Dad3353

Use a six-string set and ignore the low 'B'..?

He's right 👆; mastering is a specific treatment, whatever the source, necessary to 'shape' the whole sound so as to correspond, technically, with the target medium or audience. Mastering a classical concert for a vinyl pressing or for release on DVD imply many subtle shifts in frequencies and compressions, including creating a stereo image from a 7-1 source, for instance. There are studios and engineers that are dedicated to this. It's not uncommon for an album, once recorded nd mixed, to be sent to a mastering engineer, just to get his/her particular result. If you're 'home recording', I wouldn't bother with the notion until you're wanting to put out a whole album into the wild. A mastering engineer would take the total output, and treat it all so that it sounds coherent across all the individual songs on the medium chosen for release. The mastering for streaming would be quite different to that for CD, or vinyl, or video clip. It's not really a subject for the recording and mixing of individual songs; it's an additional concept, with its own 'magic', after all else has been done.

BRX is close enough to what I meant. I don't do a specific 'listen to one, then the other', I rely on my memory, mostly, to 'hear' the reference in my head. As I stated, my ears are shot, but the principle is still valid. Don't think it too literally; I don't compare side by side two songs in Reaper. I just know (that's to say : remember...) what REM (for example, or Bowie...) sound like, and listen to my track in that light. I can't explain it better than that. It's certainly not what's usually meant by 'mastering', but that's just semantics. None of what I do costs Money. That's because even church mice would consider me to be 'poor'..! My budget is low, very low. Listening, though, costs me nowt. Cockos (Reaper...) has all one needs as far as basic, and even quite sophisticated, treatment is concerned, with high quality, and bundled with Reaper. I wouldn't know what improvement they could make on LoFi stuff, as that's never the direction I'd be aiming for, but, technically, all the EQ, Compression, Delay and/or Reverb is covered, and much more. Improving is, in general, a thankless task, based on diminishing returns and the guilding of lilies, to a great extent. Once the piece is finished, leave it alone for a couple of days and listen again. Tweak, if required, then leave it again; rinse and repeat. Don't be afraid to scrap the 'tweaks' and go back to the previous version. Most of the time the difference is minor, and often detrimental. I favour the expression 'Perfect' is the enemy of 'Good', although it's possible that it's me doing it all wrong, of course. Edit : To me, when recording, a 'reference track' would be, for instance, an acoustic guitar track in Reaper going through the chords of the song whilst I record the drums (I'm a drummer...). It's just there to have a reference to the structure, and would not (or very rarely...) be used in the final mix, once the other instruments and vocals are done. As I do much of my stuff in France, I'd call it a 'piste témoin', really.

Sorry, crossed lines here. Not a 'reference track' in Reaper, but any disk, song, album, concert that I like, and that will help me judge my own stuff. An example..? I worked for a while at Shepperton Studios, for Trident, cabling mixing consoles (early-mid '70s...). To test the console modules, we'd run a tape through them, and make sure that all the features worked as expected. One tape was, I believe, a sub-master of 'Ziggy Stardust', so I got to listen to it a lot. When I want to buy any HiFi gear, that's the tracks I'd listen with, as I can (or rather, could...) hear if the HiFi was up to snuff. When I'm composing in Reaper, in an orchestral vein, I'd have in mind a rendering of Schubert's Ninth, to see if my trombones are up-front enough, or if more cowbell is needed (that last bit is a joke, of course...). That's what I mean by 'reference tracks'. My hearing is now very bad, but I'm still able to do stuff (OK, rotten stuff, but stuff all the same...), by comparing with other stuff that I know. I can't hear a hi-hat, for instance; if I hear it in one of my mixes, I know it's too loud..! Does this help..?

In my view, much is misleading. 'Mastering' is used, mostly, to adapt a finished song to its target medium or audience. The same track, to be put on a CD, or a cassette tape, will have different mastering parameters. A song destined for car-radio FM will be treated differently to one being produced for HiFi buffs. If you're producing for Soundcloud, it's not the same as for a hard-copy CD. That being said, if you really mean 'how to mix and treat the final product in my home studio', the most important tool you'll need is your ears. The next most important, for me, is a reference point. This means, to me, having an idea of what sound I'm trying to create, compared to other material, from other sources (my favourite band, or a song I know well; probably several...), that I'm wanting to get close to. This doesn't mean copying, simply listening to whatever it is that makes it 'good' to my ears, and that I want my stuff to sound as good as (OK, vain hope, but...). Another important notion, for most stuff, is the famous 'less is more' discipline. If you want to add an effect, do it, by all means, then reduce it by half. Save successive 'takes', with the Fx added, and listen back now and again to the original 'dry take. Is there really an improvement..? Disk space is not an issue, these days, so it's a Good Idea to save each and every evolution, and go back at times to hear what (if any...) has got better. Surprises are in store, often enough, as things go off the rails. No matter, just go back to a previous version and re-build in another direction. Takes frequent breaks, go outside for a walk, have a cuppa, and have fresh ears again. Listen through several systems, if possible. Mix with headphones for detail, then play back through monitors to see if it still works. Often not stated, but very useful, is to listen to the finished track in mono; there are many gremlins in a stereo mix that become flagrant heard in mono. In what order..? From those you've listed, I'd have a hard time stating, as I don't use such stuff, basically. I have a 'standard' Reaper (Cockos...) NY Drum Compression bus preset which is my default overall drum compressor, and a Cockos NY Master bus compressor on the output, again, by default. I do, on occasion, turn these off, for particular stuff I do, but that's it, for me. No exciters, or saturation etc, but that's just me. How should you use them..? Run your compositions through them in whatever order and listen to the result; choose what sounds best to you. That's as much advice I could give; others will doubtless complete, correct and/or contradict the above, most certainly. Hope this helps, a little.

