Jakester

Well, the specific question was about arranging tunes for an orchestra - which aren't usually best-known for playing originals...😉 Well, that's rather the sort of hyperbolic nonsense I was hoping to avoid . This is a practical issue for us - there have been lots of views aired within the orchestra, but I thought it might be helpful to seek the views of a wider group outside our 'bubble'. On the whole there's been some very sensible and useful comments made, so thanks to all who offered contributions - I will certainly be taking some of the viewpoints on board to inform our discussions.

Yep - one of things to consider is we sometimes do joint gigs with younger age-group ensembles as well, so that possibility might be more than remote for us. True, but conversely we don't *have* to popularise the work of (for example) an absolute shite either when there's other stuff out there. Yep, although I suppose we're trying to pre-empt the outrage, rather than being outraged ourselves! Well put - this is the view I would tend to incline towards personally. Enid Blyton was a horrible, horrible racist. Her books have been 'sanitised' decades ago, well before the current furore over Dahl. Well, that's sort of a wider question - this is to some extent a practical one for us, rather than an abstract philosophical one! I like this view, but then someone pointed to the Rock With You lyrics (not written by MJ) which start: "Girl, close your eyes Let that rhythm get into you Don't try to fight it There ain't nothing that you can do Relax your mind Lay back and groove with mine" To what extent do you then do a 'sense check' of lyrics to check they might not be objectionable? Or again, is that possibly over-sensitive? (I think so). This is a good viewpoint for me. This was specifically in the context of discussion of new arrangements, and whether or not we should go ahead and do an arrangement of MJ music. Not sure which track ATM. We have already performed a Jackson 5 track in the past, after the Netflix doc came out with no objections. Yep! 🤣

Well, I'm trying to separate out listening to, and actively performing the music of potentially problematic artists. I think this is right. Well, we did discuss 'Rock With You' and the lyrics, when considered in the context of the performer, could be taken in a pretty negative light. Nope, it was a sort of 'what do we all think' and then a majority vote. I confess it had entirely passed me by too, but it was literally as the Ukraine conflict was happening, so it was very much front and centre in the news, so could have been seen as being a little insensitive. It's really difficult - sometimes I'm exactly like this, but then I start thinking about it, and swing completely back the other way! For example, I like a lot of Eric Clapton's stuff, but I find his personal views abhorrent - not just his evident racism (which is worse to me given he's benefitted entirely from a form of music derived from black music) but his later conspiracist stuff too. Same sort of thing with Morrissey/The Smiths. I guess day-to-day I listen to it but mutter "tosser" under my breath every now and again. I've been considering performing 'Tears From Heaven' - I have an arrangement which is a cross between the Unplugged and Jeff Berlin's versions, and I love the song, but whilst I'm happy to listen to it, should I be performing it? Well, I'm not so much asking "is it acceptable to listen to X", rather is it acceptable to actively promote and perform that music? I think it's two separate considerations.

Isn't the difference thought that the chair factory worker, bus driver and dentist aren't well-known public figures who stand to benefit from their art? Hmm, I think certainly in MJ's case it's a little more than 'fell from their pedestal', more like sky-dived off it at a million miles an hour, and it's rather more than misgivings. I think it's 'easier' in relation to the other examples I've given - irrespective of the objective morality, the social mores of the time meant it was more accepted to prey on young girls. I think that's rather missing the point - we aren't innocents, unaware of context - which is what's driving the current debate. Thanks for the comments though!

Currently having a very interesting discussion with members of an orchestra I play in. We're lucky enough to have a very talented MD/arranger, who comes up with all manner of fantastic pieces. We were discussing Quincy Jones yesterday, and today he asked whether it is appropriate to perform arrangements of songs by Michael Jackson that QJ produced and arranged. There's been lots of discussion via Whatsapp since; the crux of it is can you and/or should you, separate the art from the artist? For example, I think MJ's solo music is amazing; the fact we're even discussing it shows the material itself is far more worthy of consideration than something by, for example, Gary Glitter. One view is that the art stands alone from its creator - by listening to, and performing, the art itself, you are not condoning or supporting the acts of its creator. Conversely, the other is that the art is irrevocably linked with the acts of its creator and their legacy, and to perform (for example) MJ's songs, it is either ignoring, or giving tacit approval to, the problematic behaviour of the artist. But once you start disappearing down the rabbit hole of dubious acts by prominent musicians there's all manner of things - Jimmy Page, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton being some examples -that might undermine their artistry. So where do you draw the line? Is there a line? Is there a difference between listening to the music and performing it? Is there a difference between covering it and doing a complete new arrangement? There's also the particular issue for us on to what extent should we take the views of the performers about the repertoire into account? For example, should one person be able to veto a tune because (for example) its lyrical content raises issues in their own life? One illustration is that we had an arrangement of 'Two Tribes' we were going to perform, but then the Ukraine conflict broke out, so we decided to shelve it for a while, but recently performed it with no objection from audience or performers (TBH it hadn't even occurred to me until someone raised it that there might be an issue!) So I'm interested in views people might have on these issues. I don't think there's a "right" or "wrong" answer (other than knee-jerk accusations of 'wokery') - what do you think?

