KingBollock

You're too kind! I'd forgotten about the Drum levels, another thing I'm not happy with. It wasn't until after that final mix that I found the levels mixer in the Drum program, I shall see what I can do to sort it out. I find finding a good Guitar sound difficult, I've never played along with other instruments with the Guitar before and didn't know if the sound would work or not, I like it on it's own. I'd never realized all those noises were there when playing before. I think I need to tighten up my technique. Thanks for giving it a listen.

I only have the V-Amp Pro. I've had it for a couple of years now. I bought it just to mess about with the effects but I've actually found it useful and enjoy using it, especially with the PC MIDI software. I keep it backed up and I have a stock of the CR2032 internal batteries which appears to be it's biggest downfall, though I've not had to replace it yet. In the next couple of weeks I shall be buying the Behringer 802 mixer to replace an old, knackered Realistic (Tandy) mixer. The 802 seems to do everything I want it to and it's dead cheap, gets good reviews too.

I have been bandless for about 18 years and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon. So I decided to have a go at recording. There are many problems with this idea. 1. I'm not very good with a Guitar. 2. I'm not much better on Bass. 3. I have never programmed Drums before. 4. I can't sing. 5. I don't have much in the way of equipment and my software is free stuff. 6. I have no experience at all. I'm basically using an old Boss GX-700 for Guitar and a Behringer V-Amp Pro for Bass, both going into the line-in on my on-board soundcard. I am using Hydrogen for Drums. I am using Audacity to record with. Other than picking up a small mixer soon, I have no money to to buy better equipment, so that's not an option. The good news is that I'm only doing it for fun, so I won't be terribly disappointed when I fail to sound professional. But I would at least like to try to make it sound listenable. I have had a go at one track. I chose The White Stripes' Blue Orchid, mainly because it has a very simple Drum pattern and this was my very first time with a Drum program of any kind. It also has no proper Guitar solo, something I've never been able to get the hang of, I play Guitar like a Bass player. This is the track I have recorded: [url="http://soundcloud.com/user5139486/kingbollock-blue-orchid-5a"]http://soundcloud.co...-blue-orchid-5a[/url] (It's called 5a because everytime I save after I change something I give it a new name so I don't lose the previous version) [i]I am fully aware that it sounds awful and it has taken a lot of guts for me to put that link up here[/i]. I have been sitting on it for nearly a week not knowing what to do. I am aware of the timing issues, there is an issue with differing amounts of lag from the Guitar and Bass, the other timing issues are just me being lazy and not re-recording stuff, but that's something I know I can sort out. The problem that's bugging me the most is the unwanted sounds on the Guitar, the string sliding and extra stuff, I can't seem to get rid of it and I am at a loss as to how I can record Guitar without those sounds. I suppose just not making those sounds would be the answer, I have a feeling that the sound I'm using for the Guitar isn't helping though. Another problem that is really worrying me is when the Drums kick in properly, there feels like there's a wobble or dip in the volume, I can feel it but I can't see it, so I don't know what I'm actually hearing, what's that all about? I was really, really unhappy with the way I played the Guitar solo bits, as simple as they are, so I re-recorded them with a Phaser effect to hide the sloppiness. I quite like how that bit ended up though. I also know about the extra Bass bit near the end that shouldn't be there, but I liked it so I left it, even if it did sound a bit woolly. I don't have monitors so I have only heard it through my PC which has an ancient 2.1 speaker system. So, some advice on my questions and opinions/advice on the rest of the track. Be honest, I can handle constructive criticism, but also don't be nasty, I don't have much confidence and I don't want what little I have knocked out of me.

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1331849136' post='1580016'] Envy... [/quote] Apparently it was being used at an illegal rave, when the Police raided it some quick thinking people grabbed as much equipment as they could and buggered off with it. One day a bloke from up the road, who'd heard that I played Bass, turned up at my parent's door offering it, and a 50m long speaker cable, to me for £20.

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1331597579' post='1575758'] Surprising as it may seem today,big old valve amps were highly unfasionable in the late 70's and many a bargain was to be had.Selmer Zodiac 100w head,with push button eq presets,Traynor (Canadian,I believe)100w head both passed through my hands for small money.70's cabs were sh*te though.I still have a wardrobe sized Marshall 1 x 18 which required a Cortina estate to fit around it,which handled all of 100 watts. [/quote] I had a massive 2x18" Vox cab that ran to 100w. I kind of wish I still had it because it looked cool. Though I'm glad I never had to try to transport it in a small car, especially with all the metal work and huge wheels bolted onto the outside of it.

I don't normally join in with this kind of thread but there are some bands that I really can't seem to get enough of and feel the need to share. Within Temptation (Sharon Den Adel has an amazing voice, infact, for me, no other voice on earth beats it. It does nice things to my insides and gladdens my heart.) Sabaton (If you actually listen to what the songs are about they're really touching) The Vision Bleak (Like being transferred into your very own Horror. I didn't think they could top Carpathia but their latest album is incredible.) I've been into these bands for years but I keep coming back to them and there will be weeks where I barely listen to anything else. They just do it for me, despite how cheesy some might see them as.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1331593403' post='1575675'] You're just jealous that I can still bend that far... [/quote] 'Tis true!

