TorturedSaints

I use my MB500 with a Barefaced Super Twin. I've only used it at a couple of rehearsals and it is way too loud (in the best sort of way) for rock drummer/guitarist vocalist! :-) Very clear and punchy. Far better than my previous cab (Peavey 410TVX) with the MB500.

Sorted

There's a remix in progress, having listened to a few other tracks. I've also bought MCompare plugin which was recommended on here, so I can A/B against various tracks without the level change giving a different perspective. I've also taken Dad3353's advice and removed one of the keys parts (although it was the reverse reverb piano part, which was the drummer's idea, so that might not go down too well lol). I will post a link here when I'm happy with it again. I'm also thinking that there's a 3 minute song in there struggling to get out (but again, as the drummer wrote the song, he might not like that either.) The joys of bands. I did throw my toys out of the cot the other day and asked, since they were expecting professional results, what was the budget for professional mixing? (Answer: £0) I also said that whilst I have read a few books on mixing, I haven't had any training and that I'd also read some books on brain surgery, does that make me a brain surgeon? To be honest, the amount of hassle I'm getting and the time I'm spending on it, plus the mixed reviews (thanks Skol for the words of support) make me wish I'd taken up another hobby. That's probably just the frustration talking as I actually enjoy mixing.

I've just been to check! No, only one input, one unbalanced output and one xlr output with ground-lift. It wasn't as plasticky as I remembered, but actually quite solid and well built. The only things that felt plasticky were the little red bass and treble boost buttons, everything else felt well made.

I have one. It was an impulse purchase, and I haven't used it much. I have a Eden WT405, and bought the WTDI intending to use the WTDI live as most of the places we were playing were 'back line included' multi-band nights with a small bass combo DI'd into the PA. Since then I haven't gigged much and have only played with it at home. It feels a bit plasticky compared to the Eden Amp, the bass/treble boost switches are similar to a 'loudness' switch for when you are playing quietly - I couldn't see a real use for this function at gig volumes, even though the WT405 has a similar pair of switches. I have an alternative Sansamp BDDI to use, and to be honest, I would probably use that. Nothing particularly bad about the WTDI, just not quite as good as I was hoping. If someone offered me a reasonable amount of money for it, I wouldn't have any regrets about letting it go. I don't think the WTDI intentionally has distortion, unless you overdrive the input gain perhaps. That's why I would choose to use the Sansamp in preference. I have no experience of the Bass Buddy, so can't give a comparison. cheers R

Thanks for yout time, ears and comments. Much appreciated. Your replies illustrate one of my quandaries - who do I reference against, Bjork or Sade (or Siouxsie or Def Leppard -other things we have been compared to!). Let's face it, we don't even know who we sound like - the drummer suggested a Guillemots track or a Mercury Rev track! All good fun. Anyway, I'll go away and reference some more. All the best Ralph

[quote name='topo morto' timestamp='1423828076' post='2689429'] I get a a warning that it may be a 'private track' (I can see your other stuff at [url="https://soundcloud.com/pinthetailonthedonkey/"]https://soundcloud.c...ailonthedonkey/[/url]) [/quote] Thanks Topo, should be sorted now - it's a sound cloud account I have for random stuff, so it's not that band on there lol. Let me know if you still can't see it. Sorry.

Hi there, I've done a first mix for the band I'm in - although I'm trying to place a 'chinese wall' between myself and the rest of the band when it comes to recording/mixing our latest songs. We are all over 50, and both the drummer and guitarist admit to hearing loss due to years of playing in loud environments. I always use ear plugs and have my hearing tested regularly for work and it's not too bad for my age (and my work isn't recording - I'm merely an amateur at that). This first mix sounds reasonable to me, however both the guitarist and drummer say it needs more air/presence/treble, which I'm not convinced that the track needs, either for its vibe (chilled rock) or for any other reason. I've suggested that the overall tonality issue is something that could be addressed at the mastering stage, but I doubt whether we have the funds for a professional master. So is it my ears being over sensitive to the top end of the frequency spectrum (could be a reason why I'm a bass player?) or not? Here's the track: [url="https://soundcloud.com/pinthetailonthedonkey/rtdmixcandidate1/s-afAjp"]https://soundcloud.c...didate1/s-afAjp[/url] What do you think? Edited to make link work. (That's not my real band's sound cloud either, just a spare one I have).

