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Subject: 04/16/93 - The National Midnight Star #664
Status: R
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
The National Midnight Star, Number 664
Friday, 16 April 1993
Today's Topics:
Administrivia
SOK
Fretless Listening
Bad Boy
(none)
re: Frets
Fretless Bass & Late Lamented Jaco Pastorius
RUSH: Who's listening?
presto
Movie clip
Rush fantasy
female vocalists, tour stops, etc...
more musicians
various stuff
04/15/93 - the national m
The necromancer
frets
MTV address/In the Mood
why no guitar solos?
Yo George!
Re: 04/14/93 - The National Midnight Star #662
My simple fantasy
Re: Favorite Guitarists...
Rush Unplugged
Rush's tempo (live)
Come on, guys (and gals!), SATAN?
NMS T-Shirts!
----------------------------------------------------------
From: rush-mgr@syrinx.umd.edu (The RUSH Fans Digest Manager)
Date: Fri Apr 16 15:43:17 EDT 1993
Subject: Administrivia
For those of you with the < 30K limit on each mail message, I am working on
automating a split-up of each digest that is greater than that limit. I need
all those people who are getting digests truncated to mail me (rush-mgr) and
let me know that you'd like to be on the 'other' list. I'll put all AOL
customers on the list by default, so if you're on there you don't need to
bother.
Also, don't forget Digest 666! If you have any "special edition posts", PLEASE
send them to rush-mgr, and *not* the digest account! I thank you for your
attention... there are some good posts already waiting for the issue >;->
(Satanic grin of course with Devil Horns no doubt).
- rush-mgr
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:04:30 HST
From: puanani@wana.pbrc.Hawaii.Edu (Puanani Akaka)
Subject: SOK
IT'S A DESPERATE PLEA FOR HELP!! SAVE MY SANITY!!! :-)
Does anyone happen to know *where* in the world that interview of
Alex on the "Story of Kings" CD ended up? I KNOW I read that interview
in some magazine, and I thought I had it, but I've read *everything*
I have 15 times over and I can't find it! It's DRIVING ME UP THE WALL!
If *anyone* has a copy of it or knows what magazine it's in, PLEASE, I
beg, wallow, crawl, wimper (for) you to let me know. I don't need the
transcription as I've got the CD, I just need to know *what magazine
it was for*!! AAAUUUUGGGGHH!!!
About the Moon Records thing, rush-mgr, I think it still is in
existence in *some* form as I seem to recall checking out a recent
album or something which mentioned Moon Records. It was something like
RTB, or HYF, maybe P or ASOH, but I know it was something recent. I
forgot to look last night -- it may even have been that "GOAC" cassette
single w/ the interview on the back? I don't recall, but I believe
Moon Records is still in existence. Anybody know for sure?
puanani
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 15:30:37 CDT
From: Tahoma <TMT794S@vma.smsu.edu>
Subject: Fretless Listening
A moaning sound is probably the best description for the fretless, but I have h
eard creative artists do many things with the sound. Anyway, you wanted to kno
w suggestions for possible listening concerning the fretless.
Try these things: "Nothingness" by Living Color on _Stain_
*anything* by Jaco Pastorius
try Michael Manring also...
That's what comes to the top of my head at the moment. The last two musicians
are jazz, but even if you don't like that genre of music, you should at least
listen to Jaco. He was quite a beautiful musician. He has a few solo albums,
_Jaco Pastorius_, _Invitation_, _Word of Mouth_; he has played with Weather
Report on _Heavy Weather_, _Black Market_, _Mr. Gone_, and maybe others. I
can't remember. Also, he collaborated with Joni Mitchell on a few albums
(these are *quite* good). They include _Hejira_, _Don Juan's Reckless
Daughter_, _Mingus_, and _Shadows and Light_, I believe...
It is often hard to find much fretless playing within rock music because, as I
believe someone mentioned earlier, they don't have as much of a percussive
quality.
I'm sorry for the limited Rush content, but I just had to give my plug for the
fretless. :) I would love to hear Ged play one sometime...
Oh...Favorite Rush dream: Mine is rather selfish, but aren't they all. As
with many musicians, I would love to be able to have private lessons with the
glorious Gedmeister for a while. ;)
"With hatchet, axe, and saw!"
tmt.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 17:04:27 EDT
From: matthew-d Klain <klain@gauss.rutgers.edu>
Subject: Bad Boy
Hello there!! When I was in Boston a few weeks ago, I was looking in a
used music shop in Harvard Square and I came across a bootleg copy of Rush's
first single, BAD BOY. For some reason (I guess I just wasn't in the mood) I
didn't pick it up. I kind of regret it now. I know it came out around the
time of teh first album and that John Rutsey played on it. I was just
wondering if anybody out there has heard the tune, and what it sounded like.
