51m0n

Not so much, I think people are confused by what you should be looking to achieve when recording a rehearsal (in my honestly quite humble opinion about this). So, for a rehearsal I want to spend my time worrying about the sounds the band are making, are we all on the same page with structures, are we playing as a unit, is everyone listening. These are the things that really matter about rehearsing. The recording is just documentation for this. So in order to be able to concentrate on all of that I dont want to waste any time on the documentation tech (the recording), if I cant set it up in literally less than five minutes, its too complex, by far. The next thing is, is your rehearsal space actually big enough to rehearse in, [i]and document that reheasal. [/i]Most spaces are too small for this, everyine should have eyeline on everyone, and the main mic(s) should be somewhere in the circle of the performers. This is easy to do, and over time you can learn to move the main mic(s) to get them closer to the quieter sections of the band. Include the PA as a part of the band, anything too quiet (the percussion in my case) needs micing up for everyone to be able to hear it, so do that, so that it also gets heard in the recording, the keys only come out of the PA. So level setting in the room is of the utmost importance to getting a good rehearsal, and a good recording. Once you have those levels, then there is typically very few instruments that need another mic, in my case the drums (and currently the percussion but I'm working on that). Really recording a rehearsal is like a 1950's recording, get in a good sounding room, get the levels righ tbetween the people in the room, experiment over a few tries with the mic placement, then record. Easy. On Sunday, in contrast, we tracked the drums for the album. 12 hours we spent (not including breaks) to get down about 6 12 to 15 minute long tracks. Before we started recording we loaded in, tuned the kit, set up the kit and the recording kit, set up some isolation for other performers (we dont do click tracks) and their mics. That set up in entirety was 4 hours, the playing was done in 8 hours. Here are a few photos of the day:- [url="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.847833075250516.1073741831.588604131173413&type=3"]https://www.facebook...31173413&type=3[/url] I'm left with 3 hours of takes to pore over, edit and boil down in to drum tracks ready for overdubbing final bass, guitar, keys, percussion, horns that will need to be done. This is clearly a long term project with a different goal, but, its being done in the same room we rehearse in, because we rehearse in a really great sounding room.....

Had a blast Saturday noght, 7 piece version of the band, back in the Worlds End, decent crowd turned up, played for an hour and forty minutes, all long instrumental funk tracks, lots of positive noises from the crowd, made some new friends, got asked back, got asked to do some session work for Sussex Uni's media courses (they are always looking for original instrumental music apparently ) So top night, cant complain

This is a recording of my band in reheasal:- https://soundcloud.com/mistersuperjuice/2014-10-05-track-08-banacek-rehearsal Recorded with an H4n and a pair of Line Audio CM3 mics in the room. The H4n is over the drum kit and is only about 25% of what you hear, I've also closed down its stereo width (ie made it more mono) in post to keep everything centralised around it, basically I dont need super wide drums if it means the bass is pushed wide too, and this alleviates alot of that. Note that the bottom end of the kit is actually picked up by the CM3s no the H4n, they are such amazing little mics! The CM3s are on a stereo bar about 6ft from the drums faciung so that the LH mic faces the guitar amp, the RH mic faces the PA and the horns are front and center to it. The bass amp is to the rhs of the stereo bar and behind it, maybe 8ft away. The hardest thing is getting levels (percussion too quiet in this I think, need more in the PA to get a better level), but then this isnt a 'real' recording, its just a rehearsal, so some level issues are to be expected. However I'm particularly pleased with how this one came out, the playing is pretty good too IMO, couple of ropey notes from the horns, but nothing to get too worried about for a rehearsal tape. With an R16 I would be able to put a mic over each component of the percussion (bongos/congas, woodblocks/cowbells, hand cymbals) to lift them a little as a part of mixdown/post, but the fun is trying to get it ight in the room, because once you've got that you are better equipped to do the same thing live IMO. I've heard worse demos!

Not a single view? Not one? Basschat not so useful for spreading news about gigs then

Nope, I knew nothing about it, and my lot wouldn't fit in at all, but have a fantastic gig!