+1 to 'Go for it'. I had always wanted to play bass, but until a friend asked me if I was interested in playing with him and a couple of his mates, I had never done anything about it. That was 10 years ago when I was 40 and I'm still playing. There is nothing like being in a band to improve your standard of playing very quickly. I also have a very irregular varied work schedule that is outside my control. This stops us from booking the same rehearsal slot every week, causes some problems booking gigs and I certainly wouldn't be able to play in a wedding band. This may put some bands off you, but I've always been upfront with people that I've played with, or enquired about playing with. When you get to 40, most people have family/work/life commitments and are much more understanding of this than they would have been at 18. So, my message is still go for it! Ralph

I think I'm up to date. Thanks for all the DarkSky likes.

Fairly simple DI set up for bass, no amp or mic'd cab used. My ACG 5 string (East P-Retro active preamp) pickups in parallel, DI into Golden Age Project Pre-73 preamp and then into Focusrite iTrack Solo into Reaper. A little bit of eq and compression I think (this isn't my studio computer). Thanks for the kind words - it's still really a demo, guitar parts need to be re-done and there's a few beats need tightening.

DarkSky's latest song up on Reverbnation [url="http://www.reverbnation.com/darkskyscotland/song/22787016-opposites"]http://www.reverbnation.com/darkskyscotland/song/22787016-opposites[/url] Recorded in my front room, still a few guitar tweaks required, but pretty much there. Enjoy! Ralph

Too late to the party? DarkSky [url="http://www.facebook.com/darkskyband"]http://www.facebook.com/darkskyband[/url] PS It's the last day for registering to enter the Hard Rock Cafe HardRockRising 2015 competition if any other bands are interested. cheers Ralph

I've just made the switch from WinXP pc to 2011 iMac (Mavericks) for my studio computer. Things to watch out for: VST compatibility. Some of my favourite pc VSTs don't work on mac (for example all the Kjaerhus plugins). Might be a thing to consider, especially if you've bought them. Some VST instruments didn't make the transition very well with lots of samples not found messages despite doing a complete reinstall to the default location. (IK Multimedia SonikSynth/Sample Moog etc). Drivers. My Tascam US1641 interface worked very well with my low spec pc/Reaper combination. When I tried it on mac, the Tascam drivers are still in beta (for Mavericks/Yosemite) and comparatively there's a lot more latency (audible when monitoring your own singing through headphones). For comparison, I used a Focusrite Saffire Pro and managed a total latency of 1.3ms with the same buffer settings compared to 16ms with the Tascam. I can only conclude that the Tascam beta drivers are poor. Advantages: Stability Ease of use Nice to look at. Regarding the spec of any machine, it depends what you want to do with it and what DAW you use. Reaper can be put on a smallish USB stick and doesn't require huge system resources. I've been recording 8 channels of drums on a Windows Vista laptop with the Tascam without any significant latency. If you're using samples/soft synths/convolution reverbs you might need something a little more up to date. cheers

I use my pk5 to trigger samples and also play soft synths. In rehearsal it goes to a Roland Keyboard Amp. Live it goes straight into the PA via a line level DI box, and monitored through the vocal wedge monitors. There's a thread in Other Instruments (I think) that goes into much more detail. Edited to add thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/222721-foot-keyboards-or-something/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/222721-foot-keyboards-or-something/[/url]