Does it suck? Is it great? etc.. If it is still there, I may pick it up next
time around anyways. Goodbye.
[ Rush's first single was "You Can't Fight It", a B-side to the cover "Not
Fade Away" (and John Rutsey played on both). "Bad Boy" was however played
*live* in the early days, and is a Beatles' cover. : rush-mgr ]
-Matt Klain
Klain@gauss.rutgers.edu
(PLACE FAVORITE RUSH LYRIC HERE)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 19:00:10 -0400
From: redpaco@acs.bu.edu (Jennifer Feinman)
Hey all,
Just briefly, (I know its been asked before),
could someone please tell me the names of some good
bootlegs?
[ Try mailing meg@syrinx.umd.edu -- she's keeping a list of the Rush CD
boots that are available. : rush-mgr ]
And jst 'cause there are so many of you out
there, does anyone go to Duke? I'm waiting to transfer,
what's it like? (That goes for Chapel Hill, too...)
Sorry if you're NCSU...
jen
(and I don't care, my heart's still with
the rangers and mets. Once a New Yorker...)
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: re: Frets
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 19:37:30 -0400
From: mjkobb@media.mit.edu
Greetings!
gjgoslow@sankyu.b30.ingr.com writes:
> 4) For those of us who are musically impaired (playing wise), what
> is a fret? What does it do? Why? Thank you in advance for any
> explanations.
Frets are the pieces of wire that run across the neck of a guitar
or bass. Most basses have between 19 and 24 of them, depending on
the design. By pressing the string against the fret, you make the
string a certain length, which gives you a particular pitch.
A fretless bass has none of these wires. You press the string
directly against the fingerboard to set the pitch. Since there are
no frets, you have to know exactly where to press the string. The
benefit is that you get a cool singing/growling tone, and you can
also do cool sliding stuff, etc.
Basically, they're different instruments tonally. One is more
appropriate for some stuff, one for other stuff.
--Mike
(Spector NS-2 fretted, Zon Legacy Elite/I fretless...)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 11:45:28 +1200
From: Martin.Phillipson@vuw.ac.nz
Subject: Fretless Bass & Late Lamented Jaco Pastorius
If you want to hear the best fretless bass-playing in history, listen to
anything with Jaco Pastorius on it. Probably the best examples are on his
first solo album "Jaco Pastorius" now re-issued on CD. A piece called
Donna-Lee is him on fretless and a congo's player. It's a saxophone piece
by Charlie Parker transposed by Pastorius to the fretless (I kid you not)
and is the best bass playing I've ever heard. It really sings. Also check
out the harmonics on a track which is called something like Song for Julia,
incredible. Sorry this don't have much to do with the Boys but hey we can
talk about other bands in moderation. Right???
Martin
Rush Fan, Exiled in Wellington, New Zealand. (Not much chance of a Rush gig
here)
PS Anyone know where Rush play when they are in Australia, that's my
closest gig!
[ They've never played Australia, so your guess is as good as mine! :)
: rush-mgr ]
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 18:58 CDT
From: <CM11976%SWTEXAS.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
Subject: RUSH: Who's listening?
Hey guys and gals,
I've caught every Rush tour since Power Windows, catching shows in Houston,
Austin, and San Antonio, and one of the things I always like to do before each
show is watch the crowd milling around the venue. Over the years I've noticed
that Rush audiences here in Texas (at the shows I've seen) are almost entirely
white people (I'm a white guy, just so's not to confuse anyone), say around 70%
-- at least. The rest of the audience is almost entirely hispanic (I say
"almost" because I'm sure that there have to be at least a few non-white,
non-hispanic people at each show, though I've only seen one black guy and two
girls of obvious asian descent over the years).
I realize that the population of Texas is mostly white and hispanic, but the
near-total abscence of black or asian or Middle-Eastern fans (I apologize for
leaving out other ethnic or racial groups; I'm not trying to slight anyone,
believe me, I'm just writing this off the top of my head) at the Rush shows
I've seen seems strange to me. Not only that, but I've been all over the
States and seen a lot of people wearing Rush t-shirts from various tours, but
they've all been white or hispanic (the people, not their shirts :-); I've
never seen a person from an obviously non-white or non-hispanic background
wearing a Rush shirt or buying a Rush album or anything.
