Huge Hands

I still maintain that whilst watching a VHS copy of the Magical Mystery tour movie when I was about fourteen, it was Paul's opening bass in the "I am Am The Walrus" bit that finally made me decide to switch from drums to bass. Although it was fairly simple stuff, it was so groovy and he just looked so much cooler than Ringo or a drummer could ever be (in my mind) at that point. I figured I'd pull so many more girls playing bass, but 24 years later, I'm still failing miserably on that one...

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1425053121' post='2703468'] I think you might be jumping to conclusions. The singers left and the first two bands folded. We've all been in similar situations. Sometimes band dynamics just don't work. Putting the blame on one person is a bit of a red herring. Anyway the last singer left for personal reasons. Allegedly. [/quote] I wasn't, I was just saying that the OP should have realised that some would think of these conclusions based on his first post and the fact that he got upset at the jokey response. I was just suggesting that he should consider it a possibility, rather than dismissing it out of hand because he didn't want that kind of response. [quote name='phil.c60' timestamp='1425070639' post='2703734'] Sorry, Solo, but here's my 2p: The folks that post on this forum clearly do so because they enjoy it, as well as because they think they [u]may[/u] have something valuable (or not, value is always subjective) to offer. Enjoyment is often linked with humour (it is with the people I [s]inflict myself on[/s] mix with), the humour is rarely meant to be offensive (but it can be sharp: always my favourite kind especially when I'm the subject. If you can't take it....). I don't think the original post that got you all lathered up was meant to be anything but a bit of teasing, and we usually tease hardest the people we know well or think may be like minded. If he was wrong about the second I'm sure he's sorry for not appreciating how sensitive you are. But, to pinch a bit of your shorthand ffs lighten up. Take the joke. Please. Who knows, if you had responded to it with a bit of humour of your own perhaps something more valuable (whoops, there's that word again) might have been forthcoming. Just saying. I appreciate, by the way, that my opinion is probably worthless. And a bit humourless, on this occasion. [/quote] This ^^ is what I was trying to get at. Well said.

Hi Steve, I wasn't trying to be humorous, I was being straight. My comments were - if you're putting something up on the web, you're bound to get some daft, irrelevant, and annoying answers. If you're going to jump and get upset at them because they're pointing out something you might not want to hear, then how do you expect to get on in a band full of differing personalities and opinions? Maybe you are rosier than roses and never upset someone, but maybe you do have a part to play too. Did you ever sit down and try and help or encourage the singers? I just agreed with RolandRock who said something which was fair comment (especially as said in humour) on your OP and you got all stroppy about it - and now with me. If you want my full opinion - what you're moaning about is a fact of life with many bands - especially those who don't have guaranteed paid gigs waiting. It has often happened to me. In some cases, it had nothing to do with me, in other cases, I had to step back and think "I could have handled that better". It's just like dating! I was in my dream band for a couple of years but the singer had to leave due to other projects and work - and then others took this as a cue to leave too. Not my fault at all, but I could see why they chose to do it. Since then, the remnants of the band have sputtered and stalled in creating something new. It sucks, but we'll get there eventually, and compromises often have to be made. I'm now playing in a band where I don't fully enjoy the genre of music, but I'm doing it to keep playing and get gigs. In my experience, whingeing that "it's not my fault" doesn't get you anywhere. Actually getting up off your a**e and organising it (i.e. don't give up when singer no 1 left your own band just because she wasn't right) is probably the only way you can get what you want, and you can probably also play the over--sensitive lack of humour man as much as you want because it's your band. Anyway, before you start - Yes, I probably don't understand your situation. I probably don't. I'm sure you'll get there like we all hope to.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1425040465' post='2703272'] The winking smiley was supposed to denote that it was a joke. Obviously I don't know you at all, but it's worth at least thinking about the fact that you are the common factor in all of these failed bands. It was supposed to be hyperbole, and I wouldn't dare actually speculate about you being an insufferable ballache, or lacking a sense of humour or whatever. Best of luck. [/quote] To be honest, I had the exact same thought about the OP being the common denominator when I read his first post. The fact that he has gotten upset about what was obviously a joke post (#2) leads me to think that there may be some truth in this after all....

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1424527170' post='2697330'] Surprised someone doesn't take it off his hands and convert it to a 5 string Bass (for those with huge hands). [/quote] Did someone mention my name? I'm not going anywhere near that lump of firewood.....

