BigRedX

I use about 40, but that's one patch per song for all the songs for 2 different bands. Including Snapshot variations I have about 100 sounds that I have programmed myself. I also suspect (although I haven't tried it yet) that if you require the same patch in different set lists you will have to duplicate it each set list where it is needed.

Snapshots are more versatile (provided that they aren't so complex that you run out of DSP power) in that they allow you to switch on and off multiple blocks simultaneously while altering the values of up to 64 parameters within those blocks. So for instance I have a song patch where I have two basic sounds on two snapshots - one with a flanger and one without, but as well as turning the flanger block on and off the different snapshots also alter the compression, drive, EQ, and overall level settings to optimise each sound with the overall mix.

The Helix Floor manual is a bit coy on the subject but AFAICS there are 8 Setlists each containing 128 Patches. That's a total of 1024 Patches.

One thing to consider is that if you need to switch seamlessly between sounds mid-song then you really need to use snapshots rather than patches. You can't add or delete and blocks in a snapshot, only turn them on and off, or change the parameters. Therefore you need to make sure that your chosen Helix supports enough blocks within a patch for all the sound variations you need in a single song. Several of my patches use more than 9 blocks (the Helix Floor supports 2x16 Blocks) in order to get all the sound variations required in a single song - although these are on the songs where I play Bass VI and have variations on both the "bass" sounds and the "guitar" sounds. My Helix is organised so that each song has its own patch and all the sound variations within each song are handled by snapshots. I have patches arranged across the top set of foot switches and snapshots across the bottom set (which are easier to reach mid-song) and the up/down switches set to step through the patches.

Can't be getting a decent recording on that cassette without the meters being stuck in the red most of the time 😉

What MIDI interface are you using?

Probably these: Although having said that the fretless 4-string is currently for sale so may not be mine for much longer.

The problem that you are having is that all these file transfer/sharing sites and systems are designed first and foremost for devices where you can actually download the file(s) onto the devices local storage. Phone and Tablets tend not to do this as their storage is design mostly for the OS and and the apps that they run. Your data for these apps is usually stored "in the cloud" and to access it you connect to the relevant cloud server and stream the dat as you need it. Nothing is downloaded so if you need the data again you have to stream it again. Fine if you always have a connection, the data allowance and the bandwidth to do it, but generally not as convenient as having a locally stored version. From my experience of using both WeTransfer and DropBox on the iPad you are always accessing a remote version of the file(s) and when you close the apps you also lose the connection to the data. For one-time access this isn't a problem, but if you need to access a file at lots of different time it tends not to be as convenient. As I said in my previous post, phone and tablets are great for browsing data, but not so good for actually storing it locally, which is sometimes what is best.

Again are you sure? From what I can see from the various live videos of the Simple Minds playing the song the repeating D is a sequenced synth part. The bass guitar plays something else that appears to follow the guitar part.

It's only a piano piece in that the cues for the start and the end of each of the three movements are the closing and opening the piano keyboard lid. The ensemble "playing" it can be a as big or small as the conductor wants.

Are you sure? Every note is stopped and it's a relatively fast tempo. I can't get beyond the end of the first verse before my left hand seizes up.

When I got my Helix Floor, the only other option was the newly released LT. I knew at the time that if I went for the lesser-spec'd option there would come a point when I would regret it as I'd be missing a feature that was only available from the top of the range model. As it is the scribble strips have proved invaluable especially for easily identifying snapshots, as have the multitude of additional inputs and outputs which allow me to set up my rig(s) with no compromises. One feature I have found very useful, and which I don't know if it exists on the other Helix versions, is that the selected snapshot is memorised when you save. This allows me to always have the main sound for a song on snapshot 1, but if I use a different sound for the intro (saved onto one of the other snapshot positions) it will be selected automatically when I select the patch for the song.

Yes. I've have the Helix Floor and any of the 6 inputs (guitar in, line in and the 4 FX returns) can be used as individual inputs if the routing is set up correctly in the patch. I use it to allow bass (via the guitar in) and stereo synth (via FX return 1+2 mixed to mono) to be both routed simultaneously to the left output that feeds a DI to the PA and my FRFR cab for on-stage monitoring.

Very nice. Except the join between the painted body and the wood neck that just looks weird.

