Jakester

A weird one, this: I use a wireless mixer for our band's gigs - an XR18. It's great, but the only thing that really bugs me about it is the lack of any hard mute or volume control. We've had a couple of horrible feedback moments in the past when setting up which, on an ordinary mixer, you could kill in seconds, but on the XR takes a couple of moments to find the correct screen and fader - and even more time if the device controlling it has gone to sleep. I also have a slight (probably irrational) fear of some horrible digital error from one of the connected synth devices blowing the speakers if I can't reduce the level quickly. I have a Behringer Xtouch which works fine as a hard controller; however, it's just one more thing to lug around and for smaller gigs a bit of a pain. I was wondering if there was any in-line volume controller or kill switch which would work and came across this: https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/Behringer-MONITOR1-Passive-Monitor-Controller/20L4 Although it's for monitoring, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work with the main PA outs - it has the 'instant' kill if needed and you can reduce vol a touch easily during a song using the vol control. I assume to set it up effectively you'd set it for max vol at the usual gig volume and only tweak it if needed. So - any reason I should get that to run the main PA feeds (to powered speakers) through? Any other alternative products?

Honestly? If someone asked for advice on a small hatchback, would you say 'nah, forget that, you need a Ferrari - does the same job but better'? Or more relevantly, if someone asks for advice on a good starter bass, would you say 'get a Fodera, it's miles better'? No? Thought not. There might be a myriad of reasons why someone can't stretch to the £139 cost of a set of custom plugs. Frankly your response just came across as crass, and given that the specific question asked, specifically precluded the option of getting custom plugs made, not a little dim as well. There are a number of off the shelf options which attenuate volume by around 20dB without having to spend hundreds on custom plugs. I was simply asking if someone could recommend some which were more comfortable than ER20s.

Fab, thanks - two totally useless replies. I am well aware of the need to protect my hearing - that’s why I’ve been wearing hearing protection for 20+ years. The ER20s work fine, they really just very uncomfortable and I’m looking for alternatives, that’s all. Do you actually have any practical recommendations?

Does anyone have any recommendations for ‘off the shelf’ hearing protection? I’ve been using Etymotic/Elacin/ACS ER20s for years, but I’m finding now that they’re a) not fitting as well as they used to, and b) get incredibly uncomfortable after about an hour’s wear time. I’ve tried Proplugs and they’re useless IME - no apparent attenuation at all. I used to use them but not sure what has changed. The soft triple flange type plugs go too deep into my ears - the ones with the little ‘pull tab’, and I recently had a pair get stuck when the pull tab broke, so those are out too! I know the answer is get some ACS custom ones but I’d rather not spend the £££ if I didn’t have to, and I don’t qualify for the MU scheme (and I’m not going to misrepresent my income for it either). Is there anything I’ve missed out, any aural wonders that will save my embattled hearing off the shelf, or do I really have to get ready to be reamed out for custom ones?

Since the festering self-inflicted wound that is Brexit, for me at least the prospect of an overseas purchase from our former nearest and dearest, with its newly acquired VAT and import duties, and no doubt handling fees to boot, is now (and likely for the foreseeable) off the table. However, my former co-citizens in the glorious Union Europa still try to tempt me with their delectable wares, whispering sweet nothings about Foderas, Sadowskys (Sadowskies?) and other, more exotic Continental fare, now and forever forbidden to me by grey, dead-eyed civil servants and *spits* career politicians. In the depths of the realms of power that give life to the wonder that is Basschat, is there any way to shield mine (and, no doubt, thine) eyes from the wondrous bounty offered o’er the narrow seas, lest it lead to despondency and despair about our barren, desolate future in patriotic isolation?

Hmm, looks like a good idea but I would be wary. Firstly, the company is based in France, so if they don’t pay out, you could end up in a real fight. The contract is governed by French law, and any disputes must be dealt with in France. This will now be more difficult as a result of the B-word 👀 Secondly, they have pretty prescriptive rules about packaging. Thirdly, you have to ensure you note any damage with the courier on delivery I order to make a claim - not always possible. I suppose the proof of the pudding is in the eating - you will only know whether they’re any good when something goes wrong, but I wouldn’t rely solely on them paying out.