Aaah yes, I've been there many times. Using an unknown rig in an unknown venue is not fun, but again - if you do make it sound decent, then you're the hero of the hour. I learned you have to have a pretty thick skin to do it - there will always be an armchair hi-fi enthusiast standing near your desk who will tell you it sounds s**t - even if you think it's your best ever mix. My rule of thumb was always "sound engineers only get noticed if they're s**t" - it is rare to get plaudits in the live game!

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1424268910' post='2694546'] All I know is, from my very limited experience of live sound, I would not want that job!! I can mix recorded music all day long, but live sound is somehow beyond me. [/quote] I loved the challenge of unmuting and then having to get it right quickly. It was even better when you had the luxury of doing front of house (FOH) mixing with a separate monitor engineer. Mixing something like 8 separate monitor mixes from the same desk and channels as FOH is not so fun, but you do feel like you've conquered the world when it works for you! Sitting in a studio listening to the same track over and over again used to bore me to tears and probably explains why I don't have a home recording setup. Each to their own of course!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1424263279' post='2694477'] Surely the vocals are the most acoustic instrument on the stage and also normally the quietest but also the most important from an audience PoV. Therefore it makes total sense to get them sounding good and mix the rest of the band around that. [/quote] I'm not disagreeing with other methods if that's what works for people. Personally, I liked to get the band setup and mixed, often to a subgroup so you can turn the band mix up or down if you have the luxury of a big rig. You can then do the vocals and bring the already mixed band back up with them. I found the last thing a vocalist would want to do is wear out their voice for ages in a soundcheck while you're trying to balance everything to them afterwards, so would always do them last as this was the least time consuming method for a vocalist. Maybe I'm just used to working with prima donna singers I would also add, as I spent a lot of time being an in-house engineer in a large venue, I used to prefer it when bands didn't soundcheck at all as I knew my rig and room so well I could usually set them up very close to what they asked for during a line check before the gig. I'm sure many musos will be disgusted by the thought of not soundchecking, but the difference between an empty reverberant room and one filled with 1500+ bodies is often massively different anyway - and great for the lazy bugger I was - I didn't have to write loads of settings down for each band in the pre-digital desk days!

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1424187210' post='2693611'] I've often wondered (as a non-sound engineer) why this doesn't happen more often - after all, how many people go to a show thinking "Oh, I'm really looking forward to the bass drum sound tonight?" I'm sure most sound engineers will come up with plausible arguments for doing it their way but great to hear somebody is bucking the trend and getting it right. [/quote] Probably because like any trade or skill, you learn from watching others and this is how it is usually done. As drums are often the most acoustic instrument on stage, it does make sense to get them under control first and then add things to them, but as with any artistic endeavour, I don't believe that there should be any rules on this, and if you (as in the engineer) want to start by checking the organists pedal board, then do it and stand by your sound. Also, in my experience, once guitarists and bassists, keyboards etc have plugged in and start to sound check, they want to start widdling around and won't shut up when you want to get to the drums. However, they will often sit together as a group offstage waiting for the drummer to do his thing if he's first. Cheddatom is totally correct though, there is no reason why kick drum and bass can't live together, and loudly. My issue I was talking about was these huge rigs where the thump of the kick was whacking you in the chest and making you nauseous, and it was detracting from the rest of the sound.

As a former sound engineer (and drummer) myself, I think it often stems from the fact that the norm is for engineers to start with the drums during sound check and then balance from there. If they've spent 3 hours getting the bass drum right they may have run out of time to concentrate on the rest :-). All silliness aside though, I was always a "bassy" mixer due to my preference and love of bass, funk and soul. I was doing it in the early noughties and did notice a trend of younger engineers coming through who were all pulling the bass back and then just mainly having sickeningly loud thudding kick drums in the bottom end of the mix. You also have to remember that in a lot of venues, the spot at which the engineer is mixing (typically the back of the room) may be different to a spot where you're standing. He (chauvanistically assuming it is a him) might be hearing resonance which is causing him to pull the bass out, which is making it obvious where you are if you're not getting the resonance? That sort of stuff is more relevant if he's a visiting engineer and doesn't know the venue. Just my ten penneth of course - he could be just a poor engineer!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1423789687' post='2689182'] ...and a magazine called The Mix, as well as some issues of Home & Studio Recording. [/quote] I used to subscribe to H&SR. It was then turned into The Mix, which was a lot thicker, IIRC was supposed to be more DJ friendly and also came with a disc each month with samples and sounds on it. I have a feeling the price shot up to compensate for all this too. I remember the first few issues I got, it felt like they were trying to go all "Loaded" or "Nuts" in their writing style, and the CDs felt like they'd been cobbled together in 5 minutes. Not something you'd expect from a mag trying to review the best in recording and sound. Suffice to say I cancelled my subscription after a few issues. I have a feeling I wasn't the only one. Harrumph.

