Dad3353

Good morning, Kevvo, and welcome back ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Deadline is approaching and I've not really started yet..! I have an idea (well, a notion, or sketch, or vague thought...) and have even collected a few bits'n'bobs (as one does...) that may serve, but my get up and go seems to have got up and gone, for now. As a bonus, my eyes have gone all funny as of this evening, and even typing this is very odd, with as many corrections as correct hits. Hmm... S'not as if I don't get enough sleep, either. Hmm... Old age, eh..? It's a rum do alright.

There's one MIDI function I've not (yet...) found, for Reaper, and that's a MIDI 'maths' function, to allow stuff such as 'Add 12% Velocity to Channels 2, 3 and 6', or 'logic' operations. I had this on a very old Atari at one stage, and found it useful, but I've not seen anything since (well, not free, at least, and I'll admit I've not looked too hard, either...). Other than that, Reaper does MIDI just fine, I find. I've not tried absolutely all of the plug-ins listed above, but quite a few of 'em, and they're good enough for me (read: they're bloomin' excellent...).

I've been using Reaper for many, many years now, and use channel sends, routing, and MIDI recording and editing, just fine. There are, naturally, things that other software can do better, in the same way as a new Bentley has some advantages over my Citroen ZX, but, for a very high percentage of the Users, Reaper does just fine. Anyone with specific needs should look into DAWs that meet those needs, of course, but other than that, Reaper is as good as any other, and better than many. One is free to try it for an indefinite period, so, discounting any time spent learning how to use it (as with any and every DAW...), there's not much against giving it a go. It won't suit everyone, but then again, nothing does (and it's true; some folk are just picky...).

I don't remember that being one of the Joe Morello methods I followed (but, then again, I don't remember much at all..! ).

I follow your gist, but I think I peaked at 3.

In the many decades I've been playing drums, I've never 'used' my knees. What have I been doing wrong..? Ankles, wrists, yes, but knees..? If you mean 'carrying the kit in and out of venues', I'd suggest a trolley; other than that, I'm stumped.

Good gracious, no..! What a horrific idea..! Indeed not; we ignore 100% of our audience.

Good evening, SC69, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

I think I detect a slight dose of cynicism there ^^. Or were you just being sarcastic..? ...

Phil Jones Bass Neopower 5” Driver That's all there is on the back of the voice coils. I've no more info than that.

He's welcome to come along and help glue it up; I'm stubborn, but willing to learn from real experts of the sort. As long as it's in budget, naturally.

Our 'normal' rig is a Hiwatt 200w valve PA head, and an HH 2 x 15 folded horn cab. Compared to that, this is feather-weight..! No, the idea was not to get a 'one-hand lift' (possible, certainly, but would imply other investments that are not justified by the usage anticipated...). As long as it's easily transportable and set up, with no 'faff', that'll do. We play 'plug'n'play', so just plug in the lead and that's it. No pedal-board, DI out, monitoring or other stuff. Simple, stout, low budget. The wood, cut, with the 17², cost 90€ all in. I have the speakers and the amp, so...

It may well fly as well as many of my other projects, and you're right, Clark Y is tried and tested.

What is this 'finishing' of which you speak..? At best, it'll get a rub-over with a sanding belt and a coat or two of boat varnish. If that's not good enough, I'm a fan of Hammerite.

We'll see, but 12mm is quite stout already, and the panels are not that large. The combo has a shelf for the amp, and the 4x5 will really be 2 x 2x5, as there'll be a dividing horizontal partition between the volumes. I doubt that it'll get so loud as to resonate the panels, but we can always add later, if need be. It's an experiment; there's little 'science' behind it except having seen photos of the PJ C2. The rest (port volume etc... ) is just guesswork.

