Skol303

Well done Rob! 👍

I'm at work at the moment (no headphones and anything other than Radio 5 Live generally shunned), but will check this out over the weekend.

14 hours ago, Mornats said:

I think I'm partly responsible for the bagpipes ban. Not that I ever used them, I think I just mentioned in passing that I *may* use them.

The threat was sufficient to warrant pre-emptive measures.

And to be clear: my Irish kin are also guilty of flaunting the occasional bagpipe. Disgusting behaviour.

As other have said, you won't need a practice amp - your monitors and/or headphones will fulfil that role once you connect your bass to your computer via an audio interface DI.

That's not to say practice amps aren't useful - I use mine for the purpose of re-amping - but they're not essential for home recording.

20 hours ago, MoJo said:

What would you guys do in this situation?

Pay the money and buy it, as you are obliged to do under the terms of the sale. And chalk up the experience as a lesson learned in self-control.

If you don't want the bass, sell it on for a small profit. Someone else will buy it.

Don't be that guy who reneges on a deal 😒

10 hours ago, WinterMute said:

Whilst the Pebbles are great the Rocks are even better, I've been spec'ing Unity Audio monitors for years, they are very good.

I have a pair of Rocks myself (MkII). Exceptionally clear and precise speakers.

Had a minor fault with one of them (loose PCB that was vibrating), but they had it fixed and returned very quickly. Kevin and the team there are good guys; pleasure to deal with and genuinely passionate about what they do.

Probably my favourite Glastonbury moment... I'm not familiar with the artist (or the song), but good on him for letting this young lad on stage - and for enabling what happened next. Pure gold.

July's challenge is now on!

It's July already! Time for another Composition Challenge...

Here’s the image for your inspiration, chosen by last month's winner, Dad3353:

Rules:

✅ Check you have permission to use any samples

✅ Keep it under 5 minutes and write it during the month of the challenge

❌ No excessive swearing

❌ No bagpipes

The deadline for entries is midnight on Wednesday 24th July.

2 hours ago, YouMa said:

Sick of hearing rappers whinge constantly. Just like I'm sick of hearing "young people" whinge. If you don't like it here sod off to somewhere else and whinge there otherwise deal with it.

Haha, yeah. By contrast, "old people" never whinge. Nope. Not known for it in the slightest. Never happens.

"Hi Roger! How's your mood today? Oh..."

“Hey Steven! What's that? You’d like to say something about meat-eating and contemporary politics? Oh. Oh dear..."

"Well, perhaps if you don't like it here you could both sod off to somewhere else and whinge there. Otherwise deal with it. Okay?" 

...yeah I really don't think young people have a monopoly on moaning in the music industry 😉

On 29/06/2019 at 08:54, I Denby said:

Budget not really an issue.

Great suggestions already above (Genelec, Adam, etc).

If budget really isn't an issue, then you might to check out these by UK-based company Unity Audio. Fantastic small speakers, but quite expensive (that being relative, of course):

https://www.studiocare.com/unity-audio-the-pebble-2-way-active-monitor-pair.html

3 hours ago, project_c said:

I think there’s an element of ‘showing our age’ in threads like this - we are essentially a bunch of middle aged men talking about a genre of music which is created by 23 year olds to appeal to people between 12-25. It’s kids music, it’s not really meant for us.

^ This.

2 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

If you mean by showing my age in that I can tell the difference between quality music and talentless drivel, then yes, I guess I am showing my age. It’s a fad. It won’t stand the test of time.

Grime is essentially a UK spin on hip hop, which has itself been around since the mid-'70s and now outsells rock music. So respectfully, I'd say it's a little naive to say it "won't stand the test of time".

People said precisely the same about house music, drum'n'bass, dubstep, UK garage... all of those genres are now pretty much geriatric in terms of their lifespan, but they're still very much pulling kids into clubs.

1 hour ago, project_c said:

Here’s a good current grime tune, check this...

Like that. Lovely subs. Nice humour in the lyrics (and video) too 👍

Ditto my own appreciation of grime.

I love 80/90s hip hop, jungle, drum’n’bass... and I’ve tried my best to like grime, I really have. But it does nothing for me. Just dull.