I also realize that this is hardly a definitive sample, so that's why I'm
posting this to the list. Has anybody else noticed this? Are there black or
Asian or native American (or other differing cultural backgrounds) Rush fans
here on the list or out there in "real life" that anybody knows of? Are they
few and far betweeen, and if so, why is that? Is Rush somehow not culturally
relevant to, for instance, black people in the United States? I've also
noticed the above phenomenon at other concerts and about other groups
(Queensryche, Metallica, etc.), so mabye it has something to do with heavy
metal/hard rock in general. Any ideas?
Obviously, I'm writing this from a very American-centric point of view, and I
know that there are a lot of people from other countries on the list, so let me
address a different question to you non-North Americans. If you're from a
non-North American country, how did you hear about Rush and become interested
in their music? I'm not trying to bring up the old "Rush on the Radio" thread
(!), btw.
Let me say before I go that I apologize to anyone I might have offended by not
using this week's Politically Correct terms for people of different ethnic
backgrounds (or however you want to phrase it), but I can't stand PC (which, as
an aside, I feel simply draws attention away from the real social problems) and
I wanted to avoid being overly wordy. I am truly sorry if I've worded anything
in a way offensive to anyone.
Sorry about the length of this post, my first one to the list. Just trying to
do my bit to bring up new and interesting (and hopefully enlightening) topics
for discussion. BTW, I signed on to the list two or three weeks ago when I
saw a guy here at SWT with a NMS t-shirt on, so that's two for the t-shirts!
--Chris Maka, CM11976@nyssa.swt.edu or CM11976@SWTEXAS.bitnet
P.S. Anybody know anything about the new Queensryche album that was supposed
to come out earlier this year? I haven't heard a thing and I'm starting to
wonder (!). Also, if anybody knows anything about the Black Sabbath reunion or
what Dio is up to, please let me know.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 20:49:06 EDT
From: jenkinsp@kenyon.edu
Subject: presto
Hey fellow Rushians:
I was just wondering what all of you think about the album Presto. A lot of
my friends that love Rush seem to be a little down on it, but I think it's one
of their best. Also thought I should mention that I while I was listening to
Red Barchetta in my car today, I totally forgot about speed limits. About
halfway into the song, I got pulled over. Do you think the cop would have let
me off if I mentioned that Rush made me speed? Later--Peter Jenkins
"It's not as if this barricade
blocks the only road.
It's not as if you're all alone
in wanting to explode." -NP
----------------------------------------------------------
From: sffrank@aol.com
Subject: Movie clip
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 22:08:36 EDT
Hello,
I'm a Rush fan on America Online and have a question that I'm dying to have
answered.
I've enjoy trying to find movies that have been used both on the albums for
background tracks and in the videos as well. For example, I was extremely
excited to find the movie "DamBusters" that appeared throughout the movie for
"The Wall".
I'm now trying to track down the movie that Rush uses a clip from. You can
see it in the video for Show of Hands as the intro to 'Lock and Key'. It is
Black and White and has a prisoner being taken to the electric chair. He
sings a little bit of "My Blue Heaven" then another prisoner screams "You
can't do this, you can't do this!, Leave him alone!!" and it goes into the
song.
What movie is this from.
[ From the FAQ, the movie clips are from "The Last Mile". Check the FAQ
for a description of the movie. : rush-mgr ]
And a favor as well, AOL only has an 8K incoming buffer for Internet
messages, so I only get a quarter of NMS. So if either it can be answered in
the top portion of NMS or if someone could E-Mail me privately it would be a
big help.
SFFrank@AOL.COM
-------Trust is just as rare as devotion--------
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 21:19:09 -0400
From: tcorcora@sunlab.cit.cornell.edu (Travis Corcoran)
Subject: Rush fantasy
Here's my Rush fantasy- no flames for my wanting/wishing their style was
a little closer to their "classic" albums, please
I run into Neil in a bookstore- perhaps he's looking at Rand in the
philosophy section, or maybe something in SF. We start talking, and I
only later let him know that I know who he is. And of course that I
love all the music (especially 2112, Hemispheres...the old sound, and
the "concept" album concept ;-) ). Neil confides that actually he's
been thinking along these lines himself, but Alex and Geddy aren't
sure. We keep talking, and finally end up agreeing to go back to
wherever the guys are staying on the tour. We sit around and BS for
hours on topics like music, philosophy, space travel...generally
random, interesting stuff. The whole time Neil is bouncing snatches
of great kick-ass lyrics off of us. Geddy and Alex occassionally try
out an old style riff or two. At the end of the afternoon all three
are convinced that an old style concept album is a great idea. I
split (and maybe get front row tickets to their concert that night).
