Skol303

[quote name='Staggering on' timestamp='1488372021' post='3248316'] As one of the "old people"(I'm 70)... I will NOT be using smilies or any other of those new-fangled things[/quote] With the wisdom that comes from seven decades, you can probably bound around some canny similes instead. Or metaphors if you really want to push the boat out

Well done guys! And well done all I'll launch this month's challenge as soon as I hear from the winners with their choice of photo(s). PM incoming...

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1487722971' post='3242263'] Yeah I had a look at the Scarlett Solo and it comes with a light version of Protools?? I'm sold! [/quote] Was just about to chip in and recommend the Focusrite Solo but you got there already! Great choice. It's a super little interface for the money.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/300964-february-composition-challenge-voting/"][size=6][b]Voting thread is up![/b][/size][/url]

[color=#800000][size=5][b]Voting has now started on February’s Composition Challenge.[/b][/size][/color] [size=5]Here's the inspiration for this month's music, chosen by our previous winners [b]Bleat[/b] and [b]Lurksalot[/b]…[/size] [size=5]…and here are the compositions. Please vote for your top [b]THREE[/b] favourites:[/size] Dad3353 [url="http://soundcloud.com/dad3353/swot-happens-when-one-listens-to-jazz"]'Swot Happens When One Listens To Jazz'[/url] Leonard Smalls [url="http://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/topsy-turvy"]'Topsy Turvy'[/url] xgsjx [url="http://soundcloud.com/gxmix/torino"]'Torino'[/url] christofloffer [url="http://soundcloud.com/christofloffer/from-the-ground-up"]'From the ground up'[/url] Indy [url="http://soundcloud.com/thevelvetknock/blue-boy-street-demo"]'Blue Boy Street'[/url] Bast [url="http://soundcloud.com/organicpulseensemble/turn-the-world-around"]'Turn the world around'[/url] lurksalot [url="http://soundcloud.com/lurksalot/broken"]'Broken'[/url] Mornats [url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/turned"]'Turned'[/url] fingers211 [url="http://soundcloud.com/nigel-jewell/tout-de-meme"]'Tout de Meme'[/url] [color=#800000][size=5][b]Voting ends at midnight on Tuesday 28th February.[/b][/size][/color]

Hard to say without hearing it. Maybe upload it to SoundCloud or similar and share a link? And couple of questions to get things started: 1) What software are you using? 2) What settings are showing when you 'export' the audio file? These will be a sample rate (e.g. 48kHz) and bit depth (e.g. 24 bit). 3) Are you using a compressor or limiter on any of the individual tracks - or on the mix bus (stereo master channel)?

Well done guys and sorry for my no show. I was traveling this morning (back home from Belgium) and had hoped to get back in time but it didn't work out that way. Gutted And very tired! Keen to see some pics if anyone has some to share...

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1485797554' post='3226787']Something I've long thought about in these here competitions is I'd like to know more about these guys who enter...[/quote] I work mostly 'in the box' (on a computer) using Propellerhead Reason re-wired into Ableton Live software, with some analogue odds and ends in the signal chain where appropriate (currently having a lot of fun re-amping with old guitar pedals). Very much a simple home set up and far from 'professional'... which just sounds too much like work and too little like play On average I spend probably a day on each Basschat entry from writing to recording to mixing; split into odd hours here and there throughout each month. Elsewhere and other projects I can spend days/ even weeks (e.g. mixing and remixing projects for friends). It's all a hobby for me so I just do what I can, when I choose. My creative process is all very immediate. I'm fortunate in never suffering from 'writers block' - quite the opposite - so I tend to form ideas very quickly and spend the majority of time trying to make the noises coming out of my computer match those in my head. Enjoying many happy accidents along the way! Having a picture does help and the monthly deadline can be a good motivator - it forces me to finish stuff, rather than having numerous half-baked ideas cluttering my hard drive. Yes you can certainly do this on a shoe-string budget. If you have a computer with an internet connection, you can make music with no budget at all. A few hundred quid will get you set up sufficient to make 'pro quality' tracks... as cliched as it might sound, it really is all down to learning the tools and how to apply them. Very much like learning an instrument. Quantity of time invested = quality of output. There are no shortcuts. I've been making music on and off since my early teens. I started out with tracker software in the early 90s; moved on to Cubase making dance music in the mid-late 90s; gave it all up for ten years or so and then got the bug again sometime around 2010. And I have a very patient wife who's just happy I'm doing this instead of playing golf or building a train set in the spare room

