Catching Up

Wow, where does the time go?

Ready to paint-- let's roll!

Letmeseehere... we ended up buying the house-- issues and all. We paid a local moving company to haul the big stuff like the washer & dryer, furniture, kitchen items, etc, but the little stuff we moved ourselves. I painted several rooms and all the closets before we had new carpet & flooring installed throughout the house... which, aside from money cost a lot of time. Now we are in, most of the boxes are gone and we are almost settled.

Musically, I took a month or so off from playing with our band so I could manage the move. A few weeks ago I returned with them and had a blast! I used my G&L LB-100 P-bass all weekend and enjoyed every minute of it. Even with all the stress associated with moving, making music with theses guys was reinvigorating. Gear wise, as much as I love my bass, it is HEAVY! Thankfully I found the "Comfort Strap" which is made of neoprene & nylon. The construction allows the strap to absorb the weight without the distracting bouncing found in other similar straps. Even with my bad back the weight of the bass was never an issue. The best $35 I've ever spent!

Grad school began at the beginning of the month, and we hit the ground running. The amount of assigned reading can be overwhelming alone-- then add the research and essay writing could put the average person under quickly! Thankfully during this summer blog project I had worked the kinks out of scheduling and study habits. I intentionally set limits on the amount of studying so it won't consume my life. That leaves time to spend with my family and time to practice with my bass.

Stay tuned for a general overview of the blog project, lessons & skills learned over the summer. I had a good time all-in-all, and will keep the blog up and running-- maybe something here will inspire others to play regardless of their age, skill level, or amount of free-time. If I can do it, so can you!

Stay tuned & in tune!~

The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA

Wednesday; a Softer Sunday, an 11th-hour SNAFU, and Craigslist Foolishness

Practice session for this weekends Softer Sunday

This weeks Softer Sunday service went pretty well. Of the five songs, we had three that were quite upbeat and we played them pretty hard; it was a pleasant surprise and I wasn't about to complain. 

Musicians on hand this morning: piano, bass, drums, acoustic guitar, three vocalists. The sound man, determined to keep complaints about volume to a minimum, kept our sound levels at an extreme minimum. One of the congregation mentioned that playing a CD would be just as effective. Hopefully things there will soon change for the better.

Last Tuesday we signed the paperwork to close on our house. Unlike most states I'm familiar with, the sale isn't  final until it becomes a matter of record (WA is different-- just gotta go with it); scheduled for Tuesday  9/11. Then, at 4:30 I received a call notifying me that we need to quickly sign an extension request as there was a perceived problem with the septic system. Because the drain field extends below the driveway the county says it's non-compliant. According to the real-estate agents, these sort of things are common and rarely impede a sale. Apparently our lender feels otherwise. So we are now in a holding pattern while the issue is addressed. 

In stressful times like these I'm glad I have music to clear my head. I simply sling on the guitar strap, plug the bass into my little combo amp and let 'er rip. Focusing on the music is a refreshing alternative to stressing about paperwork silliness and issues beyond my control. The power of music is a real blessing.

Speaking of stress, have you attempted to sell anything on Craig's List lately? 

I have, and it seems that more and more people are looking to get something for nothing. Here is a sample of recent replies I've received while trying to sell a guitar amp:

Here is a sample of replies to an add I recently posted for a guitar amp:

- Will you deliver to Vancouver BC? (200 miles north)
- Will you take $325? (asking $475)
- Will you deliver to Eugene, Or? (227 miles south)
- I'm driving to Seattle from Wenatchee; meet me there & take $300? (60 miles north)
- I'm on workman's comp in AZ; will you meet my mother in Seattle? (60 miles north)
- I'll trade you my --beginners level gear-- (add says no trades)
- I'm interested in your amp and can meet you today at 4pm (then never shows/ ignores followup email-- happened twice).

A friend of mine who owns a small guitar shop believes the default mindset of Americans has become "expect more; pay less"-- the marketing slogan of Target, our nations top big-box-store.

Have Americans completely abandoned the concept of value? 

In looking for a musical instrument, author Philip Sudo writes:

"...make sure you look for an instrument of suitable quality... Avoid poor craftsmanship; it's the sign of a poor spirit. That doesn't mean you have to buy the most expensive equipment... Learn to identify quality and appreciate anything thats well made, wherever you find it. Look deeply into the spirit that goes into making an item of quality-- the care, precision, the attention to detail. Incorporate that spirit into your work...make [it] as well as you can. To do otherwise is spiritless."  