I've seen good things about the ART Pro MPA II, which comes up fairly cheap 2nd hand: https://artproaudio.com/product/digital-mpa-ii-two-ch-mic-pre-w-a-d-conversion/ Or there's lots of standalone Focusrite channel strips etc which go pretty cheap, eg: https://reverb.com/uk/p/focusrite-voicemaster-pro-silver This TLA looks like a decent price: https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/946976733326138 I guess it depends what your definition of 'cheap' is!

Well, you're paying him. If you don't like it, tell him, and if he won't do what you want, don't use him!

Yikes, good luck!

Ah, I see! Sounds like a pain. I'd have thought without that Thomann one it might be time to bust out the soldering iron! This suggests you can switch M and F connections around, but it's in the States: http://www.networksound.com/index.php/products/pbays/xlr

Er, and that particular one you have highlighted is available: https://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_pb16_xlr_in_out.htm Is it that you don't want to use Thomann?

What's the use case? I have an ART P16 which is 16 in/16out but if you need both I/O on the front panel, that configuration wouldn't be much good to you! The rack ears can be flipped so you can have either input or output on the front panel, if that's any use? https://www.thomann.de/gb/art_p16_patchbay.htm https://uk.farnell.com/art/p16/patchbay-16-channel-xlr-balanced

Sorry, yes - that’s what I meant!

I just used a male to male Jack adapter when I used a different head while I was waiting for my combo head to come back. Worked fine.

I recently bought a double bass from BC, and it had been bought and sold on here at least once before that. The other option is try one of the shops - Bristol Violins might sell for you on a commission basis?

LOL no! By 'further investigations' I meant checking all the switches are engaged/disengaged as appropriate, checking the gain levels to make sure I'm not underdriving the distortion section etc etc. I couldn't even figure out how to get the cover off!

Well, yes - what exactly did you think I was going to do?

Hmm, it may not entirely be back. I gigged it for the first time this evening and the OD circuit didn’t seem to work. It wasn’t necessary for the gig, but I will do somE further investigations...

I really fancy (for no good reason!) having something like this in a rack behind me: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/5929558943747217

I would agree, except the one I had was really inaccurate and struggled to pick up bass notes. I’ve just got a Swiff mini tuner which I run from the tuner output of my preamp - works really well for just double checking intonation.

So I am a moron. I recently acquired a BassBone and, realising that it needs a pretty hefty 15v 400mA supply, and my current pedalboard PSU wasn't going to cut it, bought a CIOKs SOL, which had enough outputs and the options to deal with all the pedals I have. Spent ages carefully setting it up on my pedalboard, checked the jumpers, double checked them, triple checked them, and once everything looked good, I plugged it all in. To be met with a cloud of acrid smoke coming from the BassBone. Sob. Of course, I knew that it needed a 15v 400mA supply. But I hadn't clocked it needed a CENTRE POSITIVE supply, not a CENTRE NEGATIVE one. So by plugging the latter in, I managed to burn out my new pedal. Or so I thought! Once I'd cleared out the smoke from the room and triple checked I'd disconnected everything, I plugged in the correct Radial PSU and lo and behold, it still worked! Using the correct adaptor on the CIOKs also showed it was all working, so thankfully no damage done to the PSU (phew!). From my very urgent Googling straight afterwards, I gather that *some* pedal manufacturers use a sacrificial diode which stops the rest of the pedal getting knackered if you use the wrong PSU. So, even though I had a faceful of smoke, it seemed it was okay. Nevertheless, I got on to Radial to ask - they said they couldn't give me details of the innards, but to speak to Polar Audio, who are their UK distributor. Unfortunately Polar state that they don't do out of warranty repairs, and recommended two servcing companies - Surrey Amps and the dreaded (to me at least!) Real Electronics. Having had no luck in the past with RE, I did a search for amp repairs, and came across [a repairer, the details of whom I have now deleted owing to subsequent issues] I dropped [person] a line, and he said he'd take a look; his hourly rate/diagnosis fee was much less than Surrey Amps so I gave it a shot. The service was exemplary - not only was I kept informed every step of the way, [person] even sent me a video of the pedal opened up and explaining the damage and what needed to be replaced. I gave the go-ahead, and he also sent me a video afterwards showing everything working. Finally, the repair was turned around and back to me in just over a week, for less than the cost of the SA diagnostic check. He also picked up an issue with a dodgy pot and replaced that too. I can't sing his praises enough. Whilst I could have kept on trying to use it, it wouldn't have had any protection and [person] pointed out the heat had damaged a small resistor too, so who knows if that could have caused other problems in the future. So, I have been saved by my own stupidity once again. [edit - repairer details removed due to subsequent issues] (I haven't wired it all up again yet, but I will not be turning anything on until I'm absolutely sure I have the correct polarity this time!)

Went back, checked with a tester - all fine, plugged in - no problems at all despite using all the same gear. Weird. Definitely no fridges or other heavy equipment nearby either. I mean...

And when you say “damage to sticks”, what do you mean? If he’s knackering sticks on a proper kit in a way he doesn’t on an electric, it suggests to me he’s got an issue with his technique. That said, better he’s knackering sticks at £12 a pop than cymbals at £200 a pop…

Drum shops? But seriously, there’s just the same range of shops for drums as there is bass. G4M, PMT, GAK etc all do drum stuff. There’s specialists like Drummersonly, Graham Russell and Drumshop. Then there’s some great buy and sell groups on Facebook. Take your pick.