TorturedSaints

I had a listen too. First of all, I'd just like to say that I don't think I have the skills (bass or recording/production) to do anything like this, so anything that sounds like criticism isn't criticism. As Dad says, the production values are very pristine and modern. Hip-hop's not my cup of tea, and I wouldn't normally listen to it, but it kept my interest for a couple of minutes The Gang Signs track was great. Again, electronica not quite my usual genre, but it kept my interest. Lovely bass playing, nice to hear it in the mix. I actually think the bass line was far more interesting than the vocals. Certainly in the second half, if the vocals were meant to stand out, for me, I would have been tempted (see my second sentence above lol) to have played a less 'upfront' and less mobile, slower line so that the vocals were more the focus of attention. Although I was only listening on my cheap-ish Desktop 2.1 speakers, the song felt as though there was a lot 'carved out' of the frequency spectrum, and while it kept my attention, if this is the norm in electronica, I think my ears would feel that they were being shortchanged if I listened to a whole album of it! Lastly, I'm glad you told me the last track was dubstep aggro. I don't think I've heard anything like that before. Excellent production chops and loads of ear candy, but I'm not 17 any more, and feel a bit like Dad did. Is there a mistake in the title on soundcloud, or does REFIX have a meaning in this genre? But certainly you can be proud of producing something relevant to the kids of today, and kudos for that, your work embarrasses me by showing me how narrow my musical genre 'comfort zone' is. Good work! Ralph

Nice bass playing, and nice VST - I'll have to download that one!

Edited to Add: Beaten by Dad3353 (and his is a more complete answer!). Open the Preferences window (sorry, I'm on Mac, so can't help you with that). Go to Plug-ins section, VST sub-section. Look for the VST plug-in path listed. Copy your new VSTs to that folder then click on the Re-scan button.

I"ve just shelled out for a pair of ACS Pro 17s. Looking forward to trying them out at rehearsal at the weekend.

Definitely a close one!

Another great set of entries. Difficult to make a choice, things to like about all of them. Well done.

I listen to music when I have time to focus on the music - like when you put an LP on and had to actively listen, and change sides after 20 minutes. Music is special, but unfortunately it's all too pervasive now, too much like 'lift muzak'. The space without music lets me appreciate music more when I listen or play it . . . And if I listen to a lot of music, my next composition comes out sounding just like the music I've been listening to, so when I'm in a writing mood, I tend not to listen to other people's music. It's probably also a function of the amount of music out there, new and old. And we're guilty of adding to the pile of music to be played . . . little wonder that even offering free downloads of our (admittedly self-produced) original music has resulted in very few downloads.

Hi, One of the pieces of software like this is Band In A Box (BIAB). I don't have it myself, but Paul Wolfe from How to Play Bass.com has featured it a few times as being useful, he seems to be a great fan of it. As far as I can remember from the tutorials, yes, you input all of the things you have mentioned, and I think it's quite easy, not complex nor full notation, but don't quote me on it. Here's the link to the website: [url="http://www.pgmusic.com"]http://www.pgmusic.com[/url] Hope this helps (not a user), regards

Hi Dave, A few more suggestions in this topic:[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/222721-foot-keyboards-or-something/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/222721-foot-keyboards-or-something/[/url] including what I use, which is the Roland PK5 pedals into laptop/Reaper DAW and its built in sampler for playing wav files. If you have an iPad, you could probably also find a cheap app that simulates a hardware sampler, something like iMaschine or an Akai MPC clone, which you could use to trigger samples live using fingers (or keyboards if you had a midi interface for iPad or a mini keyboard that plugs directly into an iPad). We use both my pedals and the drummer's iPad playing live in DarkSky. cheers Ralph

Voted. A fine summer crop! All very good in different ways and musically diverse too. I didn't even manage to start a song this month as holidays and work got in the way :-(

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1435342952' post='2807986'] Good day, all... All of the compositions can be heard here... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/264655-june-composition-challenge-voting/"]June Composition Challenge - VOTING![/url] ... and the 'Play of the Day' here ... [url="http://soundcloud.com/torturedsaints/and-so-it-comes-to-this"]'And So It Comes To This', from RalphDWilson[/url] [/quote] I don't think I've ever had such a comprehensive and sympathetic review, Douglas. Your reviews of the compositions have such literary merit that perhaps BassChat should be running a Literature Challenge as well, you would get my vote! Seriously though, thanks for the encouragement. Ralph

Thanks! A very varied selection of ideas and genres to choose from. It's a toughie.

Seems like I can only select one, instead of three. Am I doing it wrong again?

Here's a thought - why not downgrade your new PC to Win 7 and then everything would work? I'm not a Windows user any more, but is there not a downgrade option to Win 7? I was under the impression that Win 7 was the current favoured version for music PCs anyway.

