sammybee

Unfortunately for this musical "gem" you'll have to shut your eyes and imagine an "appropriate" visualisation as the video has been replaced. I can safely say this trumps everything that has been posted so far on this thread.

Quote of the day "Being in tune is so overrated" - Mark D Phillips

Nice and clean playing, thanks for sharing!

35 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Thanks, my problem is the opposite, when confronted by a huge database of of snares and high hats I will be forever changing my mind. What I loved about the Roland TD30K was that pretty early on I found a pre-installed kit that just worked and stuck with it. I'm something of a luddite with tech   

I dont think you are alone there. I've hoarded of 15gb of drum samples over the years. Tend to use the same tried and trusted handful of sample sets that I like. One of the main reasons I like dedicated hardware/instruments for writing music is the lack of distraction. I've tried working ITB with Cubase and Logic & just get frustrated with the number of options.

10 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Anyway, re the MPC One, do you know if it comes with decent samples or whether I have to go looking for them from word go? 

I'm pretty sure it comes with a huge selection of samples standalone. Apparently it also integrates with https://splice.com/ if that's not enough. I don't think shortage of available samples will be an issue for you

5 hours ago, Beedster said:

Thanks sammybee

I'd like to use the same machine for practicing, jamming and rehearsing as I will use for recording, in short I don't want a collection of rhythm boxes! The main thing for me is that I can get a decent drum sound that will pass for real drums to the non expert listener, in my case I want a small jazz kit type feel for most sessions and recordings, although the option for other kits is always going to be useful. I'm not too fussed about the interface because even those that are described as intuitive tend to have unknown unknowns, so I'm prepared for the learning curve. i assume it's a case of uploading samples as opposed to sampling samples (as we used to do back in the 80's)? 

I get what you mean about robotic, when we used to rehearse with a drum machine it was chaos when a real drummer came in for that very reason, the whole band had become too tight if you get my drift, so some 'looseness' is good. One thing I do like about the Roland and similar interfaces is the 16-beat step input, because I'm going to be using the machine with my daughters and it's a lovely way of them learning and the rhythmic structure of music; I've no doubt that within days they will be far better at programming whatever I choose than I am

The MPC One would definitely fit your needs, and is available at a reasonable price. I'd normally recommend one of the older MPCs if you were just using it as a Drum Machine, but COVID and lockdowns have priced these old classic machines out of most people's pockets. The MPC is also a fairly well featured sampler/synth/sequencer all in the same box, so you do get a lot for your money. It's worth looking beyond the hip-hop tag that these machines have, they really are the big beasts of the drum machine world. I have a fetish for collecting drum machines (TR808, TR606, TR707, Jomox XBase09, Roland R8x2, R5, Boss DR550(&mk2), Korg DDD1/DDD5, Korg Electribe, Ensoniq ASR-X Pro, Behringer RD-6 & RD-8, countless plug ins & software & more hardware that I've probably forgotten) have all passed through my hands over the past few years. The one constant since 2004 I've always kept is an Akai MPC close by my side

5 hours ago, Beedster said:

Keep hearing Akai MPC mentioned on other forms, any thoughts here? 

Long time MPC (MPC 2000, 2000xl, 3000, 2500, 1000, Studio) user here. I've had a quick look through this thread, and I see people have recommended (probably without owning or using the TR6/8/8s). I would give those ones a wide berth, as it is primarily (read only) house/techno box (which I dont think is what you seek). The MPC is much more suitable for your use case. It does lack the x0x style of programming that the Roland's have, but is very intuitive with the real time input via the fantastic feeling pads. The 'one' you probably want is the MPC One - £550-600 street price. Works well as a standalone (read simple) and also able to integrate well into a computer based setup. Because it is sample based,  it can adapt to any genre. Also worth noting, the Roland's x0x style input usually leads to a very robotic sounding drum as you are basically bound to the strict 16 step grid, the MPC more flexible as you can have the quantise on/off as you desire.

I had a subscription to this Output Arcade. Basically if you cancel, you can use the VST (fully functioning) as a playback only device, you cannot record any more stuff with it (until you resubscribe). I was impressed using it for the first 5 minutes, but then quickly got very bored of it. I'm sure it's delightful for 1 key EDM and other similar genres - but it wasn't for me.

9 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Enjoyed that a lot @sammybee - thanks for sharing.

Just seen that the prices of the RD-8 are back up to the £270+ mark, so you picked yours up for an absolute steal at Bax Music! 

Thanks, yes I did get it for a 'song'. Even at £270 it's a bargain though. I don't know if you're aware, but Behringer released new firmware for it a few weeks back so they have even more features as a Brucie Bonus. They fixed the unstable midi sync with it too

Yes in a way. Whilst for a lot of people, covid and lockdown's have meant less to do - my work has been busier than ever & Mrs' B's business has been through the roof - so there hasn't been a whole lot of time for music making shenanigans. I did take some time off work in August and wrote/recorded one old skool house track with it. Trouble is, I don't think the RD-8 or any of my synthy type toys fit with my bass/guitar playing, so I end up making acid/old skool house with them. Synth gas is always with me though, & I picked up the Behringer RD-6 (TR-606 clone) & the TD-3 (TB-303 clone). The current crop of Behringer stuff is amazing fun, great sounding & as cheap as chips... but would I want it to accompany my bass/guitar - nah!!!! Linking in the soundcloud link to the track featuring the RD-8 (and others) 

I'd offer an opinion, based on me selling a 'lot' on eBay. The seller is well within the time limits to file a item not as described case.... and based on what you have said above, is likely to 'win' that case. Outcome will be - case found against you.. [1] she can return the item AT YOUR COST to you for a full refund (note she may damage it/have damaged it, and you will have no comeback). [2] she keeps the sax, and you will have to give her a full refund (this is likely to happen if you do not co-operate with the process). As BassTractor says - do respond, and try and placate her - offer her half the money. If you 'fight' this, you are 99.9% likely to lose.

