grandad

Free to collect from near Tamworth: A few dozen frames, mostly new, some made up, some not. Some foundation. 3 nucleus hives. 2 new supers.

I take my hat off to those here who are competent in the black art of compression. I'm just thankful for my 1 knob Spectracomp control which I use sparingly.

I use a TC BH250 with the Spectracomp at about 9 o'clock-ish, into 1 or 2 BF One10. To my ears it just thickens up the sound a bit giving me the warmth I like. I expect it evens out the dynamic range a bit too. I certainly do not want to have to fiddle about with attack and decay and thresholds etc. One knob does it for me, others of course will quite rightly disagree. When I was younger I would probably have enjoyed something with loads of twiddling possibilities and also delved into the theory. But I can't be bothered nowadays so I'm pleased to use my 'off the shelf' Spectracomp, it's just the job. 🙂 Go with whatever sounds good to you.

It's all about how you spread it.

How would I describe my bass tone? Like cold butter on warm toast. 🙂

I've already mentioned elsewhere that I regularly practice with my imaginary Lazy Country Jazz band and have been composing a playlist. One song I looked at was 'Going Up The Country' by Canned Heat. Browsing Youtube I came across this: Remarkably similar sentiment & format!

A bargain to be had there. I eventually ended up with a 5016 upgrading from a 512. Years of trouble free gigs. Speakers were EV Sx300 & SB 122. I've gone light-weight now to an EMX2. However, I use the master volume to feed 2 EV SM-40 monitors on stands as vocal foldback. FOH is 2 Yamaha DBR10, active. So the powered mixer feeds the passive 4" monitors and the AUX o/p level feeds the FOH - which could be any active speakers. This was my solution and I can't think of a lighter weight solution. The heaviest item is still my bag of leads & connectors. Edit. This is just for vocals though.

I'm afraid my experience is only with the One10. I bought it to downsize without ever hearing it beforehand. So impressed was I, I bought another. If you bought any of the BF range, 10's or 12's you could live with them for a while, get to know if they are what you want, and/or not, move them on with minimum loss.

I have noticed a tendency for singers to begin singing at near maximum volume at the start of a song and leave themselves no where to go towards the end. I tend to switch off these so called power songs. Much better to employ good microphone technique whereby the intimacy of the voice can be put to good use without straining, and the subtleties heard. Use the fact that we now have amplification. Folk often mention Sinatra's technique and listening to him his diction is good and he never seems to strain to sing any note. There are a few others. It's not 100 years ago when a singer had to have power in their voice to fill a theatre. As for Opera singers I'm sure they know what they're doing and I wouldn't comment, mostly though not my cup of tea.

The Stagepas 600 is much preferred to the 400. A great little PA that is very portable, great for vocals, and very straightforward to use. The feedback rejection works well.

😊

I believe that the Ignition models have MIC hardware but the HCT models have all German hardware. I can't fault the build quality of my HCT. But there again I can't fault the build quality of my other violin bass the Tanglewood RVB-2. Maybe I've been lucky.

Go on, you know you want one. 😉

Paul here illustrates in song what I consider must have been a flashpoint moment in popular music when Elvis took a well established C&W standard and turned it into Rock&Roll. Written by Bill Monroe in 1945 as a waltz it was a Bluegrass number. What would he have thought when he first heard Elvis singing it? McCartney 1st sings a Monroe version then the Elvis & does a good job of both. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18LhkDgtbOY

I have one of these. This looks like a good buy. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tanglewood-RVB-2-Violin-Bass-like-Hofner/284245692235?hash=item422e5d0f4b:g:FLwAAOSwR4Bgaf5H

73 this July. 1st picked up a bass at 50. Retired as a weekend warrior at 65 from a 50s/60s/70s cover band. I now help run the Quarry Bank Music Club at the community centre with the remnants of the band. Club members are all ages though mostly has-beens amongst a few wannabes. We have been zooming since Feb 2020. Club members perform locally and have done local charity gigs. Some would regularly entertain around the old folks homes in the Black Country. The youngsters just starting out get encouragement and advice from us oldies. People come and go but in the main it serves as a focal point and keeps folk in touch providing valued friendship and a bit of fun for many of us in our dotage. Most are lovely people from the local amateur music circuit which we can't wait to get up and running again hopefully later this year. At 65 I joined a Jazz quartet + female singer. Practice once a week before lockdown. Not a busy band regarding gigs. Audiences can be all ages at clubs, pubs, functions, fetes, etc. As an amateur I enjoy my music more than ever.

Taking things a bit too far!