Skol303

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1433631680' post='2792691']Had one very similar for years but it became a kind of hotel for rodents. Just sayin'... Nice instrument though, especially for nowt![/quote] Cheers Mark! Indeed... no complaints here. I wasn't really in the market for a piano but couldn't turn my nose up at a free one. It took two days to clean it - the dust inside was horrific - so rest assured that no damned rodents will be bedding down in it on my watch [quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1433631986' post='2792694']That's a thing of beauty![/quote] Thanks Paul! It's a handsome thing, if still a wee bit fusty. [quote name='Biglump' timestamp='1433675310' post='2792948']For learning to play the basics these are absolutely brilliant....[/quote] BRILLIANT! Bought myself a 'chord wand' on your recommendation and it's great. Very useful and wonderfully simple. Love it. Thanks for the tip

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1434009514' post='2795812'] one of the fender sandblasted jazz basses [/quote] Nice! Look forward to hearing that Rob.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1433781838' post='2793922'] My point was simply that people do listen. [/quote] Yep, I agree Rob - for me that's the most rewarding thing about these challenges (and SoundCloud in general). It's sometimes interesting to check the stats and see where people are listening from too. It's mostly Europe and North America, as you'd expect, but I've had people browsing my tracks from all over the place. Brazil was high on the list, last time I looked.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1433852217' post='2794524'] i'm holding off for my new bass to arrive... [/quote] Oooh, whatcha got!??

^ Thanks guys! Yeah I feel very lucky to have landed this old girl as a freebie. It belonged to a friend of my wife whose own kids grew up learning to play it, so it has plenty of sentiment and mojo attached to it Regard the tuning... it's very doubtful that it'll ever be able to hold concert pitch. This is apparently typical of old pianos that havent been properly maintained over the years (as this one certainly hasn't!). Pianos of this period weren't built to be kept in modern homes with central heating, so they often become very dry and brittle. I've been advised to keep a bowl of water in the bottom of it - just to help 'hydrate' the insides - but the piano tuner advised that a semitone down is likely to be the closest it'll get to true pitch.., which is fine by me. It's in tune with itself - or at least until I start playing it

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1433494461' post='2791454'] That is excellent Paul, i am suitably jealous. [/quote] [quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1433533119' post='2791994'] Looking good , and better still ... sounding good , or not sounding at all if that makes sense [/quote] Cheers chaps! It's taken the best part of 6 months from start to finish, but I'm pleased with how it's turned out Better still my wife and our eldest have taken a keen interest in the old piano, so I'm envisioning our family becoming something akin to the Von Trapps if all goes to plan (minus the backdrop of Nazi occupation.., although our local authority has turned Tory again). I just need to find the time to get set up in there and start making noise - currently dealing with newborn baby needs: fluids in, fluids out

[font=Helvetica][size=3][size=4]Finally finished prepping the new ‘music room’ at home today! [/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3][size=4]It’s housed in what used to be our garage - recently converted into a smallish yet usable space for making noise.[/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3][size=4]The walls are acoustic plasterboard (slightly thicker and more dense than the standard stuff), but that’s as far as I went in terms of ‘soundproofing’. In fact, I gave up on the idea of soundproofing very early on in the project! From reading [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Recording-Studio-Build-Like/dp/143545717X"]Rob Gervais’ excellent book on the subject[/url], I soon realised that it was going to be 1) expensive and 2) a huge faff to create a suspended ‘room within a room’, so I focussed on treating and taming the acoustics, rather than trying to contain them.[/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3][size=4]Hence the acoustic panels on the walls and ceiling. All of them bass traps, supplied by the very friendly and knowledgable people at [url="http://www.bluefrogaudio.co.uk"]Blue Frog Audio[/url] who went to great lengths to customise everything for the room - working out the problem frequencies and creating a natty 3D model in Google Sketchup, which was super-useful in planning the layout down to the last centimetre (and all at a surprisingly good price too - I really can’t recommend them enough).[/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3][size=4]Anyway, enough waffle. Here’s a badly lit photo taken on my cameraphone. NB: the room is currently empty as I haven’t properly ‘moved in’ as yet, but you’ll get the gist.[/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3][size=4][/size][/size][/font]