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1485792851' post='3226714']10 entries and only 14 folk have voted (so far). Doesn't seem to be capturing the imagination of Basschat at large, does it?[/quote] More votes since but we've never had an overwhelming response; and I don't expect it to be honest. Very typical of every music community I've been involved in and not something that's ever a deterrent to those who do take part. The stubborn stalwarts that they are

[size=5][b]VOTING ENDS TUESDAY AT MIDNIGHT[/b][/size]

Focusrite Solo or 2i2. Read this: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/248509-beginners-guide-to-home-recording/ Never be squeamish about going down (to the Recording forum). My cheque is in the post

Thundercat. One of the coolest human beings alive. Who also happens to be a bass player. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBpwKNbcuMA

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1485000937' post='3220271'] That sounds an excellent idea Buddy... [/quote] Cheers bud! My diary is still free on that day (and I'm aiming to keep it that way), so it's looking like I can attend PS: does anyone have a data projector that I could borrow for the event? Would allow me to project stuff onto the wall during tutorials, rather than crowding round a small laptop screen. No problem if not.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/299225-january-composition-challenge-voting/"][b][size=6]VOTING THREAD IS UP![/size][/b][/url] Go, go, go...

[color=#800000][size=5][b]Voting has now started on January’s Composition Challenge.[/b][/size][/color] [size=5]Here's the inspiration for this month's music, chosen by November’s winners [b]the boy[/b] and [b]Lord Sausage[/b]…[/size] [size=5]…and here are the compositions. Please vote for your top [b]THREE[/b] favourites:[/size] Bilbo [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/way-to-go"]‘Way To Go’[/url] xgsjx [url="http://soundcloud.com/gxmix/to-a-new-sunset"]‘To A New Sunset’[/url] Rikki1984 [url="http://soundcloud.com/rikki-boyes/lonestar"]‘Lonestar’[/url] Bleat [url="http://soundcloud.com/foolsjourney/colorado"]‘Colorado’[/url] Dad3353 [url="http://soundcloud.com/dad3353/hobo-solo"]‘Hobo Solo’[/url] lurksalot [url="http://soundcloud.com/lurksalot/back-on-my-pony"]‘Back On My Pony’[/url] christofloffer [url="http://soundcloud.com/christofloffer/back-to-the-homestead"]‘back to the homestead’[/url] Mornats [url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/the-withered"]‘The Withered’[/url] MoonBassAlpha [url="https://soundcloud.com/julian-moss-511168525/slowly-sloping-sunset-saunter"]‘Slowly sloping sunset saunter’[/url] Skol303 [url="http://soundcloud.com/skol-mixes/serendipity-rides-again"]‘Serendipity Rides Again’[/url] [size=5][color=#800000][b]Voting ends at midnight on Tuesday 31st January [/b][/color][/size]

Well done guys. A great start to the new year I'll launch the voting thread tomorrow morning.

