Dad3353

... which is exactly what we want..! Win/win..! We play the free gigs we're invited to, the others play the paid gigs we're invited to that we don't want. Great; I'm glad that's now settled, then..! Edit : It's been mentioned 'What do 'pro' (paid...) bands bring to the party that we don't..?'. The answer is 'choice of repertoire'. We play the songs that we want to play. We don't play stuff just for folk to dance to, or happen to be currently popular. We've chosen the songs we want to rehearse (and hone to a high standard, in our own view...); the folk that invite us to play are happy with that, generally, or will be, if they don't already know us. We don't get boo'ed off stage for being rubbish, but we don't play requests, or 'first dance' stuff. It's Bowie, Radiohead, REM, Noir Desir, Bashung, SOAD, RATM, Floyd and more. We don't know 'Brown-Eyed Girl' or 'Sex On Fire'.

Please be informed, then, that we (The Daub'z...) also play pop/rock covers in pubs, local festivals or fêtes, charity events or self-promoted concerts. Much less nowadays, as I'm not getting any younger, but still keen to do the few gigs left to me, as long as health permits. I've been playing drums for over half a century; for some years as a 'pro' in variety bands, either fixed or depping, and usually got paid (little...) for those dates. I also played most week-ends weddings and other functions as a duo, whilst building a career in IT and raising the family. All this while I've always been involved in various activities, as a volunteer for festivals, playing in 'ad hoc' groups, jamming with buddies or playing in our 'family' group, The Daub'z. I don't need the money (I never have counted on playing to live; I live to play...), and claim the freedom to be beholden to no-one for what I play, nor to what 'standard'. This has served me, and the folk I play with, well as a philosophy for all these years, and I'm pleased with the pool of family, friends and acquaintances I've accumulated over all this time. The financials have never been a consideration, in this as in other aspects of my Life. I'm not alone in this, and maintain that there can be more than monetary reward, for many activities, either professional, personal or familial. One other 'upside' is not needing the services of an accountant nor financial advisor. Having little is, to me, an advantage, as I want little. Complaisance..? Probably.

Fixed.

You don't have the same bandmates as I do, nor play the sames dates.

Why the 'Of course'..? I take a completely opposite view (but we may have different definitions of 'value', I suspect...). I believe that some things in Life are monetarily priceless, for instance.

Fixed.

Garn, that's never Hard Rock..! ...

Some decent bands (we're one; there are others...) don't want to be paid.

Oh, quite definitely sarcasm, but not aimed at your tastes in music at all. No, it's the (to me...) incomprehensible bickering over who played what in which genre at any one time, before/after another, who was first, when was the genre 'created' et al. Does that matter..? Not one jot, except to a couple of nerds feeling challenged because such-and-such a band were 'falsely' labelled such-and-such. I doubt that musical archaeologists will delve far into any of these µ-genres in a century or so; some of these crazes last less than a week, these days. Does it matter..? Not a jot. Is it fun to discuss such stuff..? Why not, have at it, but is it 'important'..? I think not; the World remains on its axis.

Good afternoon, Phaedrus, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Good News (as I haven't found mine, yet..!). Use the 'waiting time', then to download and install Audacity, which you'll be using to 'read' the Zoom, and creating a file that can be uploaded to Soundcloud. Here's a link to the Audacity site (it's free, 'open source', and easy to use for your purposes...) : Audacity ... There's a comment/review on the Amazon page for the Behringer which explains in some detail exactly how to get the unit, Windows and Audacity to work together correctly. It's simple and clear; here's the comment in full (inside a 'spoiler' to keep the post tidy; just open it to read ...)... There... That should get you up and running, able to compose and record with the Zoom, then transfer to the laptop and upload to Soundcloud for the Challenge.

Now there's jealousy for you... ...

OK, it's the 'Windows 10' I wanted to know. Any idea if it's a 32- or 64-bit version..? (Anticipated reply : 'How the $µ§@ would I know that..?'). Right-click the 'Windows' icon, bottom left corner of the screen when task bar is showing... Select 'Control Panel'... Select 'System and Security'... Select 'System'... Read 'System type' ... Well, what are you waiting for, Christmas..?

Yes, but not as good as a 'pukka' interface. It works (or, it did for me when I used it...), but I've much more flexibility with my current interface (bought s/h from this very Forum at a decent price...). I didn't ask : what PC are you using..? Laptop, OK, but what OS (Windows..? Which one..? Mac, maybe..? Which one..?). The age or performance matters less than the system being used, and will, again, allow more pertinent answers.

There are two types, both called loop pedals. Those that allow a sample to be played whilst adding another (and another, and another, depending...), and those that allow 'ordinary' pedals to be part of a 'loop', in parallel to the rest of the signal chain. I suppose you mean the former, though, to create 'sound on sound' performances..?

S'not arrived yet..! (But it's true, just the same ...)

I think I may have a Behringer thing lurking here somewhere; I'll have a scout around. If I find it, I'll send it over (yes, free, of course, you dope..!). And yes, that's what it does. It takes the phono signal and pops it down the USB cable into the PC (in stereo, too...). Hold on, then... [ Terminator ] 'I'll be back...' [/Terminator ]

That's an understatement. There is (or was..?), however, an optional USB interface card made for it (reference : UIB-01...), which allows amongst other functions, transfer of audio files to a PC via USB. Reverb have one; there may be other sources (E-bay..? Gumtree..? Any BC members with such a card..?). That would be the best bet, I'd say. If not, taking the phono output (it'd be stereo...) and connecting to the mic input of the PC would work. If you can mix the stereo to mono first, t'would be better (the mic input is mono...). Once recorded on the PC as audio (in whatever format, but WAV is most likely...) it's a simple matter to upload that to Soundcloud. There's nothing to install for Soundcloud, it's all on t'web, so you access it through the Browser (same way as Basschat...). An account is free, and, once this account opened, just upload the WAV. Once you're at that stage, we can guide you, but firstly, get an dummy track you already have, whatever it is, and get it into the PC, either through this optional card, if you can find one, or through the mic jack. It would be possible using a simple audio interface, such as the Behringer U-Phono UFO202 (costs £18...); that, too, is a simple solution. Hope this helps.

What Zoom is it..? We can then advise the best/simplest way of getting something into the Challenge. No, it's not difficult, whatever you've got, and IT literacy is not a requirement, but we can't really advise 'blind'. Getting stuff into Soundcloud is a 'no-brainer', too, as long as there's a web connection and a browser. So... What Zoom is it..?

No.

Some musicians just like playing to a public, and don't consider it to be a job; they probably like the change from whatever work they do during the week to pay the bills. It's certainly the case for our band; we've never charged for what we play, and do it because we want to. We play rarely (I'm now retired...), and all our gear was bought just for ourselves, whether we play out or not. Not all musicians are professional, and many give a high level of performance. If asked to play for nothing, it's simple enough to just decline or accept, isn't it..?

Good evening, Andy, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

T'would still smell as sweet, though.