Flash@TMB

Good, it would be a shame if it shut. It was an important part of my youth, and too many of those places are now gone forever it would seem. Back when I first started going to the wig it was a very different place, far more rock and metal orientated. It had black tables etc. Was a cool place with a great jukebox.

Later on it refurbed and wasn't so cool looking but it did sell Addlestones, real ale, decent bottled beers, and some flavoured vodka. It also had a pinball machine, and the jukebox was still decent.

Then they brought in the big screen sports etc, ditched the Addlestones, the flavoured vodka, the pinball... and me.

I just read on Facebook that the Tilted Wig had closed down - is this true?

Bit presumptious. How do you know my favourite albums weren't intended to be played through a 15 year old Goodmans stereo that probably only cost 30 new?

If I was replying to you then I would have instantly assumed that. Everyone else, nope.

I don't have anything for playing CDs at home. I didn't realise this meant that I hate music.

Lesson learned!

I'm sure you don't hate music, but trust me you'd enjoy it much more through a decent system.

If anyone would like to experience this, then my age old offer still stands: PM me and arrange to visit me in the bar out of hours. Bring your favourite CD's. I can't give you anything to drink, but I can let you hear your music as it was intended to sound.

EDIT: if you don't own any CDs then you can listen to the ones I bought from One Up

Not much point in listening to music if you don't care how it sounds. Not much point in painstakingly recording something if people don't give a shit how it sounds. MP3 players have their purpose: portability. See all this stuff about linking you MP3 player to your HiFi - that stuff exists to separate gullible people from money.

I'd rather have the CD for the quality, and rip it to MP3 for when I need portability. If the computer is integrated into a HiFI system then I'd rip a WAV from the CD. But listening to music through shitty computer speakers??? Gads!

Because:

1) The CD costs the same and offers much more, so only an idiot would choose to pay to download an MP3 in a record shop.

2) They can't take a cut of the sale therefore they'd be cutting their own feet. They may as well hand out free snacks as while they're at it.

3) No manufacturer has a yet combined an MP3 player with a spliff roller.

Not much point in buying a CD if you're going to rip it to an mp3 player or your computer, which I suspect is what the vast majority of people do now.

Not much point in listening to music if you don't care how it sounds. Not much point in painstakingly recording something if people don't give a shit how it sounds. MP3 players have their purpose: portability. See all this stuff about linking you MP3 player to your HiFi - that stuff exists to separate gullible people from money.

I'd rather have the CD for the quality, and rip it to MP3 for when I need portability. If the computer is integrated into a HiFI system then I'd rip a WAV from the CD. But listening to music through shitty computer speakers??? Gads!

Why not have a few PCs were people can download stuff and put it on their iPod?

Because:

1) The CD costs the same and offers much more, so only an idiot would choose to pay to download an MP3 in a record shop.

2) They can't take a cut of the sale therefore they'd be cutting their own feet. They may as well hand out free snacks as while they're at it.

New Facebook update -

"DON'T PANIC!!!!!! Yes things are tough all round but we're still in business. Sadly we've are losing Finnie and Wirey to cut costs. We hope to continue supplying the best in music to you as we have tried to over the past 30+ years. With your continued support we will do so."

Would much rather see HMV close. Sorry if you work in HMW (nothing personal) but it's soulless national chain with nothing unique to offer anyone, except perhaps it's shareholders.

I feel a little bit guilty because our jukebox is at capacity, and we've had a new one sitting waiting for me to get of my arse and install it for well over a year now. Hence there hasn't been any official Moorings patronage of One Up... but it's not like we've been buying stuff elsewhere.

One Up has advantages over both the Internet and the nationals. Firstly it's able to offer an experience that cannot easily be duplicated on-line. Atmosphere, advice, fun, in-store gigs, the sheer joy of browsing, accessibility of related paraphernalia, the friendly and knowledgeable staff etc.

These days there are, in my experience, little in the way of worthwhile savings to be made from shopping on-line. A few times I've actually bought something on-line only to later see it cheaper in a local outlet.

On-line works best when:

you don't need advice or after sales service.

you know precisely what you want.

it's a bulky item that is harder to lug home, like a TV.

you don't need to try out or see the thing before you purchase it.

you can't be arsed getting off your arse to get it

you're are fairly certain that you'll be home when the postman comes.

In the case of CDs there is no advantage to going on-line unless one is looking for something specific that One Up is unlikely to have in stock.

Most of us are in town on a regular basis anyway. It's nice to nip into One Up, have a browse around, pick up stuff you like, shoot the shit, and take it home. It's not heavy, it's not any more expensive, and it's fun to do.

