soundian

Djembes (or whatever the meatal ones are called, I've got a wooden one and a clay one, can't remember what that's called either) are more expressive than a drum. Shove your hand up the hole (fnaar) and move it in and out. How could a rock drum kit ever give you that expression.

Originally posted by New Found Power

So...what are all those pedals for?

Double bass, hi-hat....and WHAT?

As far as I can figure the pedals are, from the left:

Hi-hat 1

Not used, there's no tension on it.

Main kick pedal

double pedal for main kick drum

second kick pedal

second hi-hat pedal

Also note the headphones.

By the way, in case anyones confused, the reason for the double kick on the main kick drum is because they will be tuned different. I'm pretty sure the fake pedal is in there to simulate a double kick for the second kick drum.

Originally posted by David

as long as your adapter covers the correct suppy needed by the pedal you will be fine

most adapters will cover this, boss is pretty much a standard in power needs i think

David

I think I covered all that. Anyway, as I said, Boss do seem to be power hungry. Also, as I said. make sure the max ampage of your transformer is more than your pedal and the polarity is right, and you shouldn't have any problems.

Originally posted by badger

although netrik do manufacture a nice locking surface mount jack socket which would be rather better than just looping the cable through the strap. If only all guitar manufacturers would actuall spend some money at the imoprtant parts

I think I'm gonna get a spell checker for my fingers

I never knew they did a surface mount locking thing. Cool.

Jacks do suffer from the lack of lock, but you need good technical knowledge to do it otherwise.

Don't worry Badger, this forum has it's very own spellchecker, it just takes him a while.

Heh heh, fried tuner steaks on the barbie anyone.

One more thing though, these Boss pedals can suck a lot of power so make sure the transformer can supply the minimum ampage. That could be the risk of fire they're on about: overheated transformer coils.

(Polarity is very important too, you can fuck some DC equipment with the wrong polarity)

I think they put all this info on a little silver sticker on the bottom of Boss pedals too. If memory serves, Boss are normally 9V, 500-600 mAmps, positive centre.

But don't take that as gospel.

Originally posted by General Ermintrude

not true! not true! my brother plays a squire precision through and elecroharmonix 'bass balls' and 'frequency analyser'. It has a wide tonal range, going from'major landslide' all the way through to 'serious subway crash'.

I was going to add 'without hard EQing or heavy effects' but thought everyone would know what I meant.

Originally posted by DustyDeviada

I've had a Squier Precision bass for over 10 years now, and it's a good bit of kit. However, it was made in Japan. I think they make them in China or something now, and I here they are not as good. But I would recommend a Japanese Squier if you can get one off e-bay or something.

My point was it only ever sounds like a squier precision. Because of the different uses it will possibly be put to something with a wider tonal range would probably suit him better. I'm not dissing them, they have their place.

Originally posted by Bass Monkey

squier p-bass

cant go wrong really

scott

Nah, one trick pony.

Originally posted by Dresden Style

same maker true....but sounds bugger all like my old POD which was ok for rekording, but dead weedy and fizzy live

stands up well against my battered collection of AC30s

I find it strange that it doesn't work live if it's fine in the studio. Maybe cos at soundcheck the PA normally sounds toppier than during the gig. Then they let in all these big bags of water with hard bits at the top (punters I think their called) which absorb and diffract stuff. Buggers.

Originally posted by Lester Burnham

You'll find me funnier than Del during set-up.

I carry some stuff on... stand about... check my lippy... stand about some more and tap at my mic until its switched on... I also prod some keys in the hope someone has also sorted that.

genius eh?

It's quite simple Sharon, you WILL do what I tell you. I'll let you know when I'm ready for you to prod and tap.

Originally posted by Dresden Style

1) it is still a secret....no one knows when it is, and they never will....apart from when we turn up and make a racket

2) its actually a quicker way to a really good sound and theres only two bands on that nite...it also means i wont have that screaming loud AC30 interfering with your fantastic mixing....which was me original point really....the wee neu amp is a lot easier to control. Fucking great effects loop (that actually works!)....wait till you hear a guitar through a Moog Ring Modulator....wuhahah *demonic laugh as venue empties*

3) will i need to supply xlr leads to run from me amp to the stage box....if so, what end connections.....the amp takes two male xlr plugs....what do stage boxes take? ...male xlr too? Do i need to carry these with me for gigs generally?

