Mornats

Ok, so I've been playing around with it for a few hours now. I'll skip over any bugs or niggles as I'm sure they'll be ironed out in the next patch or two (it was released today so can't complain too much about them). I took one of my band's tracks that I had used EZDrummer 1 for the drums. I wasn't happy with the original drums, they didn't feel or sound natural to me and trying to get some variance into the beat for the chorus just made it sound out of place. Also, the way I put it together was to find the midi files in EZDrummer, drag them into my DAW and edit from there. This meant that I lost the use of EZD's velocity control as I'd taken the midi out of the software. But in EZD 1 I had no choice but to do this. I'd used the EZD Jazz kit for this - the kit I use on all of my band's songs. (Incidentally, this was because our drummer first turned up to practice with a small jazz kit so I selected it to match.) So now, with EZD2 I can do everything in the EZD window. So I took out the old midi file and tried to find some new beats for the song. I connected my Korg Nanopad and used the Tap2Find feature. After a few goes I managed to get the beat I wanted (a very very simple beat) and it found some matching midi files. Hurrah! But it only looks in the EZD midi file libraries and not my GrooveMonkee libraries. Real shame but I guess they have meta-data in their own midi files to help EZD look for it. I also swapped the drum kit my newly purchased Indie Folk kit. First major thought - the drums sounded much better. They sat in the mix really well. I could tweak the mixer EZ/reverb stuff in the EZD interface (it's very simple, much like EZMix if you've ever used that) and the changes were subtle, but there and nicely done. So now onto the cool stuff - and this is what prompted me to come on and mention all this - it's really cool IMO. I listened to the midi file that it had found. Hmm, kick and snare are too busy. So into the Edit Play Style window for that midi file and I selected the kick, turned down the number of hits (made it less busy) and did the same for the snare. Much better now. The chorus for this song is pretty much the same beat but with some crashes and a little more velocity on the kick and hi-hats (which in my original were too loud and sounded out of place). So I did the Edit Play Style thing and just turned up the velocity slightly on those bits, then told it to add in some crashes that weren't there in the midi file. These came in very nicely and smoothly. I played around with the "busyness" knob and added in an extra crash cymbal and a ride too. Ah, so much nicer! I found a nice fill too from rolling my fingers down the Nanopad with the Tap2Find feature on. So now I have a selection of midi sat in EZD. I select a few regions, label them as chorus and verse, merge a few, copy sections over put the whole track together in EZD. Nice, as I can edit any aspect now. One of my main gripes with EZD 1 was not being able to adjust the velocity of a drum part in EZD as the midi was now in my DAW. But with EZD2 it's all in there still as I can build up the entire song structure in there. There's a box to tick to tell EZD to play along with the track which works well. What I really think it could do with though is much greater integration with your tracks timeline. I selected bar 33 in EZD and hit play but it only played the solo drum track in EZD. If I wanted to play the entire song from bar 33 (which is where the chorus started and was the bit I wanted to listen to) I had to find bar 33 in my DAW and play it from there. Maybe there's an option for this but I didn't see it. Another gripe, and this was the same with EZD1 is that once I'd found a midi file and dragged it into my DAW I may want to find an alternate one later down the line. There was no way to click on the midi file and say "show me where this is in the EZD midi library". I'd have to read the filename and try and match that to the names in the midi file list. Not an easy task and meant it would take me an age to find an alternate drum beat. Mind you, with EZD2 I can simply edit the file using the Edit Play Style feature which is nice. And also (hang on whilst I check this...yep! Awesome!) I can simply drag that midi file (even the edited one like I just tried) into the midi file region of Tap2Play and the first match was the original file, followed by others in a similar feel. Ah, nice! Still not quite the "find me this exact file in the browser panel" thing that I wanted but hey, it may there and I haven't found it or I could suggest it to them as a feature request. That's all I've done with EZD2 so far but it's gonna be so much more useful when songwriting and putting together a drum track for my band. Toontrack - I salute you!

This was under £300 new - my Dean Hillsboro Single: [url="https://flic.kr/p/fnK4wg"][/url]

I thought I'd be the first one to vote but honestly, I have to listen to them all again as I can't pick one out above the others.

Busted

Ah, I love this site. I bought my Behringer DC9 off the back of their review (http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/behrDC9.shtml) - it was only £17 so why not? If that works out then the next on my list is a MarkBass Compressore, based on their review again: http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/markbass.shtml.

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1397757611' post='2427182'] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]No need for security software on ipads either. Buy an android and you'll probably have to buy that as well which will on cost you more.[/font][/color] [/quote] If you only use it iReal Pro this shouldn't be any more of a concern on Android than on an iPad. The main risk comes from the fact that there's a chance you can download an app (even from Google Play) that's dodgy. Keep away from dodgy-looking apps and you'll be fine. You can also get AVG Free for er, free for Android. As far as viruses from browsing the web are concerned, Apple are just as vulnerable as anyone else. Probably more so as many people believe them to be immune to viruses. We use Macs in our office and they all have anti-virus on them. In my experience older Apple devices tend to go really crappy with the new iOS software updates. I've got an LG G Pad 8" (KitKat version of Android) which I got for £180 from Amazon. Great bit of kit and as lovely to use as an iPad. I run iReal Pro on there and it runs really well. Although as BassBus says, a 10" screen is probably better for you and I've not used many 10" Android tablets so can't pick one out to recommend which brings us back round to a used iPad Any of you guys running old iPads have any problems with iOS 7 killing the performance of the device?

