PapillonIrl

Meant to do this sooner but got distracted: Bought a GB Streamliner 900 from Rich. Really excellent communication and lots or care and attention into sorting the best shipping method (and the packaging). Can recommend.

Pedal arrived today, great condition and excellently packed. Mark was super quick to answer questions and get the pedal to me, buy with confidence. Thanks Mark!

[quote name='lanark' post='1275162' date='Jun 19 2011, 07:54 PM']So - to keep the budget down as much as possible, and massively increase the range of options we can choose from as far as recording studios go, would it be possible to: i) record the rhythm section and vocals first (assuming that we're extremely well rehearsed and the length of any horn solo are known in advance) - to avoid bleeding into the percussion mics, we have the bass and keys DI'd straight to the desk and the band wearing headphones to hear the rough mix live as we play. We then take this away and the horns practice with this rhythm section recording and later .... ii) the horns come into the studio at a later date, to record their sections to the pre-recorded rhythm section recording, which they'll be listening to through headphones to avoid the earlier recording being heard on the horns' mics. Have I got that anything like straight? The two sections would then be taken away and mastered (what on earth goes on in the matering process by the way - and does it come before or after the "mix"?) and mixed or whatever black art gets practised on them before you get the shiny silved disc? Would that sort of thing be practicable, as we've ascertained that for an unsigned band of our size, it would take a friendly millionaire to bankroll the ideal recording setup.[/quote] I think you are on the right track here, although I think it would benefit you to have a facility with a few headphone mixes rather than one mix for everyone. Mastering is the final step in the process, and involves processing the final stereo mix for maximum translation across as many audio systems, and maximum coherence between tracks as possible using (if necessary) various techniques involving mainly EQ, compression/limiting and gain adjustment. It is often recommended that this process takes place in a different acoustic space, preferably with a different engineer, so that any problems in the mix environment can be picked up and not masked by the issues in the mix room. Of course the tech stuff like PQ codes, CD-text, and production of a glass master for the duplication company are usually done by the mastering engineer also. Good mastering houses often spend as much on the acoustic design/treatment of the room, and their set of monitor speakers as a mid-level studio will spend on all of their equipment put together. It is a buyers market out there for mastering though, loads of reputable places with good rates for unsigned acts.

[quote name='51m0n' post='1272708' date='Jun 17 2011, 01:30 PM']Err I didn't dismiss headphones at all (have another read of the first bit of my post)...[/quote] Sorry mate, long day yesterday, seems I managed to somehow read the exact opposite of what you wrote. @ OP : Do you have a short list of facilities at this point ?

[quote name='51m0n' post='1271162' date='Jun 16 2011, 10:52 AM']This will need to be tracked with headp[hones, bleed from a bass amp would need to be prtetty heavily isoalted IMO unless you are in a really great space, with an amp that sounds perfect. "Fixing it in the mix" will not be possible to any great extent without compromising something else. I would expoect to need to put down at the very least the following:- Rhythm Section: Bass (most important, obviously) Timbales Congas Keys Guide Vocal In one go. Ideally I'd want the horns down as well, but you are looking for a huge live room to do that, and this is almost certainly outside your budget. Could the horns overdub their parts??? Their being able to do that is really going to make or break the result.[/quote] While I would agree with your approach regarding instruments being tracked first, I would not not be so quick to dismiss headphones entirely. If the bass amp is heavily isolated as you say, one or more of the musicians may find they need to hear more of it while tracking. Sometimes headphones are a vibe killer, sometimes multiple headphone mixes are what is needed to make a band comfortable. DI'd bass may be an option, re-amped later if necessary, will give more separation again, if required, but requires headphones. Vocalist and keyboardist will require headphones unless you plan on using floor wedges or speakers in the room. Not having guide horn tracks go down as well, also audible to the musicians, could also be a vibe-killer. Sometimes a solution for this for this is horns in another room, with headphones. Depends on how many rooms are available in the facility, how big they are, what they sound like, what kind of mix you need, what foldback is available, and what the musicians need to hear to get a good live feel going IMO. It is nice to have options in case one approach isn't working for some reason though. I would look for a space with a decent sized live room, good mic selection, one or two separate booths or small rooms in addition, and at least the capability to provide a few cue mixes if you hopefully won't need them.

Can you list the line-up of the band, and how you normally play and rehearse ? All acoustic or some amplified instruments ? What are you willing to overdub, what must be played live to get the vibe right ? More than likely a click track is not appropriate, as stated above, but what if (assuming live tracking)there is an electric bass which everyone wants to hear while tracking, but there is to much bleed from the bass amp into the instrument/drum mics, and the bass player wants to be beside the drummer, who has a 6 piece kit ? All of a sudden you may need to track with headphones and isolate the amps in another room, which potentially means a studio with 10 headphone mixes and 32 channels of input. That should narrow down the selection somewhat.

Another vote for [sfx], I have the x-over pedal and it's great. Also check this guy out: [url="http://www.jimmybehanfx.net/"]http://www.jimmybehanfx.net/[/url]

Can't be there, but just wanted to say I'm really enjoying the Myspace clips.

Tried it through my live rig in a rehearsal today. Tried it through the Shuttle 9.0 and 2xHS10 rig, and also through an old Marshall head and 4X12 setup that we record bass through sometimes. The crossover frequency knob is great for making the setup play nice with the cabinet voicing, I had to tweak slightly when I moved between them. I may add an EQ pedal with a sweepable mid in the high channel, as I notice I did lose some of the precisions ability to pop through the mix when the pedal engaged the overdrive in this channel. Thinking out loud, a footswitch to disengage the amp EQ on the Genz-Benz would work just as well, I tend to have a chunk of around 750hz taken out on the amp normally.