Well, now you know why it's called a fantasy! (I wonder which part
would be better- meeting the guys, or getting another great old style
album. I also wonder which is more likely ;) ! )
---
Travis Corcoran tcorcora@sunlab.cit.cornell.edu
You're in luck. The geologic surveys forced Marcus and me to scrap our
snow fort plans..seems our yard just wouldn't support a titanium
walled 60 ft house of Armageddon coupled w/ 12 missile silos.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 21:20:07 -0500
From: Jeremy Todd Strzynski <jtstrzyn@cherry.wustl.edu>
Subject: female vocalists, tour stops, etc...
a few quick things here. first of all, to whoever asked who'd make for a good
female vocalist, natalie merchant is the name of the 10,000 maniacs singer, and
she'd easily be the best choice. very good voice (imho), haunting at times--
would mix well with geddy's voice. alternately, harriet wheeler of the sundays
would be really good too.
secondly, on the second leg of the RTB tour, Rush didn't played either
cincinnati or columbus--they split the distance and played at the nutter
center (i think) in dayton, which i've heard is an excellent place to see a
concert. i was very bummed because my job last summer was being a counselor
at a mathematics program at ohio state, and i had no way to get to dayton to
see the show. worse, in cincinnati on the same night was a metallica concert
(that's where i live) and my brother through some minor miracle had first row
seats. i was helping kids with number theory. (sigh)
jeremy
some are born to move the world to live their fantasies
but most of us just dream about the things we'd like to be
sadder still to watch it die than never to have known it
for you the blind who once could see, the bell tolls for thee
p.s. i live in cincinnati, not a metallica concert.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 19:10:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: Grahzny Bratchney <saallena@ultrix.uor.edu>
Subject: more musicians
Tori Amos would sound wonderfull on a RUSH album...but she doesn't really
seem like the background singer type.
Say, whatever happened to, and who is anyway, Rupert Hine? My brothers in
RUSH and I have worked up these possibilities:
1)he is a ficticious persona, or a pseudonym for one of those fun-loving guys,
Alex, Ged, or Neil.
2)he is a relative of one of the guys.
3)he is the naked man found on the covers of 2112 and Hemispheres.
could be, could be.
Anyone who saw a recent concet, what kind of goodies did they have to sell
there? That RTB concert shirt...and anything else?
[ From what I remember, they had 4 or so different shirts, a sweatshirt, a
poster, the tourbook, a hat, and a pin or two. : rush-mgr ]
Having just come to college from a childhood in Hawaii, where RUSH never
comes, this upcoming tour will be my first. I can't wait! and I'm gonna
get whatever overpriced stuff they're selling!
'Game all night, sleep all day' AMIGA RULES
Proud new owner of an A1200! The life of an S.A. is a
'You don't have to be a Jew hard, underpaid one.
To disapprove of murder
Tears burn my eyes...'
------R.W. GRAHZNY BRATCHNEY==>
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Mike Rizzello <mike.rizzello@canrem.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 20:00:00 -0400
Subject: various stuff
In response to the Q about which female would be a great addition to the band
for some back up stuff, how about Amee again? Or how about Celine Dionne or
Mariah Carrey? I would be pushing it if I tried Alanna Myles or Sass Jordan,
actually Enya would be an interesting choice too.
As for those of you who want to know what Much Music is, well it is
Canada's video station. And as for Rush Spotlights, I think that there
have been a few done (but none recent). I did see a Musique Plus (plooose)
spotlight (Rock 'en Bulle) around RTB. It featured a few Geddy interviews,
plus some bloopers of Geddy doing a MPlus promo, and featured Xanadu, Subdiv.,
RTB and some other stuff I can't rembember. Hey, does anyone remember
DISCUMENTARY? It was that one hour radio program featuring Terry David Mulliga
doing bios. of a number of great bands. Was there ever a Rush one? Probably
a two-parter! Well 'nough bio stuff said.
Also, since this is a international publication, I was wondering if
those of you in the NON-CD world (Vinyl world that is!) have found any
RTB pressings? I would expect that some may be around as there seems to
be a few companies who still press LPs, and since some parts of the world
still may not have made the CD format as the leader. I would be interested
in knowing if there was and if I could swap or buy off someone willing to
part with it. Anyways, just curious.....
