HairyScaryMark

The string and orchestral sounds on my Korg XD5 are good although could do with more variations. I am not an expert with keyboards but I have a feeling that this keyboard might be the best value around at the moment, second hand. I heard less than 80 for the module on ebay.

My feelings about it generally is that it has good sounds but could do with more different samples. By this I mean, There is a great choir sound but only really one choir sound (with adjustable paramaters), the string sound is great also but yet again there is only one of them as an arco string group. You can combine various of these together but I haven't got that far with using it. I have a feeling it may rely on algorhthmns and DSP type stuff.. meaning, I am not sure if it possible to combine every type of sound.

You are probably better off getting a stage piano such as Roland RD700 if you want a very realistic piano sounds. This has not been mentioned so I assume it probably wont be a problem.

It depends how much you are willing to spend.

I would highly recommend the Korg Triton Extreme as a synth. Some people reckon it is the best synth around. Most of the sounds on it are amazing, the piano sounds aren't as good as on Kurzweil or Roland RD700 but are still infinately better than on the previous korg keyboards.

The valveforce feature also means you can get amazing hammond sounds and nice warmth on other sounds. There is a nice promotional video at http://www.korg.co.uk/products/workstations/triton_ex/ws_triton_ex.asp

Yamaha also do the Motif ES as their pro keyboard http://www.yamaha-europe.com/yamaha_europe/uk/10_musical_instruments/70_synthesizer/10_synthesizer/10_synthesizer/10_no_series/010_MOTIF_ES_6_7_8/index.html

There is a rack module version of the Motif ES but not the Triton Extreme, the originakl Triton is done as a rack but it doesn't have any of the expansion cards built in (like the extreme does).

The Kurzweil K2600 is still probably the best sampler and has the best real instrument sounds around but it is probably far beyond what you are willing to pay and far beyond your requirements.

Failing that the Korg XD5 as a module can be picked up fairly cheap on ebay. I have one of these. The piano sound is a bit pants (sounds like a slightly better version of the M1 keyboard), the strings, choir and pad type sounds are fairly good. The Pipe Organ sound is also amazing. If that is all you are going to use it for, that would maybe be your thing. There is only one useable lead sound on it but if you don't normally play keyboards, I doubt you would play keyboard solos.

Software synths amy also be another thing to concider for recordings. These things vary in quality immensely.

So basicaly you think she's wrong and shouldnt be in her position because she did her job right by not giving you an ID when you didnt supply the correct proof of age....oh and do you have a moral problem with 15yr olds having condoms?

G...

I don't believe she did her job correctly. I thought it was fair enough asking for a passport or driving licence but asking for a document which had been sent to the college, meaning I couldn't show it to her, is fundamentally flawed. I was mainly trying to dispell the myth that Aberdeen College give out I.Ds too easily.

As Ally said, most people who dealt with her found her to be very unhelpful and somtimes nasty. Whenever I (or other peopel) spoke to her in relation to student I.D's, she always seemed intent to get rid of me as soon as possible.

As for 15 year olds having condoms... I do not really view it as appropriate for an educational institution (Aberdeen College) to be handing out condoms and certainly not to people as young as 15. A Doctor or Pharmacist would have been more appropriate as they would have training and experience in speaking to people about these issues. The point I was trying to make was that the student president has a fairly bizarre range of duties. This is very off topic by now.

I think most places accept the Uni ids? College are the one's with the problem. Aberdeen College should really improve the quality of their ids and ensure that they can't be faked so easily. Because unless you drive' date=' or have a provisional (which you have to pay for), student ids are really the only other form of id I can think of? Except for that 'citizen card' thing they always have leaflets for in off-licences, but I've never known anyone with one of them so I?m not even sure how widely they're accepted. And carrying your passport around town when you're drunk isn't really the best plan..[/quote']

I am led to believe that a few years back Aberdeen College I.D's were faked and bars stopped accepting them.

This year, I went to Aberdeen College and found the burden of proof needed was completley over the top. Particularly for someone who is not studying at the main gallowgate site.

What was required is a current passport or driving licence and a bursary form. (One of the people in my course has never been abroad, so dosen't have a passport and hasn't got a driving licence either).

