Skol303

Not necessarily that you should ignore everything below 20Hz… more that it’s very difficult to accurately measure anything at the lowest frequencies, so it’s mostly guesswork. Or rather, it’s even more guesswork than usual. Speakers are very rarely quoted as being accurate down to 20Hz. But larger speakers will certainly produce low frequency energy sub-20Hz and for this reason - when mixing - I always eradicate everything below 20Hz and sometimes closer to 30Hz (depending on the genre). We humans don’t really ‘hear’ these low frequencies as much as ‘feel’ them - and in the majority of live music settings, much of what’s happening around 20Hz is unwanted rumble that plays havoc with room acoustics. So my own recommendation would certainly be to kill off everything sub-20Hz as far as possible. Unless you’re running a dub sound system and wanting to forcibly shake people’s fillings from their teeth PS: just been reading this thread. Great discussion and detail. Good work!

Absolutely. Anything below 20Hz is ignored in the vast majority of gear manufacturer's tests and quoted frequency ranges. Very difficult to capture accurate measurements that low without some serious kit and an anechoic chamber to work in.

^ Cheers for the input T-Bay. I'm now definitely veering towards a separate board and power supply; seems to be the most flexible solution.

^ That's good advice, thanks In fact a standard pedalboard with a separate power brick looks like a good solution; and potentially a better solution that an "all in one" like the BOSS BCB-60. Also good call re. daisy-chaining analogue and digital pedals. I hadn't considered the potential issues around that. The One Spot CS7 sounds very reliable based on reviews. Now on my wishlist to consider.

Haha! I suppose the equivalent is someone referring to "guitar music"

I'm in the market for a powered pedalboard. Something that: Includes its own built-in power adaptor Is capable of holding at least 6 pedals Is quick and easy to set up and pack away (i.e. comes in its own carry case) I'm currently weighing up the BOSS BCB-60 which gets good reviews across the board. Seems like a robust a reliable product, if a little pricey for what it is. Are there any other options I should be considering? Thought I'd ask here, as I know there are some serious pedal fiends in our midst Cheers.

I think profanity certainly has its place in music, just as it does in film, theatre, poetry and all other arts. "Nazi Punks Please Go Away by the Dead Kennedys" ...doesn't quite cut it, does it?

Try to set aside at least half a day (or ideally a full day) to learn the basics of the software. Approach it in a quiet environment with no distractions and ample coffee/biscuits; just as you might do so when learning a new bassline. Once you’re over the initial hurdle it does get easier… and you’ll find that you probably only need to use/understand a very small portion of the software’s capabilities at first. But there will be a fairly steep learning curve; that’s unavoidable. Approach it with patience and try to find YouTube tutorials that are specific to what you want to achieve. Use the tutorials to build up your first song, step by step, rather than just watching tutorials that try to explain all of the functionality in one hit. For example: start by searching for things like: “How to set up an audio interface with Garageband” “How to record a guitar with Garageband” “How to add drums to a track in Garageband” Etc. It’s really not as difficult as it seems, unless you’re a complete newbie to using computers for anything other than email/ Basschat/ web browsing. In which case, yes you may struggle a bit.

Ableton is great... but it's a step up from Garageband in terms of functionality and thus complexity. To the OP: stick with Garageband. It's pretty much the easiest and most user-friendly DAW software available. Get your head around it, then consider other options if you find yourself wanting to do things that Garageband can't. Threads like this otherwise result in options paralysis: everyone chips in with suggestions based on what they themselves are using (and very well-meaning too I might add); and you end up none the wiser

Lots of options for you to choose from, overwhelmingly so in fact My own suggestions would be: Buy a Focusrite 2i2 interface (or if you can stretch to it the 2i4). Low latency, very reliable and the best bang you'll find for your buck$. Learn how to use Garageband. Many other softwares exist, but if you're struggling with Garageband then you're really going to struggle with something more advanced. Garageband is a great place to start and once you've got the hang of it, you'll be well versed to progress to other software in future if you wish (but you might find that Garageband does everything you need). If so, Apple Logic would be the..err... logical next step. Final word: there's no shortcut to music production. You're going to have to invest some time in learning the basics and figuring out the necessary software/hardware. I personally find YouTube tutorials much more intuitive than reading manuals. Hope that helps and visit the Recording forum here if you have any specific questions.

