The Bass Geek

Just a quick note on the now-week-old rebirth of music on MySpace. It appears that all of the previous music settings (from profile music to downloads inclusive) were reset, so anybody who hasn’t taken the time to check their page yet may notice that it’s all back to the default settings now. If you had your profile tricked out with a lot of songs or download-able music from your band, you’ll need to go back and set it up again.

The new setup probably necessitated the default settings, but a little advance warning would have been nice. It may also affect the podcast for a bit, as we relied on MySpace as a significant source of downloaded tracks. Hopefully, we’ll see a resolution soon. Or at least a few more active participants changing their MySpace pages back to the way they were.

The TalkBass Indianapolis Get-Together gave me a chance to get my hands on some higher-end gear (and meet the stellar bassists that owned said gear). My forearm is still a little tense from giving an NS Design EUB a run-through, and I loved getting to play an Elrick 5 and a Yancey hollowbody 4. The urge to purchase said gear now occupies more than a few thoughts, but I’m holding fast for now. My little Ampeg fliptop got some appreciative comments as well - I just had it in the car because I was coming back from a gig (and I don’t even use it on gigs frequently) and really hadn’t planned on bringing it.

Kudos also for hosting on a Sunday when the Steelers weren’t playing.

Also, take this for what you will - Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is heading back to music school. Will the band’s new material be in sonata form? Will we hear an expanded appreciation for the tonalities of Olivier Messiaen? Will he finally tell Anthony Kiedis he’s way out of tune, man? We can only wait and wonder.

Radio Radio presents a benefit for Indy Reads Saturday night with Eisenhower Field Day, Hey Hey Melodica, and DJ Sarah Vain.

Sam’s Saloon presents a dark and rocking night of music with Black Cat Rebellion, Davey Casket & the Ghouls and Johnny Murder & The 25 to Life. Saturday brings the more earthy sounds of Matt Keating, Heavy Hometown, and Ben Justus & the Trespassers.

Deano’s Vino has New Augusta Bluegrass tonight and the Last Drop Juggers tomorrow as part of their Octoberfest celebration. And tonight is Swing Night at the Fountain Square Theater with the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra.

And even with all of that, there’s a big gaping whole to fill here - this Saturday literally blows normal Fountain Square weekends out of the water. There’s Masterpiece In A Day (no music competition this year, but there will be extras wandering about), The Fountain Square Art Festival (with yet more musicians on the lineup), the Wheeler Building Open House (more musicians? Mais oui!), and the aforemention Octoberfest at Deano’s with another one on Shelby’s rooftop. That’s plenty to do - no excuses. And be sure to tip any musicians you see playing - the economy is fair to nobody these days.

Some quick thoughts about the new MySpace Music rollout:

• Decent selection, I suppose.  I was able to find the folks I initially looked for, and all of the music currently on MySpace shows up.  While this doesn’t include indie artists as part of the store, it at least puts them in the same place as the major label folks.
• How exactly to buy the music on MySpace music remains a little dodgy - there’s no section specifically for sales, so you have to just look and see what’s available (if anything) for each artist.
• Exchanging an interest in MySpace for major label songs seems to ensure that only major label interests will be catered to, so I don’t look for the indie freeze-out on the MySpace Music Store to end any time soon.
• The public profile playlists (viewable on your personal page) may be limited to ten songs, but you can add up to 100 on other playlists.  While this doesn’t help with portable music players (unless you’re on a permanent network connection), it does make a wide range of personalized music available for those willing to tolerate ads.  I’ll be interested to see if anybody will compromise and use this instead of pirating tracks.
• Audio fidelity is still an issue, but I suppose that’s to be expected with streaming tracks.
• This service is going to be a lifesaver when it comes to learning tracks - full streaming tracks available upon request make my life a lot easier.

New podcast is up, too - just not on MySpace Music.  Download it here or listen at the site or WFYI.

There are about six or seven guitar picks in my gig bag, and I rarely use any of them. Almost all of them are usable, except for the big metal pick I keep to freak guitar players out when they ask for a pick. And yes, that’s the reason I keep them in the bag. Guitarists are always asking for them.

I started carrying them because one guitarist in particular never had a pick. Ever. Music companies, television and radio stations, and a host of other folks give these things out like candy. Cheap Trick fans probably leave every concert with enough to cover large portions of their walls. And yet there was never one in his case or in his pocket. I got tired of delayed rehearsals, I started carrying picks, and there we go.

I’m considering adding drum sticks to the bag now - at least two drummers have showed up without them at recent rehearsals. These forgetful moments did prompt some interesting research, though. In case of dire emergency, use cable ties to mimic drum brushes. They’re not the same, but they’ll do in a pinch.

Might as well add those to the bag, too. I need a bigger bag.