It is my sincere hope that Sudo's perspective replaces the current Target mindset in Americans. Maybe I'm just a hopeless optimist... either way, whether or not my amplifier sells is irrelevant; what matters is what it tells us about... us. So, think twice before sending that person on Craigslist, or anywhere for that matter, a lowball offer for their gear. Maybe-- just maybe, together we can change this negative trend and restore a sense of value to our country~

Tuesday; I Love This Bass! G&L L2000

One of the primary tools I used for this blog over the past eight or nine weeks has been a G&L L2000 bass. It has been my go-to instrument for practice sessions and for playing with our worship band. Granted, I did play different basses on a few occasions, but primarily this has been my workhorse. 

Love at first sight-- via G&L's Facebook page

If you don't know about G&L, the initials stand for George Fullerton & Leo Fender. Yup-- that Fender, the guy who invented the production electric bass and pioneered guitar amplification. He sold his Fender guitar company to CBS in the 1960s then in the 1970s started a company called Music Man. After selling that to Ernie Ball, Leo enlisted his buddy George from the early days of the Fender company and together they created G&L guitars in the early 1980s. Those who know about G&L consider them to be the real Fender guitars and basses, despite the other company's marketing.

I first saw it on the G&L Facebook page in the spring. The post mentioned it was shipping to Bass Northwest in Seattle. The day is vivid in my memory; I was studying for my statistics course in our dining room-- the unofficial study area-- surfing the net during a lunch break. And there it was. I didn't have any money at the time, so actually being able to buy it didn't seem possible. So I figured I'd sell some excess gear to raise the funds. Surprisingly the gear sold quickly, but wasn't quite enough to think about bringing this blue-burst beauty home.

Bass Northwest, on the edge of historic Pioneer Square, Seattle WA. 

The last piece of gear that needed to sell in order to fund the bass came a day after our 10th wedding anniversary. This instrument became a marker of our anniversary, and is now referred to as my anniversary bass. I gave Bass NW a call to see it was still there... and it was! I made arrangements to visit that week and battled Seattle traffic to make my way to Pioneer Square-- home to Bass NW.

The owner happened to be there and took the instrument off the wall and handed it to me after plugging it into a 6-foot tall Ampeg amp. It felt great, sound incredible and the finish is a knock out-- a blue burst with deep-purple sides. After playing it for a few minutes the owner asked what I thought and after chatting a little bit made me an offer I couldn't refuse. "Pack it up!" I said with a huge smile. As I was leaving, we shook hands and he said, "go make some good music with this, eh~" That is exactly what I have done.

G&L bumper sticker declaring the truth

So aside from sounding great, what is it about this bass that has become my go-to instrument? 

First off, it weighs less than most basses I've tried-- a good medium weight instrument, which makes it more comfortable sitting on my leg during those long practice sessions, but still has enough weight to provide more than enough oomph to it's sound.

The controls are the best I've found on any other bass. G&L calls it the Tri-Tone System; the knobs are volume/treble/bass. The three switches include 3-way pickup selector/ series-*single coil*-Parallel/ treble boost- active mode- passive mode. The pre-amp is powered by a 9-Volt battery (opposed to 18-volts in many others). One of the things I like most about this system is that the player can choose passive or active mode. Lets say I'm playing on the active system and the battery dies. No worries, I just flip the switch to passive and keep on rockin.' The pickups are humbuckers, but with the attrition of the "K" wiring I can select single coils. This has got to be the most versatile bass on the planet! 

A much appreciated characteristic of this L2000 is that it's comfortable to play on stage. It is balanced just right on the strap, so there aren't any problems with the neck diving. The neck is shaped just right-- chunky and rounded, but not so much that it gets in the way. At 1.5" it is the basic width of a Fender Jazz Bass. The frets are medium-jumbos, but are not as tall as most of that size; I'd call them low-wide. The satin finish on the neck makes it smooth to play without any of the stickiness of lacquered necks.

Finally, the bass itself; heck-- you've seen the pictures,... its beautiful! G&L have the best painters in the business, and thats saying something because there are some fantastic finishers out there (PRS, Carvin, Tom Anderson, etc.). This particular one is a burst finish that starts at the edges as a very deep purple and transitions into a translucent blue. What's not to like?!

Sunday; New Gear, and Gremlins

This weekend I had the privilege of playing during our main services on Saturday evening, and twice on Sunday morning.

The calm before the storm

A lot of practice during the week allowed me to focus more on the band than my playing. Everything went well, even when our leader threw us a curveball... He decided to merge the second & third song, changing the chord progression of the third to fit nicely with second.

