Dad3353

Good afternoon, Bootroo, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Here's Our Youngest trying out our newly-acquired Samick, offered on permanent loan by our singer, freshly cleaned up, revised, set up and fitted with a brand new set of Fender Flat-wounds, as an experiment. First impressions..? Very much positive; this little bass is light, has a lot of tonal variance, and a nice 'burp'. Well pleased. Strap-locks..? Oh yes, it was the first opportunity to fit them to a bass, and are equally highly satisfactory. They go on with a bit of a struggle (we're not used to 'em; all our gear has Dunlops...), and ingenuity required to get 'em off again when we realise that the strap need adjusting (D'oh..!). It's quite a 'secondary' bass, but it won't be falling to the floor, fitted with these mean beggars..! Good Stuff; pleased all round.

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Ha..! And I've just recommended the exact opposite..!

BV's add a lot to a song for very little effort, in my view. It doesn't need the same detail as the lead singer (but not a 'rubbish' sound, naturally..!). As with many things, 'Less Is More'. If in doubt, leave it out. Depends on the venue, but the tiniest spot of short delay does wonders, and having something like a sponge 'pop-sock' over the capsule can help keep the mouth just that little bit further from the capsule. So many folks seem to want to swallow the mic, whereby a little distance has much more musicality. You'll not be looking for volume (these are BV's, remember..? 'B' for 'Backing'..?), so no need to get up to feedback levels. Enough to be heard is plenty enough. Hope this helps. I almost forgot... Make sure you have a decent monitor, with appropriate levels set for yourself and the lead singer. Getting that to sound right for you both is at least half the battle.

Get some tips and/or help from @Happy Jack, maybe..?

I upgraded to A5, but have gone back to using only A3, as the 'new' stuff in A5 doesn't recognise the extras I'd bought for A3 any more, and my A4 brought me nothing special. If you are only interested in the free stuff, there's probably no problem, but I'm not going to buy again the amps and Fx I'd already bought (and was satisfied with...) for A3. I'm not best pleased with their backward compatibility, nor the 'half-truths' whereby they 'gift' part of a package, but you have to buy more to use it. IK Multimedia..? I'm out.

PM sent...

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

Yes, Dave, I'm the chubby one behind the drums. It's Our Youngest on bass, in hyperactive mode, Our Eldest with the Explorer stage left, Vince being unusually expressive stage right (now gone to the Antilles, 'replaced by Nico...) and Steph 'performing' in his inimitable 'put all you've got into it, or don't do it at all' style. Our repertoire is varied; we have one or two 'up-beat' numbers, followed by a cooling-off spate so that I may continue without medical assistance. Another belter, then another low-key one. This RATM was our closing piece, after which I discreetly slip backstage to lie out flat on the ground for a while, to recover. Happy daze..!

Yes, yes; now go and lie down, you'll feel better in the morning. (... but thanks for watching, just the same... )

This is (or rather, was...) our hypnotically mesmerising band, playing at a local mini-festival a few years ago now. You'll understand from the insane antics of all of us the magnetic attraction we emanate, which explains why we get called upon so often. The choreography is meticulously rehearsed, perhaps even more so than the research for the best sound, and pays off handsomely (although it's hard on the knees, and the stunts are dangerous for the untrained. Do not try this at home...). I'll let those that get to the end judge the (modest...) popularity of our 'performance'. So, with no further ado, I'll leave the stage and welcome... The Daubs..! (sporadic applause...)

Not worth the ink needed to reply.

Indeed... Cherry-picking..? Just being ornery, or obtuse..? All performers must get up to antics..? You're just being contrary for the sake of it.

Dongle..? Dongle..? What's a 'dongle'..? ...

There was nothing from you to quote, and I didn't want to encourage any delicate ears to set in motion the video clip. Some oriental girls messing about, making a din; nothing of note, so no loss.

Here's a screenshot of one of my orchestral templates. There a re 106 tracks in all; I may well add a few for Fx buses. All of these can be whatever they are, it seems simple enough to me, and I'm dumb... Click to enlarge; the individual tracks are all folded here, but can, of course, expand, individually as required, to show the audio, or MIDI, or sample etc. Yes, the colour coding helps..!

Now you're confusing Fodera and fedora again. We've warned you before about that. ...

The clue is in the OP's title, and opening video. Being on stage doesn't have to mean acting the clown, or acting at all. For some, and some circumstances, that's the deal, but at other times, for other performers and audiences, it's not. Simple, really.

We're not going to agree. I've listened (often...) to concert pianists, and others, on the radio, so expression..? It's all in the fingers, mate. Bass face..? Nah, 's'for the birds. 'Perform' has many more connotations than that, to me at least.

Cynical codswallop, in my opinion.

When you've played that so many times, for weddings, village fêtes, dance parties, over the decades... At the moment, my eyes are open; they might just as well be closed.