Screenprinting

Not strictly music...but related.  I taught a screenprinting class and I learned a ton. I wrote all that I learned down here...cause that's what I do (also linked at the left there now too). The photos of the results of the class that I taught are posted here.

Ska Progress

The ska bass stuff has been pretty challenging. I was sort of discouraged for awhile. But like everything else...it really just takes dedication.

There are 8 songs on the list to learn. It is a lot for only 3 weeks of time. I have to figure out the part and then learn to play it. I'm pretty clear on the part for maybe 4 of them (though still mastering), have a start on two more, and a couple I haven't really touched. This stuff is fast...and very scale based. If I knew my scales better and had lots of scale practice under my belt...it would be easy. But I'm kind of starting from scratch.

The Transcribe software has been amazing. It has greatly helped with figuring out the parts, but also been a great way to master then with the speed slow down. I like it better than the Amazing Slow Downer interface because you get the wave form...so you can precisely pin point where you're at...and you can loop. Maybe the paid version of Slow Downer does that too, I don't know. But it helps.

Much to my surprise...if I work hard for 30 minutes or so each day...the parts start to fall under my fingers. Faster and faster each day. It is work for sure, but work that is attainable. Terrifying work...but a little amazing too.

A side bonus to the software is being able to go back and check my Pixies tab. Songs like Letter to Memphis or Mr Grieves that I long ago gave up learning the real part and wrote my own...I can now check and revise. In the case of Letter...I like my part better...but I might change Grieves. There are a couple of others too that I should check...like Lovely Day. Anyway...it is pretty awesome to be able to play just KiD's bass part and be certain what I'm hearing. Maybe in the pre-mp3 days everyone had such a clear shot at the low end. We live in an age of wonder, but we've lost some things too for sure.

I doubt that I'll ever REALLY feel confident about anything musical...but if I play this ska stuff for a year or more I will be in a totally different place in terms of speed and understanding scales and intervals. I hope that happens. I don't remember where my head was on day one with the Pixies. I remember Nimrod's Son coming to me out of thin air and thinking "yeah I can probably do this"...but I'm sure that I never could have imagined having 65 songs figured out, mastered, and memorized...with another 24 tabbed out and just waiting to be memorized. Looking back now it seems like it was easy and I discount it all. But there were so many, many hours spent. And now over two and a half years have passed. I've gone from "kinda maybe wanting to pick up the bass again" to feeling confident that I can reproduce note for note all of the parts of one of the most iconic female bass players in history. I probably shouldn't discount that so quickly. In three years I could feel totally confident playing any ska song you could throw at me...and then what? The mind boggles.

Transcribe

I mentioned Transcribe in my posting about my last bass lesson. I went looking for it. You can download a trial version here and buying the software outright is only $39. There are free products that are similiar...like Transposer. Though I'm not sure it is worth skirting the issue if the real deal costs only $39. I'm also not sure that the free imposters do what I think is the best part...the whole guessing at pitch thing. That's cool as hell.

Never Forget: Sprawl

Found this again.

Preparing

So these are the songs proposed thus far for ska. Not all of them are ska tunes.

Streetlight Manifesto - Dear Sergio


Catch 22 - Point the Blame


Live version with ok view of bass player


Streetlight Manifesto - Supernothing


Superman- Goldfinger


I'm not sure if this is ska or not, but it is close enough for me.
Rubblebucket-Came Out of a Lady


Not ska at all...
Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song) - Otis Redding

Here's the version I was given:


The next two reminder me of the Zimbabwe sampler cd I have. I like them...but they certainly aren't ska.
Zing Zong - Kanda Bongo Man


Marcory Gazoil - Zitnany Neil


I've submitted the following:

I think I'll be able to figure out and play this one.
Hope I Never Lose My Wallet - Mighty Mighty Bosstones


I'm regretting suggesting this a bit. Wish I'd picked something easier. Maybe Infantile Beggar.
Sugar Smax - Sprawl

Upcoming Shows and Other Things

Posted in order to clear my head:

• Aug 11: SSW at Great Taste
• Aug 27: first ska rehearsal
• Aug 31: CJ at Mickey's
• Sept 15: FW at Nautigal
• Sept 20: SSE at High Noon
• Sept 22: TD at Frequency
• Sept 23: TD at Mirimar in Milwaukee
• Oct 27 (I think): CJ at Mickey's (as Love and Rockets)

Guitar Pro

I had heard about Guitar Pro a while back, but I thought it was a subscription-based service that I "didn't really need". But I was thinking about it in terms of specific songs that I wanted to learn (read: Pixies). I wasn't thinking of it as...hey I could really expose myself to lots of music (read: bass lines).

But if it is really only $60 I am totally buying that. Of course...that assumes that I have space on my laptop for the software. Ah the perils of quickly obsolete technology.

UPDATE: Ok...I am beginning to see the issue. It isn't clear to me if you get the tabs when you buy Guitar Pro...or if you pay for the tabs separately for an extra fee via MySongBook (for $1-$3 each). That's probably what stopped me cold last time.  Anyway...worth looking into more for sure.

MORE UPDATE: Ah...looks like you can buy pro tab...or use "free" tab created by other users.  Here's the "free" shared file lowdown.

STILL MORE UPDATE: Ok...so that was a full circle clusterfuck. Turns out that the user generated tabs from Guitar Pro are already available online for free...maybe. Case in point here. When you are on the Ultimate Guitar site it lists tabs pulled from the internet and it will say file type. One of those file types is "Guitar Pro Tab" That said...it looks like you only get a partial demo version and have to pay a monthly fee to get the full access. So I'm still confused. I think probably that buying the Guitar Pro software doesn't get you much that you couldn't get in other ways...but it isn't clear yet. Certainly probably worth shopping around for best access and best price.