Sure SRH440 headphones 

Ahead of the practice curve, I decided to get all my gear packed up early so I'd be ready to shlep everything to the church later in the day. That's when I realized I had not yet replaced my crummy headphones. After clearing it with the family CFO, I picked up a pair of Shure SRH440, and a Snark clip-on tuner. Why a tuner? During the last Softer Sunday I played my BOSS TU-2 died. The Snark is a great little tuner and is priced friendly enough at $20

Saturday evening I chose to play the Music Man Stingray. While it sounded great, I really missed my G&Ls. This is kind of crazy, since the Stingray has been a real joy to play... so why was I craving the G&L? Maybe because thats all I've been playing the last few months...? Maybe because the 'Ray favors the mid frequencies and the band had a lot of that already happening (two electric guitars, acoustic guitar, keys...), so I chose to take my G&L L2000 for Sunday morning.

  SN8 Super Tight Tuner

Sunday went well enough, though we did have a few gremlins-- one of our guitarists had a battery die in his pedal board, and struggled to ID the offending pedal then to disconnect it and get back to playing. At the same time, our the leader forgot to turn up the volume on his acoustic guitar-- all of this just as we began the second set. Our guitarist was really down about the problems, but took comfort in the stories the team traded about their own surprise miss-adventures.

Since I had practiced enough the week prior, I was able to take my attention away from the chord sheets and just flow with the music. This was great for most of the day, however, I did unintentionally play a few different chord progressions than the others in the band. Thankfully the progressions I was playing fit quite nicely. 

The band in full swing during Sunday's second service-- third of the weekend

Our sound guys have a new digital board to control things on stage, and even set up a camera to film what we were doing. Our leader has asked us to think more about our "stage presence" while critiquing ourselves on our musicianship. I love the idea of being able to watch the film and identify things to improve upon, but this weeks audio wasn't much help. 

This coming weekend I get to participate with our Softer Sunday service, so it's off to the woodshed with me to prepare~

Wed; Groovin' For Heaven and Other Revelations

This has been a productive week for me-- both musically and on the house purchasing front.

Musically, I thought I had a pretty good handle on the basic scales, until last week when a buddy lent me a copy of the instructional DVD, "Groovin' For Heaven." The instructor mentioned the necessity to have a few basic musical scales under your fingers; Major, Minor, Pentatonic. 

No worries-- I got this!

I've got the Major scale nailed down, and I remember the requirement to turn a major chord into a minor is to flat the 3rd. While this is true, my perspective in this case was limited to chords. I was missing the whole picture-- the need to not only flat the 3rd, but also the 6th and 7th. Doh!!  

From there I went a little further and checked out this handy article on pentatonic scales published Cyberfretbass.com. Here I realized another error in my thinking; I had mistakenly thought of notes in the incorrect degree of the scale. Let me explain...

A major pentatonic scale removes the 4th & 7th from the scale:

C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C
1  2  3  4   5  6  7  1

This means the scale correctly becomes:
C  D  E  G  A  
1  2   3  5  6.  

My mistake was labeling the note G with the 4th degree of the scale... Ooops!

So back to the woodshed with me-- just one of the pitfalls to being a self-taught musician I guess. And score one for the internet by making the info easily available. Technology to the rescue!

A great resource for sharping skills

The instructional DVD was a pleasant surprise in that it encouraged me to view playing from a perspective I hadn't thought of previously. My music stand now contains three pages of notes I jotted down while watching the DVD. Lots of work for me to do over the next few weeks.


Practice:
I spent several hours working on the upcoming weekends song list. One tune in particular is a revised version of Amazing Grace written by the band Citizen. It's a modern take on the classic, and a pretty good one at that. I had the chord sheet, but it lacked any direction for the instrumental. So after a good deal of critical listening I was able to pin it down. Honestly, I was pretty proud of myself and really got the entire song down pat. The other three tunes are pretty straight forward, so no problems there.

House update:
I got the last remaining quote for replacing the carpet today. Now with all three quotes we are much closer to having a closing date. The seller is providing an allowance up to $4k for new carpet... each of the three quotes are well over that mark-- which will come out of our pocket-- so that's finally taken care of.

Also gathered another estimate from moving from our rental to the house. Man, buying a house is expensive! Most of my moves in the past were coordinated and paid for by the Air Force-- all but one, which was a serious PIA! It's a tricky task to find a reputable moving company that won't gouge the customer. Thankfully it looks like we've secured a good one, though it's still an expensive undertaking.