We've a five-string that we'd happily lend out, but we're in France, so... Shirley there's someone in that lovely region that has a fiver as a spare not being used for a few days that could help a fellow bassist (and BCer to boot...)..?

Viola da Gamba Vst ... Just sayin'.

What a coincidence. I've been listening to, and trying to play, a ToeToe track (Rosanna...) on drums. Jeff Pocaro himself, so I'm very far from even a pale imitation, but it's fascinating to see just how splendidly talented that fellow was. I've a couple of decades before me to get some semblance of the hi-hat interplay with the snare ghost notes, after which I may try the bass drum, and maybe the snare rim shots. Wow..! What a player..! Respect; mucho mucho respect.

... and almost syncro with Spidey there..!

Fixed.

If you're declared as a musician: yes.

A bit of an oxymoron, no..? ...

An inside job, perhaps, just handed over..?

Are you listening back through the Zoom itself, or through a PC or mixer..? Is the signal simply distorted, or does it have extra noise..? On some models (the H5 for one...), the unit started clipping the signal if the level was set too low (below 2.8, I think...). Is the distortion bad when the input level is set to mid-way..?

Have you tried and succeeded in recording an ordinary conversation wth the Zoom..? It might be that the thing is just 'stuffed' (a technical term...), and is, now, incapable of recording cleanly. Worth a try, just to check that it is at least working correctly..? A recording level of 1 (out of 100...) seems extremely suspect, to me (although I don't know personally this particular model...).

I had a quick look (intrigued...), and it's a simple concept (RLRRLR triplet hand pattern...) astutely applied. Very effective, and easy to (start...) learning. Getting up to usable speeds is only, really, a question of putting in the effort, with a click or such, building it up. I like it, so that's my week's sessions sorted. Thanks for sharing.

Good evening... Our Youngest has been looking for a transcription of 'Slip Away', preferably in Tab, but Dots would do, too. He's been trying to work it out by ear, and from a (very good...) cover on U-tube, but can't hold it all together without a support on paper. It's not the hardest of bass lines, but is quite rich enough to 'throw' a relative beginner. He plays (my..!) 6-string fretless, mostly by ear, but has worked on many pieces from Tab or U-tube. Dos anyone have this in stock, or in preparation..? Thanks in advance; meanwhile... Have a splendid day. Douglas

I was only meaning the modernity of the compositions, being popular (by those in the hall...) despite being of a very different era. Good Stuff (as perceived by the audience...) is Good Stuff, whenever.

No-one in the hall was born when the pieces played for the last night of the Proms are produced every year; the tunes go down a storm every time. Good Stuff for the occasion is Good Stuff, whenever. Just sayin'.

It's not calculated, it's measured. Watts is simply the current drawn multiplieed by the tension, or voltage. 1 amp at 9 volts is 9 watts. For amps, there is no fixed tension (voltage...), as sound waves vary in intensity. It's become convention, then, to do the power (watts...) measurement at one frequency: 1 kHz. The power stated for that frequency is therefore nominal, and may be different at other frequencies. It is also useful to understand that the power output of an amp varies a lot if one takes distortion into account. It is a Good Idea to state at what level of distortion the power has been measured. For HiFi amps, 0.1% distortion might be quoted, for music amps it might be 1%, and some quote power ratings at 10% distortion. There are other factors in play when thinking about sonic output to a cab, though, apart from just power output. It becomes a bit arbitrary to try comparing simply power outputs from differing technologies. Notions such as the 'class' of amp will affect the audible perception of the amp (a Class A doesn't sound like a Class A/B at the same power level, for example...). In theory, all the power rating should give identical audible results; it's just not the case. The technologies aren't directly comparable, that's all. Hope this helps, even if only a little.

I've found a complete Pdf score that has the five parts seperately (Bandoneon, Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello...); is that what you're looking for..? It's available for free download here... Five Tango Sensations ... The Cello part is scored with the bass clef. I could split the Pdf to isolate just the Cello part, if that would be useful..? Hope this helps. Douglas

This is the rig the Hiwatt was originally designed to drive; one pair each side of the stage (so four cabs...)... I foolishly swapped the four for a more manageable system when I brought them to France, and have regretted it ever since..! Happy daze..!

S'worth 'looking a bit daft' sometimes (and wider cabs exist..!). Which is, indeed, the role of pedals. We seldom see vocalists tap-dancing; their Fx are handled at the console, and not integrated into the PA amps. Get the core sound right, and add [whatever] with pedals. It's all good.

I've looked it up, and it is, indeed, a 'light-weight' at 20Kg. The Hiwatt is half as much again, plus the fly, so... Can't be beaten for 'heft', though, and ours (a PA head...) is clean up to the sky. It's all headroom, so if 'dirt' is required, add pedals..!

These are 'old-school' real transformer amps, and weigh in as a Moon/small Planet, plus their mandatory flight case. The Hiwatt is a two-man lift, assuming the fellows to be beef eaters. 20-odd Kgs 'dead' weight, and fragile, in that it doesn't do to drop 'em (no, don't ask; I'll have to cry again...). More modern valve amps use toroidal trannies, for instance, and aluminium chassis, lightweight casing etc, and can be more 'humper-friendly'. One has to really want 'that' sound, or gig out infrequently (it's now our case, so...). Just sayin'.