Richard R

Hi all, I fancy building a bass, and want it to be something quite different to what I have. I'm toying with the idea of a kit bass but installing a 13-pin MIDI Pickup. Something like this https://kitbuiltguitars.co.uk/guitar-kits/5-string-bass-sr-style-diy-build-your-own-bass-guitar-kit-kbg-5sr-a/, but with the bridge pickup removed and the Roland divided pickup installed permanently. https://www.roland.com/uk/products/gk-kit-bg3/ Obviously this won't make any noise without a guitar or bass synth attached, and this is where I need some advice. Use case: I play in church, so I don't need anything more than the very capable bass I have. But I would like to be able to change the bass sound (fretless, DB etc) for some songs, play synth bass lines occasionally, and have some sampled instruments and other stuff available for special occasions. And being completely honest, I want to building a bass that is definitely something different, but it does then need to be usable and get used. I love the idea of being able to play realistic MIDI sampled sounds from my bass (bagpipes!) , which leads me to something like a Roland MIDI synth (GR-55K, or a GR-30 ? The latter appeals, mainly as it's cheaper 2nd hand, but the former has (apparently) much better sounds and tracking. Are these sensible options? Everyone says that the latency for MIDI on notes below about A is too long. Physics says that the open E 44.1Hz gives a cycle time of 22ms, so if you need two cycles to ensure accurate triggering then that implies 44ms, which I can imagine is a bit long. I play 5 string, so I accept that the low-B is out for MIDI. What have people found to be the lowest notes that play acceptably? COSM - if I understand this correctly this is digitally augmented analogue synth, so doesn't have triggering issues and so can work on low strings. Because it's modelling, not sampled, then the modelled basses and sounds will be pretty good and playable, as will anything "synthy". But trying to make an emulation of something real (horns) might be hard and will probably still sound synthetic compared to a MIDI sample. More Synthy things would be the V-Bass series., but they seem to be very complex. Any opinions of these things? Does anyone have any experience of any of the Roland/Boss synth range and can give me some pointers? I'm very happy to purchase older kit, and to take advice on how to get the best out of these sorts of things. I'm not completely committed to this build yet, but as the synth will be a significant part of the cost I want to have a good idea of what would suit my (ill-defined) needs. Many thanks!

Well that's a long way from Marvin Gaye! 😳

I know nothing about K-pop, other than a half-remembered Sound On Sound article about producers working in the genre. It does sound like extremely competitive hard work!

Welcome aboard! Sounds like you always were a bass player, you were just "diverted" by K-pop. Groove on!

Following!

The red 5 string Brawley on the left, the only bass I play. The 4 string was the first bass I owned, now on permanent loan to my son since I bought the 5. The 5 is nicknamed "Queen Elizabeth ", as it has a fretboard like an aircraft carrier, and weighs about the same. (Actually only 3.8kg, but a lot more than the 4). They are both 35" and the same size, but I only had one stand when I took this.

Nice additions to any collection. 👍

Fortan was pretty damn' impressive back in '77, and was still in use in 1990 for academic work when I had to do some analysis with it. Quite glad to have left it behind. This low-level stuff is super-impressive though.

Bryan Beller's double prog album. Fabulous.

Finally saw Satriani last night, three years and a pandemic later than planned. Excellent concert, but I spent most of it watching the mighty Bryan Beller. Could my playing be improved by hair extensions and a different playing stance?

Welcome aboard!

Joe Satriani- tomorrow night.

Slight problem - it's impossible to read this on a phone in dark mode. Bigger problem - it's been a couple of decades since I programmed anything and so if even I could read it I would just be depressed. The cabbages are doing fine though.

Like that a lot!

Following with interest.

15 lb! That's "very heavy" indeed. Looks the business though 👍

We have a Qu32 and are generally moving to IEM, fed from the desk mix/group outputs. Some people bought their own wireless IEM transmitter/receiver packs (Gear 4 Music own brand I think), but we find they are intermittently hissy. Much more reliable have been the Behringer PowerPlay P2 wired IEM amps. There is a dip switch to select stereo/mono and we run them all as mono. (Stereo is nicer, but uses too many channels). For mixing we either have the engineer do the mix, or people use a phone app over WiFi. The A&H app is OK, and I would recommend that.I use MixingStation as it offers a lot more control, and I can adjust other people's foldback as well. In fact I can run the entire FOH, so we don't recommend it for most musicians. Hope that helps. Anyone who wants to come over to Solihull sometime is more than welcome. We learned by visiting others, so happy to pass on what we know.

This, again. The whole album has such a great groove. Relaxed, but the muscles are there.

Ours were the expensive PTZ optics ones, we were blessed by some generous donations. Not sure what you would get for £300, but digital PTZ are around £600.

How about Monitor O/P, which looks like the obvious output? Hopefully all solved anyway!

That's fantastic! And of course everyone else will also be thinking "Wow, that was good I'd better up my game and make sure I don't let the band down", so you'll all get better together. Let us know when you're playing!

Welcome back!

Welcome aboard! Thurso is a lovely place. Just a shame most of us are too far away from there. Though of course, if we all did live closer then it would spoil the area completely!