And don't forget Mike Senior's brilliant resource: http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-links.htm#freeware - top freeware plugins.

[b]Headphone[/b]-wise, I use a pair of Superlux 662B headphones which are stupidly cheap (http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_hd662_f.htm) - £24 and are hailed as giant-killers. You may notice their similarity to some AKGs... I heard that Superlux make parts for AKG. Also, I know that 51M0N on here rates the Studiospares M1000 (do correct me if I'm wrong): http://www.studiospares.com/headphones-studio/studiospares-m1000-headphones/invt/448760. For[b] midi keyboards[/b], I find that a very basic keyboard with velocity-sensitive keys is fine as a started. I'd recommend 49 keys to start as you may well want to upgrade from a 25 key one fairly soon. The M-audio Oxygen that Skol mentioned above is only £20 more than the basic Keystation one so I'd recommend that one too (http://www.pmtonline.co.uk/m-audio-oxygen-49-usb-midi-keyboard-2014.html). Plus that may negate the need for a Nanopad. Speaking of which, I just got myself a Korg [b]NanoPad[/b] 2 for £30 from PMT in-store (http://www.pmtonline.co.uk/korg-nanopad-2-usb-controller-in-white.html). I've not used it in anger yet but it seems ok so far. [b]Software[/b], GarageBand if you're on a Mac - you'll have it already and it's really easy to use. Otherwise Reaper for all round feature richness, stability and awesomeness on any platform. I think Mixcraft is often hailed as GarageBand on a PC if you want more simplicity. Then pop on over to http://www.native-instruments.com and grab their free players for some nice free synths/virtual instruments. Audio interface - I'd recommend the Focusrite Scarlett mentioned above too. It's the one I'd start with if I were starting over again. I actually started with a Guitar Rig Session from Native Instruments which was decent. The Focusrite is meant to be a bit better. Not worth upgrading too but one of the better cheap ones to start on. I've now got the Focusrite Forte which is sweeeeeet but is around £330 so may be out of the starter territory. I think I've pretty much just reiterated what Skol said above! So yeah, listen to him Only thing I'd say different is to screw my face up a little at the £100 is the least you should pay for headphones. The ones I linked are cheaper than that, and are still recommended, and if you've ever had the misfortune to try on a pair of Dr Dre or Monster hi-fi headphones costing in the hundreds of pounds you'll know that you can't go on price alone. [quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1397646961' post='2425961'] It might be more typical, if using this approach, to connect thus... Guitar > Lead > Amp > Speaker > Space > Microphone > Audio Interface > PC ...although there are as many inconveniences as there are advantages to this method. [/quote] Not least trying to EQ/compress/cut out your neighbour's banging when you're recording your all valve bass amp in your bedroom.

I've got loads of these I got the Indie Folk one in the sale. It's got a really nice feel to it. I've heard good things about the Nashville pack but I have far too many already so had to stop somewhere!

I need to buy some tools and get to work on my other Tanglewater

Oops, mine are both 2011, candy apple red and trans black over flame maple.

My two Tanglewaters. [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulnattress/12225757124/][/url] [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulnattress/12225757124/]IMG_2602[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/paulnattress/]Paul Nattress[/url], on Flickr [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulnattress/12225294925/][/url] [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulnattress/12225294925/]IMG_2596[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/paulnattress/]Paul Nattress[/url], on Flickr

Nice groove Matt, hoping this series can give me a little inspiration each day!

Fantastic day and I learnt loads! One question though, what was that riff that Jim played that I said would be in my head all day?

It was brilliant. I was expecting just a normal setup workshop and was a bit daunted by the thought of doing a complete fret dress but Ben and Howard explained it really well and talked me through it all. My Overwater Classic (Tanglewood-made one) was badly in need of some fret work and bow it plays bloody brilliantly! I think I'll be buying some tools from him soon as I have loads of confidence in doing my own fret dressing now (and this coming from the guy who paled at the thought of taking the neck off his bass).

See you all at 10 tomorrow!

EZDrummer 2 is coming out in May (can't remember when in May). I was watching this video earlier and it does look good. Almost 40 mins but worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AArgiZAC3IM I use EZDrummer on all the recordings in the Soundcloud links in my sig. The recorded versions of my band's songs (Beautiful Skin) are EZDrummer, even though we have a drummer. So, that Tap 2 Find feature looks amazing! If I remember roughly what our drummer plays live, I can tap out the rough performance and have it look up a relevant midi file (probably restricted to the EZX midi files rather than the GrooveMonkee ones that I've got a lot of - dunno, I guess time will tell). Anyway, loads of groovy new stuff in there. Shut up and take my money!!

10am would be grand. Count me in.

It'll take me just under two hours to drive there so not *too* early is 10am ok?

Bet you can't wait!

Where's Ben's workshop located? I'd be travelling down from Bristol so would need some lead time to get there early...

I had The Goats album. That was some good stuff. I saw the Beastie Boys play in Manchester years ago too. They were really good.

How goes the build?

I bow down to all those who can craft good mixes. I try, I learn and I never get anywhere near as good. All good fun though and I get better with each mix I do.

Saturday 5th April is still good for me.