PaulWarning

52 minutes ago, bassbloke said:

There's only 1 cover of Sound of Silence that you need to bother with...

 

 

Nah, this one is the only one you need bother with 😀

6 minutes ago, msb said:

 

Leonard got into it as well.

actually that is a passable impersonation of Johnny Cash

only a matter of time before Capt Kirk made an appearance, he may not be a competent musician, but the band and producers were, so I thought I'd get in first

I've had various headphones including the Sennheiser HD280's, for bass response nothing has got close to the Audio Technica ATH-WS110, I practice through my lap top, to play along to tracks, and it sounds great

1 minute ago, Beedster said:

So, after a week or so of listening to their first three albums, I can summarise that the Stranglers make me feel quite........

 

Hopeful  

IMO they went downhill after that (and JJ's bass tone), on the subject of JJ's bass tone, do we really think they mic'd up a ripped speaker cone when they recorded them?

1 hour ago, Mickeyboro said:

Tom Jones appears to still have it… and surrounds himself with great musicians (Dave Bronze, Scott McKeon).

Yep, still got his voice, shame I've never liked anything  he's done

4 hours ago, Misdee said:

Paul McCartney hasn't made any music worth listening to for decades

Maybe that's because old people like me aren't really interested in new music, and young people aren't interested in old farts like Macca, we just want music that reminds us of our youth, ymmv

depends how much you like the artist I suppose, our old guitarist used to say "Punters don't hear what you're playing, they hear what's in there head" not always true but I knew what he meant, I think Elton John was right to retire (if he has), but then I don't like him very much, I did think Macca should have retired but his Glastonbury set changed my mind, his voice is not the same as it was and he got a lot of help from the backing singers but it was very enjoyable all the same. The Stones are a funny one, Jagger's voice still seems to be on the money but I don't think Keef can play guitar very much any more, not surprising when you look at the state of his finger joints but I don't think many of their fans think they should pack it in.

The bottom line is, if people still want to go and see them why not carry on? if people don't, don't go, simple really

10 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

The other reason why the bass (and drums) are quieter than anything produced since that advent of the 16 track tape recorder, is that they would have been committed to tape early on in the recording process and become further buried in the mix with each bounce required to get The Beatles vision for their songs achieved with only 4 tracks available.

 

Out of interest how are these new mixes being produced? Do they have access to all the unbounced tapes (I believe that bounces were made between recorders onto a new reel of tape rather than onto a spare track and then the bounced tracks over recorded)? I suspect that there will still be a fair amount of instruments that share a single track simply because doing it that way reduces the number of times the tracks need to be bounced.

blurb from the link above
All the new Revolver releases feature the album’s new stereo mix, sourced directly from the original four-track master tapes. The audio is brought forth in stunning clarity with the help of cutting edge de-mixing technology developed by the award-winning sound team led by Emile de la Rey at Peter Jackson’s WingNut Films Productions Ltd. 

On another note, Revolver contains my favourite Beatles track (and John Peel's) 'And Your Bird Can Sing' so I will be looking forward to hearing that

Must admit I was sceptical about this, are there going to be endless remixes every time technology moves on a bit? but having listened to it there is obviously a significant improvement.

One thing has always struck me about remixes in general, the bass is always more prominent, I'm guessing because originally it couldn't be too loud because of the limitations of vinyl, but that is not the case with the improvement over the 2015 remix of this track.

I won't have to buy it though, thanks to spotify, having got the original LP I think I've paid my bit to the Beatles coffers 

I use a USA precision and have got Vintage V4 for practice and a back up, aside from some frets not rolled off properly on the dusty end underside, blind fold me and I wouldn't be able to tell one from the other

a pro player will sound good using almost any gear, just as a poor player will sound rubbish not matter how expensive their gear is

25 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

For me there is a very important distinction between albums that are great when listened to as a whole from start to finish, and albums where you can listen to each song individually and out of context and think every one of them is a brilliant song.

 

This has been very much brought home to me when I do my annual compilation of my favourite songs of the year. Many times there are albums that I have really enjoyed when listening to them as albums, but when I come to pick an individual song from any of them, there are none that stand out enough to warrant inclusion on my "best of" compilation. Often the songs that make it through are those from albums that that I rarely enjoy listening to from start to finish, but once removed from the surrounding filler are recognisable as great tracks.

 

Therefore, for me, the "perfect" album is one which is not only brilliant when listened to as an album, but also one where you can pick out any track at random and think it is great on it own. Very few albums meet this criteria.