Err... simple biology suggest that older people get replaced by more older people and younger people grow older Sadly, the Daily Heil is in no danger of bankruptcy. If anything, right-wing (and also far right) news media are currently on the march.

April's challenge is now on! And it is most eggcellent.

April's Composition Challenge is now underway! Here’s the image for your inspiration, chosen by last month's winner, Bilbo… Rules: No illegal samples. No offensive content. No longer than five minutes. No bagpipes (see point 2). The deadline for entries is midnight on Monday 23rd April.

Well done Rob and all! Great work guys. I'll launch April's challenge as soon as I get the photo...

Some sellers don't like taking the extra hit on PayPal commercial transactions. In which case, I offer to pay the difference as a Gift payment, but always pay for the item itself as a commercial payment. Business is business. If you leave yourself open to risk, that's your choice. Personally, I prefer a risk and (relatively) stress-free approach

I don't mean to sound like an derrière (it's just inherent in my personality ), but many of these 'deals gone wrong' threads ultimately seem to result from the seller/buyer leaving themselves open to risk. Not wagging a finger here, just a heads up that situations can be avoided if you stack the odds in your favour. Sending something expensive by post? Get it insured and use one of the top two courier companies (UPS or DPD). Buying something from Gumtree? Pay with PayPal and they'll help you sort out any shenanigans. If you cut corners, you'll find bandits.

I'm with Ped and his Zen-like comment above.

Can't comment on W10 compatibility, but I have one of these... http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/oxygen-25 It's great, but if/when I buy again I'll certainly opt for more keys (i.e. at least one more octave), as being limited to 25 is very restricting for anything other than triggering samples and keying in mono synth lines, etc.

Cambridge Analytica. But in truth very much a ‘straw man' guess, based on: Price Waterhouse Cooper report on Royal Mail performance quotes an average of 1 in 1000 of parcels being lost in transit - so that's a 0.1% failure rate. 37 million UK driving license holders made ~775,000 motoring insurance claims last year (~390,000 successful) - meaning 2% of motorists made an insurance claim, or in this context a 2% 'failure rate' (I am of course making the sweeping assumption that these claims resulted from road accidents). So yeah. Rough as a badger's backside. But I'd wager a more robust analysis would support the idea that sending parcels by post is statistically 'safer' than delivering them in person by car when you stack up proportion of parcels lost vs. proportion of road journeys involving an accident. Probably not as interesting as you'd hoped though... can't help that. Sorry

Sympathies to the OP; that sounds like a pain in the donkey. Thankfully however such instances are very much the exception rather than the rule. Courier companies make many thousands of successful deliveries each day that go unreported. Nobody starts threads saying “Yeah that thing I wanted delivered? Well it arrived ok. No problems”. So we only ever get to hear about the bad experiences, which leaves the overall picture looking deceptively bleak. You’re statistically far more likely to be involved in a car accident whilst delivering your bass to a buyer than you are to lose the instrument by shipping it. But of course things can and do go wrong; and it always sucks to be on the receiving end of that. In this instance, trying to change the order once the package has been collected and is in transit was always going to add an element of complication. Not your fault of course; but most companies terms state that they’re responsible for the order as placed (hence you’re always asked to check and confirm details before paying). Hope this works out and that Interparcel get things sorted. I’ve had good dealings with their customer services, so fingers crossed...

Haha! Perhaps byte-by-byte?

Should now allow multiple votes. Don't go abusing this newfound limitless power.

Voting thread is up. Jog on.

PS: Yeah, I know the boys' track isn't displaying correctly (no idea why), but the link is working ok

Voting has now started on March's Composition Challenge. Please listen and choose your top THREE favourites: Dad3353 'De Moralised Bear (True, dat...)...' christofloffer 'ursa the hitcher' lurksalot 'grim' Mornats 'No Polar Home' Bilbo 'Has Anyone Seen A Glacier Mint Anywhere Near Here?' the boy 'We are like vanpires.....' https://soundcloud.com/theboysings/we-are-like-vanpires lowdown 'Come On In' Bleat 'Polarised' Voting ends at midnight on Saturday 31st March.