Ron Witwicky providing important fatherly advice

Boxes. Where can we get our hands on a bunch of boxes?! The more we pack and/or move the more we save with the moving company. I hate going to places asking for boxes. This is something that my wife doesn't understand, and I'm having a difficult time expressing why. Maybe because it feels like I'm asking for a handout... still trying to work that one out. I'd be happy just paying for boxes. But not her. As quoted by Mr. Ron Witwicky; "Happy wife, happy life. Unhappy wife, stone-cold misery for the rest of your life." Time to find some boxes...!

Sunday; I Love It Loud-- or Quiet?!

This weeks Softer Sunday went pretty smooth. We didn't have any last minute changes, the songs were all familiar tunes which I've played a lot over the years. And the band, which is comprised of different members each week was locked in pretty well. There was however, one thing which like a bad penny, keeps resurfacing in this service; volume.

"BLF" Bass guitars Before Leo Fender...

The term "softer" in Softer Sunday refers to lower volume than that found in our main services. This service began life as a completely separate gathering of about a dozen, more... seasoned people. The music was made from a piano and upright bass. Over time an us-vs.-them situation began brewing. So in conjunction with adjusting service times the Softer Sunday service as we know today was created. Naturally, some of those in the original small group became disenchanted over the change, while a strong personality that lead that group retired and moved on. 

Leo Fender; invented electricity... mostly

This situation is a great model for studying group dynamics, but I won't go into those details here. Suffice to say there is and will always be-- in any group-- an element who will never be satisfied. There are also those who will complain about anything just for the attention. "It's too loud!" some complain to the pastor. The band is then asked to lower the volume. Next week the band is still too loud, and complaints are directed to the band who again lowers their volume. A few months ago this got so bad that the drummer couldn't hear the bass player (me) and asked our sound guy to turn me up a bit (we don't have personal monitors in this service). The very next moment our sound guy was asked to turn every thing down due to more complaints. 

"ALF" Bass guitars After Leo Fender

This weekend we had the same group dynamic problems-- too loud/too quiet. To please one person another is upset. A lot of churches have this problem, it is not uniquely ours. I do believe however, what is unique to us is this little group of people who wish to return to the days where they have their own little club complemented with nothing more than a piano and an upright bass. A club that could come & go through the side doors without any interaction with anyone but themselves. Then and only then will they be happy.

Thankfully this is not my problem to solve. I am very happy to accept any opportunity to make music-- especially when it praises God. It's also my guess that 99% of the others in the worship arts collective feel the same way. The focus needs to be on God-- not us. If the music truly is too loud, then by all means we are happy to turn it down. However, there comes a point when turning it down any further is counter productive. Unless of course your intention is to replace the band with a piano & upright bass.

Monday. Sad Days; Look Out For Your Wingman

News of Robin Williams suicide was released today.

The reports say he was struggling with depression for many years. I couldn't help but think that if someone was there to help him through it, maybe he would still be with us. I'm sure his loved ones have been there for him many times in the past, and maybe even on this day, but that was the first thing that went though my mind. Then I thought about my own struggles with it... I am so thankful for the support of my own friends & family, and that of another thing-- music. 

Would music have been able to help Williams? What if he was aware of a music therapy program similar to that of Guitars For Vets? Again, maybe he would still be with us. 

Uncharacteristically, this had been on my mind all day. I don't usually think much about celebrity deaths when they happen. Maybe I'm weird, but I never get caught up in the fanfare made of celeb deaths-- though I do have empathy for their families. Not being connected to these people, it's difficult to grieve for them. But the suicide death of Williams struck a chord with me. 

The Air Force has something called the Wingman. It's a flying term-- fighter pilots are always to have a wingman; another aircraft that watches your back, while you watch his. The AF took this concept and applied it to everyone-- pilots or otherwise, as a form of suicide prevention. Each person has someone who watches your back while you watch theirs. "Look out for your wingman!" 

We can get so caught up in our own little worlds that it can be easy to forget about others and what they may be struggling with... 

Who is your wingman? We all need to do a better job of looking out for each other~ 

Sunday; "Ch- ch-ch- ch- changes..."

Changes happen. Either you learn from them and grow, or you get left behind. This is true in so many areas of life, as it is in music.

Our Softer Sunday song-list has been available through our web-bassed planning center for well over a week. Saturday evening as my wife and I were driving home from a day trip to Whidbey Island, I got a call that there were changes to two of the songs-- mainly changes to the key signature. Also there was no way the services leader would be able to post the new chord sheets as he didn't have access to the online program.