At my first attempt in trying to get a student I.D. I was refused becuase I didn't have a bursary form (mine had been sent away to the college and I still haven't got it back). Note that I also had a guitar with me plus all my college course materials i.e many booklets with 'Aberdeen College' written on them.

The lady was fairly nasty about it and dismissed what i said with the information that she would be at the Bridge of Don Gordon Centre next thursday. While I was there, I had overheard her give an excuse to another student about not making it to the Altens Centre (on her scheduled visit) earlier that week. With little suprise, she didn't turn up at the Bridge of Don on the day she said she would (something about a computer problem). I also had no classes on the day she said she would be there, so it really would have been of little benefit to me.

I ended up being refused while trying to get an I.D about 3 times (once after I managed to misplace my driving licence in this carry on). After Anne Graham (elected student president and dispenser of Student I.D's) realised that a lot of people were unable to provide her with bursary forms she started accepting letters from college tutors on headed paper in addition to a driving licence or passport.

I finally got a student I.D but it was a huge bother. Aberdeen College certainly do not need to be any more strict about who they give an I.D to.

.................

I also found it rather rather hypocritical that she was willing to give out an I.D without seeing a passport of driving licence if the student had a tutor present, in her office. She obviously didn't want to argue with another member of staff but was willing to be a complete and utter biatch to students. Please do not vote for her, she is elected and obviously dosen't do her job properly. Voting has probably passed and she maybe got overthrown but I don't know. Depends how many people at college have shares in durex (read below).

In one of my failed attempts to get a student I.D. I had to wait benind a couple who can't have been older than 15, who were getting free condoms. I really question if it should be the purpose of the Student President to hand out student I.D's to the entire college and condoms to 15 year olds. I also had to wait for a reasonable amount of time while she was on the phone concerning what appeared to be part of her social life.

Anyway, Aberdeen College has a completely ridiculous policy about giving out student I.D's at the moment. Maybe some people got given them too easily but I am not one of them.

I am not usually the complaining type.

short hair is by far more the better

long hair makes u look like cousin it

LIES LIES LIES.

Where did it go?

Was it previously a wig?

Guitars

Ibanez RG7620 (DiMarzio Blaze II pickups)

Ibanez GRX70

Schetcher Jazz Elite

Ovation Acoustic (borrowed)

Amps etc.

Tech 21 - Sansamp psa-1 pre amp

Alesis Midiverb 4 effects processor

Omniphonics Footprint 2x75Wpower amp

4 unit rack

Marshall 1936 2x"12 cabinet

Keyboards

Korg X5D module

I want to get a Korg Triton Extreme 88 but haven't got funds yet.

Other

Various flightcases (I can fit all my gear in flightcases apart from speaker cabinet)

2 Volumes Pedals which I rarely use for anything

Old Digitech RP10 which I use to control my rack gear via midi.

Mics

Shure SM57 and SM58

I have an Ibanez RG7620. It is a great guitar, a pain to setup though.

You should be aware that you have an extra strings to stop from ringing while playing the high ones. When I attempt to cross over my arms while doing some tapping part, i can never stop the lower strings from rining at some point. I guess I will have to practice this more. It also isn't specific to 7 strings but as I said, there is an extra one.

In my opinion you should go for the highest quality instrument which you can afford. Do not go for more features (i.e more strings) if you could otherwise get a better guitar for the same price. Unbranded pickups are usually worth avoiding, unless the guitar is otherwise good and the price difference over one with good pickups is enough that you still have money left to buy some DiMarzios, EMGs or Duncan's etc.

Low Tunings are all very well but I guess you might want another guitar for playing non-dropped tuning. I have had absoluetely no ambition to use differnet tunings on guitars since I got my 7 string. Low tunings are also not really what you want for shred of sweep picking.

Point of fanned frets? Notice how bass guitars usaully have bigger frets than regular guitars. Bass instruments are built to a larger scale so the bottom end is more substancial. A Multi Scale guitar (in theory) allows the optimal tone and power from the differnet points in the range of your gutiar.