I went for the Helix Floor. The LT had just come out when I was looking to get mine, but I decided that the extras on the full version were worth it and if I get the LT at some point sooner rather than later I'd need one of the missing features. And the "scribble-strips" are an essential part of my set up and I also use the additional inputs for running synths as well as bass in one of my bands. I use my Helix direct into a powered FRFR cab, but on the whole I don't use any of the amp or cab sims, preferring instead just to have a decent EQ in the signal path, when I do it is either a clean guitar amp for my Bass VI or one that is picked specifically for its overdrive sound and used as an effect. I decided not to go for the rack and separate pedal, because firstly getting a Helix was part of my down-sizing and I don't have an amp or cabs to sit the rack unit on. Secondly having struggled with finding a gig-proof Cat5 cable to connect my BassPod and Floorboard together in my previous rig I was very reluctant to have any home/office grade components in my new set up. Besides I mostly play on proper stages so I don't have to worry about audience inflicted damage. If I was playing cover in pubs, then I might reconsider, but I'd probably also be using a conventional bass rig so I'd have somewhere to stand the rack version. Finally the Helix Floor has a proper internal PSU and connects to the mains using a standard IEC main lead rather than a nasty wall-wart PSU.

Because back then there was nothing especially important about any of these instruments. If you had something that played well but you didn't like the way it sounded or looked then it got modified until it did sound and look the way you wanted it to.

This whole thread highlights the fact that tablets and phones are still not fully functional computing devices when it come to doing anything that isn't Social Media, simple web browsing and email. IME WeTransfer is a fantastic service - I use it multiple times a day for my work from my desktop computer - but the app is a nasty kludge that don't appear to work properly. The first time I used it it took 3 attempts to persuade the WeTransfer email link to open in the app, and then later in the day when I needed to access the files again it simply wouldn't let me, sending me in a never-ending loop between the web page that didn't work on the tablet and a link to download the app that I already had. The same with DropBox. Works fine on my desktop computer - I use it for sharing files with my clients who prefer it over WeTransfer - but terribly convoluted on the iPad and only seems to work some of the time, and doesn't appear to have all the functionality of the desktop version when it comes to managing the files on DropBox. Don't get me wrong, the phone and tablet are great devices in some respects, but they are mostly for passively consuming media rather than actively interacting with it. I've put off making this post until I was able to do it on my desktop computer which has a decent sized screen and a proper keyboard, rather than struggling to type it on my iPad.

IME it is very hit or miss whether the link will require you to sign in to Google or not.

Two gigs on Saturday with In Isolation. First opening day two of In The Black Midwinter festival in Sheffield. Playing at 2.00 in the afternoon wasn't that great as there were only about 20 people in the audience and most of them were either staff or from the next 2 or 3 bands on the bill. However it served as an excellent warm up to the evening gig at the Lending Room in Leeds supporting Rome Burns on their album launch. Played a blinder - even the unexpected Christmas Cover went down well. A great end to our mini tour and 2019. Big things happening next year which I am not allowed to mention yet...

And inaccessible to anyone without a Google account.

I'd love to switch (along with the rest of my band) to IEM, but IME if you are not running your own PA you simply don't know what the monitoring facilities will be like at every venue. While most will be digital with multiple sends you can't guarantee it. With digital desks, I've seen bands we've shared the bill with interface their IEM with varying degrees of success. However not every venue is so well equipped. We've just done some dates with B-Movie and the one support we couldn't do in Leeds, the PA was reportedly controlled from a 16 channel analogue desk with one monitor send. I have no idea what we would have done if we'd turned up there with no backline and IEM...

I don't know what kinds of gigs your band plays, but remember that computer plugs and cables are not even remotely as robust as your typical jack or XLR lead.

If you want it to look boutique get a 5-year old to draw you something and then burn it on with a soldering iron. Ideally everything in the signal path should be shielded to avoid interference pickup.

If that's your pedal board and the DI is being placed at the end of it, unless every single pedal is true bypass it won't make a scrap of difference to the DI whether the bass is active or passive.

Fair enough, but to me the setup sounded intriguing enough for me to at least want to meet the other members. I've used JMB once. I was very specific about what I was looking for both musically and in terms of organisation and ambitions, and the one band who answered my ad were as a consequence exactly what I was looking for. I'm still with them now.