The anal antisocial trolling daleks out there will strongly disagree with those statements, but their opinions are worthless, so just ignore them. Trust me, those prats would download beer if it were possible (after all they already download sex).

And as the daleks will point out the thrust of my argument has been predicated on CDs. Surely the MP3 changes everything? After all hasn't it been scientifically proven that a human cannot distinguish between CD and MP3? Well actually no... perhaps a dalek can't tell the difference (or God help them may prefer the dull grainy lifeless sound), but the rest of us can easily distinguish, except in a very noisy environment. And the difference is massive. For this reason we run full CD audio in our jukebox. There are zero MP3s in there.

If you really love music, then sound quality should be important. Any expert will tell you that a high quality system punishes a bad recording whereas a poor quality system flatters one. So dig out those valve separates and dust off your CDs. There life in them yet. It's true that in the future, we'll have access to so much storage and bandwidth that it will be viable to download full WAV audio, but we're not there yet, so why fork out the same for an intangible album of MP3s as you would for a much better sounding CD?

Finally, there also the problem of being British and therefore heavily under US influence. In some other countries, particularly in Europe, people will defend their privately operated local outlets at all costs. They avoid shopping in supermarkets, they won't eat in a McDonalds, and they would never spend their night out in something like a Wetherspoons. They also feel much the same way towards the on-line experience. This is a cultural thing, where people have educated themselves and each other to value that which is unique and therefore irreplaceable. That's why they avoid tearing own historic buildings, bulldozing public parks *COUGH*, and abandoning their high streets. That's why people enjoy the experience of visiting these places on holiday. It's unique, it's quaint, it's lovely, and it's a high quality fully immersive and interactive experience. And if we allow these things to be eradicated then our world becomes dull, and our lives become poorer.

So lets all get off our arses; all we need do to safeguard the future of One Up is to go there a bit more often. I rest my case

Walk in the Light

as i will have time to change door entry / drink prices for the launch.

Do they really give you control over the drinks prices?

Tonight!!!

yup, and that's EXACTLY what i did this year.

there wasn't a 'Best Venue' category on the voting slips that were being handed out in the bar this year.

so the win is fair and square i reckon...

Well fuck me sideways. I didn't even notice. They don't call me Flash for nothing do they

Thanks to everyone who voted for us!

It's true that we benefit from a home advantage but we've also won the Internet end of this vote for the last 7 years (every year we've been nominated), and the home advantage does not apply there. This year we omitted to put out a "Vote Moorings thread" and in spite of that won more on-line votes than ever...

Brian if it makes things fairer then perhaps you should consider only counting Internet votes for venues in future years.

Anyway, thanks again

Everyone, this situation is now resolved. We've all had our moments and my personal diary of cringe makes horrific reading.

Enough said.

The only thing I would like, and I said this the other night at the awards, would be to be able to hear what it sounds like out front, because bands always sound fecking ace out front and obviously you don't get that onstage. Glassman in particular the other night sounded incredible.

If you take along a really long signal cable (or we can loan you a 5m one), or invest in some wireless then feel free to jump off stage a go for a wander . It won't cause any problems.

Since the subject of stage sound has reared it's head, here's some insight into this phenomenon that performers, particularly those less experienced might find enlightening. If this is well received then I'll take the time to flesh it into a proper article.

Some stages are acoustically controlled, meaning they are clad in sound absorbing material to stop everything reverberating round them, this is particularly the case where the stage is a semi-confined space. The absorption material might just be on any, some, or all of the following: floor, ceiling, rear wall, side walls (if applicable).

Firstly if you have an acoustic drum kit then that should be what dictates the level of of everything else on stage. You can't easily turn the drummer down (well not unless you give him dead arms or something). You then balance your speaker cabinets to mx with the drum volume. If you do this right then it should be possible for you to hear drums, bass, and guitar WITHOUT resorting to the monitors. That's why, when you are setting up, tuning up, and setting your own levels, the monitors are generally turned down/off.

There are two notable exceptions to this:

1) The drummer. This person may often be sited almost flush with the cabs, and the dispersion cones of the cabs will not be broad enough to intersect with the drummers ears. Therefore the drummer will require EVERYTHING in his monitor, including his own kick drum. And, if the ceiling of the stage is acoustically controlled then the drummer may also need to hear his snare and toms routed through his own monitor, believe it or not.

2) Where the stage is very spacious, and your cabs are so far away that not everyone on stage can hear them at an adequate volume.

So in a basic setup, on a small to medium sized stage, the drums, bass, and guitar only need routed through the drum monitor. Thus the musicians are mostly controlling their own mix.

Of course the vocals will need to be routed through the monitors, and usually, unless they have their own amp/speaker combos, so will keyboards, strings, horns, and many other less common instruments. These levels are within the engineers control, and they will be set during level check.

