Dad3353

Excellent stuff, quite up to JJ Cale standards. Not a great fan of the trans-Atlantic drawl, but it's in keeping with the style. We're not far from The Doors, either, in the composition and lyrics. A sober track, more than competently performed and produced. Top quality all round; well done, all involved.

http://youtu.be/C3YHPpKF224

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1497358230' post='3317504'] Thanks Doug... [/quote] You really don't need to go mad for balancing, except as a final check; just have a couple of decent reference tracks that you can compare to during the mixing process. Surely easy enough to choose in that genre..? No suggestions; you know which ones would fit the bill far better than I. Your innate demure and humble attitude to your own playing has some influence, too. Take that bushel off to let your light shine bright and clear, and rock out now and again..!

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1497341075' post='3317347']...Comments very welcome. [/quote] With trepidation, I decided to give this a listen, despite the 'Contains elements of Disco' warning, and can confirm that it is,, indeed, heavily based on that genre. It is, however ungrudgingly (unusual for me...) that I can also declare that it's a fine, authentic, modernised mix, performed to a very high standard, and would be a worthy spin on any dance floor. A solid beat, respecting the traditional 'One, One, One, One...' emphasis, soaring strings punctuating appropriately, and featuring a quite tortured 'bridge' in which the vocals are given a new twist to good effect. Criticism..? Other than the genre, which is only a matter of my (poor...) taste, I'd have liked the bass to have been a tad more prominent; it's a little bit too shyly buried, and deserves, in its execution and respect of the style to be a fraction more up-front. Other than that, I'd say 'Well done, you', even if I can never see the point of going over such territory. I'll avow to having only ever spent time in discos as a technician, installing the light and sound systems, and left as soon as the show started; my dancing skills being akin to a pile of breeze blocks being attacked by a westerly wind. Full marks, then, to Skol303 for keeping the nostalgic flag aloft for those who still remember those heady daze. Good Stuff, old chum. My thumb is up.

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1497284457' post='3317031']...and a Dimplex heater... [/quote] How many watts..?

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1497219244' post='3316672'] Al is the lead guitarist shredding his arse off.�� Blue [/quote] ...with his air guitar playing 'The Sound Of Silence'. EDIT: I finally got the sound to work; yes, he's doing OK..!

Is he the one in the pink hat, top left..?

It surprised me just how long 3'57" can be.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1497184782' post='3316358']...but would always prefer custard... [/quote] Mmm..! Custard..!

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1497178171' post='3316280'] You soulless old buggers... [/quote] Hey..! Less of the 'soulless', if you don't mind..! ... ...

I've had entire satisfaction from the Superlux range, available from Thomann (other sources exist...). Excellent 'bang for buck'; I use, intensively, the HD669, at £23 or so. I've had 'em several years now, and no sign of deterioration, either physically or sonically. There are other models; worth a look..? [url="https://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_hd_669.htm"]Superlux HD669 ...[/url]

There seem to be two uses for this... 1 - Recording oneself, and 2 - Slowing down tunes to be able to follow at a slower pace. For the first, I would suggest buying a decent USB interface, which should not cost more, and for the second, using software which is freely available, all of which assumes that you have a PC of sorts (Mac, laptop, whatever...) Not to say that the gadget won't work, but I'd suggest that it's of limited usefulness for the cost. As an 'add-on' for practise when travelling, for instance, maybe, but there are more cost-effective ways of learning songs, I feel. I would add that, cost for cost, a couple of lessons with a good bass teacher are maybe the best 'bang for buck' to be had. It needn't be a long-term commitment, but would assure a good start on which to build, and maybe a way to pick up great tips on how to learn songs more quickly. Just sayin'; hope this helps.

I've no experience with 'tools' of the sort, but it looks, to me, to be darned expensive for what it does. In what way would this be beneficial to you..? Do you have a bass teacher..? What, exactly, are you wanting..? Play more songs, or learn how to play the bass..? Do you play with others at all..? There is speed-up/slow down software out there for a PC which cost nothing at all (Audacity; there are others...) if that's what you're after. I may be off track, of course, in which case: ignore.

