Ou7shined

Reaper. Only been using it a few days but it feels more intuitive than the big name others (PC only) I've auditioned. Worth 60 bucks (US) of anyone's money.

[quote name='gokcekacmaz' post='931259' date='Aug 20 2010, 07:15 PM']Dont take it as a criticism. The song is cute and I am waiting for the original record to listen...[/quote] But I want criticism. That's why I posted it here.

Do you have the original pre-amp?

[quote name='guybrush threepwood' post='931656' date='Aug 21 2010, 09:29 AM']...I was blown away by the feel, sound, articulation, build quality and, most of all, the range of tones available from that one pickup! It can be tight and snappy or warm and loose, simply depending on where you place your right hand, but it always maintains that incredible growl. Then add in the EQ and there's such a massive range of tones there. Also, the neck is quite fat, but [i]so[/i] comfortable and fast - it just fills the hand beautifully....[/quote] That's it in a nutshell. Welcome to the fold.

Just solder it up to a jack socket, a spare pickup and connect a battery. Plug it in and tap the pup with something metal (paper clip, door key etc.). If you get a pop then it works. To get a better idea of it's sound, strum a bass (or guitar) while holding the pup as close to the strings.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='931567' date='Aug 21 2010, 12:42 AM']Only if you can haggle him down to €20-€30. J.[/quote] Agreed.

Have to admit the jack socket is kind of Fender looking.

[quote name='fux' post='930645' date='Aug 20 2010, 10:09 AM']Hi! Thanks for all the info guys i really appreciated. But i made a little bit of mess by not introducing myself and my plans. So here goes very quickly since i saw you have a different topic for introducing. I have been playing bass for almost 2 years, so this wouldn't be my first bass and by my bad English you probably figured it out that i am not from UK, i am from Slovenia. And i have some experience on restorations, i did one bass and at the moment i am working on a guitar. So back to the topic. I really didn't know if this bass was worthy the time and money that it would take to restore its former glory. SO thanks once again for the info. @ Ou7shined: he want's 50€ cheers[/quote] It wasn't me asking the price but... even for 50€ that's too much imho. You could pick up a project bass with nicer proportions, that's not been at the bottom of a swamp since the Pistols split up for less on ebay. That 4 pole pick up looks like it might pack a punch though (presuming it is still functional).

[quote name='51m0n' post='931124' date='Aug 20 2010, 04:55 PM']Hmmm Reaper does have an[b] autotune[/b] VST built in you know..... ReaTune IIRC[/quote] Pfft that sort of thing is for puffs... ... besides I tried it briefly and it didn't make much difference. Some of the more exotic tunings were... er... fun to play with. As for monitoring I use Creative Fatal1ty cans (which tend to be a bit bass heavy - great for COD though ) but then I do my real tweaks through my not unsubstancial audiophile hifi system - as was advised to me by the Dood a short while ago.

[quote name='gokcekacmaz' post='931063' date='Aug 20 2010, 04:01 PM']sounds good... Just like RHCP.[/quote] Thanks. [quote name='gokcekacmaz' post='931064' date='Aug 20 2010, 04:02 PM']Hımm sometimes vocals off the tune...[/quote] It makes me cringe too. However as I said (shouted actually) in post #1, I ain't a singer and this version was only an "audio-sketch" for the guitarist to learn from. But if that's your only critique then I guess I can live with that. I'd be upset if you thought the bass playing was gash

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='930885' date='Aug 20 2010, 01:25 PM']Sounds great mate! A very good way to start One trick I was taught is this: when mixing and you want to check the overall balance of the mix etc, turn the level right down until it's really quiet, almost inaudible... this helps to identify if anything in the mix is too loud by comparison to anything else as it will jump out and will be noticeable more when quiet. Mixing is a tricky thing, but I've enjoyed it when I've done it. I guess as long as it's audible and isn't too harsh on the ears then in my book it's a good mix. All I would say is you need to get the output level of the mix up significantly.[/quote] Neat tip. I'll check that out.