Now a quick bit of clarity on line check vs level check vs sound check:

Line check is where the engineer checks that he is getting both a signal and the correct signals through all the feeds, both wired and wireless.

Level check is where the relative levels of each instrument are set, in the input gains, in the speaker cabs, and in the monitors. At this point you should indicate to the engineer if you are having trouble hearing or distinguishing something. Especially the part where the engineer asks "can everyone hear everything OK?" If you answer "yes" to that when you can't, then you only have yourself to blame..

Sound check is first and foremost about ironing out any kinks, such as any feedback, then about refining the sound both on and off stage. It's nice to have one, but more necessary where there is not a preinstalled/pre-optimised rig. With a preinstalled rig any feedback should (hopefully) already be eliminated, and the overall frequency response already optimised for the room. The Moorings usually chooses to skip this step for reasons that are already explained on a thread in our forum.

Monitors generally come in three flavours, drum, fold back, and side fold. Most venues will operate drum and fold back.

Fold back is where the monitor are usually wedge(s) located on the floor and sited in front of the musician(s), with the speaker orientated directly towards their face. This is therefore a mono mix as both your ears are picking up the same speaker. The Moorings will mostly route vocals through the fold back.

Side fold is where speakers are located at either side of the stage pointing in. Again these are usually wedges, although the moorings has separate speakers located on the walls. These speakers provide a stereo effect, because your right ear will hear the right speaker, and your left ear will hear the left speaker. The Moorings generally routes instruments through the side fold. Where the instrument is sited on stage will determine the balance of it in each side fold. For example if an instrument is located on the far left of the stage then it will be routed through the left side fold. Because the left side fold broadcasts it's sound to the right, then people on the right side of the stage will hear that sound coming from their left, which is where that instrument is sited. Likewise something sited on the far right of the stage will be routed through the right side fold. However something located centrally will be routed through both side folds (with respective levels adjusted accordingly). This makes perfect sense if you think about it! The brain finds it easier to interpret sounds if they come from the anticipated direction. If you are standing stage centre, with buddy A on your right and buddy B on your left, then you'd expect to hear buddy A in your right ear and buddy B in your left ear, otherwise you might get a tad confused...

So a quick recap. The drum kit dictates the level of everything else. The band set their amps/cabs to mix correctly with that level. The engineer then feeds in the vocals and the other instruments. The engineer then checks whether you can hear/distinguish each other. If the engineer is nice (or if there is a stage engineer) then he might also get on stage and check that your guitars are balanced - that they are at equal volumes and easily distinguished from one another. But really it's your job to get this right, the engineer can only offer some guidance. From experience I know that if I discern that the guitars are balanced then the meter on the desk will visually confirm this, unless I have a cold or something.

If the guitar levels are balanced but it's hard to distinguish between the guitars, then typical causes are: too much distortion, too much presence, too similar sounding. Again the engineer may be able to suggest a fix, or even adjust your amps, but really this is something you should have sorted out in rehearsal.

If you are experiencing a problem during a gig, then the best course of action is to say over the mic between songs "we have a technical problem, please would the engineer come to the stage." Try and sort if out then, in relative privacy.

Now finally... heh heh heh... if things aren't going to plan, then be very careful before you blame the engineer, over your microphone. Fair enough if there is raging feedback (and it's not your feedback), but otherwise be aware that the engineer will have encountered this shit before, and here is precisely the course of action he/she will take.

Firstly he/she has a button that turns the front of house stereo mix on/off. The engineer will press this button and kill the front of house speakers. For avoidance of doubt, this means that EVERYONE in the room will be hearing the stage sound only, and they will all be aware of that, but you won't. Consider this development carefully.

Next the engineer will say "OK you - play your instrument". You will of course comply. The engineer will then ask "can you hear that". If you can hear your own noise, and you state "no" then EVERYONE in the room will know that A) you are lying, and B) you are a prat. This is precisely what happened at the gig in question BTW. Also if you lie then the engineer will likely humiliate you, this will go something like "OK stop playing. Right that noise that just stopped - that was you, that's what you sound like." Remember the whole room is hearing this. Ouch!

So the golden rules are:

Rehearse.

Learn to set your levels.

Ensure that your instruments are easily distinguishable from each other.

Be aware of how monitors are laid out. Know what to expect.

Tell the truth at level check - the engineer is asking you for a reason. Better to sort it out now rather than later.

If there is a problem then politely ask the engineer to come to the stage. If he can't fix it then he'll usually tell you why and you can either call a halt, or live with the problem.

Try and make the best of a bad situation if at all possible.