[font=Helvetica][size=3] [size=4]I’ve just finished restoring an old piano that was donated for gratis by a friend of the family. Well, I say I’ve been [/size][i]restoring[/i][size=4] it… really I’ve been cleaning it; the restoration work was done at a very good rate by the chaps at [/size][url="http://cheshirepianos.com"]Cheshire Pianos[/url][size=4].[/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3] [size=4]It’s a mid-1930s Steinbach. Arrived chock-full of dust and grime (I honestly don’t think it had ever been cleaned!), completely out of tune - as you’d expect - and needing some tender loving care applied to its workings; specifically the action, which needed new springs and other replacement parts. But heh, it’s like 80 years old, so I have to cut it some slack [/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3] [size=4]The Cheshire Piano guys say that it’s in good shape for its age. A touch dry and ‘brittle’; most of the keys are chipped at the edge; the exterior is a little beat up; it smells like an old church… but it's all good.[/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3] [size=4]Just had it tuned today, so I now need to learn how to play it Concert pitch was out of the question - it’s just too old and frail for that - so I asked for it to be tuned a semitone down, so I can at least tune my bass to it with relative ease for recording purposes. It’s going to need another tune-up in a few months time, but that's to be expected.[/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3] [size=4]Anyway. I’m very happy! Not so much an instrument as an item of furniture.[/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3] [size=4]Here are a few pics…[/size][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3] [i][size=4]The belly of the beast:[/size][/i][/size][/font][font=Helvetica][size=3] [/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3] [i][size=4]Fully clothed:[/size][/i][/size][/font][font=Helvetica][size=3] [/size][/font]

I have a friend from Newcastle who's a dead ringer for the women in the photo and she's a very calm and collected sort - not the type to rage as per the image - so I keep looking at it and thinking: "Wow, something must've REALLY peed off Jenn!". ...I might use that as a starting point. Or the title!?

Sorry for the delay! Normal service has now resumed... [size=5][url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/263279-june-composition-challenge-get-writing/"][b]CLICK HERE FOR THE JUNE CHALLENGE[/b][/url][/size]

[color=#800000][size=5][b]June’s Composition Challenge is now underway![/b][/size][/color] [size=5]Here’s the image for your inspiration, chosen by last month's winner [b]the boy[/b]…[/size] [size=5]And here are the rules 'n' stuff…[/size] [size=4]By entering the competition you agree to the [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?app=forums&module=extras&section=boardrules"]Basschat Terms & Conditions[/url] and [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/3178-forum-guidelines/"]Forum Guidelines[/url], which are designed to help ensure the forum remains free of offensive and/or illegal behaviour and material. In a nutshell:[/size] [size=4][b]1) Please avoid any content that other forum users may find offensive[/b]. If your track contains explicit lyrics, for example, then please warn other forum users so they can choose for themselves whether to listen to it.[/size] [size=4][b]2) Please make sure you have permission to use any 3rd party sounds included in your track[/b] (ie. sounds that you have not recorded yourself, such as samples of other people's music). The owners of Basschat accept no responsibility for infringements of copyright or other forms of legal ownership, which are solely the responsibility of competition entrants. If we spot any breaches of copyright then your track will be removed from the competition.[/size] [size=4]For reference: here's a great source of copyright-free material, all available under Creative Commons license: http://www.freesound.org/[/size] [size=4][b]3) Entries should be no more than five minutes long and written/produced during the month of the competition[/b], taking inspiration from the photo provided. No cheating![/size] [size=4]If you have any questions about the competition rules, just ask.[/size] [size=5][color=#800000][b]The deadline for entries is midnight on Tuesday 23rd June.[/b][/color][/size]

I have the image! I'll post up the new challenge ASAP this evening. Currently on nursery shift with the newborn and typing this with one hand on my phone...

Well done the boy! Great track and a deserving win. Please message me with your choice of image for the next challenge and I'll launch the new thread in the Rec forum tomorrow morning. Well done also to everyone else. It was a close-run month and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them all

Good video that mate! Like it

"Focus on the journey, not the destination" ...and never more so than when heading to Milton Keynes

^ Cheers guys. Sage words, none of which will ever be uttered in this household until the boys are firmly ensconced learning instruments that require their own amplification Well I can at least hope. Or pray.

