HairyScaryMark

I have Norton Anti Virus amongst other things.

I haven't seen any keyboards with 64 keys. 61 keys is standard.

Maybe get a Korg Triton LE second hand on ebay?

Or a Yamaha motif rack or Roland fantom rack second hand on ebay. Then get a super cheap midi controller and upgrade it later when you have more money.

Also, ask yourself where you are likely to use this? live, band practices, studio, jamming etc.?

the best money/price ratio workstation available at the moment is the Alesis Fusion. It contains 3 synth types, samples, FM and VA (virtual analogue). All are meant to be strong. The sample section is apparently improved by new sample downloads and upgrading the RAM.

It is available in 61 keys (6HD) or 88 weighted keys (8HD). Alesis

The 6HD is around 800. Probably out of your price range.

They are hurgely cheaper in the US, as with most gear.

Also concider that winter NAMM is less than 10 days away and more synths will be released then.

The Yamaha Motif XS (replacement for ES) will drive the price of Motif ES down conciderably. That could be worth concidering.

You NEED a Line 6 Echo Park. That's the most recent pedal I've bought myself. Hog can back that up

I seriously wouldn't recommend line 6 for reverb. Especially if it is anything like what is on the original pod.

Alesis are often unbeatable for the price and the reverb isn't bad. Preferably use it in the parallel fx loop as the reverb signal is not strong enough on itself.

If you can afford it, save up for a TC electronics G major. They are coming down to around 250 now. Reverb makes an astonishing difference to your tone. Don't compromise on it.

I got myself a Korg Triton Extreme 61 key version (i liked it marginally better than the Fantom that Dan bought although the Fantom pwns the triton at a number of things, including realistic acoustic instruments).

KORG.co.uk ::Triton Extreme

Also got the M-Audio GForce Future Retro Pack for christmas (i suppose not really 2007 but thought I would mention it anyway).

GForce Software

Now I just need a laptop to run all my software synths live and an RME fireface 800 (plan to plug SPDIF of triton extreme into the fireface and send one left and right signal to the desk, live).

Also would like an 88 weighted keys board.

If I purchased the fireface it would mean I have studio gear at a comparible quality with The Mill.

I have used quite a number of things. Do not buy expensive ear plugs without trying all the inexpensive alternatives first.

I have been using foam ear plugs for a number of years and they sound good enough, for someone who lives on a house situated in a black hole (everything goes missing). Sound is altered in a negative way but I can live with it for band practice. Nobody sees them also due to hair. Being in a progressive rock band you should have enough hair to cover earplugs also. I got 10 or 20 (Can't remember which) for £1.99 per pack from B&Q

Wax ear plugs offer a more accurate reproduction of sound. They however will stick to your hair (or anything else). Wax ear plugs are over-all preferable but are stocked in less places.

I invested in a pair of fitted ear plugs a few years a go. It was a mistake as I foolishly managed to lose one of them after the first band practice I had with them.

Bruce millers do rubber/plastic ear plugs for around £12 a pair. Never tried them, drummer uses them and says they are good.

Also, never let drummers near your kitchen table while they are in the process of removing their ear plugs. My drummer decided to leave his ear plugs on the kitchen table. Yuck

Might concider trying the one's in Soundian's link.

If I get bored in the near future. I am going to download it and run it under Native Instruments Kore and make super combinations.

I did click on the link and felt less enlightened than before I started reading then and couldn't be bothered reading the rest of the information.

Seems bizarre to create an emulation of something with super naff tone.

What exactly is a VL synth?

And when did Casio make one?

Everyone knows Formula 1 isn't a real sport. The American version probably involved lots of women wearing tight leather with big boobs.

I like Real Ales. Couldn't say which one is my favourite. Rarely try the same one twice due to availability. Most unusual one was Old Engine Oil in The Prince of Wales.

Please describe this disco in alford. This sounds amusing.

Women have more accidents overall

Men just have bigger and much more spectacular accidents:up:

I have witnessed a guy wet his pants on nights out. I however have witnessed a woman poop her pants. I think your theory is false.

Wouldn't mind an S series 7 string. If Ibanez want to endorse me (which they never will), they can give me one of those (or more than one).

