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I had a post on Facebook this morning advertising Dire Straits Brothers in Arms 1/2 speed vinyl remaster. So, what it basically means is that the vinyl lathe is run at 16rpm instead of 33rpm. The slower cutting time apparanttly means it can cut a deeper & more precise groove on the record, giving a more superior sound quality. Now when this is going straight from the master tape to the record, I get the theory. ButI believe Brothers in Arms was recorded digitally, so isn't the CD in theory going to be as good a sound as it's ever gonna have. Is half Speed remastering, or even mastering worth it, or is it another one of the world of HiFi's snake oils?

I hear some slap after the "attempted beatboxing" breakdown, but not sure that there's any in the section from 1:18 onwards. If so, then it's not very good slap, even for metal.

Well after having used the Kali for a bit, I can say they sound superb. Why they're as cheap as they are, I do not know. But thank you to everyone who pointed them out. I've not been disappointed. At first I was a little disappointed in the lows, but then I moved back from them a touch & found it all. It's just about sitting in the right spot. Just now they're about 7' apart & I'm sat about 7' away from each of them. I'm doing a spot of mixing (mostly adding a vocal track & getting it to sit nicely), but they're also great for just playing instruments through. Bluetooth would have been a nice option so I could play the TV through them, but I got an optical to RCA box & that does exactly what I need it to. TV sounds fantastic through them too.

Sounds like someone doing a cover, very badly & put it to some Primus footage. Now this on the other hand is a ton of fun to play (though there’s no slap)....

🖤

Nah, a “Beat the devil out of it” emoji. 👹

Hopefully not too long before you can get playing as a band again. The best way to improve is just what you’re doing. Playing things that are currently hard for you soon get easier (though as much as I try, I’m always a few bpm slower on “Hit Me” than what it should be). Playing with other musicians is going to improve your playing too, it has for me. Higher Ground is a great song for learning to slap. It’s a simple groove that you can learn finger style, then play with your thumb & index fingers as if they were picks. Before a few months have past, you’ll hopefully see a good improvement.

Sorry if you took offence, it was not my intention & no, I didn’t take your comments personally. I wasn’t trying to be judgemental, just pointing out that if your band are going to choose songs that have a style that you’re not comfortable playing, then why would they ask you to play them in front of paying customers. It’s not really fair on you. You’re right. I have no idea how much practice you get or how good a bassist you are. But my point there is “if” you now have what was band time to now practice on your own and your band have already suggested songs with a bit of slap in them, why not use that found time to learn those parts? If you don’t have the time, then fair enough, it was merely a suggestion. I’ve not seen By The Way being played live, so you could be right. Off to watch it on YouTube. 😎 The problem with text is there’s no tonal context. Read my comments in a Bob Ross voice.

None of this makes logical sense. It’s like your covers band playing a song that your singer can’t sing, or your guitarist can’t play. Or even like you playing a different instrument that you’re rubbish on. Implying having to have such a low action for slap would cause fret rattle and buzz, especially with a pick isn’t true. If your action is so low that you’re getting those, then it’s gonna sound crap when you slap (like my rhyming). The ideal action is one where you can play as fast as your fingers will allow & get no rattles or buzz. I found a very high action can make it harder for me to play fast (though I suppose it depends on your playing style). Being in a covers band & having this time off from it for the past year, you should have spent the time to learn new techniques & become a better bassist (I’m not saying your not already a great bassist, but the more you learn, the better you become). I can play with pick & fingers equally as good, I can play slap, but I struggle with ghost notes & I really struggle with the double thumbing technique, but I keep going back & give it a go. I think it’s more my hand position than anything else. By the way, By The Way is played with fingers, not slapped. 😂

I thought she was named after 2 pints (Dual IPA).

Same here 😏 Though the best looker has left & the oompaloompa is looking dafter.

I genuinely don’t get why someone would hate slap. It’s like saying you hate drums with toms or you hate the violin played without a bow, or even just like saying “I hate the sound of a picked bass“. It’s all about the musical context. Bass is part of the rhythm section & playing a good slap part that fits nicely with the drums is a thing of beauty. Yes, there’s many YouTube videos that sound like someone playing bedsprings with chopsticks, but there’s a lot of great stuff out there too. All I can say is stop being a musical snob & open your mind.

