bnt

[quote name='OldGit' post='258164' date='Aug 8 2008, 02:35 PM']Keyword stuffing is a rather pejorative term. Careful use of key words and phrases to ensure people searching for those things on google are presented with an attractive link to your site in the google search results page is just sensible. Google uses the title and description meta tag content on its results pages. That's what I'm talking about. If you can't edit the description tag what does google present in the results? Normally it substuitutes the first 20 or so words it can read from your page -and that may be a menu or something else unsuitable.[/quote] Maybe I should have been clearer: by [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyword_stuffing"]keyword stuffing[/url]. I was referring to the way some sites blatantly try to manipulate Google by overloading [i]meta keyword[/i] tags with anything they think might grab results. Google is on to that now, of course, and ignores [i]meta keyword[/i] tags altogether, because they are open to abuse in this way. So, yes, "keyword stuffing" is a pejorative, but you're referring to sensible use of [i]meta description[/i] tags, which Google [url="http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35264"]does use[/url], as you say. According to the Wordpress [url="http://faq.wordpress.com/2006/05/07/why-isnt-my-blog-in-google/"]FAQ[/url]: [quote][b]Can I upload meta tags / sitemap for the search engines?[/b] That is not possible. Google and most other search engines ignore meta tags.[/quote] Which is not quite correct, since Google does use [i]meta description[/i] and others as noted. It just won't improve your page rank, which is what I thought you were after. I've had a look at various wordpress.com forum questions, and the answer in every case is "we don't like meta tags". It's still under discussion, and I'll look into it further and might ask again, about description tags specifically. wordpress.com (the hosted service, as opposed to using their software on your own site) does let you enter a blog "tagline" field, which would serve as a description, if the makers of the site templates actually included it in the HTML. It's possible that some templates are doing this already. I'll look in to that and see what I can find. If you were to use the wordpress.org software on a site you host yourself (requires PHP and MySQL), that's different: you'd have full control over all tags, by editing templates. These restrictions I'm referring to are specific to wordpress.com, the free hosting service, which is very wary of spam blogs and other abuses. I think we're talking at cross purposes a little here - I would call a [i]meta description[/i] tag a normal thing to have, not the aggressive SEO that some try to use to boost their sites artificially, which Google is [url="http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769"]at war with[/url]. I do understand your position, and I was thinking in business terms e.g. if you were to go to a bank and ask for a business development loan, they would ask you about your unique selling points, or market differentiators. That's all I meant: how does your band stand out from the others in your market? If pointing that out on the website is what you mean by SEO, then of course I have no argument with that .

Oh, definitely: perfection is boring, and I prefer players who aren't perfect. If you listen to Geddy Lee, for example, he's quite technically sloppy in some ways. He slurs from note to note, his right-hand fingering is not precise, and he tends to move up and down the neck when he could hold position (even on his 4-string). After listening to him for years, I seem to have picked up abstracted versions of some of his "flaws" e.g. re-packaging slight slurs as [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_note"]grace notes[/url], a concept I learned years ago when I studied bagpipes. Also, I think there are virtues to moving up and down the neck, even if you don't have to, which is something Chris Squire does too. I find there's a different tonality, it can be an attention-grabber, and it helps basslines "breath" a little. (That's the best way I have of describing the effect!) In Japanese culture, there's a concept called [i][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi"]wabi-sabi[/url][/i]: the appreciation of imperfection, even the deliberate introduction of a tiny flaw in something that would otherwise be perfect. Actually, [i]wabi-sabi[/i] might make a good band name..!

[quote name='OldGit' post='257707' date='Aug 7 2008, 11:58 PM']Nah I just mean the standard stuff .. can you control the title , description and ALT tags so you can control the google results page stuff for your site... When mother of the bride searches for "wedding band solihull" will google return your site - That sort of thing. I was asking because of the line about having a real url rather than a wordpress url - sounded like one of those url masking activities Google hates ..[/quote] Wordpress aren't using URL masking - I had to tell my domain registrar to use Wordpress' own DNS servers, so they are actually hosting that DNS name as normal. Let me see... if you write a static page or a blog page, you have a title, of course, and an optional excerpt. You have categories for organising things, you can set a parent page (so you can have pages, sub-pages, sub-sub-pages etc.). You have tags, which are used for pinging search engines (which is where you'd put in "wedding band solihull"), and you can put in a trackback URL. You have full control over alt tags on images etc.. You don't get the option of setting arbitrary meta tags full of stuff (the keyword stuffing I was referring to). Personally, I think SEO is overrated. I mean; call me naive, but (in my limited experience) if you have a unique selling point, and you reflect that clearly in the web pages, Google etc. will index it and people will find you. I'm still getting dozens of hits a day on a particular FAQ I wrote 2 years ago, because it filled a niche that needed filling. It's only when you're doing the same thing as loads of other people (no unique selling point) that you have to game the search engines, and the effect doesn't last.

