All Activity

My social life is the gigs. You mean there's more to having a Social Life. ? 🤩 Dave 🎅

New Fender Hofner range coming soon!

I'm glad to report that having sold my MPC Keys and logged out of it all the plugins and laptop software etc. still work on the laptop (now being controlled via a MIDI keyboard), and that inudes the ones that came with it as well as the purchased ones.

Thank you, this is all useful to know. To answer your questions, all the audio and video processing are being done on Linux (Ubuntu Studio, specifically). Video is typically shot on an Android phone, audio is going through a Focusrite into the DAW. To sync, I usually hit a muted chord at the beginning - something which will go through to the DAW, but also make a loud enough 'click' to show up on the camera's audio track. Makes me wonder if I should do one afterwards as well, to make sure things are in sync at both ends! Popping open a recent video edit, I've checked the sampling frequencies, and both the audio and video tracks are 48kHz...so no problem there. The video has a frame rate of 28.7 fps (as does the project) - should there be a similar metric for the audio?

This year has seen me get a few good depping roles in decent local bands. They've been on personal recommendations, too, which makes me feel great. Working with new musicians and learning new songs that I would never have looked at otherwise has given my musical self confidence a boost. If I'm honest it's also renewed my enthusiasm for playing in general, which was sagging a little. An added extra is that with the dep roles I've gone back to using backline and I've managed to get a consistent sound that I'm really happy with, and that the bands have complimented me on (as if I designed the TE cabs and Ampeg SCRDI that I'm using to get it 😂). While DI into the desk for my main band makes sense (there are 13 of us and we usually play large venues), I am enjoying the thump directly behind me.

If the audio and video slip more out of sync the longer the video runs, then it will probably be a combination of both frame rate and sampling frequency, as they are completely separate attributes and not dependant on each other. File Info/Properties should show you the frame rate and audio sampling frequency for your video and audio. What platform are you on? Windows? Mac OS? Linux? What are you using to record the video and audio? How are you getting the initial sync point? There's a reason why film makes use a clapper board at the start of each take. IME video tends to default to 48kHz sampling frequency whilst many audio applications use 44.1kHz. So start off by making sure any new recordings are done with everything running at the same sampling and frame rate. For existing recordings you may have to use a conversion tool to get them the same, as many video and audio editors will set the project to the attributes of the first Imported file and then impose those attributes on anything imported subsequently.

How I Could Just Kill A Man — Rage Against The Machine

No, fortunately but I really didn’t go that deep, so I don’t know if it is genuine roast maple, or just stained to look like it. It required a bit of care when it came to those fret markers. Rounding them off too much reduces their visibility from above. P.S. It’s probably the other side of the neck from the fret markers that really benefits from rolling anyway. I probably needn’t have touched the fret marker side.

True 👍

That's sad, such an iconic brand. I'd love to own a Club Bass one day, but they're too expensive to justify how little I would play it (as there were never any lefty Icon, Ignition or Contemporary Club basses, only Violin basses - but I really don't care for those even if it is arguably THE most iconic lefty bass out there).

Really sad news, big fans of Höfner here! Lets hope they get investment/a new owner and push forward again into the future, the product is too good to let go.

I opened up the back of my fretless bass, to change the battery, and was reminded that the preamp includes some kind of midrange boost-cut device. The diagram: The fretless settings (1 2 and 3 off): The fretted settings (1 2 and 3 on): It appears that nothing is boosted on the fretless. Perhaps that accounts for the thinner sound, compared to my fretted bass (which has the same system, but different switch settings). However, before I start randomly flipping the switches, can anyone tell me how (say) a 270hz 10db boost, or everything on, might sound? Robert

The only violin bass I have ever seen being played at a gig was a Grant copy used by the bassist of Nottingham band "…But Is It Art?" in the early 80s. However I've seen plenty of very nice looking Höfner vintage semi-acoustic guitars at various gigs. Unfortunately while there are plenty of "Beatle Basses" on the current Höfner website, the current range of guitars all appear to be rather bland and boring compared with what was available in the 60s.

I will see how it feels for a while before attempting any mods. Did the finish on the neck change when you rounded it?

Could be the room of course, and your own rig will make almost no difference. IME "acoustic treatment" in rehearsal spaces is mostly cosmetic and makes little contribution to how the room sounds especially in the lower frequencies.

Using a fret end file, and care it is not difficult.

I didn't know half of those, so googling them showed all of them except Max Oleatchik with a different bass (almost all a fender) as the first image. I don't think it is enough to keep a band going that half a list of people quoted as being players of a brand I didn't know and they were playing something else anyway. In fact thinking about it, I have never seen a group who actually play one of those basses, in fact thinking about it, i have never seen one of those basses outside a shop. One shop.