Leonard Smalls

Not all musicals are absolute cack. Just most of them!

However, most Hollywood films are dribbling with the most tasteless of cheese, and often define lowest common denominator!

Personally I feel that musicals tend toward both the worst of music and the worst of cinema/theatre...

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1357892070' post='1930004'] Slightly OT, but I recently read in another thread that it is not a good idea to put pedal FX in your amp's effects loop - and that these are designed for "line level" rack units. I've never heard that before and just wondered what people's experience was in that area? [/quote] I hadn't heard that either, but spose it makes sense! My Qtron seems to work fine there, though it distorts rather easily. I'll do another fiddle and see whether the Rocktron and Qtron should be in line with the bass, and FX770 into the FX loop...

I use a Yamaha FX770 as a pre-amp and compressor with 5 presets in it. The I use a Rocktron Utopia immediately after that - most used sounds are distortion, wah, phase, octave and chorus, and in the amp FX loop I have a QTron just in case it needs that little bit extra...

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1357659210' post='1926167'] I remember reading interviews with loads of producers and musicians in "International Musician & Recording World" in the 70's and 80's and they all seemed to mix using auratone cubes, which was a tiny plastic speaker and apparently gave them an idea of what their music would sound like on a transistor radio. As that was where most people heard music, it seemed logical, as if it sounded good on a tiny radio, it would sell more. [/quote] Many studios use a Yamaha NS11 for that; as the NS11 is officially the most unpleasantly screechy speaker in the world, the reasoning goes that if it sounds good on those, it'll sound good on anything! However, when I worked in TV post production studios some mixers would only mix on the NS11s, and ignore the main speaks. Which meant that some mixes had vastly overblown bass and huge cut in treble! Bit like Dr. Dre headphones

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1357652034' post='1925997'] There's a world below 'bottom' E! Used to be, back in the good old days anyway (return to 1st post in this thread) [/quote] I've had fun with PAs before by setting my octaver to 1 down... And I've got a pair of emergency fallback hifi speakers that can easily cope with it!

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1357651443' post='1925975'] Ever heard an MP3 of a 38Hz sine wave? [/quote] Who needs 38Hz anyway. After all the lowest note you can get (i.e. bottom E on a proper bass guitar) is only 41Hz. Any lower and you're weird, or an organist!

I gave up listening to music years ago; I only listen to test tones nowadays as at least they're properly recorded!

At least, on the plus side, vinyl sales are up!

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1357646381' post='1925807'] Heh maybe BRX, maybe. But look at it this way, compact cassette was the mp3 of its day, and that was terrible, it had apalling hiss that no amount of Dolby or any other noise reduction system really dealt with without drasticaly removing the top end. [/quote] Listen to a Nakamichi Dragon! [quote] Along comes the SOny Walkman (the original was pretty huge) making music listening 'portable' - at the expense of quality - [/quote] Pro Walkman was an excellent piece of kit; record and playback were almost as good as the Nakamichi! [quote] and Philips digital tape (can I hear you say Betamax) [/quote] I heard excellent sounds from DCC once - though to be fair it was using an Ongaku On amp and Tannoy Westminster Royale speakers, around £60k worth! [quote] Its not the music thats done this, its the tech IMO.... [/quote] It's a throwaway, want it now with no effort on my part world!

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1357638255' post='1925605'] Would that be the room that accidentally has no parallel walls in by any chance [/quote] Funnily enough it is! Both exterior walls slope outwards, as you can see from the TT shelf, the partition wall behind the speakers (Leema Xaviers, btw, -3dB at 28Hz) is lats and plaster, and the other "wall" is a stone inglenook fireplace. [quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1357642987' post='1925707'] I always favoured buying more music when I was younger rather than getting a decent stereo. The quest for finding great albums was greater than the desire to hear them sounding at their best. [/quote] I spent my whole 1st term at uni's grant on a stereo, then much of the 2nd and 3rd term grants on music. And so it's continued, with 3 burglaries when I lived in Harlesden contributing to the upgrade path! (thanks insurance and 2nd hand market...)

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1357636146' post='1925566'] Well, they were Sennheiser earphones. Wasn't much pleased with them. My previous Philips sports earphones beat the crap out of the sennheisers by a long way, and they were only £20. [/quote] Perhaps they didn't fit your ears as well? Or you happened to have the duffer in Sennheiser's range? Or perhaps they just showed up source limitations?