There was a HD147 in Bruce Millers for quite a long time. I tried out quite a few guitars through it. I failed to get a good tone from any of them other than on the 'jazz' setting with jazz guitars. It didn't sound at all realistic and sounded quite brittle. I tried on many different settings and none really did it for me. I find it hard to believe that it really needs to cranked, concidering it is a digital, solid state amplifier.

Some of the guitars I tried were, mexican strats, Ibanez RG550, Ibanez Artcore, amongst others.

I know these guitars produce far better tones through other amps which cost less.

I am not against amp modellers in the slighest. I have got fairly nice tones through a Line6 POD before. I also use a Sansamp psa-1 amp modeller, Which i reckon is amonst the best out there for amp modelling. www.tech21nyc.com/psa.htm

By the way' date=' for anyone looking for an amp in general I forgot to mention my top tip. Don't buy a new amp. For the same money get on ebay and try and find something much cheaper, possibly with valves, if you fancy yourself as a purist (and enjoy that 'just about to start, why's my amp not working' buzz). And you also know how much you'll be able to flog it for if you decide to go for something new later.

[/quote']

Maybe a good idea. However the valves may be worn out and in need of being replaced. Although replacement valves start at 10 each. So that is an extra 80 you would be adding onto the price. Then if you want someone else to bias it for you (vital for best tone)You could be looking at (I don't know, but someone else here might).

Also, I bought a Marshall 1936 2x12" cabinet off ebay for 50. The speaker drivers need of replaced (that will be my next buy), as they distort at the bottom end at high volumes.

....

If you are after the slayer tone, I woulds advise getting a JCM800 second hand and look for one which has either, recently been serviced (or at least had it's valves replaced) or one which is so cheap that it dosen't matter.

If you have had much better experiences with the HD147, I will assume I was just unlikely but I don't think it will compare the slightest in sound quality to your Recto-O Verb or the JCM800, for that matter.

Another option, maybe worth trying would be a distortion pedal on the clean channel of your Mesa.

http://www.conklinguitars.com/ do a selection of weird and wonderful instruments.

Including an 8 string, multi scale, 3 octave guitar.

I am not sure how up to date my information is but last I heard, there was 4 pubs in Aberdeen up for sale. One of which was O'Donnohughs. The advantage of purchasing one of these pubs is it currently already has a crowd who go along regularly and has a much larger capacity than the likes of of Drakes. You must adress the reasons they became unprofitable if your pub/venue is to have any chance of surviving.

I am sure many people would go along to whatever comes of Drakes and I realise I am no buisness expert but I would like to point out having 110 people maximum in a pub while about 3 members of staff, 2 bouncers and a band seems a bit too many people you have to pay vs too few paying customers. Somewhere like Moshulu, has about 4-6 bar staff and 2 bouncers at the door (4 if you count the ones downstairs also). I believe it is also 650 capacity.

So you have a staff:customer ratio of about 10:650 (1:65) with Moshulu

and 5:110 (1:22) with 69 Shiprow.

I realise this is hugely oversimplified (as these places will not often run at capacity and a number of other factors come into play in the real world) but the odds do seem to favour larger pubs and clubs.

My two cents to everyone:

You WILL get exactly what you pay for if you spend x-amount of money on a guitar' date=' or any piece of musical equipment. I have never encountered a situation where this is not true. A 250 guitar will sound and play like exactly that, although maybe you won't realise that until you play and get used to one that costs 2, 3 or 4 times as much.[/quote']

I don't buy this idea. Some guitars are conciderably better value than others.

Depending on the type of pickups you use, a large quantity of the tone is going to come from your pickups (possibly the vast majority of it). Some pickups capture the sound of your wood more than others but I am told that EMG's mainly capture the sound of the pickups (if anyone wants to prove me wrong, go ahead). DiMarzios sound quite different whether they are put on Alder, Basswood or Mahogony but the difference is not that immense. My experience with Seymour Duncans is limited but I think highly of them, apart from the fact they tend to be more expensive, Maybe not your best bet for shred though.

Back to my original point, an Ibanez RG550 with DiMarzio PAF Pro and Fred pickups will sound remarkably like a JS1000 due to having the same pickups and wood even though the guitar costs 2-3 times as much.

Cheers for the advice so far!! I'm not too keen on the strat as I already have one. The neck on my Les Paul is super nice' date=' but no whammy bar and access to the top 5 frets is pretty tricky!!

