HairyScaryMark

Cloud: I think people are disappointed at the lack of condemnation you express towards to BNP. It may be their right to stand for election and express their views. It doesn't however mean that you should give them any sense of credibility talking about a 'right of conservative party' as if they are just a slightly more radical version of UKIP. Making a comparison between the BNP SSP and Greens is completely foolish. The SSP or Greens are not extreme parties, they are not affiliated with skin head thugs who burn down curry houses and start football riots. They are not racist, as far as I know. Ian Paisley? maybe.... I guess he does encourage ethnic cleansing and such. Probably still not quite as extreme and nasty as the BNP but he is a lot more scary as he has more power and influence. The threat of the BNP is completely over-stated. They might win a few council seats, which is entirely unacceptable to the most of us but it is extremely unlikely they will ever become a major force in British politics. Remember that other right wing party from the last council elections, UKIP. They soon disappeared and nobody can remember the names of more than two of them now. I think the tabloid press play into people's prejudices and fears. It only requires a few articles about there supposedly being too many asylum seekers. We soon then get legions of people saying things starting "I'm not racist but..." Of course, it is the responsibility of the individual not to be so reactionary but the tabloid press certainly make the climate worse.

I am a big prog fan, both the older stuff such as Yes, Focus and Kansas and new stuff like Dream Theater and Symphony X. Graeme is correct, there is a lot of Genesis there which is a good thing in my opinion as I like Genesis up until the point they got boring (discussion for another topic). I was quite impressed with the songs. They don't go on for too long, that is just what people used to listening to 2 minute pop songs say. Of course it is possible to make a piece of music too long if you run out of ideas to stimulate the listener. This deffinately isn't the case in these songs. Not everyone has a very long concentration span. I don't agree with the criticism about the vocal motif coming in again too late in song 1. The engineer should be shot because of the drum sound but the rest is good sound-quality-wise. The songs are extremely relaxing in the parts with the vocals. I will try to make sure I see this band live.

As for recording quality. My verdict is. The guitars sound good, drums are quite good but could be improved a bit. If something runs the risk of dominating a mix, your choice of tones, EQ and sounds used are something to concider with this. My guess is that keyboards and guitars could be competiting within a similar frequency range but I still reckon the keyboards could be raised in overall level without drowning out the guitars. Bass could also do with EQ-ing then turning the over-all level up so it is more significant in the mix. Vocals could do with having parts re-recorded. They start off really strong but later on the performance slips. The singer is really good but I reckon he could do even better on the 2nd half of the recording. --Mark--

I am quite impressed. Where about did you record it? Also suggest the keyboard being louder in the mix and is there bass? I can't hear it.

To an extent sound posibilities of an instrument can be expanded by the equipment available to the performer. This is the case with any instrument and not just digital ones. Equipment should never be looked upon as a limiting factor ... what is more musical than the voice? I will make sound pre-sets for my guitar as well as for my keyboards when I can't find what i want from an existing pre-set. I use digital technology for my guitar tone as well as keyboards. The last paragraph is far from reality. Most musicians improvise. Some merely at the level of creating an interpretation. Some will change the structure, notes and even key of the music, on the spot, live. I have also seen 2 jazz guitar players play for hours at a very high standard, having never met each other before. That is originality at the maximum, well that's not really true. The most original would be if everything was written as it was played but as far as pre-written music goes that has to be pretty close. The ability for a DJ or electronic music 'performer' to change the music live is not as great as someone playing a conventional instrument. A DJ is to some extent confined within what they have entered into their pre-determined loops. I still believe a large part of the joy of live performance is the performers ability to play something a bit differnet from what you have previously heard on recordings or even their last gig. As for guitars being pickup and play instruments? Have you ever used fruity loops? You can create rave tunes without having a clue what you are doing. I am not for one minute suggesting that professional DJ's use the basic pre-wrriten stuff in fruity loops. Also, when I had a loan of a friend's Korg Triton Extreme (pro workstation keyboard), there is many pre-built in riffs, and auto acompanyment. Including one even entitled 'auto rave'. You hit one key and it goes off and plays a rave song for you. You just add whatever you want over the top. Of course most people who take electronic music seriously will write most of their music from scratch.

I could also recommend some guitar teachers I know.

http://www.aberdeen-music.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33867 If you have been playing seriously for 2 years, you maybe are more advanced than the pupils I was looking to take on however, the amount of time you have been playing dosen't really mean a huge amount in guitar. At least in the first few years. It is about how efficently you use the time.

