ShergoldSnickers

Great use of dynamics - both delicacy and power in 'Always' for example and a really great snare sound on all the tracks. It cracks out just as it should. Good solid bass work too. Personally, I'd prefer to hear just a tad more boost in the lowest registers on the bass as I think that would fill out the bottom end nicely. More an observation than a criticism. The sound gets a little sharp and forward on some of the guitar and sax but that's just down to EQ and my personal taste. I listened to all the songs - and I try to make a habit of doing that to all the bands posting in this section, it's just rude to pass comment without doing so isn't it? Verdict: I reckon with a few more gigs under your belts you'll have a very polished band with great potential that is undoubtedly there. Enjoyed the change in 'My Faith' an unexpected surprise. A big thumbs up here.

Again, the style of music isn't what I'd usually listen to but I can appreciate the standard of musicianship. A really good example of this genre. Impressive. Anyone up for explaining 'tight as a gnat's chuff'...? Oh well, here goes... A gnat - a small winged insect Chuff - a slang word for anus Voilà - your band is very tight and together in the same way a gnat's anus would be A really good thing for a band to be! Edit: beaten to the click by GreeneKing

Anyone whose foot doesn't instantly start tapping to 'Cheap' is soul-less! That one would get me bouncing off the walls at a live gig. Not an easy feat at my age. The exuberance really comes over. It isn't absolutely perfect from a technically musical point of view. Frankly, it doesn't matter. It does it for me regardless. Preferred 'Cheap to 'Lately', but both show off the fact you are enjoying yourselves and that counts with me. From a recording point of view - the vocal sound needs a bit of work to iron out the peaky sound - there's an over prominence in the higher mid to treble area. The rest is basically pretty good though.

Having had time to digest the content, I can immediately see where you were going with this project. Easy to understand and grasp, and honest in the assessment of it's success. In some ways the perfect experiment, leaving scope for further development whilst showing promise in that achieved so far. The initial aim is a really good one - to show how preservation of the original signal might be aided by careful mic technique. This is a vastly neglected area, and careful placement can give benefits out of all proportion to the short time taken in being careful. In decades gone past it was one of the only ways of adjusting the sound, and the lessons seem to have been lost. Hopefully this will help revive interest in attention to detail in mic placement. It has with me. Excellent.

[quote name='charic' post='190608' date='May 2 2008, 03:12 PM']Just a tip, microphones dont pick up the same as what you hear. Best method if trying to find the "sweet spot" headphones and microphone in hand. [/quote] The b*ggers on the desk only told me that afterwards. I was young(er), full of rash confidence and the victim of one of those tricks old lags pull on the easily swayed. The good thing was that on this occasion I was able to tell em where to stick the mic. Literally.

As someone who has spent time with his head in a bass drum to find the sweet spot, yes I reckon a copy would be useful. PM sent.

Aphex Bass Xciter arrived today - well packed and in top notch condition. If retail outlets dealt as smoothly as this, then there'd be unemployed Trading Standards officers littering the pavements! Excellent to deal with. Cheers, Nick. Snicks

[url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/?page=shop/browse&category_id=309beaf75b8a7a65c4bea1c6c3ddeb10"]Good range of alternatives here[/url] Most should be suitable for bass.

Just a few notes on recording the drums. 1. To get a really good kit sound - you need a good kit. OK, pretty obvious, but just make sure all the drums are properly tuned, anything that needs oiling is oiled etc. 2. To get a really good kit sound you need to start with some good overheads. Everything else for the kit will hang of this sound. I have a Rode NT4 stereo condenser - a good bang for buck ratio. Its a cinch to set up - no fear of phase problems from having two single mics too far apart when other kits mics are brought in. It's positioned about a foot or two higher than the highest cymbal and gives a natural sounding stereo image. Two condensers in an [url="http://www.recording-microphones.co.uk/XY-coincident-stereo.shtml"]XY config[/url] would do also. Pan one mic right, one mic left, instant natural stereo image. The xy method is not all there is - it's just that I find it most convenient in the form of a ready made stereo mic. When mixing, you start with the overhead sound, and bring in everything else on the kit bit by bit. Crap overhead sound? Crap kit sound on mixdown. Oh one last thing - don't forget to remove the straight jacket from the drummer.

Yes! Listened to it yesterday, again today. All the better for having been done live and a damn good recording too. Cracking stuff urb. Rhythm section sorted, space for all the other instruments and vocals to fit into the mix - excellently done sir! Snicks. Edit: It's just struck me - the recording sounds reminds me of the punch and clarity Grace Jones got on the 'Living my Life' album.

We've added a keyboard player and [url="http://web.mac.com/ianhalstead/Desperate_Din/"]I've added some more recordings...[/url] The new ones are from 'Sports Desk' and below. This rehearsal was a real mixed bag - my playing was generally off, the drummer kept losing the feed for his in-lug monitoring, and we were trying out a new keyboard player. Some strong musical ideas came from it - just badly played! Worth it for the catalogue of mistakes alone. The last few minutes of Sports Desk, Cleanse The Lobes and parts of Vimto Socks are the strongest. The rest? The pointless meanderings of madmen again I'm afraid. Used a GarageBand chorus setting on a couple of em, and now I'm getting the urge to look at multi-effects. Oh cock. More expense.