[quote name='Rubbersoul' timestamp='1485204246' post='3222130'] Does the DI box run into an interface or straight to your computer? [/quote] Into an interface. The Radial JDI box is an instrument-level line in (1/4" jack cable direct from my bass) and a microphone level out (XLR). So the mic output gets plugged into my interface using a standard mic cable. It's also an ideal way of DI'ing a bass into a PA system, but I haven't tried that myself as I don't currently gig. Radial do a whole bunch of different DI boxes for specific applications, including 48V powered boxes that are supposedly better for use with passive instruments. All made in Canada and certainly 'road ready' - the DI box I have is built like a small, pedal-sized tank

I tend to prefer using an active bass (in my case a Stingray) via a DI box - this one, the [url="http://www.radialeng.com/jdi.php"]Radial JDI[/url]. I was sceptical about the Radial at first and it's not cheap (I was lucky to get mine on 50% discount), but it makes an audible improvement to my recordings. And it's a passive unit, using a big ol' chunky Jensen transformer, which is nice I'm also in the process of setting up a chain for [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-amp"]re-amping[/url], where I'm planning to record my bass DI and then 're-amp' the signal through my small combo, record that with a mic, and then mix the two signals together (or flavour with other re-amped signals if I'm messing around with FX). It's quite faffy, but the results I've heard from others who go down the re-amping route have been very good. And it seems like a nice - and cheap - method of getting some analogue processing in the mix. PS: I also tend to record with my bass pots/controls set flat and then make adjustments after the recording - [i]with the exception of[/i] pickup blend, which I set first and record 'wet'. This is simply so that I can make adjustments to the tone at any time, especially in response to other changes to the overall mix.

^ This. The 'point' of Star Trekkin' was that it reached number one, no doubt earned a lot of money and was insatiably catchy - spreading like a virus long before the days of viral media as we understand it today. Job done. Writing a song like that no doubt takes more skill than it might seem on the surface. Yes, it's an awful piece of music in some respects. But I can hear it in my head right now and I haven't even needed to click on the YouTube link. That's one helluva ear worm, no doubt about it. Same thing with the Birdie Song. The KLF used a similar approach to Doctorin' The Tardis, as described in their book The Manual (worth a read for anyone interested). Again, they make it sound easy when writing this sort of stuff - and making it work - is actually rather difficult. Ultimately, there's a fine line between good s*** and bad s*** Oh and PS: the KLF are reforming this year. Good timing methinks.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1484905325' post='3219499'] just keep it open as a safe space for people to throw noodles in, with no pressure and with loops or other instrumentation if they wish. there doesnt have to be a winner or loser, just have fun with it. [/quote] ^ That might be a good way to keep it going. I'm not so keen on the idea of using a photo for inspiration - I totally get the thinking behind it (thanks Twincam for the suggestion), but I feel it would make the Noodle Bar a sort of "poor relation" of the Composition Challenge. Playing whatever you like is part of the Noodle Bar's charm in my opinion. I do however like the suggestion of allowing people to include drum tracks. That's such an important part of bass playing; I think it might help to bring some of there noddles 'to life' a bit more. Lots of places where drum loops can be downloaded for free online. And I'd be happy to write a short tutorial on how to mix a drum track with a bass recording for anyone who needs help with (e.g. using Reaper, which is essentially free). It could be that everyone records a noodle to the same drum track each month... just an idea. Ultimately, we need to focus on the preferences of the small number of people who are [i]already[/i] interested (just as we do with the composition challenge), rather than worrying about what might appeal to the rest of the Basschat community. Nothing we do is likely to boost interest in the challenge considerably (without offering prizes, for example). So I'd rather just make sure it's keeping those who [u]are[/u] interested happy Further input very welcome. We can review everything at the end of the month (next weekend) and decide where to go from there...

[quote name='jacko' timestamp='1484914242' post='3219628'] "Non-Binary" - is that like Hexorosexual ? [/quote] I like that. Very good

Hoping to make this as fairly sure I'm around that weekend PS: don't really have any interesting gear to bring, but happy to bore the pants off people about music production or run a short "idiot's guide to home recording", given that I myself am a qualified idiot.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1484707347' post='3217715'] Climbing back on board with a 'light-weight' contender this month; I give you ... [url="https://soundcloud.com/dad3353/hobo-solo"]Hobo Solo ...[/url] Enjoy... [/quote] Well done Doug! Can't keep a good man down

Just read this on another music gear forum and thought it seemed very relevant here. Made me laugh anyway... "Only buy, never sell. Remember that he/she who dies with the most boxes wins."