Skol303

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1373364485' post='2136630']I think I'm pretty close to finishing mine, although that seems like one of those things you should never say[/quote] ... "mixes are never finished, only abandoned"

[color=#b22222][b]SEE THE END OF THIS THREAD FOR DETAILS OF THE REFURB...[/b][/color] I was browsing my local Gumtree listings over the weekend, as you do, and I came across an electric guitar going for £20 - literally five minutes from my doorstep. Well, it'd be rude not to, wouldn't it? I've been toying with the idea of buying a guitar for some time, and thought this could be a good do-er-upper project. So I bought it. The previous owner had been given it as a gift and never played it - so instead they had decided to paint it! (there's must be a logic in there somewhere; somewhere deep). So it now looks like this: I've since done some sleuthing online, and it turns out it's a 1970s Japanese copy of a Luxor guitar (a 'vintage fake'), worth around £500... if y'know, it hadn't been painted with matt emulsion and scribbled on with a marker pen. Here's what it would look like in pristine condition: [url="http://www.wutzdog-guitars.de/inventory/inventory-details/article/1979-luxor-electric-guitar/"]http://www.wutzdog-g...lectric-guitar/[/url] The frets are worn to the bone and it needs some serious setting up, but it should otherwise make a fun DIY project. And for £20 I'm happy

^ Looking good there Tom! The deadline for entries is this coming Monday 15th July (anytime that day/night). I'll be launching the anonymous voting on the evening of Wednesday 17th. Voting will then run for two weeks and finish on the 31st. So... if you haven't yet submitted your mix, then get busy with it! [i](if it's any consolation I've barely started mine. Yeah, I know, it's criminal ).[/i]

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1373289617' post='2135691']This was made completely on my phone so any criticism of the mix/sound, constructive or otherwise will fall on deaf ears(hee hee). Also this is my first entry so go easy on me...... [url="http://m.soundcloud.com/theboysings/mama-leave-a-light-on-poor-boy"]http://m.soundcloud....ght-on-poor-boy[/url][/quote] I haven't listen to this yet but well done for putting something together on your phone! I've been toying with the idea of doing the same one month... got plenty of music apps that I bought on impulse yet rarely use. Looking forward to hearing it (and everyone else's).

No trying to be deliberately off-hand here, but there are plenty of sites online offering this sort of service. I've tried a few in the past (looking for vocalists) and have found them to be largely useless. My advice for anyone wanting to find like-minded collaborators online would be to use SoundCloud. Search within the genre you're interested in, find people whose music you like and contact them direct. It's worked for me on numerous occasions. Most folks who use SoundCloud are genuinely passionate about music and up for collaborating. Most folks who use music match-making sites are expecting a call from Dr Dre any day now, and will act with that precise level of self importance. Just my experience. Others may beg to differ. Well, not actually beg, but y'know...

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1373287644' post='2135637']Same here on both counts. So that could be the solution you know. Your mixes sound great so nothing wrong with mixing on headphones then. Do you use monitors for checking stereo width mainly? [/quote] Cheers mate! That's good to know Yeah, I always give my mixes a final listen on one or all of the following: - 'Hifi' system: old Tannoy speakers and an even older Cirrus amp - Boombox: a little all-in-one thingy that we have in the kitchen - iPhone: both earbuds and built-in speaker - Car stereo - Mate's systems (including pestering people on here for feedback - 51m0n included ) ...each of these gives a different response that I use to tweak my final mixes. That said, my most reliable reference is my headphones. That's not a recommended solution by any means - it's just that I've got to know my cans very well (I've been using the same pair for nearly 3 years) and so I trust the results I get on them. Or to put it another way: I know their inadequacies and do my best to compensate. My next step is definitely to invest in some proper monitors and room treatment, but as mentioned that'll have to wait until we move house.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1373046819' post='2133251']Fantastic grain on the wenge there![/quote] Aye! Paul's done a great job in picking the woods. Very good quality materials and some really interesting grains. The fretboard is particularly beautiful.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1373275012' post='2135441']Started mine yesterday but 4 gigs over the weekend meant progress was pretty much halted![/quote] Sounds like a good weekend to me! Well done Bilbo. Just started my collaboration with Mr Stone. It's a crazy month for me at work and all weekends are booked up with social stuff (no bad thing), so it's going to be a case of burning some midnight oil to get this one done. I recorded a first take of a bassline last night, and I know Rob has been noodling with a new guitar amp, so things are underway... expect something loud and heavy as a result

Excellent idea Paul! I'll be following this thread with interest I mix solely on headphones, mainly because the room I work in doubles as Skol Jnr's play room and there's no way I could acoustically treat it to any worthwhile degree (plus I tend to work late). However, I'm planning to set up a more dedicated 'music room' when we move house, so this thread will hopefully be a good source of inspiration for that. PS: [i]Sound on Sound[/i] magazine run regular features on how to set up a home studio. Work having a look over some back issues or their website.

