Members Flatball Posted February 16, 2009 Members Share Posted February 16, 2009 Man, do I feel stupid. Saturday night gig, new venue, we rocked. But... I ALWAYS check my tuning before every set, but for some reason, going into the second set, I forgot. Maybe it was the new venue, or maybe it was all the uber-hot waitressess, but I didn't do it. As fate would have it, when I put my bass on the stand after the first set, I bumped the E string tuner and it knocked it flat by EXACTLY a half-tone.So when we kicked off the second set, I started to play (Sass Jordan's "High Road Easy", if anyone's interested) and as soon as I hit the E string for the first time, I knew instantly what had happened. I thought "Oh {censored}". But I only hit the one wrong note! For the rest of the song, I transposed everything I played on the E string by one fret and made it out alive. Took a second to tune it up for the second song and all was well. But what a dumb-ass, rookie mistake. I should know better. Dare I say "Never again!"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ToeJamFootball Posted February 16, 2009 Members Share Posted February 16, 2009 Nice effort transposing.... I would have just super quickly tuned that string by ear though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cpt. Spliff Posted February 16, 2009 Members Share Posted February 16, 2009 Never say never :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flatball Posted February 16, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 16, 2009 I would have just super quickly tuned that string by ear though.... I would have, but I had no time anywhere in the song to do it. I did just pop it up by ear after the song was over though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ToeJamFootball Posted February 16, 2009 Members Share Posted February 16, 2009 I would have, but I had no time anywhere in the song to do it. I did just pop it up by ear after the song was over though. Fair enough, I'm not familiar with the song.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members georgestrings Posted February 16, 2009 Members Share Posted February 16, 2009 Feces occurs - although that sort of thing is one of the reasons I don't take the stage without having a tuner available up there - I like to do a quick check before starting a set, even if I have no reason to believe I'm out of tune... - georgestrings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members s4001 Posted February 16, 2009 Members Share Posted February 16, 2009 :facepalm:Damn! I hate it when that happens. I've played songs bending to pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tylytle Posted February 16, 2009 Members Share Posted February 16, 2009 I love me some Sass Jordan. well, just the Racine album.I always check my tuning as well. Rarely out though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sugarskull Posted February 16, 2009 Members Share Posted February 16, 2009 Oh that sucks. At least you were cool enough to transpose on the spot. I have seen people either play through it or completely collapse the whole song by bailing. So, good recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members punchclock Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 nobody is perfect. everybody makes mistakes.the true test of your talent is your ability to handle and fix your mistakes.well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Renfield Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 I hate it when that happens. I've played songs bending to pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Renfield Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 Oh that sucks. At least you were cool enough to transpose on the spot. I have seen people either play through it or completely collapse the whole song by bailing. So, good recovery. True. Some people don't have the composure to even know what to do when something like that happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hammer744 Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 Oh man, that's cool you were able to transpose on the fly (especially on just the one string) - I'm not sure I could transpose just one string. I had a similar brain fart in church one time - the hymn was in E flat, and I was supposed to capo on the third fret but forgot completely - hit the first chord on the open strings and was horrified by what came out - I quickly turned the guitar volume off and basically air-guitar'd the rest (it was a short one) - I doubt anyone in the congregation noticed. I told the music director what happened after the service and we had a good chuckle, but I made sure to always check my cheat sheets after that:facepalm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yanikins Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 Picture this: Playing Big Day Out Practice set before hand Second Half of set is played in standard, 1st half in Dropped D Take Stage Make fine adjustments to tuning Start Playing 1st song, only to realise, {censored}! ITS NOT IN DROPPED Finally figure out that one note i couldnt get right on the last chorus. Biggest of my life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 I have seen people either play through it or completely collapse the whole song by bailing. [YOUTUBE]Mjx_GjyXCs4[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hammer744 Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 Geez, I forgot about that - that was incredibly painful to listen to (still no match for Lug though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Billystrat Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 I think we've all been there. I've had the "church capo" episode happen too many times. Sometimes even the guitarist will capo THE WRONG FRET. But glad you were able to transpose on the fly. It's a true talent in itself. I've bent notes, transposed 'em as well as just turned down ALOT before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yanikins Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowboy Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 Or how about when your keyboard player uses his transpose button but doesn't know it, and neither does anyone else in the band. He starts the tune but it's in the wrog key! No one knows what to do. I usually go with the "new" key. Guitar player stays where it's supposed to be to force keys guy back to the right key. Keys guys doesn't know what's going on. Guitar player is pissed, glares at me. Not my fault I shrug. Yikes. Fun times, fun times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brother Mango Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 Let it go. Worse things will happen, and you'll survive. Absolute worst for me:The singer twirled her arm. Half of the band read it as "wrap it up." The other half read it as, "Yeah! Keep it going!" I heard the band going off in 2 different directions and I was stuck. "Which of these 2 different bands do I support????" I don't remember what I did but the situation was awful. ---- And how about taking a lined fretless bass to a gig? Get there and the stage is dark and I can't see the lines? Main goof: I shouldn't have gone to a gig planning to look at my fingerboard all night. But I survived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LanEvo Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 Or how about when your keyboard player uses his transpose button but doesn't know it, and neither does anyone else in the band. He starts the tune but it's in the wrog key! No one knows what to do. I usually go with the "new" key. Guitar player stays where it's supposed to be to force keys guy back to the right key. Keys guys doesn't know what's going on. Guitar player is pissed, glares at me. Not my fault I shrug. Yikes. Fun times, fun times.This is when you're supposed to prove how super L337 you are and whip out your un-lined (preferably also un-tuned) fretless and "use your ears." At least that's what the H4X0R5 at TalkBass would do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gonzobassman Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 No dude! You fixed it on the fly! That was all you could do,and you did it! Proffesional in my opinion! The rank,ametuer thing to do would have been to play the entire song out of tune. Like Eddie!!! Un{censored}ingbelievable!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Incubitabus Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 our guitarist went through four different guitars in one 45 min gig one time - he broke a string on his main, then one on the band backup, then the electric, then back to his main, and he broke a second string on that one during the last song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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