Leonard Smalls

Funnily enough, I normally fast forward through abut 80% of the show, this week I only FFwded through the bloke with his guitar and that tedious 10000 Maniacs woman thingummy..

Careful now! I started by buying a Focusrite 2i2 in order to email basslines to the rest of the band. Then I started to play with the free Ableton that came with it. Then I entered a daft ditty into the Basschat composition challenge. Now I'm going to buy a keyboard and a full Ableton!

Done my homework sir! [url="https://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/bagitup"]https://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/bagitup[/url] Might have worked in last month's comp as well. I must apologise for the lack of any melody, just a single riff and key!

PC only... Still not sure about EZ Drummer; would I be better spending the money upgrading to Ableton intro for the extra tracks and sequencing capability? And there's always Looperman!

Tempted by a Novation SL 49 key - I doubt I'll need the full concert keyboard!

Perhaps I need to upgrade to the full Ableton, as editing is a bit limited on the Lite version - or maybe I just haven't learned how to do it yet. Cut'n'paste copying of small sections of a track seems to be not possible! I'm also tempted by a keyboard as well, simply to add other instruments without relying on a laptop keyboard and to enter drum patterns.

I'm going to stick with Ableton for the mo as I don't want to learn another programme - my upgrade to the full version. And I thought EZ drummer was £90ish? Do you need a special input device or does it have presets you can add to? What about makes of keyboard, especially with sequencers on board? Would I be better off just getting a drum machine?

I'm pretty new to all this home studio lark... I've got a Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 which comes with Ableton Lite, which I'm slwly coming to terms with. However, as I'm quite enjoying it, I might need more kit... Frinstance, I'd either like a limitless (!) drum sample library which I can then splice together to make drum tracks. Failing that, an easy way to make decent drums, bearing in mind that I'm not a drummer! Not only that, but I'd like a sensible means of controlling virtual instruments, and preferably some way of sequencing. As I got as far as grade 7 piano I'm OK on a keyboard, but don't really know what else I'll need. But I'm not made of money... All thoughts greatly appreciated.

I'm a middle-aged man with a high-end bass - A Wal custom from 1985. However, I bought it in 1990, (for £495!) and took out loan to pay for it... And it most certainly isn't pristine, there's deep wear in the thumb picking zone, dents from nearly 25 years heavy live use by me. Still sounds most excellent though - I haven't found owt to touch it's mid-range!

I'll have to play mine to a couple of folks first to make sure it's not total cack... It's my first attempt at mixing and solo without the band!

I've been fiddling too... Can't work out how to do drop-ins for minor booboos, so it might have to stay! Perhaps a horn sample will distract...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399491773' post='2444805'] I saw that - didn't they spread a CD with marmalade or something as well? [/quote] Aye, but only on the label side;). But one of my favourite tweaks (at $299!) is the Clever Little Clock, "The Clever Little Clock's operation actually has to do with time itself - how the past catches up with us -- like a predator." [url=http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina42.htm]Full technical explanation here![/url]

If you really want to you can get your £10k Nordost Valhalla cables cryo-treated, or even better, "burned in" on a burning-in machine then cryo treated for ultimate foo-fidelity. And you'd need ultimate hifi fuses to get the best from your mains lead: [url="http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/net/net.html"]http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/net/net.html[/url]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399470300' post='2444537'] You won't be able to afford it if you buy a Quantum Clip! This is beyond a joke, surely!!? [/quote] At least Belt's tweaks were usually free or at least cheap - frinstance aligning all your screwheads to magnetic north, or placing 5p bits on the corners of your equipment (really!). However, these chaps make believers in improvements through changing mains cables look positively sane: http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina60.htm

We had 2 appalling gigs in a band I was in many years ago... One was at the Greyhound in Fulham; we were due to have at least 3 record company types there to check us out. We were so excited that we got completely off our faces and all played at different speeds, stopped at different times and the keyboard player fell over. We didn't get a deal. And the other one was at the Powerhaus. Beforehand we decided to go to the curry house round the corner, and foolishly had the all-you-can-eat buffet. All of us had to sit down for the entire gig, except for the singer who had to leave the stage to throw up!

Have we had Prince Charles yet? [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GGNW6UQD10[/MEDIA]

Great playing, appalling vid!

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1392569675' post='2370142'] This? [/quote] Aye! [url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Souls-Material/dp/B0000057RJ/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1392904313&sr=1-2&keywords=material+seven+souls]Cracking Album[/url].

I'd recommend a listen to Material's "Seven Souls" album. It's got WilIiam Burroughs giving his stream of consciousness over an ambient Bill Laswell backing. Cracking!

You might get a Linn Axis or Basik for the money - I had an Axis many years ago and it's a right musical performer. Other options are a Systemdek, or a Technics Sp10/1200 if you're lucky!

The Portable Appliance Testing Course is pretty easy for anyone with even a hint of a brain, but will cost at least £200. (though when I was doing my Electrical Inspecting and Testing Course the lecturer told us about a chap who'd failed the PAT course and tried to sue; he lost) A decent [url=http://www.pat-testers.co.uk/pat-testers-3/kewtech-kt71-24]TESTER[/url] that will do most equipment (including IT type stuff inc digital rack kit) will set you back around £300. So if you think you'll have getting on for £500 worth of testing done it's worthwhile - bearing in mind you can get yourself a sideline as a tester as well!

Me n'all...

We had quite a robust discussion - I prefer 4 string basses and actually like old amps and cabs despite my bad back... After all, bass payers made some pretty good noises with them in the past! Still, I prefer a strongly-held view so long as it's not hectoring or allowing no alternatives. So we got on well, and I left with a cracking pair of FX pedals!

More leftfield Bootsy... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tod9_PZezpA

Larry! [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUYxksujhaA[/MEDIA]