Compuphonic

I hate folk who nick my ideas' date=' even if I haven't let them be known

I *REALLY* need transport....[/quote']

Are you interested in getting involved ? If you have extra equipment to add to the pool even better, but guess we need to see if there is a demand first..

Ok, an idea I've been toying with, looking for some feedback.

I've currently got the mobile capability to record to a good quality on 8 tracks simultaneously. Along with a couple of mics and compressors I can get results.

I don't have premises/facilities to record bands, but I do have the facilities to come to you, probably at your rehersal space.

While this wont give as good results as visiting a properly treated studio, it will offer a good, relatively clear demo.

I'm thinking along the lines of offering the service to record 2 songs for a fixed price, probably split roughly 8hrs recording, 8hrs putting it together/mixing. I'm open to suggestions on this, more time/less time ?

What sort of money would you pay for a service like this ? What would it need to offer ?

My incentive is to spend more time on my mixing/recording skills, and maybe pay off some kit that otherwise I might sell..

Am I thinking along the wrong lines, would everybody prefer to save up for a 'real' studio ?

My favourite soundtracks:

Blade Runner (Vangellis)

The Wall (Pink Floyd)

Scarface (Moroder)

Also most Tarantino films score highly musically..

I'll second the suggestion for Atmosphere. Have hired a lot of kit from them in the last few years and they are reasonably priced.

Not sure how your singer will manage without a monitor, I'd say one would be essential ?

Mellotron tapes aren't loops!

If you hold down a key for more than 8 seconds' date=' you will get a clunk, then silence, until you release the key. The tape will rewind to the beginning upon release.

All mellotron sounds last no longer than the 8 seconds of tape available[/quote']

Sorry you are completely correct.. the tapes do not loop.

Not sure where I got that idea from, I remember reading an interview with OMD and them talking about using Mellotron on the begining of Joan of Arc and how you can hear the loop points.. thinking about it now doesn't make any sense.. and they could easily have been telling porkies.. probably find out now its not even Mellotron.. lol..

I must have got confused with a prototype or something. I remember a lot of famous users had them modified at the time or had custom tape sets created.

I did find some samples located here:

http://www.hollowsun.com/vintage/mellotron/

Apologies for any confusion..

Fair point' date=' but if the samples were only 8 seconds long like the actual mellotron, wouldn't you hear a constant click if the loop lasted for say a whole song?[/quote']

Yes you can. It becomes less noticeable with more notes sustained. Its not really loud but it can be picked out. The choir 'aaaahhhh' Mellotron sound its noticeable on, less so on some others. There are different versions of the tapes too.

If you were looping digitally you could edit out this quirk.

Have a look at http://www.mellotron.com/archives.html

Mellotron notes aint for looping. they literally have a beginning' date=' ie the first scratch of a violin bow, or the "too" of a flautist and an end, the bow coming off the strings etc. One of the reasons some peoples samples dont sound real is that they loop them.

The more raw and unedited/produced the mellotron sample is, the better.[/quote']

Not my understanding of how the Mellotron series works. All the sounds are constructed from tape loops. They don't have a beginning/middle/end as such.

The artifacts you refer to are caused by the mechanical mechanism in the Mellotron the scratchyness of the pickup heads, the tape loop points, wow and flutter, tape noise, wear and tear.

Listen to many famous Mellotron pieces and you can hear the 'click' as the pickup head goes over the loop point in the tape for that note.

This was my understanding why all the Mellotron sounds were organ/voice/string/woodwind rather than percussive.

Most sample Cds digitally loop the sustain point to save sampler memory, and sample cd space.

do you have a filterbank?

No I don't. 90% of my equipment is analog, so I don't really have a need for it.

I've bought kit before that I've been sold on the idea, and its great kit, but it has a certain distrinctive sound that you really wanted, and once you've got it you crave something different to stop it all sounding the same..

I'd be inclined to try and get one on eBay for a decent price and if you don't like it put it back on eBay and you shouldn't loose too much.

In order to access samples on a wav cd rom' date=' do you need a sampler, or can you get at the single notes/samples by opening them up in cool edit?

I dont own a keyboard or a sampler, but I place(paste) samples to make parts in cool edit. This will be possible with wav format cd roms?

[/quote']

Only problem you might get is that loop points might be lost for sustained notes.You might also have issues with velocity switching. Personally I avoid sample CDs in .WAV format as they are very close in price to the sampler format CDs and often loose velocity crossfades, keyboard mappings, patch combinations etc.

Haven't looked at that sample CD but many of the distributers now post a selection of free snippets on their websites to try.

Sometimes taking the long painful route produces better results.. I'm with you on that one. No pain, no gain thats why I still step program my MC-202

There is a certain irony in having Mellotron samples.. it was after all the very first 'sampler'

There were some really good articles in Sound on Sound about the history of the Mellotron a few years ago. Covered the different versions up to Mk V and all the tapes produced for them.