4)if its a fuck on......i dont mind miking it cos it still sounds good that way.

these aberdeen soundmen are really helpful after all!

Since there are only two bands, I might throw caution to the wind and mic the little bugger as well. I presume you mean that the amp requires female XLRs. You should have male sockets on the back. I'll supply the cables, I don't trust other peoples.

Originally posted by Tam o' Shantie

hello, I want to buy a bass guitar to practice on in my room (no amp necessary), but at the same time it has to be good enough so that if i ever needed it to record/play live with, it would be suitable. Absolutely no way i'm spending more than 200 bucks, and preferably it'll be a lot less.

So gimme your best suggestions!

You really get what you pay for with bass equipment. Buy the best you can and try it out beforehand. It's best to try it out through an amp you know and compare it to a bass that you know. Sub 200 is probably only going to be good enough for fucking about with so go for the second hand market. Active is probably the best bet nowadays as well (but remember to make sure the batteries are good at all times).

Originally posted by Dresden Style

hopefully thats wot ive got....used it in a posh stoodio in glasgow recently and the DI signal was as good as any of the miked positions (they did both just to be sure), if not better, which was a surprise .....but maybe the teknologie is finally here....i dunno....the DI sound ended up in the final mix anyhoo cos it fitted with the synths better.....worth a try live....are you doing the sound at our next secret gig at Drummonds?

erm....theres more than one socket in the sampler

1) Yea, more than likely. It's not secret any more though, is it.

And yes, worth a try. (take into account that live in Drummonds I've normally got 3-4 bands normally with 15 mins to change over with no stage crew)

2) Label the sockets as well. 1 plugs into 1, 2 into 2 etc.

Originally posted by Dresden Style

woah

good info thanks

so like our synths/stage mixer and stuff have un-balanced outputs so they need the DI boxes yes

but my guitar amp that has balanced outputs? can that just be routed direct to le desk then (via that box of sockets on the stage)

the multi DI box sounds like a good idea actually cos it should make playing/changing over between bands sets less complicated IE: we set up / take away our synth gear and the specific DIs too....rather than sharing DIs with the other bands and causing DI spaggetti and confusion (im imagining Delbert wandering around with a lead in his hand saying ''where can I put this?''.....the reply is always the same)

Yes, any unbalanced signal from stage needs to be balanced before going up the multicore. You'd be amazed at the noise difference otherwise. Those pesky lighting guys.

I'm always dubious of balanced outputs on guitar amps. They need a decent amp sim to work properly and most outputs on amps have not had the time/money spent on them (this is because an electric guitar needs an amp and speaker cabinet to make it sound like a guitar, it's horrible on it's own). Pods and other more upmarket effects units are generally alright.

Oh, and a lot of balanced outputs on amps don't work properly. Probably due to the time/money thing.

If you can figure out how to keep all your cables in e.g. a small rack unit with all the cables labelled and kept plugged in to the DI is common, take the other end out and plug them into the relavant synth, voila. This could potentially make it more confusing for an engineer but they should mark the end of the mic cables. Even Del could plug the one marked sampler into the sampler.

Originally posted by Dresden Style

hey theres a thing

we are now gonna need two direct outs for the guitar and two for the stereo mix (from our onstage mixer) of the multitude of synths we have now.....

and then sometimes you guys wanna the DI the bass too (yuk)

cos thats a lot of DI boxes really

so does that mean we should get some of our own DI boxes???? If so what type????? (my amp has two balanced XLR outs that have adjustable settings)

i dont understand DI boxes at all as is probably apparent

A DI box takes an unbalanced signal, e.g. guitar or keyboard, and balances the signal.