.. then the description fits well. Especially if it took "a fair few hours" to complete that amount of work. I presume he took the pics before the "full fret polish" too. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330460291873&_trksid=e11010.m204&_trkparms=algo%3DSI%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D8&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:GB:1348"]linky[/url]

[quote name='51m0n' post='930827' date='Aug 20 2010, 12:38 PM']Yes It can be made to sound new or old school just by learning how to compress and eq and what mics to favour etc etc, I like it since it leaves a lot of creative decisions up to you, and you can learn a huge amount about mixing drums from it. WHen you add it to a track it adds about 9 tracks for the various mics in a folder under its main track, you can add fx to any of those tracks (ie the snare, or the kick or the overheads, or room mics etc). With some creative grouping in Reaper you can have all those tracks grouped, a set of fx auxes for the drums alone, and a group around all of the above for a gentle buss glue comp or whatever. You put your midi items on the main track and out comes beautiful drums! Its a genius DAW is Reaper![/quote] Wow that really sounds the nuts. I can't wait to give it a bash.

[quote name='51m0n' post='930790' date='Aug 20 2010, 12:08 PM']...Its a bit dry, maybe, but the kind of reverb you need would be a gluey ambience type of thing (possible on everything, [b]even just on the two buss[/b], but very very very subtle) that you dont so much hear as feel. You could duck the bass off the kick too, so they aren't fighting for sonic territory so much....[/quote] Noob question, what's a two buss? :blush:

[quote name='51m0n' post='930805' date='Aug 20 2010, 12:20 PM']Oh, and bin the drum machine, download Bluenoise MyDrumset. Its a free VST, gives you acces to a pretty well recorded Ludwig (IIRC) but you get to throw your own effects on each mic, which means a genuinely more realistic result IMO...[/quote] Will check that out, thanks. It's not even a drum machine, it's just my Korg PX4D (my constant jamming companion ). I know it sound pish but I was surprised at how "acceptable" I got the 2 loops to sound - especially the transition between them. Will I be able to use the vst in Reaper?

[quote name='51m0n' post='930790' date='Aug 20 2010, 12:08 PM']Couldn't resist, here's a cheeky bit of mastering for you Couldn't bring myself to smash the thing to bits a la Stadium, but its pushing pretty hard, bit of eq'ing, some (very subtle) saturation, and a fiddle (subtle) with the stereo width too. All done in 5 minutes on a set of cans, so it may sound plop in the real world! All done in the box, no expensive hardware kit used at all. I am nothing more than an amateur hack at this at best, but I enjoy having a go! Damned fine first effort though. You've got the most important thing right, its a catchy toon, cant underestimate the importance of that. Its a bit dry, maybe, but the kind of reverb you need would be a gluey ambience type of thing (possible on everything, even just on the two buss, but very very very subtle) that you dont so much hear as feel. You could duck the bass off the kick too, so they aren't fighting for sonic territory so much. Going to mp3 is not the way to glue stuff together, its a pretty nasty process sonically. A decent bit of buss compression will sort that out far better (alongside the ambience verb). May only need a couple of dB to make it come together. Another nice trick on a group buss is some tape saturation emulation (again subtle). You should be able (depending on the DAW) to program level and effects changes on a single track, should you wish to, but it is often easier to split the tracks as you suggest. Watch out for the crossover curves if you do this, you will want them super steep!) Mixing quiet in the box is not bad thing, Mastering guys often like a mix that peaks at no more than -6dBfs to give them headroom to play with, and there are some pretty high profile advocates of recording and mixing very quietly (providing you go for 24bit).[/quote] Nice one. You're absolutely right about the lack of reverb in that track. I have some on the backing vocals to give them distance from the main vox and a minute amount of "small room" on the guitars (I think you can hear it in the bass intro) but again it's one of those things I need to learn about. I was worried about the kick before. I'll notch down a bit. Cheers. I find your mix a little too bright for my ears. Do you think mine lacked top end?

Yeah thanks. I think I get it, more dynamics but strip things back. Nah seriously I do though. I think despite my inexperience with DAW I already do try to think in terms of the dynamics of a song when I write them but what I'm unsure about is things like where the vocals sit in the mix or how subtle you should try and make the rhythm section compared to the lead instruments. I could just go and listen to CDs etc. but I know that as a musician that what I hear isn't necessarily what other people hear - for example there are songs that I have listened to for years that I still don't know what the lyrics are because that is usually the last thing that I pick up on whereas many non musicians (our listening public) are oblivious to everything except the melody and lyrics. You're right I'll probably pick it up as time goes by. I guess it is (as Gok Wan reportedly said ) all about the confidence. Cheers for the tip, I'll take a butchers at yootoob and see if I can find out more.