Mister Super Juice are back, as an 8 piece funk band, at The World's End Brighton on October 11th. Check out this tiny wee funky ditty from our last rehearsal for an idea of what we do https://soundcloud.com/mistersuperjuice/2014-10-05-track-08-banacek-rehearsal Would be lovely to see some Basschatters there! Si

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1411037690' post='2555774'] Simon!! Good to hear from you, it's been a while. So it takes a thread about analogue gear to draw you out of the shadows? Typical [/quote] Yup, too busy playing bass and running the band to be on here anywhere near as much as I used to be, sorry old boy [quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1411292835' post='2558127'] agreed but then Ranscombe have purposely stayed analogue - im sure there are plenty of vst plugins to simulate all manner of old school analogue rack mount studio effects but then you wouldnt be able to have fun like this [url="http://www.ranscombestudios.com"][/url] [/quote] Thats everything I hate about analogue project studios in two pictures A cheap patchbay, poorly labelled and comepletely overrun with cables, a rack of outpboard almost to the ceiling that s a country mile from the listening sweet spot, which in a room that small is about two inched deep and one inch wide, and lastly a 32 channel Mackie 8 buss (unless I'm very much mistaken), in a room that is about 1/3 the minimum size it needs to be to mix in, with no serious acoustic treatment at all. MInd you I bet you can have blast in there, but you'll forever be wondering why you cant get your mixes to translate easily.

Nope, not for nearly twenty years. If I had to though I'd record multitrack to tape for the tape compression, then run it all off into a DAW to do any editing, it would save hours and hours of tape/razor arseache!

Heil PR40 every time for me if it's for fairly general use. It has the widest frequency range of all three and sounds fantastic on a lot of different sources. IME it trumps tge other two as a bass cab Mic!

Try Reaper rather than Audacity It's far far bettet at time stretching!

Known issue with the Zoom devices (H1 H2 H4 H4n etc) they have a pretty sh*t clock. Its fine on its own, you'd never notice, but it definitely is not as accurate as a pro level device (and pro level devices you would always sync the clocks on anyway). There is no way of syncing any of the Zoom devices to a decent external clock. All you can do is squeeze or stretch the Zoom track to match the other device I'm afraid.

Amp and a mic - good mics for fuzz bass include Heil PR40, Sennheiser MD421, EV RE20, Shure SM7b or even a 57 if you mic carefully and have a DI for the bottom end. Pretty much anything will do if its placed exactly right, but all the above sound really nice in different ways. Placement is key, in front of the best cone in the cab (one will be better than the rest almost always). Remember the cones dont do the very deep bit, the ports do that so to get the lowest lows you need a DI (although in some genres the lowest lows arent what you want). Plus a clean DI for the extreme bottom end - use a high pass filter and just mix it in a tad to beef the sound up down there Make sure the two signals are in phase in the bottom end and you're golden

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1407255491' post='2518853'] The number of cabs doesn't matter, the number of drivers does. Maximum output is limited by the total driver displacement, T/S spec Vd. The displacement of two drivers is double that of one, the resulting increase in maximum output by doubling the driver count is 6dB. It doesn't matter if the two drivers are in one cab or in two cabs with the same net internal volume. By the same token when you plug a second identical cab into your amp the voltage swing into each cab remains constant, the total driver displacement doubles, and you get a 6dB increase in output. But you can only do so if the halving of the impedance load doesn't go below what your amp can deliver. [/quote] This. Every time.

I love this build diary, the chap making this is clearly entirely insane, no one else rolls their own oil filled capacitors, but the result is a growly as they come:- http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/169606-1960-jazzbass-build.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6E7iSATY7M

They will capture the room reasonably well A really superb upgrade is a pair of Line Audio CM3 condensors for a second stereo pair. Exceptional value for money giving sound quality on a par with Schoeps and DPA....

Haven't had a problem like that for years, nor since I've been playing with people I'd call musicians anyway. Anyone who couldn't control their volume wouldn't get into my band, because the rest of them wouldn't have anyone like that.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1406016573' post='2507439'] Not sure why they make that silly claim, my Babyface runs MIDI (din pin) as good as gets. Quite easily over 100 MIDI tracks without freezing etc, and the timing is spot on. Apart from Bass/Gtr plus some occasional vocals etc, most of my work is MIDI based and RME has been the most reliable regarding that (well for me anyway). Although my son uses a Quad Capture, and the MIDI performance on that is very good. Personally I would save up the extra dosh and get a RME Babyface, Thomann and Soundsalive do them for £380.00 delivered. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/rme_babyface_blue.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...byface_blue.htm[/url] [url="http://www.soundsliveshop.com/p/RME_BabyFace_USB_Audio_Interface/RME-BABYFACE"]http://www.soundsliv...ce/RME-BABYFACE[/url] [/quote] Me either, seems very odd to me. Having said that the Audient interface is very very good for audio.....

