DanOwens

[quote name='paul_5' post='1201398' date='Apr 16 2011, 12:45 AM']I personally favour the Korg MS20 plugin. It works as a standalone app too, so you don't have to have your DAW running onstage. I think it'll run from an iPad too, which gives you even less gear t transport.[/quote] ....and an excuse to buy an iPad!

First of all, can you clarify whether your volume drop occurs when the pedals are engaged or bypassed? In either situation, is it a cumulative result or is it one or two pedals that are the culprits? Worst case scenario is that it is cumulative (ie each pedals adds -0.4dB of gain, resulting in an overall drop of around 3dB) and occurs when the pedals are bypassed. If that's the case I would request either Umph (Mammoth Audio) or SilentFly (sfx) build you a custom true bypass strip like this one:

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='1198828' date='Apr 13 2011, 10:30 PM']Cheers for the kind words Higgie... Truth is though I stole everything I know from Dan Owens [/quote] That's quite a compliment, Shep. I've got a studio session booked for Saturday so I'll keep y'all informed about how it goes. Here's my setup for the recording (excluding all the vocal stuff I'm running): [b]Also [url="http://thebrokendoor.bandcamp.com/track/the-wonka-boat"]CLICK HERE[/url] (and skip to 1:00 if you're impatient) to listen to part of our re-imagining of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This is one of our more Dubsteppy numbers.[/b]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1196127' date='Apr 11 2011, 07:43 PM']I should say that it seems that guitar players are a bit more fanatical about not adding our speaker emulation ... to their guitar speakers (which they may have spent a good amount of time choosing according to personal preference).[/quote] Is that because us bass players are famously apathetic about our speaker choice? Come on Tech 21, we all like options so why pin it on picky guitarists?

[quote name='fatgoogle' post='1196164' date='Apr 11 2011, 08:20 PM']Another feature i really like is the direct out, so i can do my wobbles and also have an uneffected overdrive running which i like.[/quote] Yey! Parallel signal paths!

[quote name='Higgie' post='1195905' date='Apr 11 2011, 04:23 PM']Cheers for the crits.[/quote] Also, Higgie, I should say that I like it!

Effects, dude! I jammed with a analog-synth player (monophonic) and a drummer the other week and ran a bi-amped rig where the distorted lines were played with an octave-up pedal. My sound was HUGE and the lack of any chordal players was irrelevant. Dan

[quote name='Higgie' post='1195838' date='Apr 11 2011, 03:36 PM']I know it's not fantastic, as I've never really done anything in the drum and bass/dubstep vein, but I'd like to get into it so all comments and criticism will be graciously accepted! [/quote] Hey Higgie. What software are you using? Your beats could just be replaced with loops that'd satisfy your sonic preconceptions, enabling a more authentic performance (at the mo it sounds neither DnB nor Dubstep). Also, throw a chorus in there. It'll add a lot of sonic depth and the modulation can add to the sense of motion in the piece. Dan

[quote name='Mugz.wood' post='1191963' date='Apr 7 2011, 05:00 PM']yea this link got me onto the behringer [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JYmf5qRHDI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JYmf5qRHDI[/url] xgsjx good point i havent tested my mac with any midi interface cuz its quite new. hardware synth module sounds good to less faffing about getting set up[/quote] Read my blog in my sig for some tips with MIDI and synth bass. I've used a variety of hardware and software synths but only hardware live. Putting a laptop on stage brings with it issues that can be avoided by using hardware. Dan

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1184627' date='Apr 1 2011, 12:53 PM']I was watching a bit of YouTube this morning[/quote] Links? I've yet to find a decent 'how-to'...

[quote name='phil.i.stein' post='1183756' date='Mar 31 2011, 07:32 PM']yeah, this might sound dumb to some, but how come i haven't seen a pedal that attempts to convert a bass signal into a sinewave ? i can get triangle, square, trapezoid etc.. , what is the technical 'hurdle' with the sinewave ?[/quote] I've found sinewave one of the more difficult to nail, but an OC2 and LPF get rather close.

Soundcloud request here! (Although I concede that you demigods have far more pertinent issues) Dan

From Hexe: [quote]Hi! All my pedals are available only directly through me. The prices are: reVOLVER (guitar version): 299,00EUR reVOLVER (desktop version): 309,00EUR BitCrusher III (guitar version): 199,00EUR BitCrusher III (desktop version): 235,00EUR Fire Starter III: 250,00 EUR Roboduck: 250,00 EUR Melusine: 225,00 EUR Drive Masala: 215,00EUR RadarPhase: 299,00EUR + shipping cost.[/quote]

Hey Shep, What snares does your drummer use? There's some really nice snare overtones on 'Get Money'. Dan