Holy Moly... is everyone on steroids this month?? Lots of entries in already. Seriously good work, folks! I haven't listened to any of them yet - trying not to get swayed while sketching out the ingredients for this month's concoction (collaborating with RockfordStone - aka Rob). But judging by people's reactions we seem to be off to a good start. Anyway, this is great to see and hopefully a sign of things to come. Well done to everyone thus far and welcome aboard to the newcomers. These challenges are super-addictive... you have been warned

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1373037262' post='2133093']You've still got time to redo the drums if you want! I converted mine to midi. I've spent a lot of time on the drums, and it's not even done yet![/quote] This is definitelty a track where that would be worth considering. I'm a pedant for using only the source material in these challanges ...and so far I've got a [i]reasonably[/i] good sound out of the drums by creating three separate tracks (one for snare, one for hats, one for 'room') and EQ'ing the living daylights out of them, along with the separate kick track. Some aggressive gating has helped too. I sadly don't have much time to spend on it this month - trying to snatch opportunities to work on it here and there - so my entry is going to be fairly rough around the edges. If I could free up more time I might consider re-writing the drums, but it's not going to happen, so I'm having to 'make do and mend'. Still, so far so good...

More pics! Paul has now planed, glued and re-planed the neck, as well as the body. Pickups have been ordered - hardware and truss rods to follow. The next step is to cut the headstock, do the various routing, affix the fretboard and other shiz... I'll keep y'all updated as it happens. Very exciting ^ It's a beauty!

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1372960803' post='2132213']Right, so why can't it be set to -14 then for the purposes of this comp?[/quote] Check out Si's post above (fourth one down from the top) which explains this much better than I could

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1372958143' post='2132176']so a normaliser is actually just a make-louder-iser?[/quote] ^ Exactly (I'm pointing to Twig's comment above). Think of it as just a way of setting the peak level of a track. That might be increasing its volume to 0db, or it might be reducing its volume to -20db, or whatever you choose as being your 'norm'.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1372953477' post='2132096']So normalising, Does it bring the level of the main body of the song up to the level of the peaks of the song?[/quote] No. To put it another way, it raises the volume of the peaks to 0db (or whatever level you set it to) and raises the volume of everything else proportionally by the same out. So it's still the same waveform at the end of the process - it's just louder (or 'taller' in appearance). The process you're describing is what a compressor does - although a compressor works by reducing the difference in volume between the loudest and quietest signals by reducing ('compressing') the peaks. This is why most compressors have a 'make up gain' dial to compensate for the drop in overall volume when the peaks get squashed. PS: don't worry mate... It took me a while to get my head around all this too

I thought they were pretty good. I couldn't listen to a whole album or an entire gig's worth (well, not on the telly and without the real 'vibe' of being there), but they exceeded my expectations of them. And for a band of this type, playing their type of music, to achieve the kind of mainstream recognition they've had...? I say good on them. As for the posh wurzels stuff; there's plenty of trust fund kids in all walks of life and all genres of music. It doesn't really blip on my radar to be honest.

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1372869274' post='2130977'] Corrected for you. I suggest normalising to -12dB or so (what are K-14 peak levels?) would likely give similar result to K14 metering. [/quote] ^ Good point. Indeed a track can be 'normalised' to any given volume - maybe this is what Ras meant in his post? If so, apologies Ras! I think the default level for normalising in Audacity (and pretty much everything else) is 0db, hence my reply. As for K14... I'm guessing, but I think the peak levels are -14db. It always seems to turn out around that level when I use a K-meter on these mixes, but I'm sure someone else here can clarify.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1372864732' post='2130889']My question now relates to this K-14 business... at the moment I have a very primitive setup with Pro Tools SE, which AFAIK doesn't allow the use of any external plugins. Could I work around this by e.g. normalising the mix in Audacity?[/quote] K-14 metering and normalising are very different things. K-14 is a way of standardising the perceived loudness of a track: [i]"The K-system is an audio level measuring technique proposed by mastering engineer Bob Katz... It proposes a studio monitor calibration system and a set of meter ballistics to help engineers produce consistent sounding music while preserving appropriate dynamic range."[/i] We use K-metering during these mix challenges so that everyone's finished mixes are of the same (or very similar) perceived loudness, which results in a much more fair comparison when it comes to voting - rather than it becoming a battle over who can produce the loudest mix. Normalising a track simply increases the amplitude/volume of the signal so that the loudest peaks are at 0db (i.e. the loudest possible volume on a digital signal). To set up a K-meter, see the instuctions in the first post on this thread (it's thankfully very easy to do!). if you can't run VSTs in Pro Tools SE then I recommend using Reaper for this purpose - the trial version is free to download [url="http://www.reaper.fm/"]here[/url]. ... and welcome aboard! if you need help with anything else, just ask