I got the M-Audio GForce Future Retro Pack.

I am sure this name means a lot to everyone.

......It contains software emulations of 4 classic analogue synthesisers. The Mini Moog (MiniMonsta), Mellatron (M-Tron), Oscar (ImpOSCar), and Arp Oddysy (Oddity) - (note that the m-audio produce names are in brackets.

Very pleased with it although I have never played any of the originals so I can't really comment on how accurate they are.

Also bought a korg triton extreme (fancy keyboard) on Friday with money saved from my birthday, last christmas, my job and my last job. Feels like a christmas present.

Also got a Nintendo DS for christmas and a pair of socks (I always get a pair of socks).

Also, everyone on my mum's side of the family gives me de-oderant or bathroom products, providing they think I smell.

i reckon if you end up looking like me in this photo then it'll have been a good night:

I think that would involve more than one night at the plastic surgeons.

Many women are so gullable that they actually believe they are safer drivers then go and have accidents.

I don't know why but I can't help but like the look of the pink guitar for some reason.

I have used thomann many times.

If the item is out of stock, you will have problems and thomann aren't ultimately the best at keeping you up to date with this. Baring in mind the time of year, people aren't in a rush to get back to work so there will be a backlog of orders and stuff to be sent out. You can't expect the same delivery times around christmas time.

Also note that some delivery companies think Aberdeen or at least Aberdeenshire is a remote area and will take especially long to deliver to it.

Had a very slight problem with something being in stock so a guy called Sebastian phoned my house about something my dad ordered without telling anyone.

Or to compensate for close-miking, or to enhance certain frequencies (e.g. sub in kick drums, or "click" in kick drums). Nothing wrong with the original source in those cases.

I would argue that many drummers play kick drums which are quite far from what is suitable for the type of music they play. I prefer something quite subtle but can still comes across. There is also a habbit of mic'ing bass drums up quite poorly. For heavy rock, 2 mics are ideal to get the sound of the 'kick' alongside the boomyness. It does however depend on the microphone(s) you use.

Admittedly. I found a huge conflict between kick mic and bass guitar in a band I recorded a few months a go. If I could hear the kick mic, the bass guitar sounded insufficent and not punchy sounding enough. As soon as I turned the bass frequncies up on the bass EQ I found the kick drum completely vanished. This was partially due to a relatively small error in micing the bass drum and the bass guitar not being of great quality (and the behringer A/D converters used). I eventually got both to sit in the mix but this required compromise, balance and effectively destructing audio signals with EQ. I can assume most of these things wont happen next time I record a band.

I'm afraid the acoustics can change quite radically in the space of a few hours, the introduction of several hundred large bags of water with round reflective bits on top will see to that.

Graphic equalisers are also quite clumsy devices and aren't really up to the task, some form of system controller with multi-band parametrics is the best way.

Very true but if you engineer in a venue often you should know 98% of what is going to happen to the acoustics of the room as more people arrive. My comments were made in relation to the venues with in-house PA systems that don't sound very good. They really should have an advantage as the engineers get a chance to engineer in the same venue many times with the same PA system.

The bands also make a huge difference, as I well know from experience.... The singer who didn't bother to sing into the microphone she was given. A drummer who used hot rods in a fairly big venue causing drums to be required through the other musicians monitors. A flute player who thought she knew more about micing flutes than the sound engineers did despite failing to play an entire piece of music without drifting out of tune, during every single phrase. The guitarist with a really awful solid state amp who asked us to plug his 'speaker output' into the mixing desk..... I have more examples.

Bands also love to tell the sound engineer nothing about their monitor mix at soundcheck then complain about it afterwards.

That guy is pretty good but I prefer this guy

A few things to concider when buying an acoustic guitar.

The pickup will not give you ideal tone for recording but it should be as ideal as possible for live use.

I also think the type of strings make an absolutely huge difference on acoustic guitars. For the type of stuff I play I like the thickest string to be at least guage 52.

For recording, ideally you record on an un-carpetted floor with at least one microphone, in addition to the pickup. I got a very balanced sound with an Ovation acoustiic in my kitchen (with a tiled floor) and an AKG C414 about 1 metre away.

