Skol303

[quote name='Stephen Houghton' timestamp='1368828864' post='2082172'] Just checked out the pics, really nice piece of wood, love the grain pattern, this will look the dogs danglies deffo! [/quote] Cheers Steve! I met up with Paul (13 Guitar Co) at the North West Guitar Show last weekend and saw the fretboard wood up close - it's a beauty! More info on the build coming soon...

Super slick! I'm guessing you guys do ok for bookings?? Not all of the tracks are to my taste, but the Snoop and Celo Green numbers are cool additions. Great playing and production all round.

Love the tone!! Plenty of low mids and top end. Sounds great - very clean and punchy. Impressive playing too.

Wow. I mean really. Very cool playing and a cool bass too I really enjoyed it. Cheers for sharing Bill!

Nice playing Francois. And salut! Welcome to Basschat. Your video reminds me of this one.... only I prefer yours http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=yf56jYDv2fc

Dave, this brightened up my day right from the off with 'This is a Song' Only listened through it on my phone thus far but it sounds great. Did you play all the instrumentation yourself? Damn impressive if so. Love the humour. Had Mrs Skol sat next to me listening to it and she was chuckling away too... 'Cat on the Sofa' being a firm fave here. Some great lines in 'Political Correctness' too. If this is trad folk, then I'm a fan. Nice one mate! (PS: banjos need no apologies).

Remember: the first rule of Mix Club is we don't talk about who's mix is who's! I've yet to vote myself. I've listened to them all on headphones and made a shortlist - next step is to play the final handful at volume thru my hifi and pick a winner...

^ Thanks Stephen, and also for your kind words on SoundCloud! Good to hear it sounds ok over your hifi. My speakers are busted at the moment so I'm flying in the dark mix-wise ("use the force", etc...). The vocal is from a guy in Brooklyn called Donnie Ozone. I found him on SoundCloud and he very kindly offered to collaborate. I really like his style myself. I'll pass on your feedback to him

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1369042698' post='2084098']...mix-wise it sounded good over my iMac speakers which is good as I always feel if something sounds good on them then the mix and overall sound comes over well on a computer then you've nailed the levels and EQ etc. I'm guessing you used some samples for the brass/sax parts but hey it grooves and more importantly made me think of rap tunes (the kind I like) from the 1990s, it was a bit Tribe Called Quest with a hint of Pharcyde - Jurassic 5 spring to mind as well - took me back top my days working in HMV in the late 1990s - good times! Maybe we should collaborate on next month's track...[/quote] Thanks for the feedback Mike! (and to others who've left comments on SoundCloud). Greatly appreciated mate. I'm glad the mix sounds ok. The low end of things is especially tricky to get right using headphones - it's typically either boomy/muddy or thin/weak, so hopefully I got lucky somewhere in between. I've recently pinched an idea from BC's 51m0n and have started testing mixes on my mobile phone speakers, which is a fairly brutal and unforgiving method! (but nonetheless useful). The brass instruments are indeed samples. I initially tried using synth-brass but it just didn't sound right, so I opted for pre-recorded sounds instead (from the Reason 'Soul School' collection). The bassline was played in several takes by yours truly; the drums were put together by chopping up 'live' loops into individual drum hits and using them to write the beat in MIDI - fiddly and time-consuming, but I think it gives a more natural feel. Very kind of you to reference Pharcyde and Jurassic 5! That's [i]exactly[/i] the sort of vibe I was aiming for (I'm a big fan of that skool of hip hop myself). PS: I'd definitely be up for collaborating on next month's track - assuming nobody cries foul play!?

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1369034182' post='2084029']Its really good that there are people here that will listen through anothers composition and critically comment. Thats what actually makes this thing work, its as much about people bothering to take the time to help another bassist with their piece as it is about the arrangements we've submitted.[/quote] Spot on! I couldn't agree more, Rob.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1369039228' post='2084065']I'm deffinitely happy to handle the uploading any time, even though i'm very busy, I can do it from work, just set up a queue at the end of the day and upload over night while no-one's here.[/quote] Nice one mate! I don't mind doing the next one to buy you some time with the house move going on. I've got to do the same myself at some point over the summer (currently packing boxes in readiness... ).

