dave_bass5

Ive got quite a few hobbies that don’t pay. Ive never got the ‘spent loads of money learning to play and now i expect to get it all back, and then some’. If your doing it as a career this sort of gig won’t even be on your radar, its not a big deal. People can make their own mind up and be happy with that choice. I did one once for free and got 7 bookings from it. I loved playing in front of 1000+ people and made loads of money I probably wouldn’t have done had these people in the crowd not seen me. Yeah, that old ‘exposure’ thing. If you’re good it can work, if you’re dross of course its not going to get you more work. So when all these young bands are taking these gigs, it’s because they just want gigs and to play live, and hopefully get the experience they might not otherwise get. Isnt that something we have all wanted or gone through? Some people make out every gig they have ever played, from day one, has been an earner. Thats just BS IMO, we all started somewhere. Having been to many local festivals, I’ve often come away thinking ‘I hope that lot weren’t getting paid’

I agree with that, and ill add, IME, one with a decent set of LED’s. Ive had Comps over the years and as i was never really serious about using them i could never hear what was happening when tweaking the controls, at least not until i was at extreme settings. Even those like the Cali with its glowing single LED didnt really help me (probably my fault). Then the Becos came along and the LED’s are very responsive and i could finally see properly what was going on, but more importantly I understood what the main knobs did and how they interacted. Less knobs than on others ive had, but the right amount for me. Although i dont use a comp now, it really helped when i got in to home recording and using Comps.

Check the huge Helix threads on here for more info 😏

I’d say there’s you answer right there. Dont go chasing ‘better’ when you are happy with what you have. Keep it simple and concentrate on playing and enjoying your tone. Yes, there are better, much better, but (IMO) unless you know what you are looking for then stick with what you are happy with, at least for a while.

Ah cool. Yeah, Dom is a master of CB. I was already subscribed to his channel for the Montage/MODX synth stuff, so that was also a deciding factor to me going for Cubase, as i like what he teaches and his style. I got his 80’s drum set for Halion when it first came out, and was free back then. Ive also now got the same sounds for my MODX. Cant wait to start using them with the band 😂

Yeah, the logical end it’s was something i was attracted to, but hardly use it yet. Mostly for making high hats a bit more realistic. Did you get the presets Dom posted a couple of days ago? I used Cubase when it was called VST32 (IIR), although not much as my PC back then wasn’t really up to it. I dabbled but never really finished anything. Coming back to it last year I was amazed at how much its come on. My mindset now that i know i can do whatever i need to do, i just need to figure it out. Being able to manually line up my bass players notes to the beat has been a god send, also with my guitarist chords and rhythm. Also the ability to create vocal harmonies from one line is great. Its just so easy with CB, although I’m sure other programs can do this. I got the Ai (free) to Pro upgrade for £245, and it seems crazy that Steinberg don’t actually do this upgrade path on their website.

Oh yes, totally agree. I was just stating from my point of view. I can work with Cakewalk just fine, but some of the things it makes you do just seem too longwinded compared to Cubase. I think when you have found ‘the one’ then you stick with it. If something looks daunting, but i know it doesn’t offer everything i can see in another DAW then i just wont put the time in. I used Studio One for a while, actually really liked it, but at the time i didnt have much use for a DAW so after a few test recordings i stopped using it. To be honest some of the cooler features like the audio quantising/hit points etc in Cubase, some of the VST plugins, along with really liking Halion’s sounds swung it for me anyway, but it also seemed liked the easiest for me to use. Those features might be in the others, but along with ease of use i cant imagine anything better.

Interesting posts above. Obviously we need different things and features, but i tihnk what make a DAW ‘the best’ is the speed you can get on and be creative with it. Ive struggled with some of these over the years, but last year really wanted to make a go of Cakewalk by Bandlab, as ive used CW Sonar on and off over the past decade or so. In the end i got too frustrated with it. Got CB, will never go to anything else. It just seemed so natural to me. I have no doubt anything ive done could be done in a few other DAW’s, I’m not a power user, but being able to get things done quickly is what i love about CB. Having to much choice over contouring things would slow me down. Its the same with pedals etc. I want the features there but done want to go hunting for them etc.

I defy anyone to f*** up the bass lines to ‘I want you back’ and ‘Forget me nots’….oh wait……Heard it many times down the local 😂 i think if someone is coming up with an original bass line, then its going to sound unique, but if they have the same influences and references as another then maybe its not always going to be too different. Ive often wondered if JJ hadn’t played on all those Motown hits would they still have become hits. My guess is yes. He gave them a certain feel, but there is more than one way to make a great groove.

Or you could just disable it (or just have it control headphones, which wont matter if it gets knocked). This is how i used to have mine set up. That way I always had a consistent level coming out of the main outs.

‘’How much to post?……’’ 😏

Covid is also having an impact of deliveries. Ive had deliveries from within the UK take over a week as well. Just had a pair of cables arrive from G4M, which shipped from their central warehouse in Europe. Ordered on Thursday morning.

I tried the George L system, and before that the Planet Waves version for a while, as i too hate slack and waste, but in the end it was working out too expensive, and i really didnt like the jacks. Even though they are well made i still found them a bit deeper than i wanted.

I was using these for a couple of years on my pedalboard. Never had any issues. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B016M2RV2E/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yeah. I find a bit of dirt goes a long way to getting the tone to have more presence in a mix, without sounding dirty. Its the secret to a good clean tone lol.

I first got in to envelopes with my first Zoom (B3). Even better was the ability to add just a hint of drive in front to really bring them alive.

Cheers Russ. She doesnt use any effects so its all good. We tested out using my old guitar version first at rehearsals and she loved how simple it was compared to her old G4M system. She got the Xvive 4 system and we tested it out at home. Sounds really solid and noticeably clearer and more detailed than the old UHF system.

Ive always made a point of programming on the boxes themselves if at all possible. Getting to know the box well means you spend less time tying to remember how to change something and can just get on with it, and playing. The best place to make these adjustments are with a band playing. Its all very well having 1000 fantastic patches at home, but if they don’t work with the band (and you want them to), then being able to make adjustments on the fly very quickly not only looks more professional, it means your band mates are standing around waiting etc. Thats my philosophy anyway, based on doing all the above.

I recently did a collaboration recording with some mates and we chose Heart’s Alone. Always loved that song, but only then did I find out its a cover, original version was by iTen.

I absolutely LOVE Cubase Pro, i cant get enough of it lol. If there is something it cant do ive not found it yet (thats not really saying much though). Only problem with the demo is you have to have a dongle for the pro version. Occasionally i use Elements if I’m too lazy to use the second, Cubase only install of Windows 10 as its on a dual boot system. Even that it amazing though. I think with Cubase its not obvious why its so good. On paper I’m sure most other pro DAW’s can do a lot of what CB can do, but its how it’s implemented that makes it so easy to use.

…then sell it on here within a week as ‘the best ive owned, but i just don’t have a use for it…..’ 😂

Dancing in the Moonlight (Toploader) and Bye Bye baby by the Bay City Rollers are two that come to mind.

I ordered a keyboard stand from them last Monday, it was in stock in thier warehouse in Europe. It was £20 cheaper than anywhere else. It arrived 9.30 Thursday morning. Cant fault that.

They are and thats not a bad price if it goes for that.

I really liked the clear ‘colour’ when i had a few i was trying out, but as i tend to wear a black suit jacket, and maybe a dark coloured shirt, I went for black, more so for when i have them hanging around my neck etc. I thought they would be less noticeable from a distance.