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1434191763' post='2797461'] That was beautiful. I rarely play a song the whole way through on first listen. I usually listen to the intro skip to chorus etc etc so I can get a feel for the composition and when casting my vote I return and have a more in depth listen from a critical PoV. This however I listened to from start to finish. It's got soul baby. It's honest and raw and I loved it. It's got one of my votes so far. [/quote] *blushing*. Thanks! [quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1434199682' post='2797555'] Hey..! Deep stuff there..! As 'the boy', I had to listen right through; it's enthralling. The singing..? We've heard far 'rougher' renderings from Radiohead; you've no need to blush at all. Yes, you're firmly up there with the rest of us, jostling for a place on the podium. My curiosity has been assuaged; I can finally slide into Morphées open arms. Thanks, if only for that. [/quote] Glad you got to sleep Dad! Thanks for the kind words. Perhaps next month I'll do an instrumental like Bilbo. :-)

I spent most of last night re-doing the vocal. With copious application of ReaTune, it sounds a little better in places. Thanks for the encouragement, although I would beg to disagree with lurksalot - it is my voice that is a touch toneless. . . . because it certainly sounds like it to my ears! So here it is, no mystery, no reason for your curiosity to be piqued Dad3353, it's just a song, and I couldn't have your lack of sleep on my conscience [url="https://soundcloud.com/torturedsaints/and-so-it-comes-to-this"]https://soundcloud.com/torturedsaints/and-so-it-comes-to-this[/url] A slightly sideways interpretation of the photo, it has to be said, but partially explained on the soundcloud page.

Having listened to the great submissions so far and A/B'd them against my work in progress, I've retired hurt. It seems that there is no category for amateur rubbish vocalists. However, I'll keep trying for future months, or will submit this month's song if I have a successful voice transplant in the next 18 days and manage to get it sounding even half decent. It's a testament to the high quality of musicians that hang out here, give yourselves a pat on the back.

15/15. :-) Definitely some stuff in there that wasn't in O Level Music nor Grade V Theory exam! Mind you, they were a long time ago.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1433574585' post='2792165'] Steve Reich meets King Crimson [url="https://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/the-daughter-didnt-oughta"]https://soundcloud.c...er-didnt-oughta[/url] [/quote] Nice!

I might have time to do something this month - wife away, no imminent gigs/rehearsals . . .

A photo of DarkSky playing at the Lucky Break Club, Clydebank, Glasgow on 28 May 15 [url="https://www.dropbox.com/s/q6fyxlldum6elxa/042.JPG?dl=0"]https://www.dropbox.com/s/q6fyxlldum6elxa/042.JPG?dl=0[/url]

Roqsolid do a tailored bag for the PK5s. Although mine is starting to wear out a bit . . .

We (DarkSky) played "The Lucky Break" club in Clydebank, Glasgow on Thursday night. I hadn't been there before, all of it's marketing stuff seemed to show it as a snooker club. It is, but it also has a nice sized stage with a good sized dancing area and powerful PA, fed through a nice modern Behringer X32 desk. The resident sound engineer John was great. If you are going to play there, there's also a fixed installation of about 5 video cameras that gets recorded during the gig - if we had taken a big USB flash drive with us, we could have had the 5 video feeds and the feed from the desk for us to edit/use. Sound on stage was a little variable (the drummer's monitor kept cutting out, which made his life a bit more difficult, and I found it difficult to hear the guitarist on stage) but out the front it was great. An hour's set of originals (which is all we play) and as such, we didn't get such a great reception as the following bands. However, it was nice to be out gigging again for the first time after Emma Dark's new baby came along. Nice to use my new (to me) AGC J type 5 out live as well, great booming D notes :-) [url="https://www.dropbox.com/s/gwa4iqna50j2mfy/Band1.jpg?dl=0"]https://www.dropbox..../Band1.jpg?dl=0[/url]

A Charity gig for our first foray back into gigging after the arrival of our singer's new baby. Along with 2 other well-known Glasgow bands, JokerFace and Jamie and the Giants, we will be raising money for a special needs school, St Vincent's. As well as the three 1 hour sets, there will be a tombola with worthwhile prizes (like hotel stays, alcohol etc). If you are free, doors open at 7pm at The Lucky Break Club, 26 Glasgow Road, Clydebank. Tickets available at the door for £5. The link is here [url="https://www.facebook.com/events/1584414018514488/"]https://www.facebook...84414018514488/[/url] I'm not planning to use my Barefaced SuperTwin cab, but I'll certainly be using my ACG J-type 5 string and Roland PK5 midi pedal setup. Looking forward to seeing any BCers there Ralph

I bought a ME-50B from Malc, easy transaction, good guy to deal with. Thanks!