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Big Poppa

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Guys here are two things that one of our Knewest Knuckleheads Daddy Flip wrote and I think they are worthy of a separate thread....

This one is in response to a lame ass UK review.....

"What they could have said that would have been more appropriate was...

"The 25th we reviewed retains the traditional and ubiquitous single humbucker near the bridge that has defined the MM sound for over 30 years. But don't let the single pickup fool you into thinking this is just another run of the mill Stingray. The addition of the mahogany toneblock, 18v preamp, series and parallel switching for the humbucker coils and the 4-band EQ increase the versatility of this bass far beyond previous offerings. Want even more versatility? Throw in the ability to bypass the active electronics and run in passive mode with volume and tone controls only. Yes, you heard right; a passive MusicMan! While some of this electronic wizardry might scare off some traditionalists and may offer only subtle changes in tone, one cannot deny the art and science that went into providing those with the scratch a bass that will allow them to tweak their tone until the cows come home
"

THis was in response to my latest blog. There are now two knuckleheads at or near midlife that started playing because of GUitar Hero Our new man MR Chedda is the other

I'm almost 40 and have no musical background. I would not have taken up the bass had it not been for Rock Band (EB is represented there, too). Purchased the game for teen daughter and mastered the bass on expert playing with her. It was so much fun, I wanted to do it for real. Because F*nd*r was the major brand represented in the game, that's what I planned to buy. However, I'm old enough (and I'm in sales) to believe a good dealer is still important. I went to see Brandt at TPB and chose MM after he held my hand three hours straight, letting me play anything and everything I wanted. I agree with BP; the next half generation and beyond will care less and less about dealers for their equipment.

One dealer nearer to me than TPB (no MM there) has Rock Band in the store. They let younger brother or sister play the game while older brother or sister is taking a real lesson- prepping the next generation. In addition, I'm told by another dealer/instructor that novice guitarists/bassists tend to concentrate too much on left hand technique and the game forces a balance between the two hands. These are just two examples of traditional B&M dealers embracing the new technology as an advantage, rather than calling it the enemy.

In my opinion, kids today don't care about music like I and those older than me used to. BP, they want less than just the single these days; they really just want the ring tone. I wonder if live music will one day become irrelevant?
 

Drmckool

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i actually have to disagree with the statement that "kids these days want just the ring tone" and that live music could become irrelevant. I see it as a rejection of the modern sound alike bands that have saturated the market these days. If we take a look deeper down at the demographics we see an ever increasing amount of children buying instruments (this might not yet be felt by Ernie Ball, since they are not beginner instruments thus will experience the surge in 2-3 years time) from my observation. Also if we look at guitar hero from the example given i would say 9/10 of the songs are what would be deemed as classic rock. Many of these people will therefore download the songs for free or get the CD/Tape/LP from a parent or family member.

Therefore it becomes obvious that to say that the youth of what i will refer to as Generation Y are not disinterested in music but instead disinterested in modern music.
 

drTStingray

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I too saw the Bass Guitar Magazine EBMM review (25th Anniversary and Big Al) - I couldn't believe they reviewed the single H version of the 25th - though to be fair they did give the Big Al a very good review and sort of mentioned the fact that the 25th came in multi pick up versions and would thus enter 'similar sonic territory' - I for one find that magazine's reviews inconsistent in many ways (mostly the scoring) and really thought they'd not given the 25th the review it deserved - do any other basses come with 3 pick ups, potentially - you would have thought they would review the HSS.

I don't agree with "kids these days want just the ring tone" either - I guess rock band etc might expose a lot more people to the possibility of learning to play classic rock - not sure the Playstation generation spawned more race car/rally drivers but I guess learning guitar/bass etc is more accessible so might have a bigger impact?
 

Big Poppa

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Hey Its close to the truth everything is soundbites sports highlights a network that actually promises to give you the world in 20 minutes....The insipid stuff still sells tons Live music is absolutely dying...unless you are in a college town in usa there are very few bands playing lounges very few chances for kids to play parties and dances....the music is made in the bedroom and theswe kids are becoming very good engineers....
 

Drmckool

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Hey Its close to the truth everything is soundbites sports highlights a network that actually promises to give you the world in 20 minutes....The insipid stuff still sells tons Live music is absolutely dying...unless you are in a college town in usa there are very few bands playing lounges very few chances for kids to play parties and dances....the music is made in the bedroom and theswe kids are becoming very good engineers....