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1331590086' post='1575602'] I'm pretty sure I can remember RSC having full page adverts in Everyday Electronics or Practical Electronics magazine and that really is stretching my memory back to the point [b]where something is going to go snap...[/b] [/quote] The elastic in your trouser waist?

Laney Klipp 100w Though technically a Guitar amp they were popular with Bassists in the 70's, though I didn't get mine until 1988. It was my first proper amp.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1330466153' post='1558056'] Take a look at Audacity. ([url="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/"]http://audacity.sourceforge.net/[/url]) I've been using it as a rough musical notepad for a couple of years now - - it's free and you can get a half reasonable result just running it on a PC and going in through the soundcard sockets. It won't stop you sounding like Bjork with a sore throat though... [/quote] Thanks. I've been having a stab at it but I rather suspect you need a bit of confidence to get started, else it's too easy to walk away when the first things that come out of it are rubbish. Confidence I don't really have. The worst part though was finding out that I can't get a good recording sound out of my Cort. It sounds lovely through my proper amp and speakers, but through my interface (which, I suppose, I'm going to have to admit is a Behringer V-Amp Pro) and straight through the PC it just doesn't, no matter what I do to it. Oddly, my Westfield, with flatwounds on it and stock pick-ups, sounds lovely recorded, which is nice. Handy too because I have that tuned half a step down, same as my main Guitar. But I'm starting to see how to make Audacity do what I want it to, so I just need to stick at it.

I've been playing Bass now, without a band, for 18 years. I loved playing in bands, and did so for about 6 years, but things got all topsy-turvy and I lost contact with everyone I knew in the music scene. I would love to find someone to play with, even if it was just a bloke who could play guitar, sing and program a drum machine, though a proper band would be ace. Unfortunately there are so many things stacked against it ever happening, some of them my fault, some that are my fault but can't be helped, and things that aren't my fault. Where I live I don't personally know one single person that plays any instrument. I wouldn't really care what I played either, I just want to play. I don't care if it never left the rehearsal room/garage or whatever, maybe just concentrate on home recording, the important thing for me is to enjoy it. And I don't need to play with amazing musicians, merely competent would be good enough, as long as they're having fun too. But I will keep plugging away on my own and not getting anywhere, I get far too much out of it to give it up. But I have enough gear to be able to drop straight into a band situation, just in-case. What I would dearly love to do is something along the lines of The Vision Bleak. But I would happily play Country, Blues, 60/70's type Psychedelic Hippy stuff, almost any kind of hard rock/metal. I just wish I could figure out how to record at home without spending a fortune. I play Guitar a bit but I can't get my head around drum machines and I really, really can't sing.

The reason I play Bass is because my Dad fancied managing a band consisting of my brothers and me. He told me one day, when I was 12, that I was getting a Drumkit for Christmas. I was gutted because I desperately wanted a Tamiya Lunchbox Radio Controlled Monster Truck (I still do...). Anyway, I was a huge Iron Maiden and Motorhead fan, so Bass was quite a prominent instrument in the music I listened to. Also, I knew some Drummers, Guitarists and Singers and not a single Bass player, so I figured that if I played Bass I'd always be able to find a band to play in. And I sure wasn't going to do what [i]he[/i] wanted! So, when I suggested Bass to him he was pleasantly surprised, one reason being that I don't think he'd even considered the Bass when he was dolling out positions to my brothers and me. He lost interest when he realized that my brother and I weren't going to play anything that wasn't metal and our two other brothers wouldn't play metal. In the end I'm the only one that still plays. My metal brother had real promise and could have been brilliant, he was a natural, but mental illness and Heroin rather got in the way. Such a shame.

I think the zeros are OK, it's just that the 3 is at the wrong end.

[quote name='jnoinkeis' timestamp='1329834379' post='1548119'] "My Dad wants to be our manager" [/quote] When I was a 16 I was in a band that seemed to have either less members or different members every week, I never knew who I was going to see when turning up for rehearsals. One week I turned up and the only other person that turned up was a drummer I'd never met before. After standing around for a while not knowing what to say and having a stab at a few tunes (because there were no mobile phones back then so I had to wait until my Mum came to pick me up at the usual time) this drummer's Dad turned up and declared himself the band's manager and that from now on we shall rehearse in his garage. He had this whole, huge, future planned out for us. I never saw either of them again.

I have to say I love LEDs, but then I love all sparkly lights, it's a bit of an obsession. However, if you don't like 'em then don't get them. I don't care if he's offering to clad your whole Bass in pure Platinum, if you don't like it then say no. Unless you think you could then sell the neck and get a replacement and make a decent profit, without peeing him off...

The only one I can think of is Seek & Destroy by Metallica. I had played it in at least 3 different bands before I actually ever heard the original (like many of the songs I played back then, I still haven't heard some of them and don't even know what some of them were called), but by then I already hated it.