Also, in response to Critical Mass's meaning, I would like to say that
I would be a very meaningful title as it contains a number of different
themes. I wouldn't expect Neil to run off and talk about nuclear bombs
or stuff like that, but returning to the science theme would be nice. I
would expect something along the lines of how society is falling apart or
censorship or some pressing issue, though I don't expect it to be very
political.
And just another thing about title's and their meanings. For example,
did anyone notice the power about The Pass's title? It just sprung on me
how that suicide is like when we play a game and we have no choice but to
PASS. Then also a PASS is one of those gaps in the mountains that allow
passage to the other side (ie trembling on a rocky ledge). Just thought
you would like to know that I have just woken up after listen to the album
over three years.... Hey, has it been that long? I also noticed that Rush
has made it tradition to release something in September as in Presto, Chron.
RTB and (hopefully!!!) the new album. And usually around the same date too!
Coincidence? I think not!
Phew... Glad that all came out!
Later...
Mike
* OLX 2.1 TD * Atheism is a non-prophet organization!
--
Canada Remote Systems - Toronto, Ontario
416-629-7000/629-7044
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Mike Rizzello <mike.rizzello@canrem.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 20:00:00 -0400
Subject: 04/15/93 - the national m
> Rush unplugged: why not? I agree that Bravado and Subdivisions
>along with many others could go acoustic. It would be an interesting new
>twist!
I had a chance to see a "boot" video of a Rush concert during the
Presto tour which featured a "tune-up" session. It was pretty cool
except for a half-hour of Alex's back while he tested out Xanadu, but
let me get to the gist of my post. Geddy was playing a really
laid back version of Subdivisions on the keyboard, testing a few
sounds, and what really got me was the "acoustic" sound and really
slow (Tears/Different Strings-ish) vocals. Subdivisions would be
totally AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OTher UnPluggeds----> Lakeside Park (why not rehash it?)
Tears
The Trees
Some parts of La Villa
Closer To the Heart
Madrigal
Cinderella Man
Different Strings
Limelight (a really slow version)
Losing It
Mission
Time Stand Still
The Pass
Bravado
Ghost of a Chance
What if'ers=----> Natural Science
YYZ
Xanadu
Mystic Rhythms
I think they start to push it a bit when we get to the recent stuff,
but what the heck it would be a challenge. They could get Hugh Syme
to assit them on keys, some other guys on strings (what if Alex used
a bow?), fly in Amee Mann for some back up vocals and what a show!!!
Later....
Mike
* OLX 2.1 TD * X-TEERMINATE!!! <=- Dalek Mating Call
--
Canada Remote Systems - Toronto, Ontario
416-629-7000/629-7044
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 13:47:18 GMT+0200
From: DI361@eui.uab.es
Subject: The necromancer
Hi !
I'm a FTP user from Barcelona ( Do you remember the Olimpic games ?)
who study computer science in a city called Sabadell. One day i discover the
FTP service and, when i found the FTP identificator ftp.uwp.edu, i go straight
to the pub/music/lyrics/r/rush directory to catch all the material about the
big trio. Obviously, i only find the letters of the majory of their albums.
I really enjoy with the possibilities of this FTP station, but one day,
the BIG DAY, i found in a archive called SITES one adress with the name
SYRINX.UMD.EDU, where i go 4 or 5 times a week to collect all the rush material
that i never dream to see.
Be a Rush Fan in Catalunya ( a part of Spain with different culture &
idiom that is like another country [and one day will be]) is very difficult:
In Barcelona you can find Rush material if you disturb a lot your
music storages. Then, they import some material. Is very difficult to buy
the rush albums with the word in Barcelona.
Hear Rush in the Radio is very strange, but in a Catalunya Radio program
called "Tarda Tarda", they put all the Rush new albums before arribe to the
shops (but in this program only play very new albums). They put one Rush concert
every year, too.
See Rush in TV is an utopia.
See the most powerful band in the world in a concert is only possible to
the people that can buy a ticket to London (or sometimes Paris) very quickly,
because they ever sol-out their concerts.
Well, i don't wanna be boring to you. I only want to Know everythin about
Rush and their new album and World Tour. I hope they will record a hard music
album, without stupid compositions like the instrumental of Roll the Bones; when
you hear "Where's my thing" after listen YYZ or La Villa Strangiatto i break
down and cry.
