Dankology

I know nothing about bikes but if Harleys are expensive, idiosyncratic, problematic and make you look cool as fcuk then I'd say you're probably spot on.

Apologies for the needlessly positive post - I know I certainly get more enjoyment from the more negative ones.

Last night was our third rehearsal after an unusally long Christmas break. I'd sent on two or three demos over recent weeks but we'd never actually got round to trying them out together. I gently pushed them forward after we'd warmed up a little and... my God: my cheesy, chintzy instrumental demos were swiftly transformed into *songs*. 

I don't know how they do it but our singer/drummer and guitarist just jumped in and there were instantly lyrics, melodies and structure - and it was good  

Interestingly the structure of one of them immediately changed with what I'd intended as a short outro becoming the verse, the verse the chorus and the middle 8 summarily dismissed. Listening back to the recording now I can't understand what's happening - how we're anticipating each other's moves and I definitely don't know what the bass player is channeling because I'm not sure I can play like that in real life.

And after that we jammed our way into what sounds like it could turn into another song. Then we tried an old one and made a complete pig's ear of it.

An utterly joyous, affirming and revitalising experience. And before anyone thinks I'm turning into some sort of hippy, I fully realise that whatever was conjured last night was the result of three people who have spent their whole lives playing and listening to music, spent years playing with each other (and listening to each other) and, crucially, being daft enough to just try stuff and not be worried about falling flat on our faces.

I thoroughly recommend it. But I really need some tales of unreasonable singers/guitarists/punters to bring me back down to earth now.

Oh my word.

Was toying with the idea of picking up  Precision and thought I might come across a Mexican bargain a few pages in. And now this... I don't think I was even aware of this model before. 

I think my other half is planning a family holiday to Northumberland later in the year - am going to cross fingers you sell before then or else I'm going to have to have some very uncomfortable conversations 😅 

4 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

I can only half-remember one clue... goes something like this: Funnily enough he never played there, just the Isle Of Wight

 

(NB - that was the clue that made me get it)

 

I'm now thinking it looks more like Noel Redding - but he presumably did play in Reading at some point and wasn't part of Hendrix's IoW band 😐

6 hours ago, upside downer said:

 

I find this with 6. Always take a break and then come back to it. I do have a problem with Mary Anne Hobbs in the mid-morning slot. She don't half play a lot of guff and then insists it was "amazing, breathtaking, exquisite".

Yup, MAH is the one presenter I deliberately avoid - between the music she plays and her odd breathy delivery, there isn't much to love.

@Nail Soup - who is it on your shirt? I'd initally assumed it was John Lennon (specs, big nose, surrounded by clouds) but now I'm not so sure. Maybe feed us the original clues...

2 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

Don't leave that hanging!

Aw, it's not so interesting - the whole sorry tale is already recounted here somewhere. 

Suffice to say: singer, delusions of grandeur, writer's block, entire band sacked 🤪 The joy of unexpectedly being played will never leave me though.

I can't complain - the rest of us stuck together and are playing better than ever plus I ended up joining one of my all time favourite bands - sometimes it all works out!

55 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

 

 

Ok, so we're boasting about our 6 music achievements now are we? Good, here I go ! 🙂

 

Couple of comment read out: one Lamaqc (or Lammo as we 6'ers call him 😉) , one Tom Robinson.

Won the Marc Riley "Who's on My T-shirt" a few years ago, including an on air chat with Marc. See picture of the shirt ... can you guess who it is? My favourite band is the Fall so it was big moment for me, but a bit embarassing when he asks who my favourite band is.

Got selected for a feature on Tom Ravenscroft where you pick two songs from a particular year, plus a significant object from that year in your life. On air interview included - pre-recorded though. Both the songs I chose where ones I first heard on John Peel, so was dreading making some clumsy comment/reference about his dad.

(Songs were: "Mind you Own Business by Delta 5, and Heidi's Head by Kleenex)

 

 

 

 

Cool! I won the Iggy Pop one many years ago.

My last band was unexpectedly played on Tom Robinson's show - something that led fairly directly to that band imploding.

Egos are terrible things.

One of the great joys of my life was finally getting a car with DAB radio and being able to listen to 6 Music while driving. Tempered somewhat by this also introducing the Fun Kids station which inevitably wins out on long journeys.

I know things have shifted a little latterly but its initial MO of new stuff, old stuff you might have missed and endless trawling of BBC session/live archives made it my dream station.

I have had a happily small number of bad gigs.

Plan B at Manchester Academy 3 - went due to an amazing acoustic rap style thing on a magazine cover CD but the gig sounded very much like a US boyband and the clientele were edgy to say the least. Plus it was the height of summer and the sweat was dripping from the ceiling. The only gig I've ever walked out of. I must have caught him in some weird in-between stage before the fantastic Strickland Banks album (which features some very satisftying bass playing).

Dylan at Manchester Arena in about 2003 - seats right at the back, got there late (ie normal gig time), no big screens in use so the band were just tiny dots a quarter of a mile away and the sound was incredibly poor with the snare drum reverberating of the back wall so loudly I initially assumed someone was banging their own drum up there. I later picked up a bootleg recording and the performance itself was magnificent.

Evan Dando at the Manchester Ritz a few weeks back - hideously oversold to the point that many people, including us, had no view of the stage whatsoever. Really meant to complain to the venue/promoter about this one - as well as being a crappy experience it was palpably unsafe.