First the good news – the bass parts are the strongest parts. This isn't just bias either, some really nice tight playing there. I'd agree with birdy that the drum parts sound odd. Too processed and slightly synthetic, the individual components sound too eq'd. A good kit sound has an air of naturalness about the sound, smooth and unpeaky. I noted your comments on the recording of the drums though. The sounds on Hero are better, but you lose the human element. Swings and roundabouts really. The guitar levels in Maggie May might be a tad too high as well. Not by much, but the rhythm guitar tends to get in the way of the vocals on occasions. The solo guitar could be brought back a tad too. There's a slight amount of compression pumping creeping in sometimes too - I can hear the vocals depressing the kit volume. Or at least I think I can – I have a crap cold at the mo' and me ears are slightly blocked.... what? ...pardon?

I've just thrown my bass away. Seriously difficult stuff carried off with aplomb. I can't get my [i]brain[/i] to go that fast never mind the soddin' fingers. Sing Your own Anthem has a bit of everything in the mix, Jaco, Frank Zappa (the musical feel, not the bass obviously), Stanley Clarke...

What I said last time only more! [quote]It all hangs together really well, and although I'm hardly your target demographic I was bitten. Love the bass sound[/quote]

Understated bass playing that just fits the context perfectly. Very tasteful violin on The Fear, just enough to leave me wanting more. Great bass sound that underpins everything on all the tracks. A quality job. The only criticism I have is that the keyboards are too busy sometimes, and would be better off leaving a bit more space for the guitar and vocals. Minor though. Excellent otherwise.

I can forgive the slightly dodgy sound quality - beyond your control by the looks of it - but the music shone through regardless. Thumbs up. Was the interview room heated? - there's condensation on the drummer's breath!

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='171261' date='Apr 7 2008, 11:24 AM']Auratones (fullrange single speakers) were common when people still had transistor radios or mono boomboxes, and later the NS10 became popular as a representation of a bookshelf speaker...[/quote] I remember those – Auratones... terrible things in terms of accuracy but they did sound surprisingly 'musical'. Never got on with the Yams, just awful. I think the idea of monitoring for some average domestic system was utterly futile. As you say, far better to go for as much accuracy as possible and miss out on a bit of bass extension by using good nearfields. Add a sub as suggested or get some proper (and probably expensive) hi-fi speakers if you want the extension. A good pair of headphones provides a second check. I'd recommend ones from the [url="http://www.gearcrave.com/buyers-guide/features/interviews/gearcrave-guest-bill-keyser-talks-grado-headphones/"]Grado[/url] range. The SR80s are more than up to the job.

[quote name='OldGit' post='169118' date='Apr 3 2008, 02:03 PM']A bass player mate used to crack out the Captain Pugwash tune.[/quote] I used to do the sailors hornpipe bit from..... the dreaded Tubular Bells. Right, I'm off now to see if I can remember it.

We use a Korg D888 8 track digital recorder. The bass goes straight in from an Aphex Punch Factory pedal via the XLR output, the guitar is miked up, and the drums use a Rode NT4 stereo condenser for an overhead with an AKG D112 for the bass drum. We also have a CAD m179 condenser located to pick up the snare, so we can add a touch of reverb without affecting the rest of the kit. We now have a keyboard player and the remaining two tracks are taken up with this. Results? Well, try not to listen too much to the 'music' as it will seriously damage your mental stability, but we don't think the actual sound is too bad. It certainly captures everything in a way we are happy with. [url="http://web.mac.com/ianhalstead/Desperate_Din/"]Listen here.[/url] PS Yes, 'Sandwich Spread' is our signature 'tune'.

Absolutely cracking stuff and a great sound. Just brilliant. So glad the music has been sensitively recorded and not had the life squeezed out of it by overproduction/compression etc, you guys deserve some real attention - dynamic, thoughtful and fresh sounding. Instant fan here guys.

[quote name='tayste_2000' post='167132' date='Mar 31 2008, 07:28 PM']Hey guys please check out my album sampler on www.myspace.com/ourinnocencelost Please also show it to any disillusioned teenage kids you may know Thanks[/quote] It all hangs together really well, and although I'm hardly your target demographic I was bitten. Love the bass sound. What's the instrument? One minute it sounds like a Precision, the next like a Rick. Snicks

[quote name='jakesbass' post='166249' date='Mar 30 2008, 10:55 AM']Don't look so scared, it's ok, come in, we don't bite. Right are you feeling comfy....? I'll begin. I played an NS once (had to borrow in emergency) did a whole gig on it. Given that I'm usually an acoustic player (on double that is) I have to say the ease of play and the sound it produced were excellent. Also I have a student from BC who has a Stagg which in action and string tension is closer to a double bass and again the sound is good. When it comes to lessons you don't need many, its just a good idea to learn how to properly use your left hand most efficiently for two reasons : 1. done right its less effort and less injury prone 2. its much easier to maintain good intonation. on the second point, bad intonation is bad enough on acoustic, amplified its truly awful. If you troll the EUB/double forum you will find various bits of advice (some of it really good) from different people, me included, and I'm more than happy to answer specific questions if you come across any difficulties (should you decide to go ahead) Best of luck whichever way you turn. Jake[/quote] When (more if, really ) I get the money together I now know where to come, and who to ask for advice. Quite reassuring really. One day...

[quote name='Shockwave' post='164345' date='Mar 27 2008, 11:29 AM']Hey guys. This is my first ever clip of me playing online by myself. Be gentle I was using my Hudson cheapo 6 string that i picked up for 200 bones. Alot of people felt that the electronics and pups werent gonna be great, i think they sound pretty good [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LpXLRhhrAM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LpXLRhhrAM[/url] Rob.[/quote] It really does sound fine to my ears. Just goes to show what a 'cheapo' bass can do. Could do with a longer clip to give any meaningful appraisal of you playing, but from that short clip you appear to have non of the really bad habits I've acquired, and some good ones I haven't. Good playing. More please...