jimmyb625

It could well be that. There's plenty of music around that leaves me ambivalent.

The Mary Wallopers are getting to be quite popular in the folk world. We met them at Moseley and their performance was very good.

First one of the year for us, at the ace Telford's Warehouse in Chester. Don't be fooled by the low ticket price, we're totally not worth it! https://www.telfordswarehousechester.com/event/finelines/

^ this The Behringer P2 and a set of KZ ZS10 pro's are a great way of getting used to IEM's without breaking the bank.

First things first, you already have a job with both bands, which is playing bass. Don't forget that and make sure the band doesn't forget it either. If you're already mixing foh from the stage, you're adding another thing to think about and be responsible for (especially when someone asks for "more me" halfway through a song). If you've got people willing to use the P2's you're onto a winner there as it simplifies things (and keeps the cost down) when compared to using wireless units. Schedule at least one "technical" rehearsal, so you can get everyone to try them and set a basic mix they all are happy with (bearing in mind they'll inevitably want "more me" when you get to a gig). It will also give you a chance to get familiar with whatever cabling is needed. If you can, it's also a good idea to mark the cables you use, colour coded if you're that way inclined, which will help to reduce your setup time and will also make it easier for the other band members to help you - "the yellow cable goes in the yellow socket" etc. I'd be a bit hesitant to use the xvives, although I know people here really like them. My reluctance comes from them being digital units and you're already using a digital desk, so latency could possibly come into play, although people perceive latency differently, so it may be fine. I've also been really spoiled with stereo units, so I'd rather keep that if possible. When it comes to setting the mix, that's all going to be down to preference, but a good starting point is to find out what people actually "need" to hear, as opposed to what they think they should hear. For example, I have very little "need" to hear the keys player most of the time, apart from the occassional intro to a song, so that's always very low in my mix. Our (acoustic) drummer still uses a monitor and probably won't change, so given he has my bass in the feed, I don't bother putting it in anyone else's IEM mix, except my own. Choice of IEM is going to be a personal one and possibly one of the hardest to make. We're all using the ZS10's now (the singer/guitarist had a set of Shure 215's which were starting to fail) but I'm not yet sure what a logical upgrade would be, or even if's going to be worth it.

Count me in! There's nothing I need, or particularly want, which means I'll no doubt be out by March...

For the first time in a long time, I gave it a miss. Sounds like it wasn't the worst idea I've ever had.

Sorry to hear this. Lack of charge in batteries is a cardinal sin in my eyes. Hopefully your bass issues will be easily resolved.

I like them, I've used them without the sub when we've not put the drums through them and they worked well. A friend of mine us a DJ and he managed to fry the TS315, but that's because he's a DJ... If used at sensible levels, I think they're a good choice for the money.

How about doing the old tried and tested method of just not telling them about future gigs? Worked for Pink Floyd...

The rule we have is "not in front of the public". Anything goes in rehearsals, but if it's in front of a crowd, we don't say anything (unless there's a mistake of epic proportions when you have to stop the song during the intro - usually the keys player in the wrong key).

You'll be exhausted after playing all of those gigs at the same time... 🤣

Yes, that's right. Songs 1 & 3 are selected from the trinity book (3 is for technical focus) Song 2 can be free choice. For the free choice one, if it's not from the book, you need to bring a copy for the examiner, as per the below:

It's not just about being able to play them, you have to play them as they're transcribed in the exam pieces. So if you're not in the same key, or if you decide to add/remove parts, then you'll have points subtracted.

Trinity piano exams give UCAS points as well.

https://www.trinityrock.com/instruments/bass/grade7

If I ever take a spare to a gig, it's always in the bag backstage (or on the side of the stage).

I had a pair of Alto TS312's, with a TS515s subwoofer. This combination worked well for us as a six/seven piece, with everyone going through it. I've subsequently gained access to a pair of RCF945's which we use with the Alto sub (or if the drummer is just using a cajon and not full kit, we'll not bother with the sub). When we do this, the TS312's get used as monitors for keys and drums. At some point in the future, I'll probably see if I can get hold of an 18" RCF sub, but I'm not in a particular rush. I think the rig we have will cover us for any eventuality now where we're supplying the PA. If anything bigger comes along, we'd be looking at hiring (if it's our show) or using the venue's own system. I've used the Wharfedale Titan 12's with a guest band, who brought them for extra monitors and they seemed ok. I've also experienced people supplying The Box stage monitors, which performed well in the application they were used for. As Phil says above, the skill of the operator has a far greater impact on the quality of the sound, than the boxes you're using.

I have one of these, which we use for comedy events at the theatre. It works pretty well for us. https://www.gravitystands.com/en/products/microphone-stands/12182/ms-231-hb

Last gig of the year for Fine Lines, playing at our local little Theatre, which also doubles as our rehearsal room and tracking studio. We decided to include "Fairytale of New York" which was only suggested after the last rehearsal, so we had to learn our parts individually. We're an originals band, not a covers one, so we didn't have it in our pocket already. It became quickly evident during soundcheck that some people probably hadn't put in quite as much as they should have done and underestimated how deceptively tricky it is (at least for us!) When we came to play it in anger, as the encore, we had a couple of false starts, but managed to style it out by all blaming the keys player 🤣 Once it got going, it went pretty well and the audience seemed to like it. We added two new numbers, which will be on the next album. They both went ok, despite me having some sort of mental breakdown during the introduction to one of them. I was playing the right notes, even in the right order, but I had a moment where I thought everyone else was playing the other song. I went ampless for this one, as I had enough time to get a monitor mix I was happy, so the trio of Origin pedals, plus the Shure wireless took care of DI duty. I used wireless IEMs for this one, again because I had the time to set it up, so now we're down to just drums and keys using wedges and I'm working on the keys player. Anyway, here's a photo.

And that's the reason we all do it! 🤣

I'd second that. The g4m one isn't very good (in my opinion/experience) and the P1/2 will give you much better results for less cost. If you don't want to have 2 cables trailing from the guitar and monitor pack, you can get a combined cable (designacable, or Ernie Ball make them) which cleans things up a bit - you can put the pack on your pedalboard.

Have you tried right-angled plugs?

Check out this thread as well, there's a lot of useful suggestions:

Yep, I have the predecessor to that one. Like you say, there's no point using something unreliable, given it's a pretty critical component.