[quote name='OldGit' post='257670' date='Aug 7 2008, 11:06 PM']The Wordpress option sound interesting but can you control the SEO well enough? Does Google index it all?[/quote] I suppose that depends on what you mean by SEO. It does get indexed by Google, it has categories & tagging, RSS feeds, it will ping Technorati etc. for you. If you mean aggressive SEO methods, googlebombing, tracker scripts, spamming, keyword stuffing, etc., then I don't think so.

[quote name='Sibob' post='257458' date='Aug 7 2008, 06:26 PM']Myspace & Facebook!! as if anyone looks at standard band websites anymore lol Si[/quote] Eh? Not everyone is into this whole "social networking" scam. MySpace and Facebook are ugly, inflexible sites that are there to extract info from you, and sell your eyeballs to advertisers. It's a fad with a couple more years left, so that's a cue to do something more solid, IMHO. If you build your own site from scratch, you can have total flexibility, including a proper site name (<band>.com), but that can take up too much time. My suggestion of wordpress.com is somewhere in-between: simple at first, but more flexible if you want it to be. Put the website address on flyers etc., people will know where to look. Later, if you want, you can even set up your own site, install the Wordpress software, and migrate everything over easily.

If it was my band, I would use my existing [url="http://wordpress.com/"]wordpress.com[/url] account and set it up there. You do everything online through a web browser, no need to install any software on the computer. I like Wordpress because it's not just for blogs, you can put up loads of organised static pages, and also have a static home page if you want. With a free account you have some limitations, but you can pay a few bucks to have extras such as: - more space and MP3 file hosting - custom CSS, instead of one of their standard themes (though they are pretty good already) - use a top-level domain name that you own, e.g. <band>.com instead of <band>.wordpress.com

[quote name='Monz' post='256849' date='Aug 7 2008, 01:32 AM']2) Status S2 Classic - Not played one yet but everyone I've spoken to rates them highly although all the vids or audio has them being slapped... do they only do that tone?[/quote] [url="http://www.rhinosrevenge.com/"]"Rhino" Edwards[/url] from Status Quo has been playing them for at least as long as he's been in t'Quo... not much slap, pop & tap in the average Quo track! He's playing the [url="http://bulldogbash.eu/"]Bulldog Bash[/url] today with his own band, Woodedz. (Wood Heads?)

[quote name='Alien' post='255321' date='Aug 5 2008, 12:53 PM']Using a 3PDT works, but you get no indication of what's happening. You'd need an extra pole to work a LED.[/quote] I did see your previous post, with your design - I just wanted to put a "concept" passive design out there too. It would avoid the hassle of batteries, but it presupposed that the user can hear the difference between the two settings.

Alternatively, if you fancy a bit of DIY, I've cobbled together a wiring diagram that ought to work. It's passive, but requires a 3-pole dual toggle switch for the A-B / B-A switching, the kind that [url="http://www.wah-wah.co.uk/price4.html"]these guys[/url] have for £ 6.00 each, and I think there are also some on t'Bay. My diagram is a bit rough, thrown together in PowerPoint, but I hope it looks like something: [attachment=11601:AB_BAswitch.gif] (In case it's unclear: the bottom left pin on the 3PDT is connected to both the top right pin and Return 2.)

The new David Byrne / Brian Eno single, [i]Strange Overtones[/i]. Available from their website, [url="http://www.everythingthathappens.com/"]Everything That Happens Will Happen Today[/url]. It's good. Weird, but good.

Hmmm... I know there are expensive systems that can do switch anything in any combination, e.g. the [url="http://www.tcelectronic.com/G-System.asp"]TC Electronics G System[/url] or the [url="http://www.soundsculpture.com/products/switchblade.htm"]Sound Sculpture Switchblade[/url], but I imagine you're looking for something a bit cheaper. You could make one, with parts from Maplin, or get someone else to do it. [url="http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/index2.html"]These guys[/url] (UK) or [url="http://www.loop-master.com/"]these guys[/url] (USA) might be happy to make one up if you ask nicely - or might even do it already. (I can't see it on their websites, but they each make several different types of loop switching pedal.

New, Doiphin Music has a few: e.g. a [url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop/flypage/product_id/14855"]Gretsch[/url] for £350, various Danelectros for £233, plus more expensive MM and PRS models. There are a few on eBay UK at the moment, including a [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Danelectro-Longhorn-Baritone-Electric-Guitar_W0QQitemZ200243715199QQcmdZViewItem"]Danelectro[/url], an [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Brand-New-Epiphone-Les-Paul-Standard-Baritone-black_W0QQitemZ290113509873QQcmdZViewItem"]Epiphone Les Paul[/url], and something called a [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Italia-Modena-D-Man-Baritone-Electric-Guitar_W0QQitemZ360075247686QQcmdZViewItem"]Modena[/url].

a) I'm not entirely certain either. I did it for a while, but reverted to a single battery, because I heard no difference. A heavier player might notice squashed transients. b) You definitely can not remove a battery and go, because the batteries are wired in series. (Unless you installed some kind of bypass shunt in place of the missing battery - NOT a switch, which would turn your bass in to an incendiary device! But since a "dead" battery is still in the circuit and might still be supplying a little voltage, you might not even notice it's dead until the other battery goes. Best answer: carry a battery tester and multiple spares. c) Not really. The EMGs in my bass are really thrifty with battery power, batteries last ages.