In all seriousness, I do like a bit of slap when it’s well done, it can sound very impressive. I used to not be a fan of slapping, but that was when I couldn’t slap. I’m still not very good at it, but I do appreciate the skill to make it sound good. Slap is more a rhythmic style than melodic, but there’s many examples of good melodic slapping.

The Mrs is partial to a bit of slap. Sorry, wrong thread.

Here's a question... Do any of you play/rehearse/jam online with any other musicans from your church? I've thought about it, but I don't know how many of the others have the capability (especially drummers & singers).

Thanks Dad. Hopefully once I get vocals on it, it’ll come together better. The guitarist has the track without guitar & I asked him to feel free & either expand on my ideas, or come up with some of his own (he’s good at coming up with good hooks). Anyway, Oi! What d’you mean “punished” you with!!!! This month’s entry from me has a tasty female vocal on it. I was told on soundcloud that it’s not deep house, but jazz! So you should like it. 😂

I'm working on a song that I'd like to properly finish. I've got a guitarist who's going to redo the lekky guitar parts & I'm gonna redo the acoustic & bass, but I'd like to get feedback from the BC folk on the overall sound. How can I improve the mix? I've grouped things together to busses (drums to one, Piano & strings to another, etc) & spent a little time trying to EQ & pan to get things sitting in place, but I feel it could still be better. Should I take the master bus effects off, bounce it & then properly master it (ir should I master it as it is)? I'm in the process of writing lyrics & hope to have a good singer for it. Anyway, here's the track...

Haha. I forgot how crap that amp was. Just burn it.

This is probably why most worship music is very basic in the musician parts. So you can get given a chord chart at the last moment & all you’re doing is following them to a tempo (& probably why most of them don’t drop out when the MD says “breakdown”, lol). Pre lockdown, most of the band would turn up at about 10 to set up & run over songs. Service started at 11:15, so by the time soundcheck was done, there’d be no time for any rehearsal. The recordings for online are totally unrehearsed & mixed by armitage shanks.

Our church is kinda stuck between the two. It’s got a large pool of players & singers, but only a few are good. The rest don’t seem to improve at all, which is a shame. There’s a couple of decent singers (which are reluctant to go for singing lessons for some strange reason) & a load of shower singers, one being a WL (she can sing in tune, but her vocal tone is not good). For me, playing in church is testing. With the “here’s the setlist” 3-4 days before, no band rehearsal & last minute key changes, if it wasn’t for the glory of God, I’d be out.

I went from GarageBand to Logic a good few years ago. It's a lot of kit for the money. Look at it as a fully unlocked and expanded version of GarageBand. Everything has so much to it, but they've managed to keep it very user friendly, so if you just want to write & not spend ages going through things like programming synths & setting up effects, then the presets are ready to use & only need a minor tweak to suit your taste. I used to have Reason, but that was when it was 2.5. It was very much just for electronic stuff back then, though I know it's come a long way since then. It's hard to choose a bad DAW these days. It's down to what's going to suit the style of stuff you want to do (though you can really do any style on any DAW).

OK, I'm in for this month. Saw the pic & figured it had to be something mechanical. Created a bass sound on Equator2 & another on Serum. Got some vocal samples off Splice that I felt fitted the image & put them together to form some sort of track. The drums are a mix of heavily processed samples & then I needed to make a wee break. Surge synth provides the organ sound. So the quad biker is the lady singing the song. She jumps from the top of the hill & feels on top of the world. Hears a clink & feels like a drop-in. It's very much deep house & the bass doesn't work on small speakers or phones, so all you'll hear is the drums on there. I might go back to it & add/alter if I get time.

Yup. A friend let me hear them a few years ago (along with Aparat & Moderat). They’re fantastic.

Been listening to a lot of them & Aparat.

Just going over the songs again for tomorrow evening's recording. The bridge in Awake My Soul by Hillsong really goes a Steve Harris galloping bassline. Don't know why they didn't do that instead of the crochets (Maybe that's as fast as the bassist can play? He's their good bassist... He know's 5 notes 😂).