Dad3353

Just to reassure you... What you perhaps cannot see are the reflective tips to his feet, and the reflective balls at the end of those sticks. Facing the bloke is a rather bright light, and a camera. This camera is picking up the reflected light from the player, and feeding the movements to software on a laptop. The movements are interpreted in real time as triggers for drum software, which sounds the kit pieces. When he taps his foot, the bass drum sounds. If he strikes the air before him, a snare is triggered. It's a good, reliable, system; it works well. I have a set, so I know that it works. However, the bright light required I find uncomfortable, and any surrounding light is treated as parasitic. I've not finished the mod I've planned, which is to replace the reflective pads and balls with LED light sources, so that the camera sees, not reflected light, but an original light source. It'll work; I just have to wire up the LEDs to the sticks, with a tiny Lipo rechargeable battery as power. I'll get round to it, sooner or later. S'good fun, though, 'air-drumming' for real..!

Just over-long oodles of fuzz-wah-synth bass played at high velocity with no discernable tonality nor timing. Occasional breaks to set the drum machine off again, then more blasts, ignoring whatever EZ-Drummer was beating out. ...

No, no, and thrice no..! It's the magazine for tipping the nod to speakers and singers (operatic, especially...) so that they come in on cue. Actors use it sparingly, and with teleprompters, the journal's demise is easily explained.

Set all the tone controls, bass and amp, to the middle of their course. Get used to that sound for a while (a week or so..?), then turn them up and/or down and listen to the difference. Hope this helps.

If mic-cupping is the sound wanted, it's no good using a large-diaphragm condenser in the first place. Use an SM58 (every studio has at least one...) and 'cup' it. Simples.

Thanks, but I'm now retired, having spent many decades explaining stuff to Upper Management. If I could do that, I could explain anything..!

One thing to realise is that it's not always essential for the bass to follow each and every chord change in a lot of songs; perhaps even more so in the folk idiom. There will be exceptions, I'm sure, but many chord changes are rather 'decorative', or bringing melody or counter-melody, rather than changing the fundamental structure of the song. As an example, I would cite the Ralph Patt 'Vanilla Chords' website, where the basic, stripped-down version of many tunes are laid out... Jazz Web Page ... OK, these are jazz tunes, but if we compare the usual 'Real Book rendering of most of these, we're looking at a Black Page of all sorts of altered chords, with substitutions galore and flattened wotsits, passing tones et al, bringing interest to many songs, but not really useful to the bass player. The Vanilla version gets back down to the chase. Following the other players fingers is an excellent trick, but it's sometimes better to close one's eyes and listen to what's happening; after a while the 'patterns' become apparent, and next time round you'll not play that 'bum' note, but the simple, basic note that the song needs. At worst, it's OK to not play for a verse (maybe the first..?) and join in once it's been round one time, which will add 'beef' to it when the bass is added. It's OK to drop out for a spell, too. There are no rules saying that you have to play all of the time..! Hope this helps.

I trust that you know where the notes are on the sax, so that, when you're 'thinking' them, they get sounded..? The bass is exactly the same, if you've that same familiarity with bass note production. All that's required is the same level of experience playing bass as you have playing sax; the 'process' is identical, as it is with a keys player, or guitarist, or whatever. How do you do it..? Play your bass behind more and more stuff, in whatever genre you wish, and it'll soak in, as it did with the sax. There are 'standard' chord progressions, notably in the Bebop and Real Book repertoire, so, if you are 'into' that stuff, look 'em up, listen to 'em and play along. My usual encouragement applies, of course... 'It's the first forty years that are the hardest, after which things sometimes tend to get (slightly...) better.' Hope this helps.

These are fun, too; I have a set...

Good morning, DJR, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

You're not from Norfolk, then..?

Search for 'free sound effects'; you'll get several links such as this one ... Crowd cheering ... ... or these ... Crowd sounds ... Hope this helps.

(So can I un-install Ableton now, please ..?)

I have a digital 4-track (an old Fostex MR8-HD...) and it ain't easy to get the stuff out of it, after recording, and into the DAW (Reaper...). I've got it worked out now, but it's primitive. Far easier to record straight into Reaper, track by track.

A Reality Check for us all, as there comes a point where this happens to everyone, some sooner than others. Too soon for you, old chum, which is a shame; make the best of what you can do, for as long as you can. That's about as good as it gets for all of us. Special kudos for the Positive Attitude; that's an example for others to follow.

Do you see something like this on your screen..? If not, post a screen-shot so we can see what you see... Starting from a 'New Project', I simply dragged the WAV files into the zone, then lined 'em up to the left. If I zoom in, I can align the WAV's more precisely, although I've not found a way to change the 'Snap'. I'll look again... Edit: Ah, it's 'Alt' to disable the Snap to Grid (or 'Cmd' for the rich folks using Macs...).

It's still downloading; it's been half an hour, and still has twenty minutes before completion. Lite, they say..? Hmm... Maybe, but slow to get here. I'm used to Reaper taking less than a minute to download..! Patience, though, and we'll see what we shall see.

Give me a few minutes; I use Reaper, but I'm now installing this here Ableton thingy so that I can see what you're seeing. I'll do the same (well, a different WAV drum track, of course, but the principles will apply...). Back soon...

I use a Superlux E205, 38€ from Thomann ... Superlux E205 ... It works just fine for me; no complaints. Disclaimer: I use a lot of Superlux stuff; my headset and drum mics. They're my 'first choice' for most things. An exception for the snare, though, where I use a Shure 57. Just sayin'.

I rather depends on what you're recording, and 'essential' is really a relative term. If you're recording your singing voice, the Shure will do the job. If you're wanting to record other instruments, such as acoustic guitar, or even your bass amp, the Shure will work, but with far less fidelity. In general, the SM58 is an excellent stage vocal mic, as it's robust, and all sound engineers know exactly how it will perform. For studio (including home studio...) stuff, a large-diaphragm condenser mic is the standard 'go-to' mic for best recording quality in most situations. You've seen 'em, every time, in studio shots with that circular 'pop' screen, which keeps the singer at the right distance from the mic. There are some very inexpensive ones around, so it's probably worth going for. One word of caution : They need powering, usually 'phantom' power from the recording console, or audio interface for home stuff. Make sure that your interface can, in fact, supply 'phantom power' before investing. Most of 'em can, of course, but it needs confirming. If there's no phantom power, the Shure will work, and work well, but the resulting sound will not be the most hi-fi, is all. Hope this helps.

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

S'not denigration, t'is just a 'cheap shot' joke. There's lots of stuff I've bought over all these decades just as easy to laugh at. Chill..?