16th Annual Whidbey Island Highland Games

Having spent many years in the USAF, I have a keen understanding for what it means to be a leader. A leader needs to make decisions-- sometimes unpopular decisions. A leader is required to equip his/her people with the tools they need to accomplish the mission. A leader inspires his/her people.

These particular last minute changes really got under my skin. Unfortunately, it has been common practice for the weekends worship leader to make last minute changes to our song list ranging from changes in key to completely different songs. I've been struggling with this lack of professionalism since joining the team several years ago. My wife reminds me that most of the people there are volunteers who have never been in the service, and that the civilian sector is much different than the Air Force. She's right of course... It's just another struggle for me to overcome in my reintegration to civilian life.

The changes to the songs were easy enough that I was able to spend a few hours before bed working out new chord sheets for the next mornings service. What bothered me the most was that these changes were made at the last minute, without regard for the others on the team. It just made me want to take this person aside and with a stern voice say, "Dang-it Airman! Whats wrong with you? Now get your act together! You were trained better than this!" But of course this person isn't an Airman, and hasn't been trained for this. There are times when I sorely miss the military...

Sunday morning arrived and after stopping at the Starbucks for my morning coffee I was on the stage and rehearsing our newly changed songs before I knew it. I rolled with the changes, we made it work and after voicing my concerns with the leader, moved on. Likewise, I am rolling with the changes of becoming being a civilian.

Through music, a person can learn a lot about life...

Saturday 9 Aug; I'm Feelin' Good

It's been a productive week; the house buying adventure appears to have taken a positive turn, with the seller agreeing with everything in our last counter offer. So, it looks like we've bought a house! There are a number of things that have to happen before we can move in, but we hope to close by the end of the month.

The essentials of my practice sessions: bass of choice,
Carvin amp, Boss tuner; chord sheets w/ lots of notes

Musically, I'm on the schedule to play with our church band for the next four weekends, which should help keeping me on a steady practice routine. I've spent the last few days working on this weekends song list and feel pretty confident with it. 

Now, back on track with my practice schedule I've noticed there are sections of the fingerboard I usually overlook. These tend to be the open positions and the "D" & "G" strings. So I've been working on using these areas in the songs I am practicing. Sometimes they work great-- as in the case of "Your Grace is Enough" (the key of F) in which I am playing the verse in the open positions as much as possible. We'll see how that works with the band on Sunday.

Keeping it fun, I've been working on the James Brown classic, "I Got You (I Feel Good). The old tunes from Motown, Stax, and Muscle Shoals (to name a few) have always been my favorites. Maybe it's because I was born in Detroit right around the time so many great tunes were recorded... there was something more than simply one-part hydrogen and two-parts oxygen in the water back then-- you can hear it in the music. Anyway, It's my way of keeping practice fun. 

Week 6: The Importance Of Keeping It Fun

So I haven't picked up the bass since last weekend's Softer Sunday service. I know, that's counter to the whole idea of this project, but this turned something I enjoy into a chore-- so I decided to take a break and reassess my approach. Now I'm ready to get back to it.

As I write this, we are still in negotiations for the house we are trying to buy; today is the deadline for their latest response to our post-home inspection offer. I imagine we will be volleying offers all week. Two moving companies will be visiting today to provide us with quotes for moving across town. The first rep is due to arrive in 30min or so...

These guys know how to have fun!

Each of the next four weekends I'll be playing with our worship band-- mostly Softer Sundays. All the songs have been posted and I've got the chord sheets for each tune. Typically though songs and keys change throughout the week, which means I've got enough to keep me busy for the next month or so.

Since I took a week off from practicing, I'll extend my project a week-- after all, the long term goal is to improve my skills-- right?!

One thing is sure-- I've learned the importance of keeping it fun~

Halfway Review

Tuesday

Looking back over the last four weeks, I notice I've not been practicing nearly as much as I had planned. There are several reasons for this, mainly our house hunting adventures. So much of my mental energy has been focused on the process of buying a house that I've neglected the bass. Is this a bad thing? Well, not really. We all have to identify our priorities and do what we think is best.

There is another dynamic at work here as well. In a way, this project has turned what I've thought of as fun, into work. There were times when I made excuses to avoid being cooped up in my tiny music room. So I'm going to loosen my belt a bit over the remaining four weeks and not be so ridged about being in there daily. Maybe that will make it feel less like work, and bring a little fun back into the project. Also, I'm going to really pull back from the house buying process. There is a 50/50 chance we will close on the house we are currently under contract with, so if it doesn't work out we will keep looking, but with less urgency-- my wife and I are both burnt out over the entire process.