[quote name='bassplayer88' post='1129684' date='Feb 16 2011, 02:30 PM']This is prehaps a little naughty but, I comissioned this pedal (link below) from Max SFX long before he "invented" the X&M Crossover. A bit bulkier as a system but much more scope for other options.. Not had much interest in the sales forum, thought it might be of interest to someone here.... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=118415&hl=SFX"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=118415&hl=SFX[/url] Thanks[/quote] Very useful box, but for a person with pretty specific needs, which probably why you are having so much trouble selling and feel the need to hijack the bejaysus out of my thread. Am I right in saying that there is no crossover in it ? Looks like it is splitting the signal and you are using the Behringer unit for X-over duties ? Just out of interest, what were you doing with it ? Maybe playing bass along with DJ/electronic artist ? The headphone out is a curious one for me (need external headphone amp also I presume ? )

[quote name='RichardFoggo' post='1129061' date='Feb 15 2011, 11:06 PM']thanks for such a good review of a great product. I currently use a double looper without X-over or mix and while I can just about get away with loss of low end definition (using EQ), this has just shown me that I could be getting something real interesting. Given how you've done it, it's right that it's a difference in tone/sound and not just frequency. Very interested in this. THAnks again.[/quote] No problem. I am actually surprised there are not more solutions like this available, this is the only one I know of in pedal format. When I worked in a studio it was pretty common practice, when a track had bass alternating between clean and distorted, to only distort a high-passed version of the bass track, leaving the low-end untouched to keep the bottom end consistent on the record. I suppose the same is achieved live by big touring acts by having a second amp engaged by a pedal for overdriven sounds, but this is a lot simpler/cheaper. There is very little point in distorting the signal under 150hz in a lot of situations IMO.

Meant to link to [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=89442&hl=silent+fly"]this[/url] thread, which is what interested me in the pedal initially, for reference.

Took delivery of this pedal today, and immediately took it to the rehearsal room to put it through it's paces though my live rig. Unfortunately one of the lads was giving some lessons in there, so I had to make do with checking it out in my humble home studio. I was interested in this pedal because I want to have an overdrive or fuzz sound that translates well over largish systems, both when the cab is miked or the DI is taken post FX, without losing low-end. This is a big problem with a lot of pedals, I have found. I also haven't found an overdrive or fuzz I am 100% happy with, and I wanted to be able to achieve my goal while still trying out different pedals. First impressions of the pedal are great, very solidly built and intuitively labelled. The foot-switch itself feels pretty hard wearing, and the large blue LED is a useful addition for dark stages. As my main concern was the issue with low-end described above, I decided to record through two chains, keeping everything as similar as possible in the two takes, just removing the X&M from one of them. This is not a scientific test, and there are possibly more elements to the chain than purists would like. Without access to my live rig, I wanted to replicate it as much as possible using what I had in the house. Chain 1: Fender USA Precision (flatwounds) > X&M > X&M Hi Out > Fulldrive II Mosfet > X&M Hi In >X&M Mixer > RME Fireface 400 (recording device)>PC Chain 2: Fender USA Precision (flatwounds) > Fulldrive II Mosfet > RME Fireface 400 (recording device)>PC In both cases there was some real-time processing via in my DAW, but it was the same for both takes. I was trying to get the flat sound as close as possible to my rig in a room before I started. The plugin chain for both was: Waves HUM remover (there was a 50hz hum caused by a shoddy power-supply, the only one I had in the house to power the X&M, I had this problem before with it so I know the X&M is not at fault) > Ampeg SVX Amp Sim (SVT model, flat EQ) > 1176 type compressor (4:1, maybe 3-4dB gain reduction at peaks). This was a close enough approximation my my live sound to continue so I went with it. I played the opening bars of Zeppelin's 'How Many More Times' as I figured the constant low E would supply a decent amount of low-end for the test. I dialed in an overdriven sound using the crossover knob and attenuating the hi signal coming from the Fulldrive somewhat on the X&M mixer. Apologies if the slightly off timing offends Zep fans , I didn't use a click and was a bit too excited to care about being bang on. For the second take I just removed the X&M from the chain, left the settings on the Fulldrive the same, and tried to match the level on the Fulldrive by ear using it's volume knob (remember the full drive signal had been attenuated on the X&M in the previous take). The results were impressive when compared. If you listen on decent headphones or speakers, you can hear the huge difference in low-end in the two takes. Now, the two sounds also sound very different... the second sounds more distorted as it is not sitting on a clean low signal, but i figured there was no point in trying to complicate the test further by trying to ease back on the level of overdrive as well as the volume on the 2nd take. I am delighted with what this box makes possible, and I haven't got into any of the many other practical uses yet. For example, using the X&M without any other pedals, you can set the crossover quite low, turn down high channel, give low channel a bit of a boost, and you have a massive dub bass sound at the switch of a pedal, even if you are playing quite a bright bass with rounds. The crossover frequencies are not labelled on the knob, but in practice this does not matter, as you really need to set it by ear to achieve the required balance between clean low-end and effected hi-end (or whatever else you are doing with the pedal). Very impressive piece of kit, highly recommended if you are trying to achieve the same as I me. Cannot wait to try it on a big system. Here are the samples : [attachment=72314:Bass_X_M.mp3] [attachment=72315:Bass_No_X_M.mp3]

Not had a massive amount of dealings on here, but if you have bought or sold anything to/from me, here's the thread to set peoples mind at ease for future deals. Appreciate it, will have a look through old PM's shortly to see if I can return favour in kind. Nathan