mcgraham

Welcome! do chip into the recording section of the forum - always great to hear from someone with first hand knowledge and experience of that area!

Get in touch with me for lessons? Only partly kidding. Check out my blog www.markjwgraham.co.uk/blog - there's genuinely stuff on their to help you work out what's going on with your voice, learn a bit more about it, and ways to improve.

To be honest, anything capable of providing a signal from your bass and from a mix to headphones can make a rudimentary IEM system. I did it for years with some cheap buds and a signal splitter/cheap mixing desk. There are many problems with this though: - poor quality earbuds/headphones can leave you not enjoying the experience - inconsistent mixes from venue to venue - dangerous incoming levels of the mix if someone else is in control of the level (need a limiter really, but this starts to become pretty specialist). - etc If you can sort out your own mix and can reduce the magnitude of the above issues then it's totally workable on a shoestring budget.

Welcome!

Oh and I opted for the dual driver after discussing my needs with their product consultant.

Company in the US called 1964ears. Long story but I heard about them a few years back through various musicians in christian music circles, they had great prices and a really clear website. I pre-paid about a year ago cos the prices were so good then, and only recently managed to get the molds sorted via Hidden Hearing (new job, issues with ear wax, etc caused ridiculous and embarrasing delays). Customer service is professional but personable, something I really value. Their website is also very clear, and every customer is massively satisfied. Hope I'm about to be added to their number!

Great looking bass. Welcome to the forum!

Interestingly, acrylic is meant to be as comfortable as silicone, but far longer wearing. I did speak with some other companies when ordering mine (still being made) and that was the concensus. Though even if a shell did wear out, they can be reshelled for a relatively small fee. Freddy, glad you've got something you're happy with

I have heard a mixed bag about ACS. Very caring customer service, but a number of friends have had various ACS models that kept breaking within the 1st year. ACS were very good in trying to take care of it, but it happened so many times within the first year they asked for their money back. Positive suggestions, Hidden Hearing outlets are top-notch and only deal with the best companies out there. My advice is to book a (free) consultation with your local one and discuss some options.

Exactly. It's certainly nice to be asked, but I know from chatting at length with Pantherairsoft that there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, for no pay, no real power, just the feel-good factor of done something good for BC. Ultimately mods are here to serve the site. And Ped. That gutter won't clear itself. When things get messy the mods take time out of their day to try and clear it up, when things get a bit raucous the mods take time out of their day to calm things down, and when Ped needs to dispose of a body from one of said events the mods take down their shower curtains to help.

The voice is actually built in a particular way that means it changes configuration at certain points in the singers range to enable them to sing higher (I've blogged about it at www.markjwgraham.co.uk/blog under the engine of the voice series). These parts of the voice are called 'bridges' or 'passages/passagio' as they are passageways from one part of a singers voice to another. It's harder to sing right ON those bridges than to sit the notes of the melody an appropriate distance away from those notes. Even advanced singers find this tough because it's a physical limitation of the instrument - think of it like having to play in A on the guitar or in Bb on the guitar (without the capo). One is remarkably easy, and one is harder (relatively speaking) just because of the way the instrument is built. In the same way you might choose to change the key of a song on guitar to make it easier to play (e.g. from Bb to A), the same thing can be said for vocals. We need to look at the melody then consider whether a change is necessary to get the best from the singer whilst making it as easy as possible for the singer. Re: 'badge of honour' doing it in the original key - well, it's often tougher for a reason, so they should feel proud if they can do it... but given that no-one else would notice, and it would 99% of the time sound better in a more optimised key...

Like someone else has said, easier to get going initially, harder to progress later on. I think the difficulty lies in being able to play the bass by yourself (e.g. during practice on your own) while conceiving of the greater part it might play in the rest of the band, whereas guitar you can play, write and even perform songs just with the guitar far more easily. I love them both, but I love the bass more for reasons already stated.

Awesome. You'll do great.

As a bass player who also sings and is a singing teacher, I'd love to this, but can't due to other commitments. Nevertheless, as a shameless plug, if anyone would like to get their voice in shape for something like this I'm able to offer singing lessons. Though I'm based in Nottingham, I give vocal tuition over skype, and it's very effective. Give us a shout if interested.

[quote name='WalMan' timestamp='1340380749' post='1703825'] Looked at your site and I foresee one fatal flaw for me Trouble is the innate tone of my voice is sh1te Joking aside I shall be up for this. Things like:[list] [*]ideas to hit pitch first time. Always think I hit the note but listening back I often feel I may be slightly out or waver [*]getting a better tone, if that's possible. [/list] I have got to the point where I realise that I need to sing out strong, because standing off and not having the courage to push it out (as it were) just sounds worse, but compared to my main bands vocalist my own b/vox always tend to not have the depth. [/quote] Thanks for the honesty/self-deprecation A common misconception is that some people will just never have good tone. That's an utter crock. Our bodies are all different so we all have our own unique tone, and yes some people achieve good tone the first time they try to sing. BUT! with the right exercises, great tone is no great secret... get the voice working properly, and great tone follows. Have a read of the following to see what I mean: [url="http://www.markjwgraham.co.uk/the-engine-of-the-voice-part-1"]The ‘Engine’ of the Voice: Part 1[/url] [url="http://www.markjwgraham.co.uk/the-engine-of-the-voice-part-2"]The ‘Engine’ of the Voice: Part 2[/url] [url="http://www.markjwgraham.co.uk/the-engine-of-the-voice-part-3"]The ‘Engine’ of the Voice: Part 3[/url] <-- this one has clips, but makes most sense if you've at least perused the earlier ones.

FYI, if anyone is interested in getting some idea of what I can offer for a workshop you can visit [url="http://www.markjwgraham.co.uk"]www.markjwgraham.co.uk[/url] I've also got a growing blog at [url="http://www.markjwgraham.co.uk/blog"]www.markjwgraham.co.uk/blog[/url] that also has clips of issues you might recognise in yourself and how we can address them. [/schpiel]

Welcome to the club bud! They're monstrous

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1340274716' post='1702005'] He wants to be a girl. [/quote] *shudder* Which of course reminds me of this... [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgAveqH5jTc&t=0m44s[/url]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1340182673' post='1700380']On the vocals issue, the thing I suspect most people will want to ask about is singing and playing a bassline at the same time ...[/quote] Sure. We can look at that, though a lot of being able to do that comes down to proficiency and confidence with both instruments in their own right (voice + guitar/bass), as well as knowing both parts you're trying to do really well by themselves. [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1340184966' post='1700461']Id like a Billie Holliday sort of quality if thats ok?[/quote] I'm really not sure how to respond to this.

Great! Re vocal workshop, can people let me know things that they find difficult, or what sort of help they'd be looking for, e.g. i sing lead but am unhappy with my tone i sing backing vocals but don't feel confident i find my voice jams up at a particular place and I can't go higher... i find i struggle with consistency across my range i find i lose my voice very quickly and/or regularly etc If people chip in then I know what I need to cover in detail, or which bits to skip over entirely. The more honest you are the more I can give you what I can.

Left field idea, I do vocal workshops. Would any of you guys who do backing vocals, lead vocals, or otherwise! be interested in a workshop on vocals? The technique I teach (SLS) gets voices in shape incredibly quickly and with others to hear you'd be surprised at how quickly results can be gained even in a short period of time. I'd be able to work with individuals and fix trouble areas in the workshop as well as do a Q&A on various things. I can also do one-on-one lessons whilst there if anyone is interested. Do post here to express interest and/or PM where relevant. Alternatively, on a more bass-related front, I'd be happy to introduce some players to the wonders of bass synth!