I guess it's just the culture these days of wanting everything instantly.

though the live music problem is the opposite here in Montreal, it's hard to get a gig here unless you play electronica or what i call hipster rock. The problem i find with live music these days is it's to compartmentalized and seems to be a copycat game.
 

MudvilleStomper

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come to New Orleans. there are plenty of clubs and bars, and they'll let practically anyone play. trust me, i've been gigging here for years...;)
 

Big Poppa

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bless NO...but its an isolated example....My son Casey plays classical guitar and was playing at a little bistro outside for a sunday brunch with out amplification and was asked to play softer....one couple said it was hard to talk on their cell phone
 

p0werslav3

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I think Rockband and Guitar Hero are great as "games". And they have introduced a whole new generation to music they may have never discovered otherwise. And I'm sure the artists who have seen sales increases due to the exposure from these games aren't complaining either :cool:

I also feel there is more interest from the younger generation in trying out guitars and drums because of these games.

The major difference in my opinion is, once the kids realize playing a real instrument is 1000X more difficult than a game and it takes patience, practice, dedication and determination, they put down the real thing and go back to the game ;)
 

p0werslav3

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bless NO...but its an isolated example....My son Casey plays classical guitar and was playing at a little bistro outside for a sunday brunch with out amplification and was asked to play softer....one couple said it was hard to talk on their cell phone

:confused:

There's one of my pet peeves. When someone is out in public on their cell phone, they have no right to ask someone to turn anything down or be quiet, it's not like they're in their house.
 

Smallmouth_Bass

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I really hope that's an isolated case and not the general attitude of things to come. :rolleyes:

bless NO...but its an isolated example....My son Casey plays classical guitar and was playing at a little bistro outside for a sunday brunch with out amplification and was asked to play softer....one couple said it was hard to talk on their cell phone
 

Smallmouth_Bass

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...though the live music problem is the opposite here in Montreal, it's hard to get a gig here unless you play electronica or what i call hipster rock.

I find that it's easy to get just about as many gigs as you want in Montreal. Getting gigs that pay (decent) is whole other story!
 

Smallmouth_Bass

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I was referring to the cell phone in public and the classical guitar being too loud.

I have nothing against hipster rock and electronica - they're not my preferred music types - but good music is good music. So if it is good music, it's fine by me.

I don't know what to think of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I have played Guitar Hero and it's fun as a game, but I find that for me, it would be easier to learn the actual song than practice the game for any length of time. It's hard to say whether it is actually getting people interested in playing an instrument or keeping them away because the game is easier. I am sure there are probably cases of both.
 

Spanky(Andy)

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I applaud anyone who thinks outside the square. B&M stores embracing Rock Band or other non-traditional sales channels makes great business sense to me. As does the kind of service that passionate super-sales people like Zombi provides. He goes above and beyond to provide the kind of sales service I can only dream of experiencing. I certainly hope his efforts don't go unrecognised.

And hats off to EBMM, for pretty much everything they do. BP and the crew continually think outside the square and push boundaries, all the while keeping a human side to business and a level of interaction with their customer base that I seldom see in this day and age of marketing-driven hype and buzz words.

Cheers

Andy
 

boombox

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i think a big advantage for EBMM is the ability to learn, think and adapt, i think even BP can agree that he doesn't know where the future of music or the music instrument is going but he does now how to deliver to not one but many relevant “audiences”

Daddy Flip is in his 40’s...he plays rock band AND plays a BONGO....(which was not around when boston was cutting tracks.) Hats off to you sir!
 

Stephen

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A few months ago I read an interesting piece about those games. The most interesting point being that the latest versions of Guitar Hero & Co outsold the single or album charts in a comparable time span 20-fold and higher. Now that *has* to have an impact!
 

oddjob

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they really just want the ring tone. [/B]

Despite what has been said - I spend my entire day with 1652 11-15 year olds... and in most cases (not all) it is VERY true. It has nothing to do with rebelling against sound alikes, quality of tunes, writing, etc... it has everything to do with attention span. I would love to say that music is an enduring artform but I have seen so many changes in my 14 years of teaching that I couldn't guess what will happen next (good or bad). EBMM has always been with/ahead of the curve and that is why they do so well.
 
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