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1357635810' post='1925555'] I automatically avoid headphones that say bass on them, because i know they are trying to appeal to the ravers when they write that, not the bassists, who know the difference [b]between a bass frequency, and a bass guitar[/b]. [/quote] Between a hump in response at 70ish Hz to make it sound bassy (like Beats), and true bass reproduction and extension...

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1357635670' post='1925553'] I spent £35 on earphones, and i still think they are crap. [/quote] You should get pretty reasonable sound from £35 headphones by a reputable manufacturer (i.e. one who makes headphones). Frinstance, the Sennheiser PX 'phones at £25ish will beat the crap out of £100 Skullcandys. And £45 iGrados are a lot more real than £300 Dr dre beats!

[quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1357605666' post='1925401'] I think part of the issue is that people don't know what good sounds like, as all the music they hear generally comes on tv - which is generally set up to pump out plenty of boom and tizz, because that is what a lot of current music uses in it's soundscape. Also, Kids don't listen to music the way I certainly used to - buying an album, reading the sleeve and sitting down to listen to it a side at a time. Music is disposable wallpaper, [/quote] Aye! I played the Kraftwerk "Minimum Maximum" live DVD to a youth t'other day. Previously he'd been going on about the ultimate sound quality of his Beats 'phones/iPod and the "awesome bass" of his Logitech 5.1 computer audio system. He's now going to go and buy a proper stereo like this one!

Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston. Nice!

[quote name='nottswarwick' timestamp='1357253243' post='1920042'] It's on itv again now fyi [/quote] That reminds me, must nip out and clean the gutters...

I wasn't able to watch it as my dog's teeth needing flossing...

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1356900789' post='1914997'] My land rover defender short wheel base is rubbish - no internal room at all I can get a guitar, amp, and two cabs, but not much more. I can get my drum kit into it if I need to, but I then have stands and seats and stuff sticking into me in painful ways. If I didn't have dogs and live up a dirt track I'd have an estate any day [/quote] I used to have a series 3 SWB which had an extra 6" of room in the back. However, it didn't have 5th gear (so max speed of 45ish), and was nowhere near as reliable as the defender. But then the Defender is a TDi200, which is probably the best incarnation, with Odyssey 1000Ah battery. And it doesn't rust from underneath as I waxoyl it every spring at a cost of about £70... As for on-road manners, you can't drive it and expect it to be like an average motor. It's designed to be a tractor - if you can keep up 60mph on ordinary roads you're doing well! But I find most folks in normal cars can't keep up 60mph; personally I'd be embarrassed if I couldn't keep up with a Defender, especially if it's on Lassa mud'n'snow tyres, but some folks appear to have no shame!

[quote name='goblin' timestamp='1356886769' post='1914749'] Skoda Octavia Scout? Well specced, fair amount of space, 4WD and the 140bhp 2.0 TDi CR has a pretty good poke too it as well. Or if you're something bigger and classier, the Superb is also available in Estate variant with 4WD (and a bigger engine). When my Fabia was in the dealer on Christmas Eve I had a look around one, it's bloody massive and got the same kit as Beemers. Having reluctantly gone from VW to Skoda ownership, it has to be said, Skoda really have hit the nail on the head since VW took over! [/quote] My 4x4 Octavia estate is most excellent - I've done over 100k miles in mine...

It was either no electrics, or no brakes. Engine was fine otherwise! I've got an '87 Defender that's never broken down yet...

I had a Lada Niva in council orange many years ago. Whike it was great fun, and excellent off road it most certainly wasn't reliable! I got very good value from my AA membership while I had it....

I can do that in my skoda!

I've got a Skoda Octavia 4x4 estate... Loads of room in the back, and we live 1000 feet up, with access by a 1 in 3 single track road. It's never gor stuck in snow, though I once spun it by being over-enthusiastic on ice, and that's on summer tyres! if it gets stopped from going over the very top of the hill by drifts I've got a Defender with 2" lift and mud'n'snow tyres, though there's actually more room in the octavia and you don't have to lift stuff as high to get it in... As it's petrol, fuel economy isn't very good (there is a diesel available!) but as the chap from out local Shropshire garage said "er's got some poke!" And it handles very well - definitely gives my Alfa Giulietta a run for its money.