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1372864512' post='2130885']What about a collaborative effort between a load of us? Combine all our best skills. I don't mean myself though, because whatever I can do, there's somebody on here who's much better at it... unless it's making a lasagne.[/quote] A Basschat Orchestra? The phrase "herding cats" springs to mind! I'd be up for it... I'm up for pretty much anything... but I think it would be a huge challenge to make it work in a truly collaborative sense - i.e. enabling people to have a genuine input into the creative process, rather than just being an exercise in cobbling together a bunch of instrumentation written in a given key at a given tempo, etc. But never say never. Unless it's a Tesco value range lasagne

Love it Nige! I can feel the glow of your buzz from here mate. I need to start taking lessons at some point myself. I'm still stumbling through the darkness, finding my way as a go - and having fun with that, sure. But I know there'll soon come a time when I need someone else to help untangle what I've learned and make better sense of it all. Your post makes me think I should do this sooner than later. PS: "pissing twattery" - I'm having that one for myself

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1372834158' post='2130377']There is sound in this video? I've never noticed... [/quote] Well, strictly speaking you should listen to reference material with your eyes closed... [quote name='charic' timestamp='1372853424' post='2130681']Bloody hell, 2 great tunes already![/quote] Bloomin' 'eck, people are getting quick around here! I've only just finished cracking my knuckles in readiness for this month, let alone started sketching anything out. Makes me think we should do a 'speed run' one time - produce a track over a weekend or suchlike; maybe with some sort of fundraising element to it. Would take a bit of organising but might be fun. Might have potential for a Christmas Special, etc. Anyway, well done on the early bird efforts. I'm looking forward to hearing them

Pop is a tricky one Lurks. As a genre it gets bashed constantly by us, ahem, serious musos But it's got super-high production values and writing a catchy hook is something of Holy Grail. I personally love pop music. It's my guilty pleasure! If you want some good reference material check out Britney around her 'Toxic' period [i](that sentence sounds so massively wrong…).[/i] Seriously. Purely in production terms, it's top notch. So that's my advice mate. Listen to Britney! Bet that's never been said to you before, eh. Edit: here you go... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOZuxwVk7TU[/media]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1372761735' post='2129516']Once finished (are these things ever really 'finished'..? ), what do I do with it (polite replies only, please; nothing biologically impossible...)..?[/quote] Fear not Douglas, it's very easy-peasy. Just upload your track to SoundCloud and post the link to it in this thread. Charic then compiles everyone's links when the voting thread gets launched in the last week of the month.

Daft Punk are getting a lot of love and hate... I bought the album (and have their previous ones) and definitely fall into the 'love' camp, but I understand that it's not everyone's cup of char. I've also really enjoyed 'Exai' by Autechre and 'Koi No Yokan' by Deftones [i](yeah, I know the latter was released last year but I've only just stumbled across it - on the back of a thread on Basschat, no less - and so yeah, what is time anyway, it's just a human construct, so nyar!).[/i] That all said, one of my favourite releases to date in 2013 is 'Love Songs in Age' by Kit Richardson. That's not just me being sycophantic towards a fellow Basschatter (Nige/xilddx), I genuinely love it I'm also really liking the stuff that Shep is putting out at the moment through his KADE project ([url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/210249-new-live-electronica-ep/"]details here[/url]). Gotta love Basschat for the new music that gets signposted on here

[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1372755396' post='2129426']Has anyone actually read the blurb? [/quote] Of course! Charic tweaks it each time. Last month it entitled him to a 50% share of all our annual salaries. The time before that it included a clause that read something like [i]"all your bass are belong to Rick"[/i]. Seems fairly straightforward this time, so nothing to worry about Anyway, here's hoping for another good one this month. I'm doing a collaboration this time with Rob Slusar (aka RockfordStone), so I'm looking forward to rocking out with something a bit different. Well, different for me! Following last month, I'm also working behind the scenes with Mike (urb) on some ideas for new material, which we'll be producing outside of the Basschat monthly challenges - more on that as it develops... As someone who's accustomed to working solo, it's good to be teaming up with other human beans! Who knows, I might yet climb down from Hermit Mountain, shave my beard and take a bath... Nah, maybe not