Ovation are quite good but I am not sure I would get another one. A lot of people like Martin so you probably wont go too wrong with them. Might get a Yamaha and try to imagine it with strings I like on it in the shop.

Ibanez prestige is only a thing of the last few years. Ibanez have been making good guitars for much longer than that.

Most Ibanez guitars haven't came with good pickups as stock since the early 90s. You need to replace the pickups to optimize your tone, DiMarzio is quite common for the type of people who play Ibanez guitars. The upside is you aren't paying for good pickups that are far from your taste.

I own an Ibanez 7 string and have to admit that my useage of this extra string is relatively minimal so not in a rush to get an additional one.

The size of your hands should not prevent you form playing a guitar with extra strings, providing you have good technique.

The Bar I work in had £1200 go into the till on one of our busier nights so coporate functions are deffinately a huge money spinner.

I am suprised the capacity is so low. That really isn't a great deal larger than Moshulu or The Lemon Tree, in that case.

I personally would rather play The Forum in a band (providing I had the people to fill it). The Stage is much bigger and higher. With a fair bit of equipment on stage at moshulu or the lemontree, you are left wtih very little space to move around. Just about everyone could see the band in the forum.

I have relatives there. Visited once for a few days.

Well worth walking around the old town for the look of the buildings. Wondering around Geneva is generally interesting. You can hire a bike at the front (maybe not suitable if there is ice).

There is a small animal santury slightly outside Geneva which contained various monkeys, a panther (i think it was), a parrot amongst other things. I assume some animals would be inside for winter.

You are also nicely within the season to do snow-related activities which I believe there is near Geneva.

the tunnels sound has been awesome at times, more likely when the bands bring their own engineers with them and fine tune and tweak at soundcheck. it takes time, but with a room like that it is essential!.

when there are local gigs on they sound pap because of many reasons

- bands think "loud" means turn the volume up really high (particularly bad if they own pish gear). if you have any of your eqs at 10 you *may* run into problems

- a lot of musicians round here do not take the time out to hone their live sound + tones

- local bands (even when living 5 mins away) still manage to turn up late and have no soundcheck, or do turn up on time but get no soundcheck due to someone somewhere cocking up/setting up and breaking down

and as a result it is a mammoth task to get a decent eq through a pa in a room shaped like that, and with a stage like that

These are all strong factors but in the end sound engineerand providers of PA equipment have to accept a large degree of responsibility for the overall quality of the sound at a music venue. I accept that a lot of venue owners (or those who hire PA systems) probably don't know a great deal about PA systems or room acoustics but for me it has a great impact on my enjoyance of a peformance. I have previously had gigs ruined by poor sound.

My understanding of loud backlines on stage (often turned up due to loud drummer), means the stage monitors get turned up, meaning the sound off them is heard out front (sounding muffled) which then results in the PA system being turned up even louder and a average PA system like Mackie will sound harsh when loud. Also will sound a lot harsher when damaging our hearing.

Flash of the Moorings has the right idea with powerbreaks at the desk. Such a measure would not be introduced unless it was entirely necessary (which it is).

You should also understand that EQ is an entirely desctructive process. EQ is used when there is something wrong with the source signal being fed to the sound desk. It is sometimes used also to compensate for acoustics of the room. It is sometimes also used to help an instrument 'sit' in a mix but that could also be said to be because there is something wrong with the original source.

The acoustics of the room aren't going to change from night to night so an installed system should have had this fixed on the first day it makes it way to the venue.

The processing of making a room 'dead' involves getting an expensive 'flat response' microphone and feeding pink noise? through the PA system (all frequencies at the same level). The graphic equalisers for the front of house outputs are then adjusted so that no frequency band is exagerated by the PA.

Basic knowledge dictates that an instrumental tone is only going to be as good as the weakest part of the system. It is getting more and more the case that the weakest part of the system is the band's gear on stage (particularly with young bands). I have heard bands say stuff like "a valve amp costs 20 gigs at drummonds" but that is besides the point and if their guitar tone is not acceptable they are never going to get further than playing gigs at drummonds (note this is only an example).

Where about is this GP practice situated?