Would I be right in thinking you want to play rock electric guitar? How far would you be willing to travel for lessons? What sort or level are you at, at the moment?

I do slightly object to music which never was 'performed' at any stage, yet still manages to be on a recording. Pre-programmed stuff is potentially a good idea for a backing track so a musician can advance a skill such as improvisation but I don't value pre-programming for music performance (generally speaking). I regularly use computer software for practicing music (band in a box) and also some software synths, recording and score writing software. There is nothing wrong with digital synths. They are just as much a valid instrument as anything else and one of the most exciting, in my opinion. Providing they are played with a keyboard (or a guitar?), they remain a real instrument. There is a huge difference between the top of the range pro keyboards, available today and what was available 10 years a go. As for the thing about a Grand Piano verses Synthesised one. I think you will find that to get a decent grand piano you are going to have to fork out many 10,000's or even 100,000's for the very best concert grands. However companies such as Roland do some extremely realistic digital pianos starting at around 600. Also far more practical in a band situation as they can be amplified without use of microphones and also can be played through headphones for home practice. You have to pay many times as much money for a decent acoustic piano vs great digital piano. Anyway, that is highly off thread now.

I tried to chat up some girl in Moshulu once who then went and kissed what was supposedly her girlfriend. She better have been genuine. Will be going to Obediance School if I have any money nearer the time.

Someone should run gig where Aberdeen's buskers all play one after each other. Need a one man band and accordian player at some point as well.

It probably was my fault. I can't remember what I said or she said. I just felt like moaning about it.

Great gig, all the bands were good. Great crowd. Everyone looked like they were having fun. Will Wilson is a great acoustic singer/songwriter, a style which is often done very badly. Onion Terror played exiting punk with a twist. One of their songs was quite funky the drumming was also very tight. Scunner were good. At times they sounded 70s, reminding me of pink floyd, other times sound like 80s electronic pop music, then had very 90s song-like qualities at times. Got to admire the drumer's dress sense. I completely understand their description now. The Ghost of Bongo were also great. A modern funk rock band. I think I saw them once a while a go and thought they were brilliant but coudln't rememebr their name. They also have a keyboard player which makes them stand out. The guys all seemed to be serious musicians who have the potential to go far. The sound quality was top notch. Not heard better anywhere at a gig. Also Flash, If you ever need another barman or someone to take door tax again, I am your man.

Would you have any opposition of me trying it out of curiostity? I don't know if I would really be interested in buying it. If I really liked it, i would get it but I don't know if that is likely.

If I was interested in buying this guitar, would it be possible for me to try it out first somehow?

I never said that people were incapable of making decisions for themselves. I just said that enviromental factors play a role in determining what sort of music someone will enjoy listening to. It is not the only thing which is relevant to the thought process but it does make a difference.

I don't see why people are unwilling to accept that someone's backgrounds has a baring on their music taste. Ethnicity even has an obvious baring, this might also be due to differnet radio stations listened to in different areas where the make up of the population is quite differnet from another. That is still however an example of an enviromental factor having a baring on a group of people's music taste. I never said the music in exodus or moshulu was good or anywhere else was bad. I just said that you get a different group of people in these places, partly because of social background, it isn't the only factor and I probably shouldn't have used it as an example becuase it is a weak one. My point was that I thought enviromental factors have a large baring on people's attitude towards music. (what this topic is essentially about) I did start off my first post talking about my own music tastes where I tried to explain my own thought process when listening to music, both concious and subconcious. I used terms such as 'has some baring' and 'is a factor' to show that I accept many people go against the trend. Your attemped rubbishing actually isn't so far fetched, I suspect if you took information on those who bought Blur CD's you would have found that a large proportion came from a specific social backgound and age group. In the same way that you would find most of those who bought Westlife CD's were aged between 10 - 15, white, female and spend a lot of time watching TV. This would not account for all their fanbase, but would for a large proprotion and therefore it is fair to say enviromental factors have played a role in determining someone's music taste. Enviromental factors do not decide everything but it has some baring, There already has been some research done into this area; This guy has written a book about it http://www.le.ac.uk/psychology/acn5/spmconte.html published by Oxford University Press. There is also strong evidence to say babies are effected by the music (and sounds) they hear while in the womb. http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Literacy/whatresearchwomb.asp There is also evidence to say that music has an effect on the human body. http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/musicexercise.html If anyone on here is involved with sociology, phycology or marketing, they probably know a lot more than I do about how products can be marketed to people of a specific background, the same is done with music. It is largely a negative thing but it would be foolish to deny it's existance.