Thanks guys! Two boys now. Currently working our way up to a full band. Unless they both want to be drummers

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/262763-may-composition-challenge-voting/"][b][size=5]THE VOTING THREAD IS UP![/size][/b][/url]

[color=#800000][b][size=5]Voting has now started on May’s Composition Challenge![/size][/b][/color] [size=5]Here's the inspiration for this month's music, chosen by the previous winner [b]Lowdown[/b]…[/size] [size=5]…and here are the compositions.[/size] [size=5]Please listen to each track and vote for your top [u]THREE[/u] favourites:[/size] [b]Leonard Smalls[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/tombstone-dub"]‘Tombstone Dub’[/url] [b]Dad3353[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/dad3353/gold-rush-we-dont-need-no-stinkin-gold-rush"]‘Gold Rush..? We don't need no stinkin' gold rush..!’[/url] [b]lurksalot[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/lurksalot/the-ballad-of-ed-schieffelin"]‘The Ballad Of Ed Schieffelin’[/url] [b]BirchTree (#1)[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/jaedry/old-guns"]‘Old Guns’[/url] [b]paul h[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/robotrobotrobotmusic/song-for-wilhelm"]‘Song For Wilhelm’[/url] [b]Bilbo[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/wrong-key-serenade"]‘Wrong Key Serenade’[/url] [b]the boy[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/theboysings/run-ike-run-clanton-boys"]‘Run Ike Run, Clanton Boys Lament’[/url] [b]fingers211[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/nigel-jewell/derek-the-deaf-donkey-goes-too-far-west"]‘Derek The Deaf Donkey Goes Too Far West’[/url] [b]BirchTree (#2)[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/jaedry/the-dusty-road"]‘The Dusty Road’[/url] [b]Skol303[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/skollob/rootin-tootin"]‘Rootin-Tootin’[/url] [color=#800000][size=5][b]Voting ends at midnight on Sunday 31st May.[/b][/size][/color]

I'm in! And very much by the skin of my teeth this month. Not least because of this little chap entering the world on Friday... [size=4]^ Sorry, massive photo. Almost life-size in fact.[/size] [size=4]Have barely slept since, but having his grandma staying with us bought me a couple of hours this afternoon to (gun) sling together this:[/size] [font=Helvetica][size=3] [size=4]http://soundcloud.com/skollob/rootin-tootin[/size][/size][/font] [font="Helvetica"]The bass and synth lines are almost certainly a direct rip off of another track, which has been running around in my head for the past few days but I'll be damned if I know what it is. Too sleep-deprived to know or care [/font] I was aiming for something along the lines of the stuff produced by Saul Kane, especially the Nine Deadly Venoms album ([url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9_Deadly_Venoms"]reference[/url] in case anyone knows what I'm rambling on about). [color=#800000][b]I'll launch the voting at midnight tonight.[/b][/color] Most likely with babe in arms and a fresh splurge of posset on my shoulder.

How bizarre!! In that I was talking about this with someone just the other day. It's a bit of a classic moment in history around these parts. An old friend of mine, sadly no longer with us, was there in person. Thanks posting. Made my day

I've had a very quick skim-listen to the entries so far and they're sounding great Well done all. I'm hoping to get something done this month - keen not to break my run of having never missed a challenge - but the pending arrival of Skol Jnr The Second [i](working title)[/i] may put the kibosh on that. We'll see.

Good work Mike! Looking forward to hearing the results. And trying to guess which bass is on which track...

I've never encountered this myself - but then I only ever upload original tracks and suitably mangled remixes to SoundCloud. I'm guessing it uses a some kind of clever detection software to identify licensed tracks (akin to that used by SoundHound). After a quick Google, I found their legal statement here: http://help.soundcloud.com/customer/portal/articles/1480311-is-it-okay-for-me-to-upload-a-song-i-bought-if-it-is-set-to-private-on-my-profile- "SoundCloud is using an automated content ID system that recognizes copyright protected content. If it detects copyright protected material in a private upload, it will be blocked." So there's your answer. My only suggestion would be to sufficiently alter ("remix") the content of the tracks you're covering or use another platform for sharing your music.

[quote name='Old_Ben' timestamp='1430731788' post='2764013'] Set up a vote for which entry you should use! [/quote] We do love a good vote in the Recording forum! It's nothing if not democratic down here