[quote name='tinyviking' post='1180568' date='Mar 29 2011, 11:05 AM']Oh, ordered up the phantom power mod for the FCB1010 from the U S of A - hope to hear about that soon. Just have to remain calm until it all arrives.[/quote] I used to use my FCB with a Novation Supernova for some amazing sounds (parallel midi synth routing is awesome!) but recently it's been as MIDI bass-pedals. It's a very versatile bit of kit and I heartily recommend it. The construction is of a high standard and with the Ossandust firmware upgrade it's implementation is greatly expanded, as is its reliability. Dan

For me the Adrenalinn has proven to be an amazing bit of kit. Similar to the slicer, but with filter sections for the TB303 stuff and the cool weird arpeggiator function (taking a MIDI note feed from my synth player and playing a guitar into it is AWESOME!). The thing is, once you get into complicated setups (as Shep has done), you start to think about setup time and functionality nearly as much as you think about sounds. The more gear, the more stuff to go wrong and if one thing goes, it really doesn't matter how cool everything would've sounded if it hadn't. Good power, good cables, appropriate casing and contingency plans all come into play once you have multiple signal paths and complicated, modular sound sources. Dan PS. That reminds me. Need to finish that blog post.

The thing about playing to a click (and this goes for everyone) is that it is a skill that needs to be practiced and the development of this skill relies on a variety of other skills being at a high standard. Yes it sounds obvious that you'd want any musician to be locked into the 'Execute>Reflect>Improve' cycle, but in reality there are too many that aren't. To successfully lock in to a click, you need to listen to the click and listen to yourself and with every single beat of the metronome assess whether you need to speed up or slow down. Over time, this becomes second nature and eventually you'll start to allow the click to take over from your internal metronome and delegate that previously internal process to an external source. Players who've been practicing on their own and just playing beats really struggle to externalise this and the familiar "It saps all the feel out of my playing" criticism rears its ugly and ignorant head. The players who've honed these skills are usually the best players because the ability to adapt is a great quality and comes with musicianship that is soaked in humility and appreciation. Drummers who keep time with or without a click are highly prized and if I was to breed them, this would be my must-have quality. Dan PS. Yes I mentioned breeding drummers.

Sequence everything then bounce it down so that the sequenced stuff is hard-panned to one side and the other side is just a click with a two-bar count in. Feed the click to your drummer and the sequenced audio to FoH. Many bands I have worked with have done a variation of this using iPods, MiniDiscs and CDs (the latter being the most problematic). My advice is if you are going to have a laptop on stage and rely on it to play MIDI, have at least one spare. Again, electronic bands I've played with ([b]with[/b], not [b]in[/b]) have booted up just before going on and things have not worked; all they can do is shrug and accept they'll not be performing. I suppose the crux of what I'm saying is 'go as low-tech as possible'. I play in a band with 4 laptops but we have about 20 contingency plans in case everything goes wrong (and it does). Dan

Also, check out [url="http://www.kvraudio.com/get.php"]KVR Audio[/url] for loads of free VSTs. Also, there's lots of good recommendations in this thread [[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=77603"]HERE[/url]] in the Recordings Section. Dan

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1161815' date='Mar 14 2011, 02:40 PM']What does the slicer do exactly? Is it kinda like a long delay?[/quote] It's a pattern tremolo with some built in filter functions. I use a Adrenalinn for similar stuff. I got beat!

I use a Quiklok stand [[url="http://www.quiklok.com/catalog/?p=productsMore&iProduct=212&sName=BS-317"]LINK[/url]] at the suggestion of Amp-Genius Alex Claber. He suggested that I didn't need any other cabs than my 15" as I'd get the full audio spectrum on-axis; what I needed to do was to point the cab at my head rather than my shins. I use a TechSoundsystems 115, so it is very light but these stands use a fairly simple mechanism to maintain an angle (I believe the Giraffe ones are a lot more complicated), as such there's not much that can go wrong. Dan

The 'Facial Fuzz' model is very nice; it also has an EQ section for putting in more low end. It isn't very mammoth-esque, but it isn't bad either. I've used some of the waveform generators instead to get some very nice sounds though. I've used the 'Q-Filter' model set to LPF to try and emulate the Moog but it really isn't in the same ball park. I think it's a 2-pole filter and lacks the same sweetness in the resonance peak that the Moog has. 'Throbber' is a nice LFO-controlled filter which is useful for Dubstep/House stuff. And as Shep has pointed out, the Modulations, Reverbs and Delays are very nice. Dan

There's a great free Live Pack for Ableton Live by KJ Sawka that's really good. Also I had a great site with loads of free loop packs but I'm on a different machine right now. I'll try and remember. What software are you using? Dan

Something like the EHX POG would probably do it, but you wouldn't be hearing the fundamental as it's too low for your speakers to reproduce. You'd need something more like this to get it at a reasonable volume (at which point you'd probably be rupturing internal organs rather than producing brown trousers [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weapon#Designed_to_emit_sound_as_an_irritant"][link][/url]):