DanOwens

[quote name='woodster' post='970690' date='Sep 28 2010, 02:10 PM'].... but when I turned it over I saw a big split right through the neck about halfway along!!! Now I love my Overwater and it sounded great but I spent the whole gig gently mourning my EX Stingray.....[/quote] What was the split from? Surely the Sisters weren't living up to their name?!? Dan

My experience is that you will not in any way, shape or form get audio that is any good from an in-built microphone. Especially on a budget camera. Instead you're going to want to take a desk feed and join the two in mixdown. This, of course, has problems (since your audio and picture won't be sync'd and will need to be) but will provide you with a more realistic sound than a stereo mic where the balance changes depending on where the camera is. My girlfriend is a documentary film maker and uses a Sony A1 for most of her own stuff. Cost about £1000. Otherwise she rents a Sony Z1. Before that she used a Sony Handycam HDR-XR550VE which was also good, but had no audio-in to plug in external mics. Instead I rigged up a mic and minidisc recorder to sync in the edit. This would be what I would recommend. The sad reality is that low-light is a real killer. Very expensive cameras struggle in low-light situations. Get familiar with editing software and as long as you have decent audio it won't matter too much about the picture quality or lighting, plus you can do weird effects that cover up some of the more obvious problems. In short, budget matters but the Sony HDR range are pretty good. Dan

My friend was a stage manager at Carling Academy Liverpool (now o2). To comply with fire regs they would ask if your banner was flame retardant. If you would say yes, he would get a lighter and test it. He was a bit of an arse, but if you want to avoid this situation, I'd go for a flame retardant material. Dan

Is it log and expecting lin?

I always assumed that this guy was great despite never hearing him but the amount of 5-6-root slides and the same harmonics repeated has adjusted my opinion. I'm not the guy who says "That guy overplayed". I like complex playing where appropriate but he was filling space that was already filled with that beautiful voice. Richard Bona gets a thumbs down based on this. Show me what I'm missing!! Dan

Also, what music is it? I've had charts for all different types of music and for some not having them is easier than others (obvious really). I wholeheartedly agree with the trial-by-fire approach. Force yourself to play along front-to-back with a backing track or CD. Every time you drop it, prepare to come in asap. We all make mistakes but how we recover is what makes us great or poor. My favourite metaphor is a drummer dropping a stick. It happens, but you need to not panic and do everything you can so the audience can't hear that you've dropped a stick whilst replacing it. Joe's mention of theory is a good point. Theory and ear training can give you a third arm so even if you do drop a stick, no-one will ever know (too much drummer metaphor? ) Also, you are already really good at this but you just haven't realised it yet. Confidence is everything. Dan

Any expression pedal or midi implementation on it? Can't be arsed to google. Too late.

I play in a DnB band and our drummer has had no end of problems with amplification. What do you guys use to feed the on-stage sound? Usually, the monitor mix just doesn't cut it! Dan

I like the Para DI by LR Baggs. Great bits of kit and fantastic feedback killers ([url="http://www.lrbaggs.com/paradi.htm"]http://www.lrbaggs.com/paradi.htm[/url]). Dan

As a Secondary Music Teacher, I would say "Well done!". Its a good choice of song and well played by all, but would say the bass is quite low in the mix. The examiner will be listening to the assessed instrument first and may not care so much about the other instruments, merely how the bass sits in with everyone else. I'm just nit-picking though, it's far better than most students at Y10/11. Dan (Mr Owens)

[quote name='The Twickerman' post='864327' date='Jun 11 2010, 01:52 PM']Your G string is sharp.[/quote] Actually, the pitch of unplugged equipment buzzing in a sharp G (but not quite G#). Dan

[quote name='benzies123' post='866372' date='Jun 13 2010, 08:24 PM']Reminds me of the Tool song Rosetta Stoned. Pretty cool stuff going on there! Your production and the fact that it's all nicely done makes me regret posting my sh*te... but alas I just want to be part of things and that's all I got.[/quote] To be fair, I did cheat - the audio is from our album. And I'm with EdwardHimself that comparisons of creative expression are meaningless. I'm just enjoying the fact that everyone's doing very different stuff. Dan PS I'll check the song out.

Hey guys, My DnB band are hosting an open improv night. The promo's below and it'll give you an idea of what we do and how. If you're interested drop an email to the address below: Dan

Live DnB (wait for the drop):

Talent? Yes. Tone? Hmmmm.... Dan

The cheapest way would be to get a Behringer FCB1010 and set the pedals to the 'note on' required. Dan

I use a neo 15 on one of these: It changes everything, and people who have borrowed it have gone and bought one for themselves. I love mine, and although you said you don't want tilt-back, I find it really good. Dan

I fell of a stage during soundcheck once and broke my elbow. 5 hours later, with my plucking hand in a sling I still played the gig, and loaded the car, and drove back to Manchester. I eventually went to the hospital where I was very sternly told off. [u][b]AGONY THOUGH!![/b][/u]

I made my biggest improvements in improvisation when I purchased a DL4 looper. Improvising a backing track to improvise a melody over satisfies so many different areas, its great. Also, I really like the remarks about improvising with arpeggios and improvising rhythms - to me these are all equally important but a good, straightforward place to start is with scales, triads and diatonic intervals. It shouldn't be daunting. Just start with simple exercises and build in small steps. Dan

And I know its been said a few times but I really want to reiterate: Just because you've learnt it in DGCF, doesn't mean it can't be played in DADG. It just means you might need to re-shape some of it and play a couple of stretches/slides. I know what I'd do, but if DGCF and new strings work for you then go for it! Dan

I do tend to have a peek but some of the people that wanna gear chat with me are light years ahead of myself in the geek stakes. I tend to fob them off. Dan

I find that constructing frameworks to improvise within and giving myself small goals helps a lot. What I mean is, challenge your self to come up with 5 contrasting lines. Maybe one with quavers, one with dotted notes, one with a large range and another with a smaller range etc. Cognitively engaging with this is a must. You need to challenge yourself and allow the discomfort and awkwardness that you will occasionally experience. Every second you spend challenging yourself is worth days and days of playing the same band basslines, and especially in improvisation. Others have mentioned scales and triads. Personally I would combine the two and practice scalic intervals up and down the neck (Thanks Mike Walker!!). Playing up in thirds or sixths is difficult, but just ask your teacher how and you'll have no problem. Good luck!