Aaah - ok - hadn't seen one of those before. The guy demoing the cello (or is it an omnibass?) with the cream top on - it looks a bit close to the body for me and I think his arm doesn't look as though it would be that comfortable. However, the shot of the guy playing the gig it looks better -perhaps he's playing a bigger double bass sized instrument?

Hi Owen, do you mean the boomerang strap thingy? I bought one, but I have to confess I've only ever tried it - I've not gigged with it. In my trial, it did manage to balance it in an upright position. I liked the idea of it but I felt that I wouldn't want to spend a gig with it over my shoulder - when I can just screw it to the stand and walk off when I want. Sometimes though, when I get a bit excited, I do want to swing it around a bit and the stand is quite limiting in that way. I probably should have gone for the end pin kit instead I reckon.... Are you anywhere near the South East? You'd be welcome to try mine....

I posted that on my FB a while ago and got about 1 "like". Even my mates don't believe it.....

From the title, I thought this was going to be a thread about fabled fantastic blokes who "know how to treat a woman", putting all of us mysogynistic old farts to shame.....

Isn't it something the slap players do/did? I seem to remember that Russell Jackson who used to play with B.B. King in the late 70's early 80's had a J pickup there for his slapping?

I just bought the Roland TD11KV kit in January, for me to keep up my old chops and for Mini-Hands to learn on in a house whose neighbours wouldn't appreciate the whole live kit banging away. I have to say it is fantastic so far. I think I might try and mod the fixed hi-hat with separate pedal for a real stand at some point, but it's only a minor niggle in the grand scheme of things. I managed to get some free extra kit patches from Roland and I think one of them is so good I would be tempted to play it live... if I ever did drum gigs any more!

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1422440402' post='2672558'] The Retro Two10 is designed to be predominantly used horizontally - that's why it has a crossover inside to give it good dispersion that way around. We've put feet on the side so customers can use it vertically if that helps in a difficult acoustic situation (it can help in boomy/muddy rooms) but it's not how the cab is designed to look best or sound best. [/quote] Duly noted Alex, but I have to say that when only using one cab stood on the floor, it feels a bit too low down to sit horizontally (have to bend down to adjust my head!), so it feels like the natural thing to do to put it on its side. I was using it again last night in this way and was absolutely loving it - sounds really good across the range. If you're saying it's even better horizontally, then all the better I say - will try this next time!

Erm... to be honest, the badge doesn't bother me, I just mentioned it because I know it had been a bone of contention for a lot of others on another thread. If you've ever met me and seen the clothes I wear, you will know that appearances are not the highest priority on my list! Just as an update, I used the "mini rig" again last night - one cab on its side running from one channel of the LG1000. I am loving the sound of this speaker so far. I'm getting the mellow tone I love, but it sounds so much more controlled and not as resonant as my old cabs when you really push the low end, without it sounding like it's being limited or has run out of steam. There is still plenty more oomph when you need it. Happy customer so far. I know that privately Alex has told me he's very excited by these designs and is keen to see them out there and being enjoyed - all good here!

Bigwan, glad to hear you've finally got yours. I still can't believe you weren't prioritised, but I can't help but be selfishly be glad I didn't have to wait any longer myself . I will PM you the email Alex sent me regarding the delay explanation.

Alex's explanation of the static badges: [i]"When we started on the Retro10 cabs we put quite a lot of time into trying to do a square or round logo for horizonal or vertical stacking but never managed anything we were totally happy with. One that physically rotates would be a rattly nightmare on cabs this powerful - it's hard enough damping a steel grill!"[/i]

I have just had an interesting email from Alex who has obviously seen this thread. He has taken the time to follow up and explain why there were some delays experienced, and why the badges don't spin. I think in terms of balance, it is only fair that I post that he says that the delays had been caused by a combination of difficult circumstances in 2014, and that he feels that they should soon be through the backlog and building stock to make the wait for delivery much better in 2015 for any prospective buyers.

Hi Martin, yep - any time for an A/B - just let me know! Would be good to get some other opinions on them too! I'm glad I went with the 4 ohm as they're suited to my LG1000 - might have to look into whether there are any other 2 channel amps in case it ever goes down! I couldn't justify having 3 cabs - whether that be due to cash or the gigs I do!

I've just started a separate review thread of mine - sorry to split it up - was trying not to hijack yours!

P.P.S. Anyone want to buy an Ashdown MAG 210 combo or 115T cab?