A balanced signal requires 3 connections. One is the earth, the second is the signal and the third is a phase reversed signal. When it reaches the mixing desk the out of phase signal is inverted and added to the in phase signal (both now in phase). Most of the RF noise picked up in the multicore will cancel out because of this phase inversion and subsequent addition.

I believe an unbalanced signal gives the same noise after 6 metres as a balanced one after 60 metres. Top of my head figures cos I always balance before the multi so never need to know this.

Send the venue a spec sheet if you're worried about the amount of DIs, but with music tending towards the use of samples, decks and related electronic paraphenalia most venues carry a lot more than they used to.

If you are worried and want to buy your own, Behringer do a nice little mains-powered, 4 way DI rack unit. Sub 100 and it's got all the bells and whistles you expect on a DI box.

Cheers. Just thought I'd ask since you guys are rarely all in the building at the same time.

Maybe if I could decipher your last post, I might know.

Non?

And it's monitor. Sorry spellchecker.

That about sums it up. What time S/C at HJB so I can have someone there. Reply before 2 pm or have the AUBL guys do it!

Try to find the root note first. Once you've got that you can play around with chords til you get the right one. It also helps develop your ear quicker if you only look for one note.

Originally posted by Rob Karloff

Also worth doing is swapping out your mono jack-plug on your amp and guitar for a much more sturdy, reliable XLR setup. The advantage is that you then have shielded guitar cabling, you can daisy-chain as many mic leads together as you need for total length, and the plug will be less likely to come out your guitar mid-performance. It's simple to then make a short bridge lead so you can hook up to a regular guitar lead, and another bridge lead to allow players with a regular lead to still plug into your XLR input amp.

I have to disagree.

1) No advantage in signal quality. A long lead will still be unbalanced. Guitar leads are shielded and work better with a capacitance sheath to further sheild against RF.

2) Just get a long lead, more connections equals more chances of a fuck up.

3) Loop the jack through your guitar strap and through the handle of your amp. They don't come out often then.

4) The cables you would have to make would involve more connections and, more importantly, in-line jack sockets; possibly the most unreliable connector around ( although Neutrik are, as ever, reliable and expensive). Since these cables are not standard, you'd better carry spares or be pretty nifty with a soldering iron mid gig.

5) People forget to bring/pack away cables. This happens disturbingly often.

Originally posted by lime

as i said, i got fed up, ordered new pots and pickup selector, and took all the old bastards out.

note. it no longer has a standard wiring, it may not even have a correct wiring.

second note. why do they solder wires on to the back of the pots? is it just because theres not enough room in one solder tag?

furthermore, theres no wirerunning from the bridge to any pot now. i just took a small wire, connected it from the bridge to the earth connection on the bridge pickup, which im sure is a much more efficient way to do things, but who knows, im probably wrong.

Now your strings aren't earthed. And the wires on the back of the pots are the earth.

Originally posted by fort max

hey fudge guys... i'm seeing the next fudgenight gimmick....

BREAKFAST EATING live on stage........ it could take off...

cause none of the bands in aberdeen are gonna... mwa ha ha

Could I order a full english breakfast for the next one. Never have enough time cos bands are always late and I rarely get time to eat.

I could go on for hours about this, but that would just waste your life the way they waste mine.

Re: re: Black hole

Originally posted by Black Sun

I think there might even be a hint of humour in the Black hole article. Considering no-one will be able to go there and check it out or even hear it, it's the idea I find kind of entertaining.

Thanks

Russell

And even if you could go there, you couldn't hear it. It would be entertaining compared to a lot of bands though.

I knew you'd be on his side. Harumph!

(Was breeze a feeble joke or what?)

Mmm, you're right, but so am I about plugging a new band.

They didn't actually detect the 'soundwave' only the excited gasses in between.

Calling it a sound wave is really stretching it. True, they have detected the compression and rarefaction of gasses, but sound is normally thought of as what we can hear, surely this is subsonic.

According to spellcheckers link, this was caused by something that happened a while ago, so it can't be humming either.

Another piece of science mangled for mass consumption.