Huw Foster

Yeah he's defnitely a very accomplished composer too IMO. Beep Street from Hard Normal Daddy is one of my favourite tracks - I think it's beautiful. Some good stuff on his debut (Feed Me Weird Things) and some of the later stuff from Ultravisitor and Budokan Mindphone. No sure about his recent output, but all credit to him that he's always developing his sound. Very versatile!

Nice! I presume you mean all the switches? Something like this will probably help you out:

[quote name='JonnyB' post='693087' date='Dec 24 2009, 05:39 PM']Chaka Khan was touring the UK recently with Lulu and someone else, can't remember, I wanted to go to the Liverpool showing but it was sold out. I wonder if Mr Gooch was on for that? If he was then, damn and blast - missed it! [/quote] It was Chaka, Lulu and Anastacia. Some friends went, and I'll ask them, but I'm fairly certain it was to a backing track. Well, if it's anything like the performance they did on the Royal Variety Show recently, then it's almost definitely to a track. I'll just keep telling myself that. IT WAS TO A TRACK. Anyway, back on topic - that video is pure gospel filth.

I've also just been informed that the tracks sent to us for the demo aren't actually the finished product just yet, haha.

HI GUYSSSSS. The function band I'm in have just uploaded a new demo. Not particularly exciting I know, it's only other people's songs... but anyway, it's available for your ears here: [url="http://www.myspace.com/thewhitekeysuk"]http://www.myspace.com/thewhitekeysuk[/url] Dare I say I reckon it's very well produced, thanks to a very good friend of ours. I also have a few other recordings on [url="http://www.myspace.com/huwfoster"]my own myspace[/url] which I don't think I've posted here before, despite them getting on a bit. Enjoy, let me know what you think etc.

1. Born 2B Mild 2. yorks5stringer 3. Al Heeley 4. Wonderhorse 5. simon1964 6. Tait 7. Mikey R 8. budget bassist 9. Jake_tenfloors 10. Soopercrip 11. timloudon 12. Kirky 13. Huwberry If I'm free, of course. Might end up with a gig by then.

Good stuff! Prince next, you say? If you can fit Alphabet St in there somewhere that would be AMAZING.

I've had to learn All I Want For Christmas for my function band... Really fun to play, basically all about the feel. ALMOST makes me like the song. ALMOST. (I just learned it on ukulele... IT'S EVEN MORE FUN!!)

[quote name='Platypus' post='691119' date='Dec 21 2009, 11:31 PM']I know its been here posted before, however for anyone whose never seen it ... [url="http://mediaweb.musicradio.com/Show.asx?Episode=1492"]http://mediaweb.musicradio.com/Show.asx?Episode=1492[/url][/quote] Haha, I'd forgotten how ridiculously high the bass is mixed on that. Just as well, some disgustingly tasteful (a contradiction if I ever saw one) playing.

He did a workshop at LCM in the summer - I got to sit right next to his amp (an AG500 running through a DB112 in this instance) and it sounded incredible. It was even more impressive considering the horrible acoustics of the room. He'd brought his entire touring pedalboard too. I got serious GAS. Made me want a vintage, passive jazz sooooo much! (I think he was playing the one in the rack in the above picture.) I also echo Higgie's sentiments - very nice bloke too. Just wished my mind hadn't gone blank when he (repeatedly) asked if I had any questions. Duhhhh.

Been looking at the Focusrite stuff. There's a new one out, pretty good price. Anyone had any experience with it? [url="http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffire/saffire_6_usb/"]http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffire/saffire_6_usb/[/url]

Dodgy solo/face/posture from this summer.