OK, I'm done. What a month! I decided early on that I couldn't really do jazz any justice - not in its truest sense, anyway. So I just aimed for something "jazzy, urban and upbeat". Sort of trying to replicate the style of artists like Tribe Called Quest, Guru, Ronny Jordan, etc. Trouble was, the vocal - I can't rap So I took a punt and collaborated with a guy via SoundCloud who goes by the name of Donnie Ozone, who was game for working together on something. It ended up being a fun project and definitely something I'd like to try again. Anyway, here it is... [b]NB: this track is hip hop in an old skool, positive sense - so it's 100% cuss-free and family friendly [/b] https://soundcloud.com/skollob/good-day I've produced this solely using headphones, so any feedback on the mix itself would be hugely appreciated (especially the low end). Ta. And cheers everyone for another good month of making music! Paul

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1368900692' post='2082867']Hey dude - just added that ending you were suggesting and remixed the bugger too... [url="https://soundcloud.com/munkio/flight-of-the-pollinator"]https://soundcloud.c...-the-pollinator[/url][/quote] Nice work, Mike! That new ending is great. Are the strings following the b-line via Melodyne or is it that new audio-to-MIDI thingamajig in Live? Whatever... it really works [quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1368956543' post='2083298']Here you go, guys. My frustration is that, whatever the merits on my composition, the resulting sound of midi muck is suck city... it all sounds a bit cacky.[url="https://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/yellow-blossom-waltz"] https://soundcloud.c...w-blossom-waltz[/url][/quote] This is [i]a lot[/i] better than I was expecting, given your salesmanship in the description! The composition itself is really good to my ears. Sure, the MIDI elements suck out some of the intended swing, but to a jazz novice (i.e. me) it sounds very cool indeed. The mix is a little "distant", but it almost adds character - like a vintage recording. I genuinely dig it. [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1368957725' post='2083310']Thought I would have a go at this months competition. Don't have a soundcloud account or proper recording equipment so I have used a blackberry playbook video recorder and the internal microphone. Not the greatest quality but as its a video you have the added bonus of my gurning bass face throughout...[/quote] Welcome aboard Rob and bonus points for being the first person yet to post a video in these monthly challenges! Nice playing, great melodies and a beautifully warm tone. Really clever use of a looper pedal as well... I like how you play with the various layers throughout. Top marks mate! Paul

Just back from the NW Guitar Show at Haydock Park… last minute decision ([i]read:[/i] permission ) to go and well worth it. It was great meeting Drew from [url="http://manchesterbasslounge.com/"]Manchester Bass Lounge[/url] and of course Paul from [url="http://www.13guitarco.com/"]13 Guitar Co[/url] (cheers for letting me have a play on your wares mate!). Most of the exhibitors were fairly light on basses, but good to see these guys upholding the low end of things.

Loving the new album! That said I still think it's a [i]wee[/i] bit over-hyped... there's a danger of it getting hammered too hard... but for the time being I'm really enjoying it. Off topic: I'm also enjoying the track below as my current 'guilty pleasure' I'm quite a fan of dancehall and thought I'd hate this when I heard about it, but it's growing on me. Only mentioning it 'cos it seems set to crash the charts, if it hasn't done so already. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lANLyt24c4