I've saw a fair few underwhelming Fall gigs over the years too but they usually ended up entertaining for non-musical reasons.

I truly feel your pain.

I don't mind other people paying a "stupid tax" because they haven't done their homework but it does sting when they cost me a bargain.

Similar but different: years ago I was bidding on a soundcard - in the final day of the auction a new bidder bid me up to my maximum then spotted that the seller had an identical item for sale and nabbed it for the opening price. This was long enough ago that you saw the full ID of every bidder and winner so I don't think I was shilled. 

I take an almost forensic approach to buying higher value items on Ebay and it narks me to an unreasonable degree when someone blunders in and skews the whole thing.

I do miss the days when Ebay searches didn't account for misspellings too.

The headline set from Glastonbury a couple of years ago is not a bad overview.

The radio broadcast was all over the Internet at the time. Happy to upload it somewhere if anyone needs it.

2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

If there is enough space on the new machine, just copy it out, reformat it and put the files back. you are right, it doesn't write to NTFS, that is a microsoft propriatary licensed format.

Will I then face the same problem when wanting to use it with a PC though?

17 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Whats the format of your HD?

 

Whats your monitor?

The HD is now being recognized after a restart... Although from what I've read, I won't be able to *write* to it (as is NFTS formatted) - although I'm sure I can work around that.

The monitor is a Grundig which I've connected to via its HDMI port. I've found that I can get a fullscreen view by plugging into the living room TV - not ideal but might see me through until I can find a proper monitor (which itself seems like a potential minefield in terms of compatibility). 

16 minutes ago, Jakester said:

 

Wow - the interface was released in 2004! I'm amazed it still works with your Windows PCs at that age. 

 

2007, actually 😎 But it's rock solid and in several ways still outperforms the ubiquitous Focusrite desktop interfaces. I guess it'll just have to be for the PC now. Not sure what to buy now though - much Ebaying to come, no doubt.

The monitor is maybe 10 years old and the interface is an Emu 0404 - both play nicely with all my Windows machines. The hard drive issue is, or course, related to the formating.

Bit galling to have to replace the working screen and interface due to issues that could be addressed in software. But I guess that's the modern way - between the stuff that can't be repaired and the stuff that has obsolescence needlessly baked-in, you're ever tied to buying something new.

[gazes approvingly at the TE amp across the room]

I took the plunge and bought a Mac Mini M1 with 16Gb of RAM on Ebay for a great price.

After the pantomime of initial setup (security codes appearing momentarily on the kids' iPads), I now find that my monitor crops the screen, my interface is not supported due to some sort of security update and my hard drive isn't recognised at all.

I'd prepared myself for the pain of learning new software and workflow but that plus having to shell out for a full set of peripherals may be a bit too much for me.

364

Well, last night and the last few weeks combined.

I've just done 7 dates with the Mighty Wah - something of a thrill as Pete Wylie has long been one of my favourite songwriters. The mini tour was not without its challenges (even as the baby of the band, 6am arrivals back at home are too much for me now) but it was a fantastic experience and it looks like we're already plotting some futher gigs.

Last night was a my own band Dead Tenant playing to an unexpectedly large crowd in the fab little theatre just down the road from where we all live. We were a tiny bit rusty but I'm listening back to the recording as I type and it's all sounding much better than it felt in the moment.

Apologies for multiple photos but you don't get to play with your heroes every day 🙂 B&W ones are from last night.

7 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

@Dankology- can you upload some footage from your hacked GH2 at the bitrate you want to be used. Will see what real world editing experience is like on my macbook to get an idea if you like?

That's a very kind offer - I'll try and find a couple of representative clips for you over the next couple of days. Many thanks!

13 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Could you stretch to a 

...very mysterious! The budget can be fairly elastic but I am a stickler for not overspending on features or capacity I won't necessarily need.

I really don't understand Macs at all...

Am I better looking at an i3 from 2018 or an i7 from 2012?? 

I was looking at Mac Minis around £500:

https://www.hoxtonmacs.co.uk/products/mac-mini-core-i5-3-0ghz-late-2018

Am I in the right ballpark there?

I've used Vegas in various forms since about 2006, I think, but I'm seriously thinking of moving over to an Apple based system for my video editing needs.

I'll be buying secondhand/reconditioned but I've no idea what I should be looking at. We've got a fairly ancient iMac here but I was thinking of going with something less all-in-one.

Currently using three GH2 cameras running hacked firmware so while only HD the bitrates can get a little fierce. What am I looking for here in terms of spec and outlay?

My band accidentally left some gear in a venue last night and can't yet get in touch with anyone there - is there anyone in the vicinity who might be able to pop in for us?

Please send me a direct message if so.

Just before an otherwise great gig last night my Squire VI completely died.

I've opened it up and the connection from the volume pot to the jack is broken - something not beyond even my ham-fisted soldering skills.

But I can't see any evidence of any other connection to the jack other than a blob of solder on the other lug. Does the metal control plate somehow act as the earth connection? And should I add a wire as a proper earth connection too?

And while I've got the soldering iron out, are there any clever mods I might try?

5 hours ago, Johncee said:

Marks docked for getting the words wrong, though. A common fault with versions of this song.

Are they wrong? I'd thought they were based on an early version but have never properly checked...

Still, nothing can beat that "another council tenancy" mis-hearing 😁