OldG

Very,very much in agreement with all of the above - applies at any age too...

I could point you towards many free VST's for PC - but as you are a mac user, maybe this > [url="http://dogparksoftware.com/iSpectrum.html"]http://dogparksoftware.com/iSpectrum.html[/url] will do the job....

I'd recommend playing as lightly as you can.. try working on yor fret hand first, when fretting - try 'placing' ( not squeezing) your finger just onto the string to touch the string against the side of the fret (not the fingerboard). Practice until you get a clean note...this is all the pressure you'll need to play. Use the same method (playing as lightly as you can - letting the amp do the work) for your other hand if you play fingerstyle - this will help your dynamics as you get more familiar with playing lightly... just the way I was taught - but it works for me HTH Mick edit the other light touch posts beat me to it

Small world! Kirsty runs the local open mic night round here - I'll drop some round to the Green Dragon...

Bit late, but... A big thank you to Patch and Andy and his wife, for organising such a genial get together. Being surrounded by so many desirable lefty basses was an experience only matched by meeting such a great bunch of people. I'd Definitely do it again if the chance arises! Ok, just to put a name to a face - amongst Ped's pictures, I'm the bloke with the cap admiring Malcom's red frankenP (maybe the most comfortable bass I ever played).

Not as far as i know - but I got an 8 channel Fw interface for that. Think of it more as a decent quality location recorder with decent mics - that can be used as a USB interface if needed.

I like the Zoom H2 a lot. Very good sound quality, if a little lacking in bottom end.... I use it for general recording, miking vocals and guitars, recording from the desk,etc,etc. For an Idea of sound quality,I've attached an mp3 (recorded in mp3 format as the card was nearly full at the time) of my wife,a friend and myself jamming through Weller's Wild Wood in our dining room using the inbuilt mics...

I used to have a Squier Affinity, it was an ok guitar... but just that - ok. It was just 'flat' no matter what strings,pickups etc..... I would heartily advise playing on a Squier Classic Vibe - they are a world of difference ahead in tone, feel and quality. second hand between £200 - £250 but worth every penny more IMHO.

Cheapest way would be to shim the neck (at the neck end of the pocket) - wouldn't need much to sort that out...

If the soundcard is set to 'what U hear' - change it to stereo...... and don't have any tracks in Reaper armed to record. very brief will expand later.

I started with Acid 4 and 5... Reaper was an easy transition from there as they were very similar at the time. As for clunky. once you set the options to suit your work flow - it all makes sense. I know it sounds boring, but It really helps to spend some time with the manual and user guides.

Worth mentioning that Reaper will use mostly any free VST you point it at, A good place to start would be here.... [url="http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/downloads/"]http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/downloads/[/url]

[quote name='Dropzone' timestamp='1330621304' post='1560583'] I am massively loving it and will be trying to buy a korg microkey tomorrow. . Is there a click track in reaper and how do you turn it [/quote] That'll be options > metronome/pre-roll. Here you can enable disable the click and also pre -roll (count in) - along with options to assign your own samples for click/drum sounds,etc

[quote name='Dropzone' timestamp='1330607479' post='1560228'] Just got EZ drummer working. Thanks for the VSTi tip. Had a little moment to myself. Now comes some questions. 1. Can you vary the pace of the "groove" 2. Can you set the pace of a bar, as I am going to be recording or a midi keyboard and suspect my timing will be a little out. 3. I have the East West drumkit from hell2 expansion pack but it won't recognise it. Help Many thnaks Mike [/quote] @1, Do you mean tempo? If so, In Reaper type the tempo you want into the BPM box to the right of the transport bar and the EZD midi files should automatically follow. @2, Not sure what you mean, can you expand on that a little @3.Again ,not sure as I don't actually use EZD much ( I got the lite version from the CM cover disc)

No problem - I learned about recording etc, a few years back now.... mostly from the Internet and forums. I'm just paying my dues by (hopefully) helping out ..

[quote name='Linus27' timestamp='1330534139' post='1559029'] I got EZ Drummer last weekend and so far it sounds very good. However, am I right in thinking that as a stand alone item, you can't write your own patterns and only use the presets ones? Even basic programming seems not available, for example set 4 bars of a preset 4/4 drums followed by a preset drum fill. [/quote] Yup, you'll need a MIDI capable DAW - * mentions Reaper once again*

just to add... EZD shows as 'Toontrack dfh' (or very similar) in Reaper's VSTi list .

Just tell Reaper where to find it, It will use VSTs from wherever you want it to. options > preferences > VST and point it to your folder.

I bought a Lefty Telecaster from Andy - nice,stress free transaction with a sound,helpful guy. If I need anything else left handed I certainly know where to look first!

AFAIK the speed is not the issue... USB send data in packets and will poll around all connected devices, On the other hand,Firewire will deliver and send it own constant exclusive stream. [quote name='winterfire666' timestamp='1330012623' post='1551418'] i use the roland and have no issues at all with latency even when using 20+ tracks loaded up with vst's and virtual instuments hope that helps. [/quote] And you can do this while recording live? monitoring VST's in real time whilst playing.... if that's the case then USB interfaces have become properly useable and I will change my previosly held opinion. Although I will still use Firewire for the reason I stated at the top of this post.

I use a firewire interface for one main reason.... I can get down to around 4ms round trip latency when software monitoring with all sorts of VSTs running - I can't get near that with anything USB that I've tried.

EZdrummer does what it says on the tin... Might be worth a look at [url="http://www.bluenoiseplugins.com/plugins/drummix/beta-edition/"]http://www.bluenoise...x/beta-edition/[/url] - free and less sounds processed than EZD.(you'll have to map your own patterns with this one - EZD comes with a lotta grooves if that makes a difference).