Yes, sound cards are built in to PCs, but you didn't say you were using the built-in sound card, so we have to ask. The chipset on the soundcard might be OK, but laptops typically don't have the required sockets to take full advantage, so I wouldn't want to use one of those for serious recording. Your laptop has a combined Mic / Line In socket, and you want it to work as Line In. I [i]suspect[/i] it has some kind of mode switching based on the type of cable you're plugging in: mono or stereo. You say it sounds OK at first, so it sounds like you've got the right basic idea, but something is going wrong intermittently. It sounds like a dodgy cable, to be honest. Have you tried the amp by itself, in to the PC & Audacity? The MP3 player by itself in to the PC? Wiggled the cables any? You might need to change something in the Vista audio settings under "Recording" - not sure, since I don't use Vista. It's a bit much to expect us to tell you exactly what's wrong, since we aren't there and can't see what you're doing. If you learn to sort this stuff out yourself, then you won't be stuck waiting for help from other people.

[quote name='Alastair' post='253160' date='Aug 2 2008, 09:53 AM']You can get even tension across strings on a normal bass by choosing the right gauges though.[/quote] This was discussed in a different thread, which I can't find at the mo (search is down). Standard sets go down in tension on the lower strings, which you can see in the tension figures quoted by e.g. D'Addario on their sets. To get the tension (in pounds or newtons) on a low B the same as a High C, you'd have to use something like a 0.145" or 0.150" gauge = fat and woolly. My view is still that longer scale length is the way to go, if you want tension [i]and[/i] tone.

A speech by Paul Ehrlich: The Dominant Animal: [url="http://fora.tv/media/rss/Long_Now_Podcasts/podcast-2008-06-27-ehrlich.mp3"]Human Evolution and the Environment[/url] Part of the Seminars About Long Term Thinking organised by [url="http://www.longnow.org/"]The Long Now Foundation[/url]. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_R._Ehrlich"]Dr. Ehrlich[/url] is very sobering to listen to, even though his long-term concerns about overpopulation aren't the primary focus of this speech.

I'm interested in trying a couple out. The location of the "normal fret" is something to consider: on the Dingwalls it's the 7th fret, while I've seen a couple of custom jobs where it's the 12th fret, such as [url="http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/2008/07/fanned-fret-bass-guitar.html"]this[/url]. edit: I think I might prefer the Dingwall then, since it would mean less "tilt" at the low end, all other factors being equal - but on the other hand, I wonder about the effect of the right hand position on tone.

[quote name='Wooks' post='251922' date='Jul 31 2008, 11:22 AM']I know that he his basses have the ability to do weird tunings, but I was wondering what does Michael Manring use to get all of his looping sounds?[/quote] I don't know what he's using today, but in the version of Teen Town he did in '98, I can clearly see a couple of [url="http://www.loopers-delight.com/tools/jamman/jamman.html"]Lexicon JamMan[/url] units on top of the amp. These were pretty amazing for their day, and are not to be confused with the later Digitech JamMan.

In case anyone's wondering: [url="http://waltons.ie/waltonsshop/index.php?cPath=60_62&sort=2a&filter_id=27"]Waltons[/url] don't appear to carry any of the 5-string Jazz (or Precision) models - only the Stingray copy, and the weird Yamaha-ish BG205. Compared to Rondo Music, even with shipping from the USA, their prices are getting very un-competitive these days - but Ireland is a lot closer than the USA if you want to try one first-hand.

I've had the experience a few times with Rush, including: [i]Red Barchetta[/i], [i]Middletown Dreams[/i], and (more recently) [i]Far Cry[/i]. Other Rush tracks take me a wee bit longer e.g. I still haven't figured out all of [i]Show Don't Tell[/i] (Presto, 1989).

I studied a bit of theory a while ago, and tried to take it back to its origins in ancient Greece. You can see the results in other threads where I've gone on a bit about harmonics. We know what an octave is, but what's so special about a Major Fifth? Fourth? Third? I honestly feel that current Western musical theory can be a bit too much at times. I have a particular gripe with standard musical notation, which is suited to keyboard instruments, but not fretted instruments, and causes all kinds of hassle with [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposing_instrument"]transposing instruments[/url] such as woodwinds and brass. On the other hand, without some advanced theoretical ideas, we wouldn't have some of our favourite music. When I think of [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterpoint"]Counterpoint[/url] for example, I don't think of Choral music, I think of Yes songs such as [i][url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ-XKP7Vd_0"]Siberian Khatru[/url][/i]. If you listen to what Chris Squire is doing in the middle section (keyboard solo), it helps to remember that Chris actually studied those concepts when he was a member of a church choir.

Not sure I understand the question... the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19-inch_rack"]19-inch rack[/url] isn't just a music industry thing, it actually started in railroads and telecoms and is used in IT as well. It's just a standardised system of dimensions and mounts, so you can mount boxes from different manufacturers in a single housing, which can be fixed or mobile. Screw ten different boxes in to the rack, cable them up, and move them all as one unit. Roadies tend to like the idea.