[quote name='BRANCINI' timestamp='1328384694' post='1526348'] Have to agree, I dont live there, Just not far away. they seem to hate anyone with a Birmingham accent as well which dont help much. Nuneaton aint much better though, but at least there were a few good venues there... [/quote] I was very, very glad to get away from Nuneaton, it turned into an absolute hell hole and a scumpit. Had to go 160 miles away to feel free of the place. Lived there for 26 years and I will never, ever, go back, not even to visit, there is nothing in that place that I want anything to do with ever again. Yeah, so, I can't say I like it much...

[quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1328366243' post='1526056'] Ah well, you see, I was born in ~Coventry - that makes all the difference!! Which band was it? I'm intrigued - most of the local ones I knew were knobs to say the least!! PM me!! [/quote] I have no idea what they were called. I don't think they were together for very long, and this was 18 years ago. I lived in Coventry for a couple of weeks. In a stairwell by a building by the Showcase Cinema, while I was homeless.

In June, last year, I went looking for a 4x10 Bass cab. We visited every music shop we could find in South Wales, without actually going as far as Cardiff. In all of the shops we went to we found a total of 2 Bass cabs, 1 little MarkBass and one secondhand Orange 4x10 that they wanted £600 for, which was more than I had to spend. I knew if was going to be too much but he wouldn't tell me how much, just kept going on about how good it was, finally, after about 30 minutes, he disappeared and came back about 10 minutes later with the price. The place with the MarkBass was totally different, I could barely get a word out of the bloke behind the counter, he really, desperately didn't want to look up from his newspaper. They had a Bass in there that I liked but I couldn't get the bloke to even look at me. This was on a Friday. I thought about it overnight, I really did like the look of that Bass, so I decided to give it another go and we went back on the Saturday. What a difference! There was more staff and they were really enthusiastic. So I bought the Bass and even got a discount that I didn't ask for. Also: When I was a kid I worked in a Guitar/Drum shop with a fantastic reputation locally. But somethings bugged me. For most of the time I was there, every week a young girl would come in and ask if we'd got the Tambourine in that we siad we'd order for her. There was bloke too who had ordered some kind of oil filled Snare Drum skin, every two weeks he would come in and ask and everytime the boss would say "No, sorry, it's not come in yet.". He'd never ordered it, that or the Tambourine. It was a tiny little shop but it was always full of people, staff and their mates, smoking like chimneys, so much so that we used to clean the "White" Guitars with lighter fluid to help stop them turning yellow.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1328196142' post='1523455'] You as well?!? Is there anyone here that doesn't live in the Tamworth area? Probably the reason I've not noticed music shops over in Tamworth is that I don't stay long enough to wander about, I just go to specific places. [/quote] I used to live in Nuneaton, which isn't far from Tamworth. I have to say, though, that I avoided the place like the plague. I hate the place and I've never met a polite person while there, ever. And there was a band from Tamworth that wanted to poach me from another band. At some point, while they were at my place, begging and pleading and then getting nasty, the singer stole my old Shure Microphone, because he didn't have one of his own!

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1327445151' post='1511499'] +1 for D'Addario Chromes - feel like flatwounds, sound like round wounds. Great, great strings [/quote] Indeed! I decided to try these earlier last year, the first flats I'd ever tried. They're brilliant. As and when I get around to changing the strings on my other Basses they will all get these strings. They've been a total revelation.

Are there any hugely popular Guitar/Bass designs that haven't been copied? It's bound to happen. I didn't get the impression that he was massively annoyed about it and just seemed to take advantage of the situation to poke some fun at the people copying his designs. I think, by the end, he looked a little angry just because of the slimy way the sales person conducted himself. And, for that, I don't blame him. That's the feeling I got from watching that clip anyway. Though, I am assuming that he didn't go to that show purely to expose them.

I have a Bass on which the side dots are difficult to see, I actually need to get around to sorting them out. Occasionally, when jumping around on the fretboard a lot I get a bit lost, even though the front markers are perfectly apparent, I just don't use them. If I were to order a custom build or were to build my own, I would have something fancy around the 12th fret, for aesthetic reasons, but not bother with any others. But the side dots would be LEDs.

I love my Banjo! I currently have a cheapo Fender 5 string, it was only £200 new. Changed the bridge and replaced the 5th string peg and it plays lovely. I tune, rather unimaginatively, gDGBD. It's the second one I've owned but I can't even remember the make of my first one. And for fun: Talking of Dirty Banjos, mine could do with a bit of a scrub up! A pic my wife snapped about 7 years ago. I still haven't cleaned it... She made me put the hat on...

I don't "do" Charity "Business". You could do what my mate's Motorcycle Club do every year and find a good cause of your own with an achievable target, like buying some kind of machine for a local Hospital, equipment for a mental health drop in centre or a day out to a theme park for Orphans (you get the idea), and set it all up yourselves. That way you can make sure that the people that need the help actually get it.