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1497100629' post='3315851']...my guitar into focusrite sounds shocking. [/quote] My guitars, recorded 'dry', are not all that inspiring, either, that's why I use virtual fx, such as Amplitube (there are tons of others...) and such to get the recorded sound I'm after, depending on what I what to hear. I have a physical pedalboard, and a whole range of decent pedals (Boss Fender Deluxe, Akai Headrush, EH Germanium Big Muff, Loop Station and many more...), which I use when playing through an amp (Fender Bassman 50, or Jazz Chorus, or others..), but for recording I get far better results by going in directly to the interface and treating afterwards. On occasion I'll treat whilst recording, but usually have a second 'dry' track in any case, and often end up not using the track with 'baked in' fx; they obviously cannot be 'tweaked' after the event. To each his/her own, of course, but unless going the full-on 'studio' route, with decent micing of the amp and cab in a decent-sounding room, I don't see any real downside to using modern virtual stuff. I should add, for those not aware, that I'm quite hard of hearing in my doddery old age, but have always been, and remain, rather 'old school' when I can. Here, though, the modern stuff is so much better than the way it was done 'back then'. To get the 'amp cranked' sound, we'd put the cab face down on the carpeted floor and turn up the wick..! Hiwatt Heaven..! Happy daze.

Using a system as above ^^, it is not necessary to run backing tracks from end to end without a break. Depending on repertoire, it can be useful to have 'em cut into shorter segments, which would allow for breaks for 'only live' periods, and allow for easily accounting for any 'drift' that may occur , to re-synchronise the ensemble if required. We've used this in the past with a ska/punk/rock group that had sampled parts, triggered by a clicked Danny Boy on drums.

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1497090522' post='3315776'] Do you think I can use the FTWS output to connect to interface? [/quote] Not a very precise question, in my view, but if FTWS (or FTSW..?) means FooTSWitch, it cannot be used for audio, as it is only for switching, and has no signal at all. Could be wrong, of course, if it refers to summit else.

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1497086886' post='3315729']...guitar plugged into interface sounds unbearable... [/quote] It's really a case of treating the guitar, either whilst recording, or after the event, with virtual fx. That's what I do, every time. There are, however, several guitar multi-fx pedals which have a DI built-in; the Boss GT-6 comes to mind, but there are others. There's no secret, though; if you're after the sound of cranked Hiwatt half-stack, you'll have a hard job getting that without micing up, and even then, there are pitfalls. It was quite rare, back in the day, to DI an electric guitar, until modelling came to the rescue. Nowadays, I quite happily forgo any amp and cab miced up for a decent Amplitube rack, by IK Multimedia, and do it all virtually.

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1497084426' post='3315706']...goes into Focusrite 2i2 recorder... [/quote] The interface has an instrument input which will accept signal from the guitar (or the fx...). It's as if it had a built-in DI. Have you tried using that..?

[quote name='grandad' timestamp='1497082736' post='3315682'] Just spent about 20 mins on Youtube... [/quote] I concur with my aged colleague. Underwhelmed, to say the least.

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1497081416' post='3315676'] Can anyone recommend a guitar di for recording guitars. I'm using Ableton live lite... [/quote] What hardware are you using presently for recording..?

I'd leave the headstock alone, and just enjoy the bass. "What's in a name..? A rose [i]etc[/i]..."

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1496921290' post='3314682'] The best one I ever had... [/quote] Reminds me of a story (translated from the French...)... [b]The cucumber tart[/b] One day a small boy goes into a bakery and asks the baker: "Do you have cucumber tarts..?" - No, sorry, I haven't. He comes back the next day and asks again... "Do you have cucumber tarts..?" The baker replies the same way... - No, sorry, I've not got cucumber tarts. This is repeated for the next three days... "Do you have cucumber tarts..?" - No, sorry, I don't. Feeling a bit sorry for the kid, that evening he asked his wife to prepare some cucumber tarts, specially for the young'un. The next morning the boy enters the bakery and asks again... "Do you have cucumber tarts..?" This time, the baker says... - Yes I have..! And the boy says, pulling a wry face... "Beuh..! They taste horrible, don't they..!"

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1496871210' post='3314476']... I offer you ... [/quote]

[quote name='christofloffer' timestamp='1496869973' post='3314467']...really not liking the new keyboard, a casio ctk-631. the sounds seem cheap and flimsy... [/quote] Can you not capture only the MIDI, and use VST's for the sound..? Treat the Casio as a master keyboard, and not use its internal sounds..? Just a thought.