Earbrass

Have we had Pubic Enemy yet?

One for @BigRedX: The Errortones

Uke Ellington C*nt Basie

Judas Pries Roy Music Prius

The Inkpots (one for the oldies) Cram

Ed Zeppelin Rank Zappa

I have a Kawai MP7 stage piano. For piano, and electric piano, it's first class. With digital pianos, it's not just the sound that's important, but also the way the sound responds to the touch and feel with which one plays. I cannot fault it on that, and the piano sounds are also highly tweakable with the ability to eg adjust the degree of piano lid opening, etc etc. I've not bothered with these features much, as the basic piano sounds are fine as they are for me. I added the optional triple foot pedal (it came with just a sustain pedal) for the full grand piano experience. It has some other sounds, of varying quality and usefulness (basses and strings pretty good, organs not so much, a few synth sounds etc), but it's also a decent controller, having pitch and mod wheels and four layers, each of which can trigger internal or external sounds (on their own MIDI channels) or both simultaneously, and can be split or layered across the keyboard as desired. It also has a stereo line input, so an external synth can be routed back into the piano and mixed with the internal sounds. I don't think they make them any more. I bought mine maybe six or seven years ago for around £1300, and I noticed that recently Bonners had a second-hand one for a smidge under £800, so it might be worth keeping an eye out for a used one. I wouldn't recommend it if you think you might want to gig with it, though, as it weighs about 46lbs.

When I were a lad it was all quite simple...

Another thing that might be important to you if you're going to be gigging with it is size and weight: for example, the Jupiter X is around 37lbs, and the Polybrute is 44lbs, which in turn means a more substantial and heavier stand. The Summit and Juno X are more reasonable, at around 25lbs, with the Nord Wave 2 a little less at just under 20lbs.

If I was in your position I would also want to check out the Nord Wave 2. Not played one myself, but the ability to combine 4 separate synth engines, as splits or layers, which can include sounds from the Nord Sample library as well as the ability to create your own sampled instruments, in addition to the VA/FM/Wavetable capabilities would make it an interesting proposition to me. I think Nord are better at UI and focus more on the player experience than Roland do. Just my 2p. Have fun watching all the youtube vids and going out to try synths!

The rest of you.

(With apologies to all brass players)

I have a bass, 34 inch scale. In standard tuning it plays fine, but when I drop the tuning to DGCF there is an objectionable amount of fret-buzz on the first 2 frets of the 1st and 2nd strings, which I can't get rid of without raising the action to uncomfortable levels. The bass is old and cheap, and I don't want to spend a lot of money on it. I am not competent to undertake fret filing myself. Options I am considering include taking it to a luthier for appraisal and possible fret filing (I'm assuming the 3rd fret is the problem - no buzz on open strings or on 3rd fret and above), or changing the strings for some higher tensions ones. The current strings are very old (probably a decade) roundwounds - not sure but I think they are a standard Rotosound set, probably 45-105. I don't want to have to mess with the nut. What would the basschat collective suggest? What strings would increase the tension to the equivalent of standard tuning without requiring enlarging the nut slots? Should I try flats? Would you bite the bullet and take it to a luthier? If so, are there any you would recommend in the Brighton area? I could just tune the 4th string down to D, but I'd rather not as it will mean re-learning the fretboard, and I don't use it much - just for the odd recording project. Value of the bass is under £100, but I am quite fond of it, as it is light (7.6 lbs) and very comfortable, and I have had the cavity professionally shielded and the jack socket upgraded many years ago when I used to gig with it. Thanks for any advice.

Maybe one of these?

None taken.

AFAIC, middle-aged musos are youngsters.

If you've lost the confidence of more than half of your band, and several have quit rather than have to play with you again, should you cling onto your role as front man on the basis of your conviction that you are the greatest performer since Elvis, or give up and leave the band gracefully? Asking for a "friend".

Fun night at the New Cross Inn yesterday supporting Enquire Within and Call of Fenrir in an evening of viking metal and gonzo morris.

I'm sure I saw a youtube review of the 32" model that said they have neck dive.

We (Huginn and Muninn) had a great night at the 10th Renaissance Festival of Alternative Music at The Electrowerkz, Islington. Our set was well received, and I got to meet a couple of old friends I hadn't seen for around 25 years, who were also performing (Das Fluff).

Another thing to bear in mind is that analog synths (or rather synths with analog oscillators), while being very trendy these days, often need to be powered on for a while before their tuning is stable and some will continue to drift or fail to track properly over a few octaves even then, which might not be convenient in a gigging situation. I had an Arturia minibrute 2S for a while, but got rid because I found the tuning a nightmare, and the sonic sweetspots few and far between. I have owned a fair few synths over the years, including models from Novation, Nord, Dave Smith Instruments, Audiothingies, Erica Synths and Arturia, and the only hardware synth I have kept, and have no plans to get rid of, is a humble Microkorg. These are a bit marmite, with some hating the "toylike" feel, the matrix user interface and the minikeys, but it is actually a very powerful little machine, capable of a huge range of sounds, almost all very usable. You get up to 4 note polyphony, so simple chords or legato basslines are no problem. The minikeys are not the best, but they are velocity sensitive and you get a full 3 octaves in a very compact and lightweight body. I find programming it to be quite straightforward once you get the hang of it, and there is no real menu diving - almost everything is available right from the front panel. The fact that you can still buy them new 20 years after they were first released says a lot. There are plenty around 2nd hand - I picked mine up for under £200. Not for everyone, but definitely worth considering. There is a huge choice of synths at very reasonable prices these days - I'd say one of the very best of the newer ones is the Arturia Microfreak, if you can live with the weird "touch capacitance (?)" keyboard (not sure I could - maybe not ideal for gigging with). Given the huge variety out there, you might want to try buying 2nd hand, so that you can move one on and try another till you find the one you gell with. Good luck with your search, and have fun!