Good to see some encouraging responses. I'm almost definitely going to do it. I've just started rehearsing with a new covers band - we're doing a fair bit of Chic (definitely using the Stingray for that), as well as some modern R&B which I find surprisingly bearable (maybe actually playing some of the lines has made me realise how fun it is), a few MJ tracks and other assorted late 70s/80s synthy goodness. Some of the tunes are just crying out for proper synth (or VST in my case). I've also been involved with a MJ tribute that began as a final performance for my degree (which we started working on [i]before[/i] he died - ahead of the curve? ). The demo of that is almost done... what happens afterwards is anybody's guess. We'd love to tour it though. Incidentally, I found the demo of 'Workin' Day and Night' on Spotify. [url="http://open.spotify.com/track/0t8L9CR2p7jQkxkgYZjMKp"]The beginning is hilarious.[/url]

OK, so this might not be as controversial as I believe it to be, but I can only ask to find out opinions on the matter. For a little while now I've been toying with the idea of using a hybrid set-up for certain gigs. In fact, I can pinpoint the moment when I realised I wanted to give it a go - watching Michael Jackson's 'This Is It', plus [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t55J6Op_5oE"]other live videos[/url], and falling in love with the absolutely massive synth bass tone. Ever heard the demo version of 'Workin' Day and Night'? [b]DIS-GUS-TING[/b]. No, I don't want a keytar like the one in that video, haha. Nor do I want to install a MIDI pick-up in any of my basses - to my ears there seems to be a difference in feel that is nigh on impossible to achieve on a bass guitar. Rather than fork out for a self-contained module, I've been trying to think of relatively inexpensive solutions. I already have a 2 year-old MacBook Pro that would probably manage OK with running Ableton or Mainstage (or maybe even Logic, as I hear Mainstage has reliability issues?) in a live situation. I already have a USB MIDI keyboard that has assignable controls (although I could probably do with getting one with a larger keyboard), but what I suppose I need now is a USB audio interface that I can run the whole thing through. Has anyone else tried this, or something similar? Should I get an A/B switch so I can run them both through my amp? Anyway, I guess the main question I'm asking is, can anyone recommend me a decent (yet not too pricey) USB audio interface? I'd like to use it for home recording as well. Thoughts, etc?

Well, I daresay I have learned something... thanks! Although I've taken an interest in music production (I even started a degree in it, which I quickly realised was a mistake, but that's another story for another time), I've never really thought to apply the widely accepted approaches to EQ (i.e., cutting is usually better than boosting, only adjust in small amounts, if it sounds good then it's 'right') to my bass. I guess that area of my brain was in conflict with the juvenile side that demands that everything be AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE I MUST DROWN EVERYONE OUT... EVER. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's one of the reasons why I wanted an active bass when I was 14, haha. Now I've come to the conclusion that active electronics are, for the most part, too complex for my simple brain, and all I want now is a decent vintage jazz, then a precision with flats. Ahh, bass as it should be.

Yaaaaay I'm not going insane! (Well, I probably am, but not over this issue) Thanks for the swift responses. I have an additional question now - my other bass (5 string Schecter) has a 2-band EQ... however, I've found that setting the EQ pots to flat on that one equals a very mid-centric sound, at least to my ears... I'm taking a very simplistic approach to equalisation here, but surely that's just down to the character of the bass, isn't it? When I'm flattening the bass and treble, I'm not still boosting the mid-range am I? Haha, that sounds so ridiculous when I think about it. Don't even bother answering that one, I'm actually being an idiot this time...

...I have some very basic questions about onboard EQ in active basses. This mostly concerns my 4 string Stingray. I don't know whether this is pertinent to all Stingrays (well, 4 strings at least, as I think I'm right in believing the 5 string models have a different preamp), but I have found that my one is really, really bright. And I'm not as satisfied with my tone as I once was. I know strings will have something to do with this, and I'm going to give some other brands a go (I've been using ProSteels and I complain about how bright my bass is DUHHHH what an IDIOTHOLE. Gonna try some Hi-Beams I think - on another note, anyone got any links to order them online?). But seriously, I've not really given much thought to onboard EQ until fairly recently. I've found that, particularly on recording sessions when I'm D.I.'ed, the signal is stupidly high-gain; I can hear so much fret noise etc. However, if I set all the EQ pots to the middle notch (which I assume means the EQ is flat), the overall sound is much smoother. Am I just being an idiot? Is this the optimum setting for all situations with Stingrays/active basses in general? Should the onboard EQ be treated like the EQ on an amp (i.e. mostly flat, then tweak to reach desired sound)? Or, is there just something wrong with the preamp on my particular bass? I hope this makes sense. Additionally, I hope this is actually worthy of a response hahaha. Ta