At church, I have one weekend in August free-- this coming weekend. The rest of the month I am scheduled to play with our worship team; something I am really excited about. Hopefully September will be full.

Another thing I've been enjoying this summer is following my LA Dodgers via MLB-TV. I even got to watch each of the three games against the SF Giants over this past weekend. We swept our rivals to take over first place in the NL West. The Giants even brought in a ringer from the Red Sox-- Jake Peavy-- for Sunday's game three. Even with him hitting a home run, we still won. Go Blue!!

Halfway!

Sunday, July 27

Softer Sunday
After spending saturday at the Scottish fair, my wife & I got to bed early so I'd be able to get up early for Sunday's rehearsal. My first stop of the morning was to get a coffee from Starbucks, then off to the church. There was four of us who arrived early... and we all waited outside for someone who had a key to the building to arrive.

Our Softer Sunday stage from the perspective of our pianist 

As I wrote last week, all the songs on todays list were new to me, but I wasn't at all nervous about playing them-- Mainly because I had plenty of practice, but also because I knew the band and I were on the same page-- we were there for a greater purpose than to play the songs just like the recording; we were there to worship and lead others in worship. As such, the morning went really well. The drummer and I agreed to just go with the feel rather than try to be true to the recording. It worked like a charm.

I decided the most complementary instrument for the days song list was my G&L LB-100, which is their take on Leo's Precision Bass-- the perfect choice. Honestly, any of my basses would have done fine and probably nobody would have noticed one way or the other, but I think it put me in the right frame of mind to forget about the instrument and just play. Those intangibles can be very tangible for the musician.

Week 4 Review

Monday:
After a weekend spent dealing with the craziness of the sellers agents, we decided to make another offer for the house. Knowing it is the seller's agent, not the seller behaving badly, we gave the seller a second chance at our original offer. The difference being the poor showing at Sunday's open house.

Bass notes:
I have the music for next weekends Softer-Sunday service; a handful of tunes I'm not very familiar with so the practice has been a little more enjoyable. I quite enjoy stretching myself by playing music such as this. They have not posted the MP3s to the planning website, so I'm using Youtube to guess what tunes they are looking for.

Tues:
The seller has countered ten thousand dollars more than we are willing to pay, so we made a counter offer which basically moves around closing costs.

Spent the day in the music room working on the coming weekends setlist. Also worked on improving two that I have down pretty well-- Walking On The Moon (Police), Godzilla (BOC). I need to add more of those classic tunes to my bag. I'm thinking mostly classic R&B stuff...

Wed:
Surprisingly the seller accepted our offer with a few tweaks. Now the deal depends on inspections... have we just bought a house?

Early this week I've been in an email conversation with one of the guys at Bass North West in Seattle about a replacement G&L case. The case I received with my L2000 seems to be a general-fit case and doesn't have the G&L badge anywhere. The owner asked me to bring my bass & its case to their shop so we could try to find something that works better for me. So I made the trip to Seattle's Pioneer Square and we found an older case that I like better. Now I have a case in which the instrument won't slosh about.

Fri-  Thurs:
Two more days in the music room preparing for this Sunday's service.

Sat:
Seattle Highland Games! Again, we've got to have some time off and just enjoy the day-- today was this day for us. It is a yearly gathering of all things Scottish. Bands fore the day were; The Wicked Tinkers followed by The Rouges. It was a good day. I got to recharge my batteries for the week ahead...

Pushing Through

Sunday:
That upset feeling in my stomach yesterday afternoon ended up being a stomach flu. Didn't get much sleep, and seriously debated whether or not to stay home. I decided to go to rehearsal and see if I could play or not. It was rough at first-- I was tired, dehydrated, weak, and not very together, but I hung in there.

Having such a bad time trying to hear myself in the headset, our guitarist mentioned I should try a better set of headphones. So I used one of the church's. I forget the make and model, but they were a $300 set... vs. my $50 Carvin set. The difference was amazing. Playing my G&L Jazz bass I could hear myself just fine... maybe slightly less than I would have liked. All the white noise I was hearing through the system last night was canceled out through this pair of headphones. I really was amazed at the difference.

My G&L Jazz bass

We have two services in our main room each Sunday. Amazingly my playing in the first service was some of the best I've played. The uber-quality headphones is one of the reasons I believe it went so well. The second service went well, but I was having a difficult time concentrating and was feeling the effects of dehydration, but again, I got through it.