The Sherman Filterbank is a very cool piece of kit, but I'd question how much real use you would get from it ? Sure it sounds pretty good, but are you going to use that on every single track you create ? Its also the sort of tool that requires a lot of time spent on it to get the best results..

What use did you have in mind for it ?

I've had good results feeding exteranl audio through some of my analog synths, but not an effect I'd use everyday..

u interested?- btw finding my way is a great song' date=' is it yours?[/quote']

Cheers thanks, yep its ours.

I do fancy getting back to playing with a band again (its been a while since I've done any proper giging) - but I spend too much time away from Aberdeen to be of much use to you..

ok.. lets hear what you do...

well yeh our bands sound is really raw. Dirty rythm guitar and a trebly bass sound although if i got a keyboard or synth i think the bass guitar may be put on the back burner for the majority of live songs while i play the bass notes on the keys and chop and change between synth work and very low end guitar.

In your price range I think you'll struggle to find a keyboard that will cut it live as well as a bass guitar does.. often the reason bands with keyboards are 5 piece (or reserve bass keyboard swaps for more laid back material).

Some more suggestions around your price range are Yamaha FM synths - DX21/DX27/Dx100 or Casio Phase Distortion stuff CZ-101, CZ-1000, VZ-1

BTW a Korg BX/CX-3 is going to cost you more than the minimoog..

What sort of sounds are you looking for ?

Well you are going to be extremely limited in your choices on that budget.

You might be really lucky and pick up a Roland D5/D10, JX-1 or maybe Yamaha DX7, Korg Poly 800 for 100

Something like a Roland D50 or Korg M1 is probably going to still be nearer 200

Really depends on what you want to do with it. Cheap synths do tend to sound cheap. Sometimes this can be used to creative effect, but in general they stuggle a bit to complete with guitars when playing live.

Places to check are Scot Ads, eBay, Cash Converters, Evening Express etc

Oh and that Mini Moog is going to set you back about 750+

Two things you need to take into account are the voltage and the polarity each pedal requires.

Most BOSS pedals are 9v centre -ve

Try and get a regulated PSU as these will not fluctuate in voltage as the load changes (some of the cheap 9v adapters are a long way from being 9volts..

I vaguely remember the Cry Baby being centre +ve but it was a while ago I last looked..

Its not rocket science to hook up a couple of regulators and smoothing caps to a decent 12v psu to give you 9v and 5v outputs - although things start getting a little more complex if you need AC and DC or dual rail PSUs

Best check out your pedals and report back..

Check out some of the Linux audio apps at www.linuxaudio.org

Rosegarden is probably the one you want..

http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/tour/audio/

does it cost anything to register for a vistor pass? Doesnt seem to mention it on the site...

Its free if you pre-register..

Follow the link on the site.

The short answer is you get 2 types of drum brains.. old ones and new ones..

There are lots from lots of different manufacturers - generally you can mix and match most modern systems, not so much with the older stuff. The Roland Stuff is reasonably popular. Or you could start with an Octapad style device (I got one and they're great fun)

Have a look here at the FAQ

http://www.harmony-central.com/Drums/EDW/home.html

Funny...the archiving thing is exactly why I want to move away from DAW based recording. But hey' date=' what do IDE drives cost these day. [/quote']

I know I just poicked up one of the new Seagate SATA 400Gb drives for 180.. crazy..

I agree about the outboard costs...but come on...how sweet does it look!

sheesh... I never realised the Foyer had so much outboard

Is that a bunch of UADs on the far right ?

I'd guess its cost and flexibility... Its a good choice I think.....and I want a shot

hehe.. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist jumping on this one...

I just don't like not being able to easily keep archives of past recordings - you either end up needing a stack of hard disks or having a comuter anyway.. at least with the old ADAT format the tapes were cheap..

It is a good choice, although what you save on the recording solution you then shell out on the outboard.

Foyer Music is now a 24-track studio and is open at weekends

Out of interest why did you go the Alesis route rather than DAW ?

Just a pity there is an age restriction on using the studio...

There's a really good review of the desk here http://www.audiomedia.com/archive/reviews/us-0399/us-0399-mta/us-0399-mta.htm

Mentions the Radiohead connection, along with some trivia about Malcolm Tofts prior recording credits..

Taking place at the moment..

Lots of new toys..

Logic 7.1 upgrade

ProTools M-Audio Edition

Powercore Mk II

http://www.gearjunkies.com/default.php

It looks like a quango ?

All the site seems to do is point to other people ? Did I miss the point ?

Also when you look at the support matrix for music, there is nothing in between southern scotland and highland and islands - which means no change here then..