Skol303

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1411818886' post='2563049']My advice is to get a short Gilmour bar, the usual length is too long in my opinion, plenty of Gilmours on ebay.[/quote] Just received delivery of one! Cost me about a tenner plus a few quid in shipping from the US. Fits perfectly and does the job just fine. Cheers for the tip, Nige [quote name='Stephen Houghton' timestamp='1412993863' post='2573996'] Very nice refurbish job Skol I'm impressed, I have just got into guitar and have an Epiphone LP its great for the purpose, bought a Blackstar HT-5 watt amp for recording a couple of days ago, awesome amp for home studio use with really nice tones with an effects loop. Check out this site [url="http://justinguitar.com/"]http://justinguitar.com/[/url] (weird can paste the link here but cant in share music thread) Great free lessons on all things six string related. [/quote] Thanks Steve! That website looks useful. I'm slowly getting my head around chord changes, but also still plucking individual strings 'finger style', as though playing a tiny bass. Don't think it's a habit I'm going to be able to shift... so that may well become my own 'signature' guitar style [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1414675754' post='2592112'] good stuff, it matches your hair nicely [/quote] Haha! Indeed it does Although I've yet to join the blue rinse brigade IRL... I'm a pasty Celtic ginger by heritage, which is colourful enough.

[font=Helvetica][size=3]I almost feel a bit sorry for him. It’s as though he’s reached a point in life where the world he once stood astride of no longer makes sense. But instead of making an effort to find out what’s going on, he just panics and clings desperately to the cosy familiarity of the past.[/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3][i]“It’s not like it was in our day… call this music?”[/i] And so on. It happens to so many people; I suppose that’s why it’s become one of the big stereotypes of getting old: believing that your own generation was the roughest and toughest.[/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3]I can assure Mr Daltry that the youth of today - at least those I’ve rubbed sweaty shoulders with recently at gigs and warehouse parties in Manchester - give even less of a feck about One Direction than he does. They’re quite happily filling their heads with the sort of unmusical sounds that rarely get aired during the safety of daylight hours. They have plenty to say about politics and world affairs. Probably a great deal more than was being said during Mr Daltry’s hey day.[/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3]So fear not, Mr D. The youth are still fighting the good fight. And their soundtrack is just as relevant to them today as yours was to your own generation, even though it probably sounds quite alien to your ears. And damn right it should too.[/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3]But all things considered, it’s a story about someone bemoaning young people in the [i]Mail on Sunday.[/i] Quelle surprise. I imagine that on the opposite page was an advert for sensible-looking gents country shirts, or perhaps velcro-fastening shoes.[/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3]PS: is he [i]really[/i] this particular shade of orange? Quite odd. Looks suspiciously like he's been hitting the ol' Heinz tomato soup a little too hard.[/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3][/size][/font]

Just received a [i]free[/i] hard case from Mert' (through the Recycling forum) and couldn't be happier! Exceptionally nice chap, very obliging and nothing was too much trouble for him. Deal with confidence. Cheers 'Mert! Paul

I’m a total newcomer to slap and have been practising some routines recently… and after a couple of hours I’ve also experienced some shoulder pain (not so much ‘flashes’ of pain, just an ache as though I’ve been using some previously undiscovered muscle). No pain down the outside of my arm, however. I try to play as loose and relaxed as possible, focusing on a rotation of the wrist alone, but I’m a total beginner so my technique may well suck. For me, the shoulder seems to come into play more with ‘popping’ rather than ‘slapping’, which might be where the problem lies. I dunno.

[quote name='Weststarx' timestamp='1414416263' post='2589029'] Often I will see a bass dated from the above times for sale and people will be asking for thousands for them and people will pay it. To me I find it very confusing why someone would want to pay such a ridiculous price for something thats over 30/40/50 years old! [/quote] What you’re describing is the peculiarity of the antiques market. Old stuff has value partly because its age can’t be re-created overnight. Sure, you can build replica basses, furniture, cars, whatever, using the same materials and methods as used in the past - essentially you can create the same products today, and often better products. But you can’t make them old. Only time can do that. And that - together with the rare artisan quality of [i]some[/i] antique items (sadly not basses!) - is what people are prepared to pay money for. That and mojo