On a side note, I was super happy with the tone I was getting from my bass. The signal path was my G&L Jazz bass into a direct box, to the board and through the PA. Still, I was happy when the service was over and I could go home and catch up on a bit of sleep.

Still no sleep for me however-- shortly after getting home my wife and I were scrambling to find, scan, and email a handful of documents to our real-estate agent concerning Fridays offer. A l..o..n..g story short, the sellers agents were doing everything in their power to delay-- then kill-- our offer in favor of a Sunday open house through which they expected multiple offers. We are going to sleep on it and decide how to proceed in the morning.

Week 3: Part 2

Thurs:

Spent the day working on this weekends set list.  Five songs, all but one in the key of G. By the end of the day I had them all down—even the last minute addition.

Fri:

In the evening, I found that the house we made an offer on last week had dropped $20k—right where our offer was, yet nobody contacted us. In the process of finding out was going on, my wife discovered the house across the street just came on the market, so after taking a look at it we made an offer.

Sat:

Ran through the set list for the last time, just to make sure I’ve got everything covered. Last night I learned that one of our team members birthday is today, so I learned Happy Birthday for her. I thought of learning the Beatles song but I didn’t have enough time to do it right so…

This is what our Aviom looked like-- many, many years ago

I took a few hours to relax before our rehearsal and service. My stomach was feeling upset, but I didn’t thing anything of it and moved on. I played my anniversary bass thinking the preamp would help me hear myself in my headset through the Aviom system. Didn’t work. I can hear everything just fine when I am the only one playing, but when the band is all in I can’t hear a thing. Our sound guys tell me the reason for this is our analog soundboard and the crummy Aviom system that gets overloaded by the signal. 

Still waiting on the reply to our house offer… but we should know something by the end of the night.

My Gig Bag

After five months of searching the web, visiting music stores, etc. I finally purchased a new gig bag for my bass. The winning company is... iGig

My criteria was:
- Ample storage (Boss TU-2 tuner, SansAmp Bass Driver DI, cables, notebooks, etc.)
- Neck protection
- End-pin protection
- Decent straps

The contenders were:
- Carvin soft case
- Reunion Blues Continental
- Mono Case M80
- Mono Case Vertigo
- Gig Glade (soon to be released)

The iGig bag I chose was the model G515. It has a ton of storage capacity, and ticks off all the items on my criteria list. AND its end-pin protection is as good-- or better than the Mono-case Vertigo ;)

A pet-peve of mine is most companies have a nylon section intended to cover the guitars bridge that comes nowhere near the bridge. Not an issue with this one. iGig uses what they call the saddle that is basically a large pocket where the bass body slides into. The saddle also includes padding that suspends the instruments body away from the bottom of the bag-- to protect the endpin from taking a blow.

Anyway, it seems to be a really good gig bag. I'll keep y'all updated as I use it ;)

Three handles: one on the top, in the middle, and at the bottom. Should make it easier to load in & out of my cars passenger seat when parked in a sung parking lot.

Dig those straps! Very comfortable, and the top of the bag extends above my head far less than the others I've tried.

The long padded neck piece is called the "pillow" and is moveable (velcro)

The bag is slightly longer than the G&G case that came with my G&L bass

Slightly wider than the case as well...

This pocket protects the case & instrument, and the additional padding positions between the bottom of the bass & the bag...

You can see how the pads fit below the bass when the instrument is being carried in the bag...

There are some pretty good videos out there both from the designers, and players:
Designers
The Bass Hang
James Ross & Bassist Jahmal Nichols

Hope this helps someone else who may be searching for a worthy gig bag-- BTW, they make them for guitars as well ;)

Week 3; Part 1

Sunday:
     7:00am. Picked up a large mocha on the way to 7:30 rehearsal; service began at 9am. Not being a morning person, it takes me a long time for my mind to begin firing on all cylinders. Coffee helps though! 

     Loading and unloading my gear is much nicer than when I'm playing guitar. On guitar, I have the guitar, an effects processor, headset, surge protector, finding somewhere to plug in... But when on bass, it's just the instrument. I get to plug straight into an amp which has its signal fed through the PA as well. For the regular services I don't get to play though the amp-- just a simple direct box. It does require me to carry along a set of headphones, but they fit easily into my gig-bag.

     The morning went well. I played my anniversary bass (10-year wedding) a G&L L2000 into the church's Ampeg 15" combo amp. I ran the bass in passive mode, with the pickup coils split and in the middle position. It sounded great! Especially during the Revelation Song.