Some questions:
> ALL the rush records are available on CD?
[ Yes, all Rush albums are out on CD. : rush-mgr ]
> Did RUSH play with Led Zeppelin someday?
> How was the relation betwenn RUSH & ZEPP ?
And
> What's the meanig og IMHO (i read it in some of the TNMS messages )?
[ IMHO = In My Humble Opinion. : rush-mgr ]
Thanks for your atention and for make my days better !!!
If you want to practise your Spanish, or tell me the last news of
Rush, or explain me your life, don't doubt to send me a MAIL
The Necromancer.
----------------------------------------------------------
From: "Mark J. Reed" <mark@shlep.sware.com>
Subject: frets
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 10:04:22 EDT
You'll probably get a ton of replies here; apologies if any of this is
old news...
On a stringed instrument, you get different notes by shortening the
effective length of the string. If you just pluck a string without
touching it otherwise, you get a certain note. If you press the middle
of the string against the backboard and then pluck, only
the half of the string that you pluck vibrates. Half the length is
twice the frequency, so you get a note one octave higher than the first one.
If you press the string 3/4 of the way down, you get a note two octaves up;
7/8 gets you 3 octaves up, etc. Pressing in between those points gives you
notes in between the octaves.
Now, if you just slide your finger up and down the string, you'll
get a continuous range of frequencies, much like moving the slide in and
out on a trombone. But the common musical scale is not continuous;
there are only 12 recognized frequencies in each octave. Notes in
between those frequencies are heard as out of tune. So in order to play,
for example, the violin, your fingers have to know exactly where to press
the string for each note. That's not easy, especially since the
distance between notes on the string shrinks as you move down the neck.
On a fretted instrument, you don't have to remember the positions so
exactly. Frets are small ridges that cross the neck perpendicular to
the strings. Pressing the string anywhere between two frets causes the string
to be stopped at the lower fret instead of at the point of your finger. So
less precision is required. You just have to get your finger to the right
fret at the right time and press down hard enough. (not that that's a mean feat,
esp. when you're talking about multiple fingers on multiple strings at the
speed of most rock bass riffs, but the frets give you one less thing to worry
about...)
So why aren't all stringed instruments fretted? Fretless instruments
have some advantages. First of all, a skilled person can play them
constantly in tune. While you have to stop and retune a guitar so that the
frets play the right notes, on a fretless instrument you can just adjust
your finger positions up or down until you're in tune. A skilled player
does this on the fly quickly and automatically and so never has to stop in
the middle of a performance and retune. You can also get nifty effects
out of a fretless instrument - the finger slide I mentioned above, for
instance, referred to in music as a glissando. Thus the violin and its
siblings, and the fretless bass.
So now you know... probably more than you cared to know. :) Hope
I helped...
--
Mark J. Reed
Email: mark@sware.com -- Voice: 404 315-6296 x58 -- Fax: 404 315-0293
SecureWare, Inc. / 2957 Clairmont Rd Suite 200 / Atlanta GA 30329
----------------------------------------------------------
From: dstrickl@ho12.eng.ua.edu (Daniel Patrick Strickland)
Subject: MTV address/In the Mood
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 9:20:16 CDT
I remember in high school a friend and I were in the gym listening
to whatever fireman's/policeman's band during Art's Week. Jokingly,
we wanted them to do a song by Rush, so every time the bandleader
introduced a song, we'd look at each other and say "Rush!" Imagine
our surprise when he said the next song was "In the Mood." But,
cruel twist, we suffered that Glenn Miller tune instead. Oh well,
from what I remember, it's not a bad song.
BTW, does anyone have the MTV address. I'll write 'em and tell them
to put Rush on Unplugged. I believe that if all 1800(!?!) of us
do...maybe they'll get a good message...or we'll all get a nice
form letter.
|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
|Daniel Strickland | "Black wind falling to the ocean floor |
|dstrickl@buster.eng.ua.edu| And the red tide washes ashore" |
|Univ. of Alabama | -Red Tide [maybe crimson???] |
|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
|Roll Tide! 13-0 Vanderbilt, Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, Tennessee,|
| Mississippi St., South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tulane, |
| Arkansas, L.S.U., Auburn, Florida, Miami... |
| A long list of victims... |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 16 Apr 93 10:48:54 EDT
From: Adam.B.Cappio@Dartmouth.EDU (Adam B. Cappio)
Subject: why no guitar solos?
i've been wondering why alex hasn't ever done anymore guitar solos such as
"Broon's Bane." i'm a big yes fan also, and howe's solos, such as "clap"
"mood for a day" and "masquerade", are all so great. i just don't understand
why alex hasn't written more. any clues?
abc
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 10:19:07 +0000
From: Robert King <Robert_King@qmserver.vortech.com>
Subject: Yo George!