IMO, There's nearly always a track on album that I think "Could have done without that one", when I was thinking of an album where I really liked every track I was thinking there must be a Beatles album, being a big Beatles fan, you know what? there's always a track or two I could do without, even Revolver, don't really like Eleanor Rigby or Yellow Submarine, with Rubber Soul it's Michelle

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

Luckily I’ve not seen this type of behaviour at Rebellion.

Probably a combination of it both being indoors and punks & skins being just that little bit more cultured & civilised.

I suspect that is more to do with the fact that the average age at Rebellion is considerable higher than Reading, I've just returned from Stone Valley, no hint of trouble there either 

I've found I can get fairly near by using EQ, but not increasing the bass but cutting the treble,  of course there's not a lot you can do about the faster attack you get with a pick, I don't think Macca sounds like he's playing with a pick

14 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

This 👆 is wisdom, but the downside is the risk of attempting to gild pure gold, and paint the lily. Better can become the enemy of Good, unless one is disciplined enough to know when enough is enough. Just sayin'. 

yep, you can keep tinkering for ever, sometimes the first few takes are the best, I remember reading John Lennon saying to George Martin that he could have improved all the Beatles tracks, "no you couldn't John" or something like that was George's reply, although some on here would agree with Lennon 😊

8 minutes ago, Nicko said:

Just wondering if mine is the norm, or if others use a different approach.

 

Basic bits of the song lodge in my head, or I'll have a verse and no chorus.

Write some lyrics if using a vocal

Lay down a simple drum track (basically select a pre-programmed beat and set a tempo)

I record a rough version of the main theme, guitar* and bass **

I record a rough version of the chorus, guitar and bass, or plug away endlessly until I find one if the song needs it

Put a vocal over the main theme and chorus

Cut and paste the rough versions into a song format

Add the vocals over the rough song, writing more or rewording to fit

Re-record the guitar parts - if I get it bang on on one verse and chorus I might copy and paste it that over to all the verses rather than play the song all the way through.  Sometimes I have to tidy up the transitions and sometimes the rough version is good enough.

Lay the bass down - in the same way - very occasionally I'll play all the way through and put in variations.

Spend a bit more time trying to get the sound I want - always finding it elusive. ***

Edit or re-program drums 

Mix

Seek assurance from Mrs Nicko that the mix is OK, and that the whole thing isn't complete pants.

 

* at this point I get stuck for hours trying to find the right sound for the guitar and to a lesser extent the bass,  Often I settle for something that isn't what I want because I cant get the sound I think I want.

** sometimes I lay down a bass idea with a guitar rather than a bass especially if a melody idea ends up sounding better as bass.

*** by the time I get to this the song has taken over my brain like the worst earworm ever and I can think of little else.  I convince myself it's actually good even if it isn't.

 

I usually write the song and lyrics (usually start off with a rough lyric) on acoustic guitar, then sort of follow what you do using audacity.

And yes, by the time you've finished you've lost all sense of perspective and you think you've written a masterpiece, err, no you haven't 🤕

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Thanks for that! My question was more around the position of the Evox 8 PA on the stage ie was it in a backline position, which avoids the need for stage monitoring, or in a more traditional FOH position? 

 

PaulS had his Evox8 set up as backline and managed to avoid feedback from the vocal mic. Just wondering if others have similarly done this? 

I've often wondered about the perceived wisdom of having the speakers in front of the band, our singer spends a lot of his time running round the crowd with his wireless mic without any feedback problems

the only time mine's noisy is when I'm using my ridiculously overdriven Lemmy patch and then I can get it reasonably quite by using  the ZNR noise reduction effect

the other week I played a gig where the previous band left a big 4 x 12 cab for me to stack my gear on, it meant that my top cab was literally at ear level, I've never heard such a clear trebly bass sound before, really easy to hear what I was playing, it was going through a FOH PA as well, so I wasn't concerned that it sounded that trebly out front.

At a gig at the weekend someone else used my rig, took the treble off and was using a Jazz bass (I use a P), to me it sounded horrible, all booming low end, again going through FOH PA, hope I didn't sound like that

a singer that has a 'distinctive' voice  can make a band, other wise they'd all sound like an X Factor winner, whether they're someone's taste is purely personal opinion, I like Liam Gallagher's voice for instance 

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

Wasn`t The Empress Ballroom was it Paul, the sound in there is usually pretty rotten imo.

think so, Bad Religion on the first night was awful, Sham 69 a couple of nights later was spot on

a few years ago went to Rebellion, the sound on the first night was awful, sounded like they'd got a reverb on the kick, my mate went up to the sound desk to complain and the sound engineer just pointed at the ceiling and shrugged his shoulders, by the 3rd night the sound was spot on in the same venue

much as Rhino is an accomplished bass player, Quo were never the same without Alan Lancaster, it just seemed all wrong to me, a headless bass and finger playing 😝