Heh no argument about Reaper Dood

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1405591676' post='2503299'] Any reason the Focusrite Forte isn't in your list? It's usually up there with that lot. Just curious that's all [/quote] The units I have mentioned I've either used or talked to people I know who use and all of them are considered very stable. Plus the audient preamps are really excellent (I've got an Audient asp008 and they have the same preamps). Of course even then you may have some bizarre configuration on your machine that means you dont have a perfect experience, but you have at least minimised the chances of this, and RME definitely have excellent forums, support and direct customer service. RME are the only audio interface company that designed and makes its own USB chip (to the best of my knowledge), so if you want a USB interface, the very best driver stability is without doubt through RME, their preamps are very clean and sound superb. There is nothing wrong with their Firewire performance either. I have a UCX, its performance is simply flawless, the sound quality is staggeringly good to my ear. The Totalmix software is really brilliant. Apogee were for the longest time the de facto interface for Mac users, they are very tightly integrated into Mac iOS, and I've never head anyone complain about their devices ever. Focusrite are getting plenty of reports of driver issues, instability etc in the forum reviews I've looked at. That alone for me means they can't be on that list. No matter how great you preamps are - they good be Neve for all I care - if you have any kind of stability issue the device is useless, since you cant trust it for serious work. I spent too long dealing with dropouts and glitches and occasional strange behaviour and coming up with coping strategies for these issues to put up with it if there is a tool that 'just works'. Finally the Forte is 4 in 4 out, and thats your lot, the ones on my list can all be expanded with an 8 channel ADAT lightpipe interface. Because one day (sooner than you think) you are going to need to record more than two tracks at a time, and a stereo interface is too limited. There are plenty of 8 channel options out there, my preferred device is the Audient ASP008, but the ASP808 looks fantastic too (and its cheaper). In fact studiospares is moving their old ASP008 stock for approximately half price, which is a steal for that kind of quality gear. I've recorded hours of music concerts with my UCX at sample rates up to 88.2KHz and never, ever had a drop out or glitch of any kind. I still always set up the Zoom H4n as a backup stereo device just in case the unthinkable might happen, but I have never had to use it to cover up an issue from the UCX. One down side to the Audient is that it doesnt support MIDI at all, they say at Audient that no device can do MIDI and audio stably, I don't know for sure (I don't actually use MIDI) but I would be surprised in the extreme if the RME devices didnt manage just fine.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1402569126' post='2474816'] I found this the other day: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/sm_pro_audio_q_adat.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...udio_q_adat.htm[/url] Which gives you 8 line inputs to ADAT Two of these and one of the MOTU 2408 or similar rack units would seem to do the job, and relatively cheaply. Any thoughts on this option? [/quote] I've seen some really turgid reviews of this kit, like Behringer, but worse. Be careful. I think you may find the x32 is your easiest solution in fact. It wont compete with something like an RME for sound quality though, just not going to happen. Nice little desk though all the same.

RME Babyface Audient iD22 Apogee Duet (only if you run a Mac) The rest are not as good one way or another. Do yourself a big favour and by a really great interface from the get go, it'll save you lots of time and effort fiddling with your computer trying to get the best out of it, or wishing you had really decent preamps or dealing with driver anomolies. In the long run you will probably end up spilling the cash on one of these three anyway.

Saturday night gig was a turnout disaster for us, about 20 people in all, everyone else in the world being sat on Brighton beach watching footie on the enormous screen they put up. Still those twenty people enjoyed it, the organisers apologised, but what can you do, the punters wont come if there is footie on, last gig we managed to snare a huge footie crowd and getting them right into it, so you win some lose some I guess. Damned hard playing to a virtually empty room though, the lack of feedback and what have you just saps your energy

Tonights the night bumpage chaps....

Us in the studio laying down the core tracks of our epic Cat and Mouse... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX7WT-N07RQ

Mister Super Juice are playing in Brighton again headlining the Family Funktunes Radio Reverb Fundraiser at The Latest Bar on Manchester Street in Brighton.