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1368735726' post='2080993']Got mine completed all in a day!... [url="https://soundcloud.com/xgsjx/death-of-a-jazz-club"]https://soundcloud.c...-of-a-jazz-club[/url][/quote] Very [i]avant garde.[/i] Very dark and melancholy. I like it The tone and FX remind me of Portishead - especially the intro to [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQYsGWh_vpE"]Roads[/url]. Cool stuff. And impressive that you tweaked the filters while playing it 'live'. I felt it was crying out for a beat or some other instrumentation towards the end - not a criticism as such, as it does work as it stands. Nice one, G! [quote name='Stephen Houghton' timestamp='1368826723' post='2082159']Hello, not been on here for a while been trying to get my head around Sonar, just thought I would whack one out when I saw the pics , this is a tongue in cheek take on the pics and me and my missus couldn't record the vocals through giggling. Done with Sonar and some loops that came with it, also found a pitch shifter had some fun with that, a couple of hours fun and here is the result. Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [url="https://soundcloud.com/9thaspect/dandelion-jazz"]https://soundcloud.c.../dandelion-jazz[/url][/quote] Welcome back Steve, hope all's well with you. Nice loops! And you've thrown them together very convincingly - it sounds great. Lazy and laid back... I really love the brass and upright bass in particular. The vocals are fun too. Or should I say "niiiiiice"!

Yup. See the gratuitous banner ad in my signature and jump to it, people! Go, go, go...

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1368803966' post='2081783']Well that would be awfully good of the two of you.[/quote] No probs. PS: I've added a gratuitous advert for the competition in my signature. Anyone's welcome to pinch the image (right click & save) and add it to their own... spread the word!

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1368802869' post='2081762'] Chaps that is definitely appreciated. You need to know that there is significant time involved in uploading these as wavs from an ADSL connection [/quote] No bother. We have a stoopidly fast connection at work and I don't mind them churning away in the background at home when I'm on the 'puter there. But cheers for the warning! Looks like Tom and I are up for it. I don't mind doing the next one and Tom the one after that? (or vice-versa).

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1368795495' post='2081621']This is heading into my really busy time of year (at work) now, so I am not sure I will be able to pout that much effort into the next one, so unless someone else volunteers to do the upload thing it may well have to not be anonymous. Sorry [/quote] Thanks again mate. I'm happy to volunteer for the uploading shenanigans next time, unless anyone else has a burning desire to do it? Looking forward to listening to these mixes over the weekend...

Superb, well done Si! Sterling effort mate... especially as you had to upload 12 mixes this month. I think I can speak for everyone here by saying a massive CHEERS for sorting this out!! PS: did some of the entries not get uploaded because of the SoundCloud issues you mentioned previously?

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1368651374' post='2079907']Here's my thing... [i][b]'Flight of the Pollinator[/b][/i]' [url="https://soundcloud.com/munkio/flight-of-the-pollinator"]https://soundcloud.c...-the-pollinator[/url][/quote] V. cool, Mike. Nice percussion. The fretless sounds superb - very expressive, almost 'vocal' and synth-like in places. The Hammond-style tone towards the end is amazing, as is the playing! My only constructive criticism would be the ending - slightly too abrupt perhaps, as I was nicely grooving along at that point and then it ended... But that's no big deal - I just played it again

^ Hang in there Si and cheers for dealing with the faff of uploading them all!

As mentioned above, deadlines are your friend For instance: the monthly new music challenge on Basschat has spurred me on to produce - and importantly finish! - lots of new music, when normally I'd churn stuff out at a rate of a track per 2-3 months. I imagine setting a recording deadline for an EP or some such would provide even more incentive. Also, for me it helps to use software/equipment that is simple and immediately accessible. Stuff I can be working on with within minutes of booting up my computer. Other than that, maybe try finding someone else who can finish the tracks for you (ie. another band member or close friend), so you can concentrate on generating the initial ideas. Oh yeah, and self-discipline is a useful thing too

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1368605133' post='2078989']There's still time, isn't there? Is slept all day yesterday... so, yeah [/quote] Go for it! I'm sure Si and others won't mind. Latecomers get less time/opportunity to score votes, so it's a kind of self-imposed handicap if you're late to the party - ie. the free food and drink has gone, the toilet is in a mess and it won't be long until the police show up. That kind of thing