I didn't say that all musical taste can be determind by background. I just thought some of it can be. The thing about posh people not liking Oasis was probably taking my theory too far. This is also reflected by the fact you get neds in dance clubs but not in exodus or moshulu. Social class can have a baring on music tastes, it dosen't ultimately decide them but it does have a baring. Jazz has become an overwhelmingly middle class style in the UK. Starting off with working class American routes, it has been adopted by the middle classes of the UK. I stated that I thought no music was better than another. I never spoke out against the beatles and the rolling stones. My point was, you don't have to have studied music to be a musician anymore. Musician is a perfectly valid job and I sort of feel people should be qualified to do it properly. They don't necesserily have to have studied it at a university or have any qualifications but people who have dedicated their life to music tend to make music which connects with me on a higher level than those who have not. I may sound like an elitist snob for saying this and I suppose in some respects I am. I just wish to achieve brilliance in my line of work. I have not achieved anywhere near this so far and it will be some time before I do. I do not believe it is fair to be overly critical of others until I do.

Before you start reading this post, I would like everyone to know I don't concider anything to be better music than anything else. I am a music student and I usaully like music that I wish I could play (or was playing right now). I rarely care for much that I would never want to play. I also know people who like music becuase it is within their ability to play it. I also like music to sound beautiful to my ears. Many chords in jazz are very beautiful, I can make beautiful sounds with my guitar and my keyboard. I don't care for a sound that suggests someone is being tortured in some way. I do like some dark sounding music but it is usually at the same time also beautiful. Music is nothing without beauty, in my opinion. This can be developed and experssed more efficently through learning. More notes does not make music any less expressive in itself. Being able to express yourself through music is something which can be achieved to a higher level through musical education. Whether it be training your ears so you can play and sing melodies you hear in your head or learning about harmony so you can achieve particular sounds at particular times. Top of the range professional musicians often are far more focused on their playing than amatuer ones. If you watch a concert pianist they often look like they are in a differnet world from everyone else. Many will actaully loose weight during a concerto. There has been a huge emphasis on songs in this thread. Not all music comes in song format. Songs have a way of connecting with people who don't necesserily understand what has been done to create the music. I think music connects with musicians at a differnet level compared with those who cannot play an instrument. Learning about music can also take away from the novelty value of more simple forms of music. It does not always work this way for everyone though. I know some great musicians who like some very simple forms of music. The fanbase of differnet types of music is also made up of entirely differnet sets of people. Some styles of music have far more musicians as fans than other types. Musicians are far more likely to listen to instrumental music than non musciains. Some types of music gain most of their fans from people who jam with their acoustic guitars and only play chords. Some types of music are particularly popular with computer nerds also. Other's have larger amounts of fans within certain social groups; For example, instrumental music is particaulrly popular with middle class people. Possibly becuase there are more middle class musicians. Dance and Harcore are more working class styles of music as is brit pop type stuff. I doubt Oasis are very popular at Eton, or Gordons for that matter (i might be wrong about this though). Rock N' Roll has been the first type of music to really get widespread acceptance by the masses. This has been a mixed blessing as it has meant that anyone can start a band even if they don't know how to play or express anything musically.

I concidered going but an obediance school cast member was rude to me when I spoke to her randomly when really drunk. She also seemed highly bothered by the fact I didn't know who she was.

there appears to be a blue atom http://undiscovered.o2.co.uk/forumChat.aspx?titleId=245 www.bandspace.com/blueatom imposters

Should be good fun. Would it be sensible if i turned up around 7:45? I should be identifyable by fairly long dark hair and a noticable scratch on my nose which I have no idea how I got. I don't know what I will wear, this will be decided as per usual (smelling my clothes).

If you can play keyboards, you are far better off playing the keyboard rather than midi guitar systems.There is really no substitute for a real keyboard (for reasons i stated above) unless of course you hire a philharmonic orchestra and a ridiculous quantity of effects processors. Some new keyboards and digital piano are also conciderably better than anything available for guitar (unless you were to hook up your guitar-midi converter to one of these units).

I think the midi guitar idea has a lot of potential but for the price and quality currently avaialable. I think it would be more worthwhile getting if you already have most of your dream guitar gear and want to add a wider variation of sounds. Also, more bands should have keyboard players. There is a huge lack of them these days.