Deep to Deep - March 2004
| Deep calls to deep at the sound of Thy waterfalls (Psalm 42:7) |
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The first Deep to Deep gathering of 2004 took place on Saturday 6 March at New Life Church, Saffron Walden, Essex. We took a fairly 'free jazz' approach to this, which is to say that not much was planned in advance for seminars and it was more of a chance to hang out and try some new toys.
However, we did start the day with a thoughtful bible study on some aspects of worship and music from Rajiv, who is pastor of the host church. In order to reflect some of what he had been saying we resisted the temptation to jump straight into a full-on bass jam and instead asked John, who kindly co-ordinated the Saffron Walden end of things, to play the widely known and gentle Jesus, Jesus, Holy and Anointed One, which we took turns at supporting with our basses.
Most of the rest of the day (apart from a healthy walk to and from the town centre to get our unhealthy chips) was spent in small clusters sharing ideas and trying out each other's gear. For example, I spent some time talking with Joel about how to get different sounds by adjusting his amp, bass and playing style and a while with Les talking about tuners and figuring out a good way to hook his tuner into the rest of his setup. I also did plenty of learning from other people - for example, trying Steve Lawson's new Accugroove cabs (and learning another palm muting trick) or finding out how to record a good bass sound from Chris (in summary, run everything flat at the recording stage).
Thanks to all who came along and shared in the day, both the bassists and the others who helped serve and support us. I'll probably get names wrong if I try to run through everyone (I knew I should have taken notes) but the 'longest distance to come to Deep to Deep' prize this time goes to Fred who came all the way from Pasadena, South California (thanks to a providentially timed work related trip)!