Skol303

Ooh now THAT is art! PS: judging from that headline piece, Richard Littledick has never watched a game of football in his life.

This week, I am thoroughly enjoying Jazzanova...

VOTING THREAD IS UP

PS: something has gone FUBAR with discreet's SoundCloud link... am investigating and will hopefully fix soon. The link above should work fine in the meantime. Now sorted.! As you were.

Voting has now started on June's Composition Challenge. Please vote for your top THREE favourites: Akio Dāku 'Blackout' kingofthestuntmen 'June '18 BC Comp WiP 2.0 Mastered' (winner of the Catchy Title Award!) Lurksalot 'Noir' JBP 'Boots' Dad3353 'Cat O'Nine Tales' discreet 'Night Cat' Mornats 'One Down' Bleat 'The Fragile' Voting ends at midnight on Saturday 30th June.

That's great! Nice little jam session there mate. And your ROLI sounds cool. I've just recently got one. Still acclimatising to it, but first impressions are that I really like it. Works just like a mini MIDI keyboard in 'piano mode' and allows all the slidy, squidgy stuff when in MPE mode. The keys are small - significantly smaller than full size piano keys - but I haven't noticed and problems as a result of this, and I'm a very ham-fisted piano player. The only thing that's taking some getting used to is the black colour scheme of the keyboard itself. My eyes are used to picking out the ebony amongst the ivory and so I occasionally find myself thinking "where the heck has C gone?", or whatever. But I'm sure that will improve with practice. A solid 8/10 so far for me.

The polo shirts are/were quality. Although whenever I wear mine at work, my mates take the Mickey and refer to it as my "Quick Fit Fitter" outfit. But they are unrefined scumbags, so I don't heed their jibes For merch ideas, I reckon fret wraps would also be a good option if you can find somewhere to custom-print them: https://gruvgear.com/products/fretwraps

I have a Behringer BSY600 that I bought cheap on eBay (maybe £30...? Can't remember exactly). Like most Behringer stuff the build quality is quite crappy, but I can get some nice sounds out of it with a little patience and good luck. It's fairly fussy about the input signal however (as I suspect most pedal synths are) and tends to work best after a compressor and with no other FX in the signal chain.

Absolutely this ^

Good question... as a guess I'd say "close enough" (to satisfy most ears), but as you mention the 'Screamer is a classic pedal with its own subtle nuances. Most listeners wouldn't notice; but some would. Whether that's worth using one vs. a cheaper digital clone is a decision only you can make. But generally speaking, overdrive/distortion and saturation is one area where digital can make a very convincing job of it. Unless you're spending £1500 or whatever on something like a Thermionic Culture Vulture, in which case those valves and all-analog signal chain really do come into their own (but for the record, I don't own a Culture Vulture! Despite me writing to Santa for several years now...).

Very cool. And not just the Star Wars Lego This is exactly the sort of set up I'm edging towards, one piece at a time.

Haha! I did think of you Al as I was typing the word 'compression' To clarify, digital compression can certainly go a great job of it. I have some superb digital compressors (albeit plug-ins rather than stomp boxes) that I don't hesitate to use. In fact, when I want the compressor to be 'transparent' (i.e. have minimal imprint on the tone) then digital is sometimes the better option: digital generally does 'clean' very well by its nature. However, when I want to impart some colour then I nearly always opt for analog - and I think the musicality of a good, analog compressor set right is very difficult to emulate digitally. At least I've never quite managed it myself with plug-ins. All that said, it does depend a lot on what price point we're talking about. Up to a few hundred quid, I'd argue (from my own experience) that the difference between analog and digital compressors is negligible. Just choose whatever product you find is easiest or most convenient to use. Once you get above £1000 or so, the difference between analog and digital compressors is stark. I'm lucky to have access to a friend's studio, which features several high-end compressors, and they literally blow my plug-ins out of the water. But these aren't the sort of units you'd ever want to lug around to gigs. So in short: for a gigging bass player, digital compression is absolutely fine and the Helix products that I've toyed with sound great in that regard (I'm not familiar with the TC Spectracomp so can't comment on that). What matters most is the user's knowledge in setting up the compressor correctly. That knowledge is priceless but it does take time and patience to acquire... and I'm still very much working on it myself!

Amen. I’m slowly making the switch to analog at a time when most people are going the other way, which does mean there are bargains to be had if you’re patient enough to hunt for them. I like that my analog gear - if well maintained - will still be usable long after I’m gone, just as it was nearly a century ago, when my digital gear will no longer be compatible with anything outside of a museum. But I also embrace digital audio gear and am a firm believer that the future isn’t analog or digital, it’s hybrid. Best of both worlds.

Absolutely. My point, albeit badly made, is that I'd wager most people can't tell the difference between digital and analog. You can. I like to think I can too. But we're in a minority. If you put a UA plug-in up against its analog counterpart, only the keenest of ears would hear a noticeable difference; fewer still if they weren't told to notice the difference at all. And I say this as someone who's an analog evangelist. I own analog gear and would choose it over digital every single time. It sounds better quicker; but with patience I can get my digital tools to sounds nearly as good most of the time. Outside the studio in the context of, say, a pub gig... the difference is IMO negligible with hefty diminishing returns. That said, there are certainly some applications where digital still has a long way to go in terms of truly emulating analog: compression being one and summing being another. Reverb? Always digital for me. EQ? I use analog for colour and digital for surgical. But that's another topic...

Love the idea of as BC podcast. And joking aside, I actually think this is a good question to tackle...! It brings up lots of discussion around "image vs instrument" and would likely get a shedload of interested from musicians outside of the forum if promoted correctly, which is always useful. So this gets my vote.

^ This +1 The Helix products are great. I don’t own one but have played with one and loved it. To answer the question: have analogue effects pedals had their day? No. And I doubt they ever will. This discussion is in fact very analogous with the ongoing "digital vs analog" debate that can be found on literally every music production / sound engineering forum. It basically boils down to the following conclusions: 1) It's now possible to convincingly emulate just about every aspect of analog FX/processors digitally - that is, to the extent that most people can't tell the difference (and those that can probably just had a lucky guess!). Which means that... 2) It's more a question about 'workflow' or to put it another way, simplicity. Analog devices tend to be easier to operate and produce more immediate results - i.e. there's less 'faffing around' involved - and for some people, that helps them to concentrate on the music, which leads to a better end result. And... 3) Some people just prefer the tactility of knobs and switches over mini-CPU screens and buttons; or prefer old stuff to new stuff; or whatever. In which case it's like the preference between a modern sports watch and a more traditional wind-up. They're both perfectly good for telling the time; and are both here to stay 🙂

Oh wow where to start? I’m currently digging this as of earlier today...

If you’re packing a rack, then the API 512C. Nearly 50 years and still a recording industry staple. That kind of pedigree is hard-earned

Haha! ...it's me saying "I'm not commenting on this one; just sitting back and enjoying the show"

I personally think that the filter is vaguely amusing and encourages inventiveness

They wouldn't be so much chatting as grunting. Drumgrunt. Sorry Dad3353...

Haha, don't worry Al. You can be a knobber with or without any musical accomplishments, as I certainly am