How different are the floyd rose licensed trems to the real deal? And what are the thoughts on the trems on the Ibanez S-series? I quite like them......

Pups can be replaced if need be so not really too much of a concern as long as the guitar is decent quality.....[/quote']

I own an Ibanez RG7620-7 string guitar. It is a bit of a monster for shredding. The pickups have a mid-cut (ok providing you make up for it by increasing the mids on the amp).

You like your neck on a Les Pau?. Les Pauls are shorter scale guitars than Strats or Ibanez, they also have thicker and rounder necks. If you want a thick and round neck an ESP or Jackson might be your best bet for shredding as they do guitars with a selection of necks, usually not as thin as Ibanez.

Ibanez necks are usually exceptionally thin, which is what I like but if you like the les paul style neck that is probably not your best bet.

I still think the best value guitar out there is Ibanez RG550 off ebay for ~250 then replace the pickups with ones of your choice, DiMarzio's being my first choice for lead guitar and shredding.

The Floyd Rose? They wiill confuse you at first. Do not try to do anything to it yourself before reading up about how they work www.ibanezrules.com is a good source of guidence on how to setup your floyd rose guitar. I still haven't managed to setup my guitar properly. One reason for this is the workings for the nut are worn down to adjust the intonation of my low B (i bought it second hand). I haven't got round to ordering a new nut for there yet. Shouldn't be that big a job to setup once i get a new one, probably take the best part of a weekend though.

I have played a number of guitars with differnet floyd roses. There is some differences between them but they are usually not that great. Some stay in tune marjinally better than others but I wouldn't base buying a guitar upon this too much. The Edge trems (found on some Ibanez guitars) have a special tool to set the intonation.

Strats are super easy to setup. That is one advantage of them. A new set of pickups or a new amp (or pedal) might be a better option for shredding. The Yngwie Pickups DiMarzio HS-2(bridge) and YJM (centre and neck) seem the obvious choice for shredding on a strat. There are many other options though.

The British government currently plans to give police powers to detain people for 90 days without being charged of any crimel under the new terrorism act (if approved by parliament)l.

Anti-terror legislation was used against an 80 year old man at the Labour party Conference who shouted "that's a lie". These are real civil liberties issues.

The right to smoke around non-smokers in pubs and clubs is not a human right. I believe you are infringing other people's human rights when you force others' to breath in your smoke.

If someone was held down and force fed harmful substances. This would widely concidered an infringement of human rights. I don't see how public smoking is any differnet.

Your argument is fairly simple. It's also bullshit. What are the chances of getting cancer if you completely discount smoke from the equation? If you can tell me that' date=' then a 20% increase in the risk starts to mean something. However, it may mean your chance of getting cancer increases from 1% to 1.2%. You can use statistics to prove anything (especially when you don't have a basis for comparison).

[/quote']

My friend who has recently been studying the effects of smoking as part of his Uni course has been presented with a lot of information on this topic. Basicly in short, it is hard to pinpoint the exact cause of someone's death as a direct result of smoking, when you look at an individual case.

However, when information is collected and a comparison is made between smokers and non-smokers. It is found that 80% of smokers will die as a result of smoking and non-smokers live 14 years longer than smokers.

Smokers often say things like "i don't want to get old" in defence of their bad habbit. Smoking makes you get older, quicker. A 32 year old smoker is equivelant to a 36 year old non-smoker.

People who claim smoking isn't harmful in this day and age are living with their heads in the sand.

A number of my family members have been sent to their graves early as a direct result of smoking (and passive smoking).

I have never smoked a cigerette in my life and I am sick and tired of coming back, completely stinking of everyone else's smoke everytime I go out. I feel it is a basic human right not to be forced to breath in everyone else's smoke. I would describe myself as a Civil Libertarian and I do not see public smoking as a civil liberty. It is a civil liberty to be able to go to pubs and clubs without being forced to inhale everyone else smoke.

The public smoking ban in Ireland has widely been declared a complete sucess and 1 in 12 smokers have given up since the ban. Pubs have often became more pleasant places as a result.

