BigRedX

Looking forward to seeing the photos.

That drop down panel is there because you are supposed to check, and if necessary adjust all those settings in conjunction with a calibration tape every time you use the machine. The equivalent section in an Otari 2" 24-track machine is housed in a huge cabinet about the size of a washing machine. The Terrortone Theremin is a Moog Etherwave from the days when the Moog theremins weren't allowed to sport the Moog logo in the UK - so a relatively recent one. Unfortunately on stage with Mr Venom it has had a hard life and is currently held together with glue, extra screws and a good helping of gaffer tape. The power supply input socket has recently failed, so I'm currently looking at more robust alternatives...

[quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1427455891' post='2730556'] About a year to two years ago you could still get a tascam msr 24 for about 600 700, It does seem tape is making a come back, as more and more people want a hybrid studio, just spotted this on ebay and yep their on the way up, [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tascam-MSR-24-track-24-channel-reel-to-reel-analogue-recorder-/141611889932?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20f8b9f50c#ht_274wt_975"]http://www.ebay.co.u...0c#ht_274wt_975[/url] [/quote] Blimey! That's a lot of money for a Tascam... The problem with machines of that level is that unlike a Studer they weren't really built to last. Fine for a decent home recording set up, but in a commercial studio, I can't see it staring up to the rigours of daily intensive use for very long. I wonder how easy it will be to repair or get spares even now? Also 1" tape - not a lot of tape width for each track.

[quote name='itsmedunc' timestamp='1427445350' post='2730370'] Check out the chicken bass!!!! I'm going to use it for my avatar!!! [/quote] It's a tenor guitar. Once you've read his website/blog the design ethos of his instruments becomes much more understandable. The one person I know who actually owns a Shonky guitar is very impressed with it.

There used to be (still is?) a venue in an old church in Derby where you played from what was essentially an enlarged version of the pulpit...

I've always used Interparcel's on-line chat on the occasions when I've had a problem with one of their non-UPS delivery services. Worked fine for me and has the benefit of being completely free.

Did you use double quotes like HJ posted? Didn't work for me either until I did.

You need to have the quotes around the phrase for it to work. Off the top of my head I recognised about 20 although I might not be able to put an exact user name to all of them.

I've been using UPS booked through Interparcel and over the course of the last 3 years I've yet to have a complaint about the service I've got from them. I've used them to send things all over the world. Every time I've gone with someone else for the sake of saving a few £s there have been problems. The thing to remember with couriers is that they are only as good as the weakest link in their delivery chain. So far none of the parts of the UPS chain that I've used have caused me or the person I'm sending the parcel to any problems. As an example you've found Citylink to be good, for me on the two occasions when I received parcels from them the service here in Nottingham was very poor.

For me sound checking is about making sure that everything that should be coming out of the PA is and with roughly the right balance in volume, and getting an acceptable on-stage sound.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1427324824' post='2729050'] I'd guess everyone, sitting around of an evening noodling in front of the TV. I'd get told off if I stood up... J. [/quote] I don't think I've ever sat in front of the TV noodling. In the days when I still owned a TV if I was watching it, I was watching it and not doing anything else. If I wasn't watching it, the TV was either off or I was in another room doing something more constructive like practicing the bass or guitar standing up. ;-)

Every single multi-track recording made will have had processing applied to to the tracks somewhere between the microphone and the final mixed product. It makes no difference whether the processing happens in the digital or analogue domain, whether it's been meticulously assembled from multiple takes in a DAW or live mix of several tracks on the mixing desk. It is still processing. If you want your recordings to be "pure" you need to be looking at all acoustic performances captured direct with a single stereo pair of microphones where everything is down to the placement of the instruments and the microphones within the recording location.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1427287658' post='2728266'] I've no actual experience of one- I just assumed that a glass wall would reflect the sound very effectively and make for a harsh sound. Perhaps it doesn't matter if the rest of the room has plenty of absorbent stuff. [/quote] Remember that one of the most critical listening environments is the recording studio control room which is frequently dominated by a huge window looking out onto the live room.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1427274623' post='2728043'] If you go that route, you need to be a very precise player. I had a Lightwave Sabre and it was truly lush, but there's nowhere to hide your mistakes! [/quote] I really liked the sound of my Saber and would still have one if I could find a 5-string version that was as nice in looks as my 4 string. For me the trick was not to turn up the piezo too much and play like you would on an upright bass.