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1414495989' post='2589777'] I... get frustrated by the apparent conflicts between the software and my Cubase SX platform. It always seems like the orchestration and levels etc I engineer are 'tweaked' during the exporting process and that some of the details in the audio mixdown are not as they were when I locked the recording. [/quote] Hi Rob, One thing to check: have a look in the Cubase ‘Preferences’ menu [i](I don’t use Cubase myself, but it must have a preferences or perhaps ‘Options’ menu).[/i] Under ‘Audio’, or similar, check the Sample Rate and Bit Depth - these determine the resolution or quality of any exported audio. It might be that these settings are set fairly low by default, especially if you’re using an ageing computer (my own is no spring chicken!). MP3 quality (i.e. fairly crude) is usually set to 44kHz (sample rate) and 16 bit (bit depth). I’d recommend a minimum of 48kHz/24-bit. SoundCloud then applies its own compression whenever an audio track is played. So if you’re uploading low quality audio in the first instance, it will only sound worse when played back via SoundCloud (so it’s best to upload to SoundCloud using the highest resolution that your computer can muster). These issues might not be the cause of what you’re describing, but it’s where I’d start looking to a find fix myself. Also, check whether you have something called [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dither"]‘Dithering’[/url] enabled in your audio output settings. You want to switch this off when saving files above 44kHz/16-bit resolution (as it can sometimes have an adverse effect on the sound). I’m sure Garry and other Cubase gurus can chip in here with more useful advice! Paul

[quote name='marlborored' timestamp='1414434389' post='2589253'] I really don't understand electronic music... they're not songs to me, more tunes or lots of different samples and sounds put together (admittedly in a very clever way) to make a piece of music. [/quote] A bit like classical music?

[size=6][size=4]A big fat [/size]ZERO[/size] views of this message so far. You, you… philistines!! Ok, I give in. Here’s a picture of a cat. Click on it. Go on, I double-dare you. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/248026-october-composition-challenge-voting"][/url]

Very nice review! Cheers Douglas

[color=#800000][size=5][b]It’s time to vote in the monthly Composition Challenge![/b][/size][/color] We have nine tracks for your aural pleasure, each inspired by the image below. Brand new music. A giant robot. Playing god with people’s hopes and dreams. What’s not to like? You know the drill… click on the link below, listen to each entry and pick your favourite. Or, y’know, you could go and talk about cats in Off Topic [i](meowww!).[/i] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/248026-october-composition-challenge-voting/"][size=5][b]YES[/b], I WANT TO HEAR NEW MUSIC![/size][/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/168224-post-your-pusscat-pictures-here/"][size=5][b]NO[/b], TAKE ME TO THE CATS![/size][/url]

[color=#800000][b]The voting thread is now up![/b][/color] [size=5][url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/248026-october-composition-challenge-voting/"]GO, GO, GO....[/url][/size]

[color=#800000][size=5][b]Voting has now started on October’s Composition Challenge!
[/b][/size][/color] [size=5]Here's the inspiration for this month's music, chosen by our previous winner [b]Bilbo:
[/b][/size] [size=5]And here are the compositions. Please listen to each track and pick your favourite:

[/size] [b]Dad3353[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/dad3353/spare-a-copper-for-an-old-steam-tramp"]‘Spare A Copper For An Old Steam Tramp..?’[/url] and [url="http://soundcloud.com/dad3353/failed-mission-report"]‘Failed Mission Report’[/url] [b]Leonard Smalls[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/the-difference-engine"]‘The Difference Engine’[/url] [b]Lord Sausage[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/dreaded-ted/artificial-soul"]‘Artificial Soul?’[/url] [b]Bilbo[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/iron-giant"]‘Iron Giant’[/url] [b]lurksalot[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/lurksalot/warbot"]‘Warbot’[/url] [b]alittlebitrobot[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/alittlebitrobot/octo"]‘Octo’[/url] [b]alibabu[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/alibabu/glowing-eyes"]‘Glowing Eyes’[/url] [b]Skol303[/b] [url="http://soundcloud.com/skollob/youmanoid"]‘Youmanoid’[/url] [color=#800000][b][size=5]Voting ends at midnight on Sunday 2nd November.[/size][/b][/color]

Just finished my compo for this month… phew. Nice picture from Bilbo to work with. My mind’s eye saw the robot as a helpful machine that’s getting patched-up after a tough day; akin to the automatons from sci-fi's such as The Iron Man and Castle in the Sky. I tried to get across the idea of something mechanical/electronic, whilst capturing some of the epic ‘steampunk’ theme (quite literally involving steam trains in my case! There’s a first time for everything). Link here: http://soundcloud.com/skollob/youmanoid Some of you may recognise the ‘Humanoid’ sample from the 80s rave hit of the same name [i][a perfectly apt smiley face].[/i] It’s a public domain clip taken from the video game Berzerk, which involved dodging killer robots in a maze whilst avoiding a bouncing smiley face known as Evil Otto. Yeah, you really had to be there. [color=#800000][size=5][b]Voting will start tomorrow![/b][/size][/color] I’ll be posting up the voting thread in the morning, so there’s still time if you’re planning on burning some midnight oil to get your track finished. Very keen to hear them all. Cheers folks, Paul