Hi George. Boy what a wierd morning...
>2) To the person who had a bad experience with Mr. Big opening for Rush,
>my condolensces. Mr. Big opened for the first Rush concert I ever
>attended in Dallas, TX. I was there with a friend and asked, before they
>came to the stage, how long the opening act would be. She said about 45
>minutes. When Mr. Big came on I lost partial hearing. I leaned over and
>screamed in her ear '45 MINUTES UH?' and got up and went to the
>bathroom to put some concrete between them and me. At that time I
>thought I still might want to have more children after all.
I was reading this message in TNMS. I kept thinking, "George should read this.
He HATES Mr. Big!"
>4) For those of us who are musically impaired (playing wise), what is a
>fret? What does it do? Why? Thank you in advance for any explanations.
A fret is one of those lines on a guitar neck that is perpendicular to the
strings. Usually they are made of a half-circle of steel (in cross-section)
that is pressed into the wood of the neck so it extends slightly above the
surface of the neck (1/16" or so.) When you hold down a string, it is pressed
against a fret in addition to being pressed against the neck by your finger.
The reason the frets are there is to limit the effective length of a pressed (
or fretted) string to a discrete lengths (those lengths being determined by
the position of the frets.) This keeps the instrument in tune. Playing a
fretless instrument like a fretless bass, or a violin, chello, viola, or
double-bass is *very* difficult because they have no frets. Your fingers have
to be in the *precise* location to keep the note in tune.
At least that's my understanding of it, from a layman'spoint of view.
Anyhow, take it easy and keep on Rushin (kind of contradictory, huh?)
Robert King
If all the world's a stage, then where's my understudy?
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: 04/14/93 - The National Midnight Star #662
From: sheep@gargoyle.hacktic.nl (Frank Schaapherder)
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 02:36:39 CET
Hi group,
Randall Haskin wrote:
> In the last issue, someone made the comment that this is what they heard
> said during Closer to the Heart at the 5-3-92 Rotterdam show recorded on Over
> The Europe:
>
>> ["My" conversation mercyfully deleted]
>
> Call me crazy, but I listened to that section OVER AND OVER again, and I
> could not figure that out for the life of me. Perhaps the Atmospheric
> recording is not the same as OTE?
That's interesting. I was present at the Rotterdam show, there was only
one show there during the RTB tune _and_ I know Atmospheric recording is
of the show I attended. There's a bias in Bravado caused by a fallen
microphone stand, and Geddy speaks about four words of Dutch. What does
the OTE recording claim for a date and time? Also, Les Claypool definately
was not present on the stage during Ctth and there was not shoot-out
either. However, someone taped Primus' drummer to his seat, which
was funny when he had to leave the stage at the end of their set.
> Here's more what I hear:
>
> [Randall's conversation deleted too ]
>
> Perhaps this has been discussed before, but can we try to decipher this?
> It's DEFINITELY not what was posted above.....
Hmm, I'm pretty sure about the words on Atmospheric. Check OTE for
bias in Bravado (it _must_ be there to be of Rotterdam) and Geddy
speaking dutch. Maybe it's another show... I'm interested in the outcome.
Take care,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sheep = Frank Schaapherder redrehpaahcS knarF = peehS
'As time goes by, there's one thing I have come to realise
The time goes by, never let yourself be forced to compromise' --- Saga
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
From: dxpetr@mail.wm.edu (Donald Petrille)
Date: 16 Apr 93 11:28:13
Subject: My simple fantasy
This may be lame, because it's simple and shows that I have no
delusions of grandeur, but my Rush fantasy is to just sit down and
have a beer or six with Alex, Geddy or Neil, and talk about things
other than music, tours and etc. I would like to see what kind of
people they are.
Philadelphia Phillies- Best Record in Baseball!!!!
[ Hey, it's only 2 weeks into the season! : rush-mgr ]
Donald Petrille, Jr.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"The ability to destroy an entire planet is insignificant next to the
power of the Force." - Darth Vader
\ /\ / / / 300 Years and still cookin'
\ / \ / & / \ / \
\ \ / \ \ dxpetr@mail.wm.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
From: sallman@sas.upenn.edu (Scott Allman)
Subject: Re: Favorite Guitarists...