But that undoubtedly a good thing. I’m a middle-aged dude (45 years) and I’d be sorely disappointed in the youth of today if their music wasn’t incomprehensible to the likes of me; just as “my” music was to the generation above me, back in my day.

So all is as it should be. The balance of the universe in harmony 🙂

13 hours ago, fingers211 said:

 

Cheers muchly much Skol..it won't happen again. Honest,sir !

And thanks Dad for the 'let him in' campaign.

Done 👍

We have a late contender: fingers211

Just caught up with this! Currently on mobile, but will add Fingers’ track to the voting thread tomorrow, no problem 👍

4 hours ago, leschirons said:

Having checked out stuff as much as I'm able with no knowledge or experience, it's come down to two options.

Reaper. Cheap, sufficient for my needs and apparently, fairly easy to make a start.

Cubase. Lot more expensive, seemingly more complicated but the one big advantage is that a friend with a semi commercial studio has offered to get me started with some free one to one tuition.

Considering the above, I'd personally opt for Cubase and the offer of your friend in getting started with it.

Having a mate on-hand to walk you through the first (and steepest) slopes of the learning curve will be invaluable.

Voting has now started on this month's Composition Challenge.

Pick your favourite...

Dad3353

Leonard Smalls

upside downer

fingers211

Voting ends at midnight on Tuesday 2nd July.

2 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

No voting thread yet? At the moment I'm in line for a top 3 place!

Sorry lads, been traveling! Setting up the voting thread now... will allow extra days to compensate for tardiness.

EDIT: VOTING THREAD NOW UP

On 20/06/2019 at 18:15, Stub Mandrel said:

If you are happy to live with rolls of loft insulation in your living room, I think you should contact Channel 4 as they may want to make a documentary about you...

Yeah I generally wouldn’t recommend kitting out your living room with acoustic treatment (rolls of loft insulation or otherwise) unless you live alone, or are in a hurry to do so 😉

On 17/06/2019 at 10:05, Pea Turgh said:

A really cheap option for bass traps is to stack unopened rolls of loft insulation in the corners of your room. 

Yep! Haven't tried this myself, but I've seen it recommended elsewhere.

Often with the addendum that you can in fact use this method to test the effectiveness of treatment in your room - i.e. buy some insulation rolls; leave them unwrapped; place them in your room and test/measure the results; and then return the insulation to the shop for a refund if you're not satisfied.

NB: I'd only recommend using wrapped insulation rolls for corner bass traps. High frequencies would reflect off the roll surface, so be cautious about using them elsewhere as it could potentially cause problems with comb filtering.

*Holds breath*
*Opens thread*
*Notices that Si is already here*

“And… RELAX!” 😁

June's Composition Challenge is now underway!

Here’s the image for your inspiration, chosen by last month's winner, fingers211… 

Rules:

✅ Avoid excessive swearing

✅ Make sure you have permission to use any samples 

✅ Keep it under 5 minutes and write it during the month of the challenge

❌ Still none of that funny business

The deadline for entries is midnight on Sunday 23rd June.

Well done Fingers! 👍

Send me your choice of image by PM and we’ll get this month’s challenge started...

On 28/05/2019 at 13:07, Daz39 said:

Ok - shamelessly jumping in here; but given that I think it's an eq-y sort of thing: how do Tone Controls work?

A "tone control" is just another name for an EQ.

For example, on an active bass guitar:

• The high tone knob is typically a shelving EQ: as you turn dial, it causes the sound to be boosted or cut starting at a specific frequency.
• The low tone knob is also typically a shelving EQ, causing the sound to be boosted/cut starting at a specific low frequency..
• The mid control knob is a parametric EQ: it causes the sound to boost/cut using a "bell curve shape", which is centred on a specific frequency.

More advanced EQ/tone controls allow you to also adjust the frequency at which the EQ starts to have an effect.

Here's the frequency plot of a typical Fender 3-band bass EQ, which hopefully helps to illustrate:

Red curve is the "High" tone control; blue is the "low" tone control; green is the "mids" control.