Nope, no music snobbery here. I will genuinely listen to and find merit in just about all forms of music. My iTunes library has Black Sabbath next to Britney Spears; Eek-A-Mouse next to Etta James; Half Man Half Biscuit alongside Hot Chip; Wu-Tang Clan rubbing shoulders with Yo-Yo Ma. I could go on... and god knows what's lurking in my vinyl collection (Camberwick Green soundtrack and Judy Garland shoved in amongst 90s jungle dubplates). Open ears, open mind, etc

^ I haven't listened to it yet but regardless, well done! And welcome aboard

[quote name='Bottle' timestamp='1413912631' post='2583545']....just need a decent VSTi synth now any thoughts as to a good one for Reaper? [/quote] The only VST synth I use myself is Native Instruments' Massive (which is great but mostly limited to electronic/dance music sounds). When I used Reaper, I often downloaded free VSTs from the MusicRadar website, which still has tons of free stuff available. Here are a couple of links to whet your appetite: http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/the-27-best-free-vst-plug-ins-in-the-world-today-277953 http://www.musictech.net/2013/10/freeware-synths-ten-of-the-best/ There's also this thread on Basschat: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/77603-free-vsts/ My advice: don't download too many as it's easy to get overwhelmed by choice! Hope that helps and have fun.

As others have said, it's a business model that relies on you having a large and eager following to make it work. And it can work... there are plenty of success stories to be found, but you need an established fanbase to begin with. As a rule of thumb, perhaps assume that 5% of your Facebook followers will be willing to pay around £3-£5 for something. Maybe. PS: great article from Ian Savage (link above). Read it!

"Wilco Johnson says he is cancer free" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29727632

The 'acid test' for such threads is always: "Would we be happy for a 13 year-old boy or girl to read it?" (because the age policy on BC is 13+). I think on that basis it was right to axe the thread in question. But no harm done.

I'm REALLY pleased by how this challenge is taking shape. Good work comrades! There's still plenty of time left, so don't rush. PS: Nige - your bassline is absolutely fine mate. I don't remember making any adjustments to the section of it that I used - and it's perfectly normal to make some tweaks to any recorded audio (I've played with 'pro' studio stems that have been riddled with little timing issues). So stop sweating it

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1413537608' post='2579196'] You can't ignore border control laws because of someones "rock n roll spirit" that's ridiculous... whats next, letting someone into the country with no paperwork because they seem like a jolly nice chap?[/quote] I'm not saying we should, of course. Border controls exist for good reason. I'm just surprised at the dearth of sympathy on display - assuming that she had traveled all that way to watch her favourite band. Which I like to assume, given that we don't know for certain either way. That's not to say that her paperwork was in order. Something was obviously amiss for her to be sent packing. But it's interesting how quickly some of us jump to the assumption that she's a ne'er-do-well - when she may just as equally be a passionate music fan who missed ticking a box on her holiday visa. Glass half full or empty, I suppose. Personally, I'm of the half full persuasion. But to each his own. And besides, I skipped all kinds of rules and regulations going to gigs as a teenager - let alone as a young 20-something. So the idea of going to such extremes to watch your favourite band doesn't seem so alien to me. Although I never got as far as Brazil... Birmingham perhaps, but that was alien enough at the time

It's fair to say that nobody here knows the full story of why she was sent back to Brazil. Maybe the truth will out in due course. But what's interesting is that here we are, a community of alleged musicians, and yet rather than raising a toast to the "rock'n'roll" spirit of her (mis)adventure... we appear instead to be wagging a finger from behind the desk of bureaucracy. I find [i]THAT[/i] far more interesting than the story itself. Is rock'n'roll dead? In spirit amongst some of us here, it would seem so. Right, back to my spreadsheets...

[quote name='pantherairsoft' timestamp='1413395189' post='2577917'] Hope this is allowe (Mod's?).... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/237717-submix-mixing-mastering-services/"]http://basschat.co.u...ering-services/[/url] I've already done some work for some Basschatters too. Shep [/quote] Fine by me. Good luck with the new venture!

I'm certainly no expert at slap bass! Quite the opposite. But a good book I'd recommend is [i]Slap It![/i] by Tony Oppenheim: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Slap-Funk-Studies-Electric-Bass/dp/1598060066/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413299706&sr=1-2&keywords=slap+it It's full of what I'd call 'old skool' slap riffs (rather than the more modern Victor Wooten variety), but it caters well for absolute beginners like me - and from reading ahead to the latter sections, it provides plenty of stuff for more advanced players too. All written in both notation and tab. Worth a look