Lightwave fretless with flats.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1427213886' post='2727318'] I'm on several FB groups. You have an admin who can delete stuff and PM people but the big difference is there are a lot of meet ups and everyone uses their real name. Here there are many people I'm unlikely to ever meet and if I did I would meet them under their real name, not an alias. Do away with forum aliases and make avatar a photo I your face and a lot of the animosity (if there is that much) would disappear overnight. [/quote] If you think that Facebook members are all using their really names and the photos are of themselves then I'm afraid you sadly mistaken. There is nothing stopping anyone starting a Facebook account using any name and and image they choose. If Basschat decided that your user name had to be your real name and your avatar had to be your photo how could they tell that the information you has supplied was real? Besides in a community where a great number of the members are easily identifiable through the bands they perform in, having a silly user name and avatar doesn't afford much anonymity.

If you just need barcodes for your existing physical CDs then there are plenty of places on line that will sell you a one-off barcode number for under £10 per code. Make sure that you get the right code for where you want to sell. If you are only selling in the UK and Europe an EAN13 code will be what you need. However if you plan to sell in the USA you will need a UPC12 code as many places won't recognise the 13 digit EAN code. Luckily you can make the UPC12 code into an EAN13 one simply by adding a "0" at the front of the code. The really expensive and time consuming bit will be getting the barcode onto stickers and then applying then to every CD. IME you need to get them professionally printed as poor quality barcodes that don't scan are one of the quickest ways of getting your product excluded from stores. If you are planning to make the albums available for download through iTunes etc. then do this first and get your barcode through the aggregator that you use. This will save you paying twice for the code, because most aggregators will insist on selling you a barcode for downloads whether you already have one for the physical version or not. Hope that helps.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1427123588' post='2726029'] I imagine that a mirrored wall also sounds terrible. [/quote] TBH I don't remember the room I used with the mirror wall sounding much different to any other reasonable practice room.

In theory you could make up any code that will validate and use that. In practice though you may inadvertently pick the same code that is being used by another product which could cause problems. However, if you are also going to sell downloads via an aggregator service like CD Baby they will generate a code number for you as part of the service of getting your album on iTunes and Amazon and create barcodes that you can use on your physical product, so there is no need to buy a separate code.

[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1427195000' post='2726898'] You can do everything on a 5 that you can do on a 4, so you don't need the 4's. [/quote] If your 5s cover the same ground sonically then you don't need the 4 stringers unless the band(s) you are in specifically require them for the image.

What do you NEED? Whatever you use for your current musical project(s), and if that involves playing live an identical spare for each one.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1427157736' post='2726662'] Try playing that sitting down! Jon. [/quote] Who apart from Robert Fripp plays sitting down?

What's the problem?

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1427126367' post='2726085'] BRX in "my ultimate Fender" shock!!! [/quote] But that's the whole point! It's not a Fender. It's something that fixes all the things that are wrong for me on the original.

If you know there's more to playing a gig than just playing the music, then IMO it's really important to practice every so often in way that replicates the gig set up is closely as possible. I still see a lot of bands at gigs who mentally haven't left the rehearsal room, with the instrumentalists huddled around the drummer for comfort while the singer struggles to project beyond the end of the microphone. On the other hand I'm not entirely convinced by the value to practicing in a room with a mirror wall. While it's fine for working out if your stage moves really are as cool as you thought, I've found that being able to see your hands in the mirror gives you a false sense of confidence when it comes to being able to play while looking at the audience.