Why's that? I've used their stuff for years without any serious problems. I have the audio interface and I've had three of the keyboards, and never had any problems that were solely attributable to the hardware. In fact, the interface has been (touch wood!) faultless since I bought it.

Sounds to me this is exactly what happened. Very surprised you haven’t been refunded by eBay though.

"What, this old thing? Nah, had it for years, just thought I'd get it out for a change. See, it's really old. Nope, not new, was in the cases all along". Ahem.

It's absolutely brilliant, really enjoyed it.

Job jobbed, I'd say! Good spot!

Thanks! It’s in the “ones I regret selling” file - at the time I decided I wanted something a bit newer and flashier so sold it for not very much (albeit quite a bit more than I paid for it). There’s a lot of stuff in that file... Good luck with the search!

This was my old Oly - sounded great, I do miss it but ran out of space some time ago! You could try a couple of the Facebook drum groups eg: https://www.facebook.com/groups/507827252616774 https://www.facebook.com/groups/443259535799308 Or try someone like Tristan at Drum Attic: https://www.drum-attic.co.uk/

Schwing!!

It depends what you're playing to. If I'm recording, I really like a cowbell quite high in the mix - and if possible different samples for the first beat of each bar. If playing live, it depends on the tune - for example, if quite percussion-heavy then you might want something more like an actual 'click' noise -rather than a cowbell - ideally something that can cut through the rest of the mix. Sometimes you can have it only in one ear, but I find that quite distracting, so both is better.

The Octafilter on mine was definitely borked - lots of bitcrush-style noise on anything other than a light touch. TBH I loved the idea, but in practice just didn't work for me.

Bugger, sorry to hear that, Nick! I may well do.

Sorry, I completely disagree. The whole point of a band is that the members commit to it - otherwise it just becomes a loose collective of people who meet once a week to play music together. If that's your thing, then fine, but if I'm in a band I make sure I learn all my parts, turn up on time, and try not to let the other people down, unless completely unavoidable, and I'd hope (and, recent travails aside, experience tends to suggest) that the majority of the people I play with are the same.

The perennial topic - why is it not possible to have a stable band for any length of time? It is a fundamental force of the universe? So, I play in a rock covers band. We formed a couple of years ago, but had a rather lacklustre singer who eventually, after telling the crowd "I don't know the lyrics to this so sorry if we sound a bit stinky poo" - WE didn't, he did - we decided to replace. Did that in Jan 2020 with a great female vocalist - she really added another dimension and opened up our potential repertoire. She was really enthusiastic and got us some good gigs and contacts. After rehearsing we managed one gig the week before the first national lockdown was announced. During lockdown, she decided she'd rather do something else so quit. Sigh. We managed to replace her in between lockdowns with a really nice, experienced chap, and we've managed to get a few decent gigs on the books over summer (COVID permitting!) with a view to ramping up later in the year. . . . So now, one of our guitarists has said he doesn't think he can carry on. In fairness, he recently had a shoulder op so we have arranged a dep for the first couple of gigs, but it seems he's become disillusioned (for various non-musical reasons) and has decided not to continue. This leaves us with at least two more gigs (including August Bank Holiday weekend!) that he's not going to do. I'm not sure how many times more I want to have to go through the audition/rehearse process again myself. In fact, thinking about it, the last stable band I was in was from 2008 to 2013, which I ruined by moving away for work. Every band since then has been "in flux". Is it the resting state of the rock covers band to be in constant renewal? There must be some mathematical description for the function that when a rock covers band reaches equilibrium there must immediately occur a destabilising event. Sigh. Back to JMB/Gumtree...🙄

I know this says more about me than I'd like it to, but I can't help seeing two bass bodies mating there. Can't wait to see the little ukes they produce!

Andertons suggest they may have more in in a couple of weeks if you do change your mind and want to return it: https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitars/modern-bass-guitars/charvel-pro-mod-bass-sd-pj-iv-in-mystic-blue I like the green though...

I use one as I have one active and one passive bass, or sometimes a bass and an EUB (and on a couple of memorable occasions running a set of triggers into Mainstage as a timpani sim) so it a) allows me to switch between them, b) ensure that the levels coming into the effects and amp are roughly the same between the active and passive bass and c) adjust the EQ of each to suit. I tried going into a power amp only but couldn't get the levels with the preamp I was using.