Hey thanks guys. I'm used to writing more heavy type stuff but I won't deny the Chili's influence in the new stuff although I must say I've probably not listened to them since Stadium Arcadium first came out. [quote name='urb' post='930379' date='Aug 19 2010, 10:42 PM']...As a first attempt it's very good, the more you record the better you'll get at every aspect of it...[/quote] I'd really like to try more of this. What do you think could I do better the next time?

If we're talking split P then I vote Delano. If we're talking single coil, Lollar.

Unless you know what you are doing (into restorations) avoid this at all costs - it's too much hassle for a 1st bass. Start a thread telling us what you want and what budget you have and I'm sure the guys will point you in the right direction for something far more appropriate. Good luck... and welcome btw.

Aye as far as I know.

So I've got some riffs that I've been working on for an idea for some fresh stuff (a change in direction for myself) that I'm hoping to take further with new band I'm starting. I decided to knock up one of my new songs with my newly acquired Line6 Pod Studio UX2 so the guitarist (the only other member of this project so far) could learn it. I let him hear it today and he was rather blown away by my first ever attempt at digital home recording. So with his praise still ringing in my ears and my head swelling by the moment I thought I'd let you guys listen to it and pick it to shreds. Actually I'd love to get some pointers from a technical point of view on where I can improve what I have. WARNING! The whole track took 2 days to produce and that included learning the software from scratch so don't expect too much. What we have here are all first takes (except some of the guitar harmonies which I worked out while looping the built track) including the very embarrassing out of tune and out of time vocals - I AM NOT A SINGER - I just laid some lame vocals on to help clarify for the guitarist the idea of what I want to do with the track (this of course meant that I had to come up with some lyrics - something I hardly ever do). I reckon if I find time to do it again I could put on a more manly voice but the idea is to get in a proper vocalist for the job. I was plugged directly into the UX2 and used both Gearbox and Pod Farm 2 for the amp and effects and a specially bought copy of Reaper to lay the tracks on. bass = Stingray guitars = old Jim Deacon Strat I use for riff writing drums = courtesy of my Korg PX4D mic = Beringer C-1 Ladles and Jelly-spoons. It is my dubious pleasure to present Supergone (draft version). [attachment=57038:supergone.mp3] I should explain that I haven't "mastered" this track, the guitarist was round this avo and wanted a copy so I just rendered it as it was on my laptop there and then - I have a feeling that it may be a bit quiet overall but I'm fairly happy with the individual levels on each track but I'd like to hear what you think. I didn't start a new track for each instrument phrase (something I wish I had done now) instead I have a track per instrument. So each instrument runs with the same volume and effects through to the end. I can alway split them and bump them to new tracks later if I do master this. I noticed that when I made it into an mp3 that the track really came to life as the process has crushed all the parts together rather than the components all being individually recognisable in the sound stage. I knew the mp3 process would do this but somehow I thought it would have the opposite effect on my ears. Is this a bad thing? As I said this is my first crack at this. It has made me appreciate more the job of the sound engineer a lot more as I noticed that even though I agonised over the sounds of the instruments, once played along with the other tracks they sounded $hit because of how the different frequencies interacted [b]against[/b] each other so I had to go off and find new sounds that would sit better in the mix with engineer's ears rather than musician's ears. I'm still not happy with the funky guitar in the bridge part. Speaking of which the outro (which uses that funky riff) goes on a bit but that's only because I intend for the guitarist to try out some solo w@nkery stuff in there - stuff that I'm not good enough to do so it's left kinda blank. Thanks for listening.

Ignore them. They only indicate + or - which is useful (in theory) if you are using them with other pup so they aren't installed out of phase. For a single P (as in a lone pair of humbucking P's - not a single coil) it matters not.

[quote name='Machines' post='929447' date='Aug 19 2010, 09:59 AM']I'm not going to lock this thread for now, but will request that members here do not cause disruption on the EB forum as the last thing we want is to be labelled as a forum of troublemakers. The topic should remain factual and avoid personal attacks.[/quote] Good call.

It is rather handy.