As zero9 says, best way to learn is to do it, like most things in life. Regarding room acoustics, there's a regular column in Sound on Sound (or has been in the recent past) called "Studio SOS" where home/community/musician studios get a sonic makeover. It doesn't appear to be rocket science unless you have a very strange room. There's also a small cheap book called "Home Studio Design" or similar (I can't lay my hands on it right now) that will give you some ideas. Because it's a Church/Youth project, I suspect that the SOS Studio Design/Acoustics forum would be helpful. I think the top tip I've gleaned from those sources is don't make it a square or cube room, and it will work out ok! If you're sourcing equipment for a youth project, you probably don't want to go for high end equipment, so I would suggest having a look at some of the Studiospares own brand equipment in the Studiospares.co.uk catalogue, cheap enough for supervisors not to be too obsessive over damage/loss, but which produce reasonable results by most accounts. Anyway, good luck with it all.

To put my remarks in context, I was considering doing a SAE Institute course. They have lots of glossy brochures, big consoles etc etc, but seem to churn out graduates for which there's not much market - I've seen these guys come and go at setting up local studios and then going bust before the next one comes along. I was looking at it in terms of doing a conversion of a barn as a dedicated studio/rehearsal facility and then becoming the in-house engineer. I quickly ran the figures on return on investment etc and decided to keep music a hobby. Bilbo's advice is good, although I wouldn't necessarily say that up-to-date equipment is really necessary, IMO a lot of it is about being able to listen to what you are recording/producing and knowing how to change that. With a Music degree, I would say that you are a fair way there on that.

I can't really help much with recommendations, apart from audio courses that have been offered by free online Coursera and FutureLearn MOOCs. However, the Sound on Sound forums are always good for (sometimes harsh, but fair) opinions. For example, this thread [url="http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1111782&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=365&fpart=1#1111782"]http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1111782&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=365&fpart=1#1111782[/url] encompasses a wide range of opinions about courses for someone to get about someone to get work in the industry. I think with some internet research (youtube), a subscription to a decent Magazine (SOS or Computer Music or similar), a couple of good text books, and with your Music degree background you would be well placed for your own stuff and Church youth project. IMO there is no substitute for doing. Hope this helps.

Feedback for my purchases here on BC.

I bought an ACG bass from Mike, very happy with the purchase, super fast despatch and very well packed. Thanks a lot.

I have a set like this. http://www.gumtree.com/p/other-percussion-drums/skytronic-drum-mics-7-piece-set/102831288 All quite usable apart from the kick drum mic doesn't really provide a great sound for me, perfectly usable as a midi replacement trigger though. I have replaced the kick mic with a Red5 RVD1 but have yet to try it out in anger. I have heard good reports of the Red5 drum mic set. Here's a sample of the results (not an isolated drum track sorry, away from recording computer.) https://www.dropbox.com/s/73aqc6pxjt403aj/StormTrappedNoVox.mp3?dl=0 using skytronic drum mic set and a cheap Large Diameter Condenser as a room mic, plus a bit of processing/eq/compression.

Try Box in Glasgow. Free, normally can fit you in no problem. Good for gig practice. Edited to say, sorry, didn't see you were wanting to be paid. They won't pay you at Box, but PA etc is provided. [b] [color=#9197A3][b][url="https://www.facebook.com/pages/glasgowmusiccouk/131203920284561?hc_location=timeline"]glasgowmusic.co.uk[/url][/b][/color][/b] [color=#9197A3][size=3][url="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=738937306177883&id=131203920284561"]12 hours ago[/url][/size][/color] We are looking for bands and solo artists to play Box in November. November: 3rd - 2 bands 10th - 2 bands 17th - 1 solo artist 24th - 2 bands All shows are free entry and full Backline is provided. Please email - [email protected] if you are available! [indent=1] [url="https://www.facebook.com/#"]Ralph Wilson[/url] [color=#999999][url="https://www.facebook.com/#"]Like[/url][/color] [/indent]

Tonight! The bill has been changed, now featuring Revolving Doors, The Great Cull, Colin Crichton and DarkSky. Ralph