If you choose to slate the engineer over the mic, the ensure that A) the problem is totally out with your control, B) the engineer has refused or been unable to fix it, and C) ONLY ONLY ONLY if it's going to be obvious to everyone in the room... otherwise you'll look like a dick.

NEVER THROW A TANTRUM!

Standing up there with 200 people listening to your stage sound, and your over cranked amp hissing and screeching all over the place whilst stating "I can't fucking hear anything up hear" is really not a good look.

Please PLEASE tell me there is a video of this somewhere? The tantrum bit specifically...

xx

It might be on CCTV, but we'll save that for if and when the flames get higher

One thing I should add for accuracy.. there was only one guy in the band that was causing trouble, mouthing off, throwing tantrums etc. The rest of the band were fine, and one was even apologetic, which I appreciated.

It's often the case that one person in a band manages to spoil it for the rest. In this case I wouldn't want the whole band to be tarred with the prat brush as they're decent guys who found themselves in an awkward situation.

If this was aimed at Eternal Idol, I think you will find they walked after several complaints about the shocking sound on stage which made it impossible to continue playing and the venue did nothing to sort.

I can't find that because it's not lost. It was me that shut the gig down, and I'm sure the other 50 people in the room (down from 100) at the start of the set will now recall this version of events, including the guitar throwing tantrum.

There is subtle yet important distinction between "shocking sound" and "sounding shocking". The latter was the problem in this case. When you are unable to ascertain what you band mate is playing, yet the noise is plainly audible, chances are he's not playing what you're expecting to hear. Rehearsals offer the best solution to this; even the best stage sound possible is no substitute for rehearsing. Saying over the mic "I can't hear fucking anything" is clearly bogus because, believe me, we could all hear the noise and it wasn't good noise. The people sitting staring at the floor, with their fingers stuffed in their ears, gritting their teeth, and muttering "please let this be over" was a powerful indicator that they weren't enjoying themselves.

High up on "Things Not To Do During A Gig 101" is don't announce to the audience "and this is a tune we haven't even fucking rehearsed yet!". After all they just paid 2 to be admitted, and nobody is willing to sit through that.

It might also benefit you to understand the commercial aspect of gigging. When a venue books you for a gig, its because they want to attract more people into the room, as opposed to causing a max exodus of punters...

Here's another thing you might want to take on board for the future, assuming that your intention is to continue with live performance: when you do make an arse of it, don't blame the engineer, you'll just piss everyone off even more. It would be a better ploy to stage an equipment failure or to feign sudden illness. However if you do lose control and throw a massive tantrum on stage, then it may be better to apologise for that the next day, lest your venue/promoter/engineer options become drastically reduced.

Along similar lines, if you have done the whole tantrum then "fuck them we don't need them anyway thing", then whatever you do, avoid publicising this incident. For instance don't go airing your dirty laundry all over the Internet. Lots of promoters, venues, engineers, bands you may wish to gig with, or perhaps even support might read it. Worse still, people often type band names into Google before booking them, and you really don't want this to become your "top hit".

The post I made above was bait, I deliberately didn't mention your band name. You should have just let it go. There were only 50 people around to see your set brought to a screeching halt, a lot of them were drunk, some of them weren't paying attention, and very few of them considered it to be a major event in their lives. Bottom line is that probably only 10 could recall it happening without any prompting. Until you joined this thread and picked that scab! Now lots more people know. And if you were so confident that the stage sound is garbage, then surely you wouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that I was referring to your band, since similar events would be occurring on a regular basis (in actual fact your incident was only the second one in 9 years - thank God).

Walk in the light... and wise the fuck up

Good shout!

The Worst Band In Aberdeen (for a third consecutive year) are...

ASCENSION

Ascension [NEW SONG UP NOW!!!!] | Free Music, Tour Dates, Photos, Videos

Cerebral Inferno and $huttr$pd tie for second.

At least they never got kicked off the stage...

Not far from here, to get there just drive around in ill-defined circles for about 5 hours.

With hosts The Right Reverend Lucifer and Colonel Lingus

Free Admission

Thousands of tunes

Prizes to be won

Monthly finals with more spectacular prizes

Every Wednesday from 8pm till late (well sometime between 11pm and midnight)

Launch night on Wed 16th February 2011

And now, they do battle one last time!

No 25, 50 or 100 year anniversary gigs planned then?

Anybody of my vintage remember going into Bargain Books to sneak a peek at Madonna Nudes 79? (This really has nothing to do with Fopp or HMV)

^5 there

Yaas min!

I once bought a mustard-coloured cardigan out of a charity shop, thimking it would give me a look like Kurt Cobain in Nirvana Unplugged. I just looked like a seriously uncool 15 year old in a too-big cardigan it looked like I'd nicked from my granda.

Umm weren't you like 25 when Nirvana started