52 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I would go for the opposite. The 2012 is the last mac mini you can upgrade the disk on. If all you want is a decent machine to make music on, you can stick an SSD in that and it will absolutely fly. That is what I have, it runs really well with garage band and logic.

Not true, I did the SSD upgrade on my 2014. Was a piece of p*** with youTube tutorial.

32 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

although not would you'd call prolific, I've had very little trouble on ebay, mostly just a bit of hassle, only once did I feel I'd been cheated out of money, that was when I offered a part refund because the buyer said  goods were not as described, and that was to save the bother of paying return postage, find out the buyer had done the damage and then having to resell, should have known he had very low feedback, lesson learned

High feedback buyers do this too, we have more than our fair share of people trying this one on. I've learned to always insist on a return & full refund rather than mess about with partial refunds. 9/10 if they have caused the damage, they won't bother sending them back. Feedback only really tells you how many transactions somebody has bothered to click the button on. On our ebay sales, probably less than 5% of buyers will leave feedback & I've given up leaving it for them. eBay these days is very safe for buyers, but is becoming more and more risky for sellers. On the plus side, buyers on eBay tend to pay a higher price for their goods

If you are sure the Mac path is for you, i'd give anything older than 2015 a wide swerve. With each new release of MacOS another generation of Macs become obsolete - the next in line are the 2012 line (that will be in September 2020). They are cheap for a reason!! With the 2018 & above models you can upgrade the memory yourself (see youtube for instructions) up to 64gb & you can hook up an external SSD to expand storage. Whatever you do, if you plan to run an OS higher than Sierra - get an SSD, otherwise you will be in for a 20 min wait everytime you boot!

Personally I've got a 2014 Mac Mini with 16gb and a 1tb SSD. It does the job, but it will be soon time for an upgrade.

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

I think It kinda defeats the object of feedback really, someone might be a bad seller and you wouldn’t know because they’ve only got good feedback, 

These day's eBay have far more sophisticated ways of promoting good sellers and hiding the bad ones. In fact it is pretty hard to be a bad seller on eBay, natural selection filters them out. Mostly

32 minutes ago, BillyHunt said:

I had the option and so I left it but it's now been removed. It was there for a couple of hours.

It is very difficult to leave negative feedback on eBay these days for sellers, as prolific sellers we have people very occasionally leave us neutral/negative feedback. eBay themselves automatically remove it, you don't even have to request them do it for you nowadays.

9 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Stop!

Before you download any free plug-ins or buy any of the commercial versions, make sure that you have explored all the ones that come bundled with your DAW.

The most important ones generally are EQ and compression, so make sure you know how to get the very best out of the ones you already have, and then you'll be able to work out if they are sufficient, or if you need something with a more user-friendly interface or more sonic capabilities.

Then move on to Reverb and delay. After that it very much depends on what you want to do and what comes bundled with your DAW.

Personally I've stopped using 3rd party plug-ins, because these is already too much choice in my DAW (Logic) and TBH if I can't get a decent sound it's far more likely to my short-comings as an engineer and not the fault of the plug-ins.

This 100%. Learn to use what you have before you look for more 'stuff'

I'm on two basses (Stingray and a Jazz) and two guitars (strat and acoustic). If I'm honest, I could survive quite nicely with just the strat and the stingray. I've been there in the past with massive (expensive) collections of synths and recording equipment, which I didn't miss one bit when I sold it. Gear/GAS is just a distraction and prevents you from enjoying and playing music. But we all have to go through it. 

Latest delivery arrived from BaxMusic this evening, was a couple of days overdue, but all things considered excellent service and really cheap prices.

My favourite (because he plays a lot of 70's/80's soul/boogie/disco) is a guy called BelgaBass. A man of few words, but his playing is on point. Often playing very tasty pieces of vintage gear too.

All DAW's do a similar thing, I don't think one is more difficult to learn than another when you start your journey. The problem is when you switch from one DAW to another & have to relearn everything you've learned previously (keyboard shortcuts/menu options) etc. I'd go with a cut down version of a proper commercial package (Cubase/Ableton/Studio One) that comes free with one of the many audio interfaces on the market -> then upgrade to the full version as/if you grow into it.

9 hours ago, pineweasel said:

Aren’t they basically budget Stingrays? In which case you could contact the EBMM distributor Strings and Things. I’ve bought spares for my Stingray from them before. 

^ this. I wouldn't mess about trying to source a 'nearly' there replacement. Just call Strings and Things and they will get the OEM part from EBMM in the USA. When I needed a part for my 'ray they bent over backwards to help me, really first class service.

Another one was a mint condition Moog Prodigy for £50 from a local second hand shop in about 1988. I didn't bond with it at the time because it didn't have MIDI (like my more contemporary synths). Fell on hard times when I lost my job and sold it to a 'friend' about 6 months later for £30.

Couple more drum machine deals I had off eBay in the mid 00's (it was a golden time for bargains back then)..

Akai MPC 3000 - £480

Akai MPC 2000 - £90 (with a dodgy output jack - £2 fix)

Roland TR-707 £52

regret selling them on for obscene profits!

I cant recommend any wireless, because I would always recommend wired headphones. Anything using bluetooth might be good enough for general listening, but probably have too much latency for recording. Which probably rules out 99.9% of the 2020 wireless headphone market