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 11:45:21 EDT
Fellow fans,
After having read the results of a "favorite guitarist"
survey which I must have missed being a part of, I thought I'd add another
favorite (and extremely talented) guitarist of mine which wasn't (and
should have been) included in the list. Phil Keaggy. There is no
question that he is one of the world's finest, and if anyone has seen him
perform, I'm sure you'd agree! So, notwithstanding our favorite
"sons of the strings" of Rush, I vote for Phil Keaggy as a favorite.
'Til next time...
P.S. - Did anyone mention Eric Johnson? I saw him open for Rush during
the RTB tour in Cincinnati...quite a talented up-and-coming musician in the
likes of Joe Satriana and Steve Vai.
SAllman@mail.sas.upenn.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 12:33:29 EDT
From: The Longshot <c2mxbir@fre.fsu.umd.edu>
Subject: Rush Unplugged
It's funny. I brought up the same subject a few months ago and got very
little response from it. I guess it is all timing...
My Rush fantasy would be just to meet the guys. I would like to see what kind
of people they really are...
Jason Birzer
'The longshot'
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 13:13:36 +0000
From: Robert King <Robert_King@qmserver.vortech.com>
Subject: Rush's tempo (live)
Is it just me, or does Rush seem to slow their tempo on some songs when
playing them live? I first noticed this when listening to "Marathon" on "A
Show of Glands" (oops -- thats HANDS.) Although I have yet to sit down and
directly compare the studio and live versions, the live version seems slow and
sluggish. You think maybe Rush slows their stuff down a bit and paces
themselves while on tour?
Robert King
"What eesse it mahn?" -- Ren
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 16 Apr 1993 14:43:48 -0500 (EST)
From: "YOUSIF/RUSHKING (\"...and the meek shall inherit the Earth.\" --2112.)"
Subject: Come on, guys (and gals!), SATAN?
Fellow Rushians....
I am usually the casual observer when it comes to the NMS, just reading
and enjoying. But all of this recent talk about Rush's "satanic" lyrics has
prompted me to write...
First of all, as we all know, the most "profane" Rush ever gets is
"crap". So why the hell would they encode satanic messages??? Personally, I
don't know who would want to go thru the trouble of fixing their cassette or CD
player so it spins the disc backwards, just to hear nothing at all...You know,
someone said this before, and I agree--everything played backwards, if u really
try hard enough to convince yourself--sounds Satanic. It's actually garbage
that sounds like NOTHING!!!
Who first brought that satanic thing up anyway? Shoot 'im!!! :)
Ok, now to other things, now that Im here...rush unplugged...hmmmm.
I must admit it has some kind of appeal, BUT its too commercial for my tastes
and lets also remember that Rush's best just won't work acoustic....maybe they
could do some 2112 stuff, like oracle, presentation, or that other melancholic,
acoustic stuff, maybe Bravado or other songs like it with a lot of acoustic
overdubs...but that MTV stripped-down stage just won't do Geddy and Neil any
credit... I say forget it.
One last thing, how do you people put thise little "trademark" pixel
pictures at the end of your mail messages? They look cool--tell me how!
--Yousif--
(i.e. Rushking, at JMU)
----------------------------------------------------------
From: meg@syrinx.umd.edu (******* Meg *******)
Date: Fri Apr 16 16:02:24 EDT 1993
Subject: NMS T-Shirts!
I just ordered another batch of shirts yesterday, so I should be getting them
the middle of next week. I'm getting a few XXL and a few mediums, so if you
want these instead of L or XL send in your checks soon! First come first serve
you know... :)
Just as a side note here, I wore my shirt for the very first time over a
three-day period to school. Not one person said a thing to me the first two
days, so I just figured that we have a very unresponsive student body (no
surprise there). But then on the third day I was standing in line to buy some
lecture notes, and the guy behind me asked me about the shirt! Amazing! And
even more amazing is that he added himself to the list yesterday....
(howdy Brian!)
-Meg
meg@syrinx.umd.edu <-- mail here for more NMS shirt info
----------------------------------------------------------
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The contents of The National Midnight Star are solely the opinions and
comments of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of the authors' management, or the mailing list management.
Copyright The Rush Fans Mailing List, 1993.
Editor, The National Midnight Star
(Rush Fans Mailing List)
********************************************
End of The National Midnight Star Number 664
********************************************