constantine

 

[Eddies cellmate]

Originally posted by Constantine
Time, I wish we had more time........
I find myself practicing in the car as I'm driving. I work on my arm rest working on triplets. I find myself playing on the stearing wheel. At times I find myself more playing as a drummer then a bass player.
As weird as it sounds it really helps me with my timing.

I find myself not playing alot with my bass right now. Very busy at the store and with my daughters. I can tell you this. Get me a new drum track and I'm all over it

take care
Constantine

I do the exact same thing!

As for other forms of practice, I usually use some songs I know to warm up with, playing along with the CD or whatever. Then, I try to force myself to focus on whatever it is I think I need to focus on. If it's timing, I play patterns along with a metronome or drumbeat. If it's scales and chords, I run through them for as long as I can stand it. If it's my sound, then I focus on tweaking my gear. If it's writing, then I switch back and forth from guitar to bass and keep plugging away like that. If I just wanna have fun, I put on something jumpy and just let 'er RIP, even if it sounds like crap because that sort of free form improvisation is also very important to musical development.

Anyway, the main thing I force myself to do is to focus on what needs done, and avoid just "noodling" around with no direction or goals in mind. It's key for me to be focused and stick to the task at hand, otherwise I become too distracted and don't accomplish much.

And as for time, we ALL wish we had more of that!!!

Good Luck!

 

[Mr. Hyde]

Thanks for the tips guys. I really appreciate it.

BTW...I found out that pain in my hand I was having was from swelling. The swelling goes away when I don't wear my wedding ring. I don't know why that happens but my hand seems to be ok now.

Ec your clairvoyant bass track was an inspiration to me. I picked up the bass again after hearing your track!

How did you get that sound, was it direct, or did you mic your amp?


And hey, any of you super secretive guitarists got any tips?

 

[Eddies cellmate]

Thanks Mr.H! That's very kind of you.

Anyway, I run direct from my A.R.T. Nightbass unit.

I don't use any of the computer's effects, just the Nightbass.

 

[Constantine]

EC, sweet looking unit.

Does the Nightbass unit run into your computer? How does the setup work?
Constantine

 

[Eddies cellmate]

Originally posted by Constantine
EC, sweet looking unit.

Does the Nightbass unit run into your computer? How does the setup work?
Constantine

Thanks Constantine, I've had that unit for over ten years now, and it's never let me down! (Though, I still need to send it in for a factory over-haul, it's got some noisy pots, etc)

I just output a composite stereo signal from a 1/4 inch output into the 1/8 inch line input (using an adapter) on the computer. It's really as simple as that. That way, all of the signal processing and various levels are all mixed within the Nightbass unit itself. It wasn't a cheap unit when I bought it, but that unit really makes life a lot easier.

Someday I'd like to add a second sound card to the cpu for true stereo recordings... someday!

 

[Mr. Hyde]

It does look killer Ec. I wonder why they discontinued it? Did they replace it with something better?


Why can't you record in stereo now?

 

[rabies]

Heh...you won't get any tips from me. I don't practice. I barely have time to play anymore. When I do, its just noodling around on stuff I know. The best practice I get is when I sit down to record a song of ours...then have I have to learn/practice and record it all at one time...and then of course, I get frustrated because it took me more than 1 take to record something fairly easy...like Icarus, or the Trooper...and I have to punch in a lot on more complicated songs....like 7th son.

...all this is the #1 reason I feel compelled to say I suck as a guitar player.

 

[Eddy]

Practise... Practise, practise, practise...
Now why does that word sound so familiar....?

I don't do that too often... Sometimes when I have the time I just make a playlist of few mp3s and play along as long as I feel like it... That's about it... And that's the reason why I suck as a musician...

 

[Eddies cellmate]

Originally posted by Mr. Hyde
It does look killer Ec. I wonder why they discontinued it? Did they replace it with something better?


Why can't you record in stereo now?

Thanks Mr.H.

Actually, noone's quite sure why they discontinued the Nightbass. To be honest, they probably weren't selling many of them anymore, since most bass players don't go for unusual sounds/textures much in today's most popular music. Most of the bands you hear these days are using pretty dry bass sounds with just distortion, etc. I think the digital effects units overall aren't as popular as they once were. That's my guess at it anyway.

I can't record in true stereo because with only one soundcard (with one input channel) my stereo effects are ganged together into two "false stereo" mono tracks. I can output both left and right channels from the Nightbass unit, but I can't input and record them seperately without two soundcards.

The only "true stereo" effects I can use right now are the plug-ins on the computer itself. I can use these because they're added digitally after my track has already been captured in two mono tracks. Of course, the Nightbass has much cooler stereo effects, and I really wish I could use them sometimes.