The smoking ban will help protect bar staff and enterainers who work in the bar. As a musician I am concerned that I will spend my life performing in enclosed smokey spaces and recieve a similar fate to Roy Castle.

You complete turds. Stop ruining the suprise for the likes of me. I appreciate that you didn't post the exact details but rumouring such information is clearly worthy of a moan.

That was insane today. Too many things happened and it is funny how nobody likes Paul Robinson anymore.

I want to be a bad guy in neighbours at some point during my life. Not old enough yet, need to be at least 40.

What was the cliff hanger? I have forgotten already.

I didn't know you were in Dragonforce.

My conversation with Herman went sometime along the lines of:

My friend*: "how long did it take you to master the art of shred?"

Herman: "about 10 years"

Me: "I am a guitar player and I am studying music at college ... so I will eventaully be good"

Herman: "so you will be better than me

Me: "Unlikely"

Herman: " .... i never had any of that"

* Can't remember who it was, exactly. I think it was my friend but it might have actually been another person standing next to me at the time.

Dragonforce are official endorsees of Ibanez, Korg and Miller.

I know I look like a muppet.

p.s Thanks Milner

I threatened one of Dragonforces young fans in the Bassment afterwards' date=' "50p or I'll bash ya!"[/quote']

Haha, you threatened me. I was terrified.

Also

Milner: if you read this, can you email me the picture or send on MSN or something? Email: mark@mark-chalmers.com

I thought I maybe recognised a few people but I have given up on speaking to people unless I am very sure it is the person who I think it is. This is becuase I have had too many experiences along the lines of "hello, i know you.. ooops wrong person".

I will post the picture with Herman and myself once I get it from Milner.

Having not being able to watch neighbours for about a year due to work' date=' it's good to know that you can pick up almost every storyline after one episode, good to see it's still on top form too, Harold's dancing today was great.[/quote']

I second that. Harold's dancing was ace, it reminds me of my attempted dancing.

I manage to miss a large amount of neighbours espisodes and I don't seem to miss an awful lot in terms of story lines. Cheesey soaps are the best kind.

I don't know anyone personally who is an old firm fan and a bigot. To say usually this does not happen is ridiculous.

Haha, that made me laugh. You obviously have never had any real experiences of Glasweigens. I am unaware of any extreme old firm supporters in Westhill. Having lived in Westhill for the past 14 years I have never came across any extreme old firm fans here apart from one, who I believe has a Union Jack outside his house. Westhill is a posh area and there does not appear to be enough Rangers fans here for them to really become a problem.

However, if you were to go to the True Blue's Club in Keith. I believe anyone who wore Green there would be unlikely to come out alive. This is what I heard from a musican who played there and had to play 'Simply The Best' about 6 times. The experience was described as something to the degree 'the worst and scariest gig of my life'.

It seems somewhat ironic that people are being deported from the UK for supposedly 'preaching hate' while the Orange Lodge goes unscaved.

It's great that the old firm aren't winning. Although football is not within my main interests I would like to see the smile wiped off the scumbags which give Scotland a bad name. Any team winning is preferable over the old firm clubs.

...........

I find it quite frankly absurd to see the sectarian hatred between old firm supporters compared with the reaction of Aberdeen fans against the old firm.

The old firm is a force of pure evil and biiggotry, particularly Rangers. I know some Rangers fans who don't hate the other side but they are within the minority. Although there are some extreme views held by Aberdeen fans, it tends not to equate into religious hate or any act of violence.

Weegies (and people further afield) often fall victim to sectarian-motivated assaults and even murders. It is a widespread problem.

Here are some examples of Sectarian troubles.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4365657.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3012613.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4679275.stm

I understand that is is perfectly possible to support the old firm and not be a biggot. This usually however, does not happen.

I think I have achieved another possible sighting.

Were you on the bus between Summerhill and Westhill on Monday 15th August (i think). Around 5:30 pm ?

I maybe mistook you for the wrong person.

If you already have 8 guitars why not get something custom built, especially for you?

There is a number of companies who do this. I know that Chris McIntyre makes great axes in London. http://www.mcintyreguitars.com/

Or there is the likes of http://www.warmoth.com/ where you can select each part of the guitar individually then built it yourself. Everyone seems to say it is great.

--Mark--