Bass cabs, and amps, we have in plenty. They do a fine job, for small, pub gigs, festival stages and rehearsals at home. However, a new genre has turned up : garden party, or living room, jams or micro-concerts. The essence of these will be almost spontaneous, light-weight affairs, with minimal gear (but of good quality...). There's the rub, presently: we have a practise combo, but it's a bit past its sell-by date, and puny, even then. A recent garden event showed up its weaknesses. It doesn't 'cut the mustard', and for these events, we don't want the faff of a Big Rig (in this context, a 4x10 Ampeg is a Big Rig...). That's the issue; here's the solution... A while ago now, I bought, from a fellow BC member (thanks again, PPP...) a set of six Phil Jones five-inch speakers (OK, 'drivers', but I'm old, you see, so they're 'speakers' to me...). Now is the time to see what can be made from them. Daft as I am, I immediately thought of the Phil Jones C2-type of cab, and decided to see if I could 'copy' the concept, and make a combo of it. We have on hand an amp (Hartke HA3500; overkill, really, but we have it, so...), so I sketched out a few ideas, and popped them into Blender (a graphics tool I use for 3D printing, making virtual model trains and other stuff...). Here's the result, modelled into 'real-world' panels and carefully assembled to check the measurements... If you've read carefully, you'll remember I had bought six speakers. Let's see what a modular system could look like, with a 4 x 5 extension cab... More modelling; this is what comes up ... All very well, but what will it look like really..? I don't know; let's find out. Here they are, stacked in a virtual salon, with a bonhomme for scale... Well, that's the idea, anyway. I spent two sleepless nights working out a cutting list from one single 2500 x 1220 x 12 sheet of ply, took it to the wood folk and had those panels cut. I've a few lengths of 17² for gluing into the corners; we'll see how it all pans out. It won't be quick (a couple of weeks, maybe..? We'll see...), but I think I have all we need to get started, anyway. To be continued; wish us luck ...

Here's a clue ... None the wiser..? No, It's not a P-Bass. Here's another clue : the cutting list ... No..? Still stumped..? Read on; I'll explain in the next couple of posts ...

It's a question of context, with the whole band being heard. Our Eldest plays through a Triaxis and G-Force in his rack, Nico, our second guitar has a Vox multi and others, his keys cover the whole sonic gamut of whatever we're playing. We find that a clean bass sits far better in the already crowded 'dirt' spectrum without adding extra 'mush'. I know that it's possible to retain the core bass sound and add all sorts of whatever, but does it actually sound better as a result..? Not for us. Similarly, I keep the same snare for all the set when playing the acoustic kit, but even with the e-kit I much prefer the same 'core' drum sound, whatever the number, and simply dial in a side-stick or splash cymbal if it's really needed. I play differently, which changes the overall effect through dynamics, as does Our Youngest on bass, and that suffices, for us. When we listen back to recordings, either rehearsal or 'live', we're not shaking our heads at all the Fx that are not there. It sounds fine. Sometimes we even recognise what the song was supposed to be..!

Indeed, and more. Heresy, I know, but, if it sounds good, it is good ...

That's the thing, you see. Different with e-drums, nowadays, but how many Drummers will swap out their snare to get 'that' sound that's on the original being covered..? Any of 'em have timpani on hand, or the gong that sounds in the intro..? Are the drums even tuned appropriately for the various songs to be played..? In my experience, drummers tend to play on one kit for the whole evening, whatever the tune 'needs'. For bass it's very similar; one size fits all, if one decides to just get on with it and play, instead of tap-dancing like a guitarist. Yes, we all different, and some are more 'precious' than others, but it makes very little, if any, difference to the evening, in many bands that I've played drums, or bass, in. 'Old school'..? Indeed.

+1 ^^ (...although I'm far from the 'shed-building' class of drummers...). I've not really played my acoustic kit for... well even longer than that... since buying my (inexpensive...) e-kit, which I've fitted out with some extra pads, a laptop and Superior Drummer 3. Total cost..? Less than a set of decent cymbals. I've even bought a second 'kit' (Alesis CompactKit7...) for ad hoc simple jamming at buddy's places or 'garden gigs'. I'd still record with the acoustic set, but doubt I'll be leaving the house with it all, if I can use the e-kit. It makes so much sense, and sounds darned good (through a decent PA, naturally...).

Ha, indeed..! With that mic'ed-up backline I can see the problem..!

If there isn't, maybe there ought to be..!