The Bass Geek

According to Bass Player magazine, the instrument illustrated in this picture is the long-missing “Bass Of Doom,” owned by Jaco Pastorius. The whole story isn’t known yet for what are apparently complicated legal reasons, but more than a few have come out in favor of this being the real thing.

On one hand, I’m sure folks are lining up to look at this like Excalibur plucked straight from the stone, while others are thinking it’s just a tool, and the artist’s hand who wielded it is long gone. In any case, though, I kinda hope that once the hassles are ironed out, it’s still used for music. It may have played an important role in the expansion of the bass guitar as an instrument, but putting it away in a museum (or worse, a private collector’s gallery) would be a shame. Above all, it’s meant to be heard and played.

You’ve heard pitch correction if you’ve listened to music on the radio in the past decade or so.  There’s no other way around it.  The technology to “correct” pitches has been around for a bit, and it’s somewhat insidious.  You may notice it overtly in some songs as an effect, but more often than not it’s used to create a “perfect” track, usually for pop singers who needed to get on to their fashion shoot. 

The wonders of technology makes it available for individual notes in chords now, too.  Direct note access gives this software the ability to pick out notes in a cluster and individually “correct” them.  Now intrepid engineers can go after every last imperfection and get it exactly “right.”  From a purely technological standpoint, that’s incredible.  The geek in me is thrilled.

The bassist in me wonders why they don’t just play it right in another take.  It also looks strangely at the concept of chords, but that’s another story.

Forgive the overuse of quotes above, but it’s meant to illustrate the subjective nature of this tool.  A lot more goes into a good take than just getting the notes perfect.  This tool would have saved me a lot of time on past recordings (well, not ME per se – see the above mention of chords), but at it’s heart it’s just another tool.  It has its spots for appropriate use, and there are times where it’s probably better left in the box in favor of another take.

Confidential to one of the bands I saw Friday night: if you invite me to use the door during the intro to one of your songs, and you’re just not all that good, I’m gonna take you up on it.

Otherwise, I spent most of the weekend going through the score for the musical Victor/Victoria, for which I’ll be playing bass in April and May at the American Cabaret Theater. It doesn’t look too hard – it’s just been a long time since I’ve had to read through an actual score, so I’m trying to get as familiar as I can with it before rehearsals start in about a month.

I also had the chance to toy with recording MIDI to Sibelius, and the process was light years ahead of what I went through when writing the bass book about a year-and-a-half ago. It tracked well, looked good, and it only required minimal manual correction. Sibelius is my new best friend. It’s sad I’ll say that about software, but it’s true. I’m now looking for things to notate just so I have an excuse to do so.

Monster acoustic guitarists (monster in talent, not in intentions or appearance, although I would most certainly pay to see zombie guitarists . . . at a distance) Andy McKee and Nicholas Barron return to Radio Radio this Saturday. I’m seeing Radio Radio host more and more of these type of events, so keep checking back with them if you like this sort of virtuosic playing.

If you prefer louder fare, Sam’s Saloon hosts a night of metal Saturday night featuring Solomon Grundy (he broke up with the Legion of Doom and went solo, evidently), Pulse 8, Piss Off, and Black Stone Ritual.

Since the previous shows take place Saturday, you’ve got room to learn some swing dancing at the Fountain Square Theater with the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra. You could also take in Jude’s Jugs Band tonight at Deano’s Vino, or wait for John Harden Pope tomorrow.

Incidently, this whole weekend seems to be ramping up to St. Patrick’s Day on Monday, with a fun run/walk this weekend (fun for some, I suppose) and multiple events courtest of Deano’s Vino. They’re even shoving shamrocks in the fountain. I’ll do my part by blasting some Black 47, I suppose.

The new IMN podcast is up – listen here or download it directly, should you desire.

I already geeked out a bit on the show, but I’m really looking forward to the Mike Doughty show next Wednesday. Soul Coughing hooked me, and I guess I’ve been along for the ride since then. I’m guessing this show won’t be as loud as the SC days (where a Vogue visit required a prayer to the feedback gods after experiencing possibly the loudest blast of unintentional noise I’ve ever heard – full PA squeal at concert volume) but engaging nonetheless.

I’m lusting for a bass overdrive pedal right now.  Something that just cranks and snarls and generally makes a blasted noisy mess of itself.  It makes no sense for any of the shows or projects I have coming up - explaining its presence in an A.C.T. show would be nigh on impossible, and it would probably drown out anything in the other two groups.  It’s not the least practical, and yet I want one.

Gear acquisition syndrome makes no sense.

Sometime last week, I got my copy of “Composing Digital Music For Dummies” in the mail – I’ve just had the briefest time to flip through it, but it looks remarkably like it did when I knew it as conglomeration of pixels.  And that’s pretty good.

I’m also going to get to test the “lifetime warranty” of one of my cables.  I’d gotten used to throwing these things out, but none of my previous cables ever made me any promises.  It was a strictly at-will affair.  This cable, though – this one will be held to its word.

This might be the perfect lead-in for a treatise on disposable culture, but I’m actually seeing some companies stand behind their products with a minimum of effort on the customers’ part, and I like it.  This process will then serve to reinforce my current glad feelings or tip the scales in the direction of vast corporate misconduct.  All this rides on a little cord.

I’m getting a little backlogged on my podcasts and new albums, but here’s a little catch-up on what I’m listening to right now:

• Erykah Badu – New Amerykah, Pt. 1: The first time I saw her was after she released the wonderful Mama’s Gun, and the concert was magical – one of the best shows I’ve seen.  The next time I saw her was a meandering affair – still good, but not quite up to par.  I get the initial impression from this album, too.  There are some fantastic cuts and great work with folks like Madlib and Georgia Anne Muldrow, but it doesn’t feel as cohesive as previous works.  I have a feeling that could be remedied by listening to it with the second album, coming later this year.  It deserves repeat listenings, though.
• Mike Doughty – Golden Delicious: Some new songs and a re-working of “27 Jennifers” makes for a pretty decent album.  Going in, you know you’ll get Doughty’s trademark voice and somewhat opaque lyrics, but he puts forth some tight tracks, and the whole album makes for a good listen.  He manages to retain a good balance between the acoustic elements and more electronic layers in the songs, too, with the electronics making their presence felt a little more than in previous solo material.
• Free Form Funky Freqs – Urban Mythology: I’m a sucker for these albums, and I sometimes end up being quite disappointed in them.  Tossing together a few musical heros and seeing what they come up with doesn’t always make for a good band or recording, and sometimes it makes an unlistenable mess that people want to hide in their closests, in their basements, or under dense lead shielding.  Vernon Reid, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Calvin Weston manage to avoid those pitfalls and put out a trio record that seems to leap off from Band of Gypsies-era Hendrix, route through the “downtown” jazz scene, and amp it up a bit.  The result is an electric record that improvises without meandering and always remains vital and fun (the latter part lacking in a lot of these types of efforts).

I still have to get to some eMusic deals, like Matthew Garrison and Peanut Butter Wolf, but those will have to wait for a bit.  I also notice that I’m not straying from my comfort zone much – maybe the podcasts will help.