Dad's Blog

September 19, 2006

TUE 19 SEP 2006

From slap to fret-less bass By Robert

I just put aside my Warwick streamer 4 string fretted bass and picked up my Carvin 5 string fretless.

I've been using the Warwick for slap bass and its been great. It has neck through construction and it truly sounds great through my Eden amp. I didn't have to think about the bass to play it. The physical stuff was automatic and I could concentrate on my groove and what I was trying to say.

Now on the 5 string fretless everything's changed. I'm getting lost on the fretboard. The combination of no frets with the extra string just makes the fretboard seem HUGE. On top of all that, the Carvin's preamp is hotter than the Warwick so it feels like all my mistakes are amplified even more. It's gonna take some practice to get my intonation right. I also can't fall back on that funky slap stuff. Its Jaco time and I'm struggling a bit trying to get there. And my Warwick is sitting there on its stand beckoning me to play it...but no...I'm gonna add fretless to my skill set.

I have a rare two week break before my next gig so I'm going to try to get sharp enough on the fretless to use it live.

Wish me luck!

September 20, 2006

WED 20 SEP 2006

I spoke too soon By Robert

Looks like I have to play tomorrow night. Now the question is whether I have the nerve to use the fretless this soon...stay tuned.

September 22, 2006

FRI 22 SEP 2006

Playing my fret-less in public By Robert

The Carvin is more work to play than my Warwick. That's partly due to the larger 5-string neck, but it is also because the Carvin isn't as lively and responsive as the Warwick. It has less attack so you have to work harder to get it to respond. I definitely felt more tired after the gig. It wasn't a huge problem...I mean I wasn't dripping sweat or icing my forearms or anything...it's just something I remember noticing.

The problems were with my tone. The Carvin just doesn't sound near as good as the Warwick. It's a little tinny. There's no mid range growl. The Warwick sounds great and the Carvin sounds sterile. My band members also noticed the tone deficiency...they politely asked if could bring my Warwick to the next gig.

The Carvin is like a Camero Z28...fast, good caftsmanship, but its really a speed appliance. The Warwick is like a Ferrari...a little bit faster, a lot more expensive, loaded with personality, highly responsive with a kind of organic feminine feel.

This weekend I'm bringing my Warwick...I know, I was supposed to have two weeks off, but I'll be playing this Sunday. Go ahead a call me a sissy for using just four strings and tell me that frets are training wheels for people not good enough to play an upright bass...I'll be the guy up on stage keeping everybody on the dance floor with funky fretted four string grooves.

September 28, 2006

THU 28 SEP 2006

Book: CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions (... By Robert

CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions (... (by Andy Budd; Simon Collison; Cameron Moll)

I have read a number of books on CSS and this is the best of the lot. This isn't a reference manual, for that you should get ORielly's Definitive Guide. It goes through the common tasks you find yourself doing with CSS and shows you the popular methods of doing it. Using lists for menus and nav-bars, styling images, drop shadows, rounded corners, table-less layout, styled forms, and hacks and filters. This is a great task oriented book with thoughtful explanations of what's going on. It ends with two real world case studies that put together complete websites using CSS. You should download the patches because there are errors especially in the liquid layouts in the printed version of the book.

If you're past the primer stage and want to really see what you can do with CSS then this is a great book for you.