MartinB

Completely ignoring the rhythmic and melodic aspects for a second... The lowest pitch is important for how our brains make sense of chords. If a guitarist plays the notes C-E-G-A and the bassist plays a C, then it'll sound like a C6 overall, because the C is lowest. But if the bassist plays an A, the harmony will sound like an Am7. The same four notes are being played, but our brains use the lowest one to give the others context. And since the bassist* is usually playing a lower pitch than the guitarist, they're generally in charge. You could have a whole song where the "chord" played by the guitar never changes, but the harmony still goes through a sequence of chords because that's what the bassline makes us hear. It's a big simplification - melody is important too - but that's the basic idea. * Or pianist's left hand, or organist's feet, etc. - whoever's got the lowest notes, wins!

The Skatalites

😮 Can't believe I missed this! I'm having a listen now - it's cracking stuff. Thanks!

The silver looks a bit too bluey-greeny to me. But the copper is gorgeous! 🤤

My favourite album release of 2020 was In Search Of The Lost City Of The Monkey God by The Sorcerers: https://sorcerers.bandcamp.com/album/in-search-of-the-lost-city-of-the-monkey-god https://open.spotify.com/album/2kGJhogMhGMyRiubKx0rlt?si=ZuD4ppoyThWpFwPjRVKbUw It's like a retro jazzy library music soundtrack for a forgotten b-movie, with some lovely tight bass-and-drum grooves. Honourable mentions: stoner/doom Mellified Man by Warrior Pope (Mr Foxen of this parish) https://warriorpope.bandcamp.com/album/mellified-man https://open.spotify.com/album/0dYnZqVsDRLD9PlrLY9og6?si=VbZn4Zk2SGiCoLzE55YBmw Crushingly heavy, tuneful and concise. Viscerals by Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs https://pigspigspigspigspigspigspigs.bandcamp.com/album/viscerals https://open.spotify.com/album/15CVkItclaGrn0xLr16Qw0?si=dOHw9DDjSzKFS6n_CjnQOg Big Sabbathy riffs. Disappointed to have missed them live a couple of times - they're apparently really good. Honourable mentions: surf/instro The Celestial Sounds Of The Space Agency by The Space Agency https://thespaceagency.bandcamp.com/album/the-celestial-sounds-of-the-space-agency Long-awaited collection of vintagey twang and fuzzy psych. And they're also lovely people! 😄 Sunworshipper by The Spiratones https://thespiratones.bandcamp.com/album/sunworshipper Melodic, catchy surf, garage and spy stuff. Hoping to make it up to Ulverston to gig with these lads once things get a bit closer to normal 🤞 Honourable mentions: indie Every Bad by Porridge Radio https://porridgeradio.bandcamp.com/album/every-bad https://open.spotify.com/album/4DN3XbB33kHTJA7HhI0RFI?si=ah4hqgk_SK-mvNW_Fr7Uvg Marmite! I can't decide whether they're interestingly raw and honest, or insufferably arty and bigheaded 🤔 All Or Nothing by Shopping https://shoppingfc.bandcamp.com/album/all-or-nothing https://open.spotify.com/album/3jgAzjCrL8Xf9gXmIyMeQq?si=XiSJFTMxSYiZlj-W6pvULQ I can't resist a bit of wiry post-punk, and this lot do it really well.

Love it!

I had a dig around for info on the Sonic IR, as it looks like a challenger to the current smallest/simplest/cheapest IR box (Nux Mini Studio, ~£55). One thing I found on an old Aliexpress listing is that the total internal memory is 236 KB, which may or may not be a problem depending on the size/number of files you want to use.

Not my cup of tea. It's an odd choice of song to cover in that style. The original wasn't massively tuneful, but it got by on funk and aggression. Take those out, and there's not much left...

Yeah, I think the white one is likely to be a >2018 '60s Precision Bass (made in Indonesia), as opposed to the fiesta red >2008 Precision Bass '60s (made in China).

If the IR loader is any good, it's a bargain for that alone!

youtu.be (share) links seem to work ok:

Great story! There was a Reverb article recently with some similar tales: https://reverb.com/uk/news/when-studio-mistakes-created-music-magic

Legal considerations aside, why not just be up-front about it in the advert? "We're looking for a 30-something man, because our agents say this will get us more gigs" makes it clear that the decision is commercial. Whereas "No women, teenagers or fogeys" sounds like you're weirdly prejudiced 😆

Potentially! It's a Shin-Ei Wah King, which was sold under various brand and product names in different markets. I think some of Shin-Ei's vintage pedals are (rightly or wrongly) perceived as rare and unique-sounding, so you might have a nice little nest egg there.

I bought a compressor to limit peaks when playing slap. Turns out I also really like it for adding a certain bouncy magic to fingerstyle!

A better bass player? You mean like: "The guitarist writes all the bass parts, and they're perfect for the song/arrangement/genre - nothing needs to be added or taken away. They can play those bass parts perfectly, but I cannot." Nope. Hasn't happened to me. I'm sure your ex-guitarist doesn't really deserve to be piled on by internet strangers... but let's just say that he doesn't come across well in that video! 😆

Maybe your bass sounds awful through your amp, but your GK cab's voicing compensates to make it sound good. If that was the case, the Peavey cab is just being "honest". It's a shame there's no headphone out on the amp to test it. Have you tried running the amp's line out into an interface/desk? I've got one bass that sounds great through a DI box. I've got another that needs plenty of EQ from an amp and/or cab to sound great. Neither is better or worse than the other - just different ways to achieve a good sound.

It's possible to boost voltage - it's pretty common for pre-amp pedals to do this internally, from 9V to 18V or whatever. I think the term is a "charge pump"? Anyway, there's a cable that does this, allowing you to power 9V pedals from a 5V USB source: https://www.songbirdfx.com/products/birdcord/

Good luck! If you've already got the gear to do two tracks at once, there's no harm in having a go at lining up 1+2 and 3+4 manually before you go spending any money. I just wouldn't get your hopes up 😄 Behringer UMC404HD is probably as cheap as you'll find for a new 4-input interface (~£100)

☝️ Beg, borrow or steal a 4-input interface if you can. Not only can the playback speed vary, but that variation keeps changing over time. Trying to manually line up continually-shifting tracks is a massive pain in the derrière.

The article in the OP has been updated with a clarification from Facebook. Selected highlights: Doesn't sound too different from Twitch, YouTube etc, at least for band purposes. I'd like to see a statement about soundtracking a video with recorded music that you own the rights to, but I'm guessing that doesn't apply to the majority that they're going after..

If I had a car, I'd be delighted that big, heavy, great-sounding gear is cheaper than ever! But since I use public transport, I'm relieved that small, light, great-sounding gear is also available. Bulk (volume) is almost as important as weight. An 8x10 cab isn't going to fit on the bus no matter how lightweight it is!

The varnish itself is probably safe, but I've definitely melted pickup covers with nail varnish remover (acetone) before.

Looks like it was released this year, which was unfortunate timing. At 500W it's more than most people need for recording/home use, and I don't imagine many folks have been investing in gigging amps recently!

"Brit" isn't a derogatory term, so probably not. I'm sure some bands would take umbrage at being labelled "Pop" though 😆