     That afternoon was filled with more house hunting and a long story short, we made an offer. The house is out in the country and listed at the top of our price range. We met with our agent later in the evening and made an offer we were comfortable paying. They have 24hrs to reply.

Monday:
     Temps in the 90s, so I couldn't begin practicing until the evening; our back room just gets too hot. I get to play with our regular service band this coming weekend which is Saturday night and two services on Sunday morning. Two of the three songs I've never heard before so I had to spend more time working with the chord sheets.

      The offer we made on the house was rejected. One of the things we are looking for in a new place is a music room-- an area where I can have all my gear & practice and still have the ability to turn around without tripping on something. The current room I am using is 9" x 9" which makes it terribly cramped. 

     I sure hope our next place has air conditioning...

Tuesday:
     1:00 - 5:00pm Practiced this weekends songs. I spent most of the time working on the two difficult tunes and that effort paid off. I made a few notations on the chord sheets... hopefully with a little more practice I'll have these two down.

Wed:
     After learning that bank outsources it's mortgages to Quicken Loans, we decided to go with our credit union about obtaining a mortgage, and met with them today.  It's another hot day, so I took some time to catch up with the blog entries, and took a break from practicing. 

It's easy to get burnt out, and for practice to become a chore rather than something fun. I decided that I needed to take a rest, and not even go into the practice room for the day. 

Week 2; Part 2

Thursday:
     6-9pm. Practiced for our Sundays Softer Sunday service at church. This is a weekly service designed for those who prefer lower volume and more traditional songs than those of our regular service. 

     I was already familiar with the five songs so I didn't need to re-learn them, but I did want to learn different places on the neck to play them. By playing the same progression in different octaves I was able to give the song more depth, and enhance the overall feel. I think this has more effect when played on the bass than when on guitar. 

Friday:
     6-10pm. Learned to play the classic rock tune, Godzilla. I found the notation online and ran through it a few times. The most difficult part was the solo, but I got it down pretty quick. So now I've been using it for warmups. I think I'll add learning at least one new tune each week to my practice schedule. Next one?... Funk 49 I think.

     Ran through the songs for this weekend and made sure I had everything down. Two of the three are really upbeat contemporary tunes, the others are more traditional but still fun to play on bass.

Saturday:
     Spent the day house hunting with my wife, we didn't find anything that would work for us, but we did have a great lunch at the San Francisco Street Bakery. 

      Practice this evening was good, but short. Spending the day driving around looking at houses just wore me out. While working on the next days songs I found I couldn't concentrate what I was doing. Initially, I didn't realize how totally and completely tired I was, so I shut everything down and went to bed.

Life Can Pass By Pretty Quickly; Catching Up

Wed, July 9th

Monday came and went so fast

Barely noticed Tuesday pass

Wednesday just couldn't stick around

Thursday Friday Saturday

What happened to them I can't say

I'm losing time and losing ground

~Town Pants, Bottle of Rain

Man, where does the time go?!

Whats been happening since last Tuesday?

Tired of renting, my wife and I have been house hunting. It is amazing how much time can be spent in this venture-- especially when you have a  rather limited budget and have specific criteria the house must meet. Which ever house we choose is likely to be the house we grow old & die in-- so we know what we want and are not going to settle for less. All that to say, this is likely going to take a while.

Add to that, our 10th wedding anniversary was last week, so we took some time off and visited Snoqualmie Falls. If you've ever seen the 1990's TV show, Twin Peaks, this is where it was filmed. This year also happens to mark the 25th anniversary of Twin Peaks.

More house hunting, late nights and finally yesterday-- our weekly date night. Dinner then Transformers 4. A great night.

Snoqualmie Falls; i.e. The Great Northern

Additionally I'e been trying to sell some guitar gear via the online classifieds, Craigslist in order to fund some new bass gear. My experience doing so has revealed a sad commentary on the psychological state of our country-- it seems every expects something for nothing. Quantity over quality... instant gratification. Dealing with this situation has also consumed a good deal of my time.

But in the end, the answer is simple-- I failed to make time for my bass practice. Call it life getting in the way, or simple procrastination-- a full week has passed without a moment of bass practice.

This all ends tonight. Taking a break from house hunting, my wife and I went out for a nice dinner. Fish tacos for her, mac & cheese with a Cesar salad for me. Now she is catching up on the TV show Falling Sky's, and here I am in the woodshed catching you up on the past week.

So here I am-- ready to practice before calling it a day & hitting the sack.

Tune in tomorrow to see how it goes~

Stay tuned & in tune!