BigRedX

Thanks for the suggestions, but why does it seem as though only Novation and IK Multimedia have controllers with 3 octave keyboards. Having been able to try the Novation with my live rig (that runs a slightly newer version of Logic) has convinced me that I need three octaves. 2 Octaves isn't enough to get all the drum sounds from Logic drum designer on. My keyboard playing is from the 80s where I grew up with 3 octave mono-synths, and that's what I like the best. I'm waiting to hear back from Novation (hopefully tomorrow) to see if there are any further things I can try to get it work with the version of Logic that I have to use. Since I last posted I thought it might be an idea to have a look and see what has changed in the most recent version of MainStage and see if it will now do what I want. While doing a bounce from Logic for the audio would be a solution, we do like to tweak the relative instrument settings when we practice, which wouldn't be possible. Also I have discovered that even the most recent version fails at one of the most important functions I need. The ability to play back MIDI files in sync with the audio. One of the things we want to do is automate all the patch changes for the synths and the instruments using programmable effects pedals. After all if we're using pre-programmed backing it would make sense as the patch changes always need to be at the same point in the song in relation to the audio track. Simply can't be done. Generally it appears as though MainStage is aimed at keyboard players who want to run their "rig" from a computer with a keyboard controller instead of lots of hardware synths etc. rather than people who want to automate the playback of the backing for the set.

Unfortunately the Launchkey 37 might have to be returned, as it doesn't appear to work with the version of Logic pro X that I use in the studio for doing the actual programming/writing. I spent a very frustrating 5 hours on Friday (3 of them with a Novation technical specialist in on-line chat) trying to make it work without success. It turns out that although it's not mentioned specifically on either the Novation web site or in the Manual the Mk3 versions of the Lauchkey range require Logic Pro X 10.5.1 as a minimum. At the moment because of the Mac I'm using I'm limited to Logic 10.4.8. We couldn't even get it to work as a basic MIDI keyboard via USB on this Mac, which may or may not be a fault with this actual keyboard, but at the moment it's not possible to tell. Th Mk2 version doesn't integrate as well with Logic (it was designed mainly for use with Ableton and direct Logic integration was only added with MK3) there doesn't appear to be a 3-octave version, and if I can't use all the extra buttons and knobs there's no point in having them take valuable space making the device bigger than it needs to be. I might be back to looking for an alternative controller. Roli appear to have gone bust and whenever I've tried one of their "keyboards" I really haven't been able to get on with it. Still not convinced by MainStage if you also need to use it to play backing tracks as, the last version I looked at was missing several basic (to me) functions such as the direct import of Logic songs and the ability to program what happens between songs in a set.

TBH laptop crashes should be a thing of the past. I use a laptop to provide the drum parts for one band and synths and incidental noises for another. In over 5 years of using this setup for weekly practices and monthly gigs, the computer has not crashed once. We have had one problem where on a very lively stage the vibrations caused the mains lead came out of the audio interface, which in turn caused the backing the stop, but the band were able to carry on playing to the end of the song and TBH I don't think anyone in the audience even spotted that something had gone wrong. This won't happen again as I have now hot glued the mains lead in place. No one in their right mind would power a system like this from the laptop battery.

First off what output sockets are there on the back of the amp? Maybe post a photograph. That will narrow down the options. In the meantime: It's all very well suggesting that the cab is mic'd up but most of the time unless you are playing large stages, trying to keep the mic'd feed under control while still accurately capturing the sound of the cab but very little else, will cause more problems than it is worth for the overall band mix. Also most typical cabs that are paired with big valve heads are multi-speaker types. The sound of these cabs is the sound of all the drivers working together from at least several feet away. This is not a sound you can capture on stage. If you do mic up one of these cabs it will be a single mic close to one of the speakers. So before you decide the try this route spend some time in a space where you can turn the amp up to gig volume and have a good listen to each of the speakers in turn. Up close, do any of them on their own get close to the sound you hear when you step back and listen to the whole cab? Probably not. However, if you are lucky one of them might be in the ballpark of the sound you want, so make a note of which one it is and make sure that is the one you mic up. Mark it on the front of the cab if necessary. If the cab is front-ported it will ideally be the driver furthest from the port. You do not want to be mic'ing up a speaker that is close to a port opening. It will only be worth exploring this route if you always use your own cab at gigs. I'm always wary about putting anything (other than a good quality heavy duty speaker lead) between the amp and speaker on a bass amp especially one with a valve power amp. The various devices being mentioned in this thread are almost always aimed at guitarists who don't use amps rated over 100W and whose sonic needs are considerably lower than the bass guitar. I would only use one of these if you can get a written guarantee from the manufacturer in question that it is safe to use with bass guitar and your particular amp and speaker combination running for a whole gig at maximum volume. If one of these devices decides to die mid-gig it will be the equivalent of running your amp into an open or short circuit (depending on how it dies). Will your amp be happy with this? Will you, if your amp dies as well? TBH the best you can hope for is that amp has a line out socket on it. Couple this with the most neutral sounding DI box you can afford and use that to give the PA a bass guitar feed. That way at least you'll get the sound of the pre-amp valves working. Otherwise you might as well just get a SansAmp. Sick it in front of the amp and take the PA feed from that.

Same with the bass part. You'd be surprised by how many 60s and 70s songs there are where the foundation of the bass is the left hand of the piano or organ and the bass is noodling aimlessly away in the mid range. In these cases unless your band has a good keyboard player you almost always end up playing something that owns more to keyboards than the bass guitar part.

Unless those are frictionless bearings that solution is probably worse then a well cut graphite nut.

Apparently in "dark mode" the attachment tick box (user >my attachments) is difficult to see.

In that case you should raise the issue as a new post so that whoever is currently doing the development work sees it. Don't rely on them seeing it in this post.

The biggest improvement they could have made to the version in the OP would have been to bin the guitar part and play it on a synth like on the recording, after the vocals it's the most important thing in the arrangement. It's hardly a difficult part and even Mr Gilmour should have been able to manage it.

Given the circumstances that my band worked in at the time - practicing in the living room of my flat it would have taken us two to three days to put together something - after all the hard work of writing and arranging the song has already been done. Given the facilities that Gilmour et al would have had available, no problem. Also unless Kate Bush was a very last minute addition, I'm sure that they would have had more than a day to work something out.

There should be a checkbox to the right of each image. If you tick this, a "bin" icon should appear at the bottom of the screen. You can click this to delete the attachment(s) I've just tested this and it works both on my computer and phone.

No just a more sympathetic arrangement of the song that would still work with musicians playing live. It doesn't have to be backing tracks. The band I was in in 1987 (which is when this performance was recorded) could have made a far better go of the instrumental parts, and we didn't even have the big record label support that they musicians in the video had.

Just ordered a Launchkey 37. The only alternative that came close was the iRig Keys2 Pro, which is wider and therefore less suitable for my needs. Plus I've had a bad experience with IK Multimedia in the past so I was very reluctant to buy one of their products.

Sure everything SOUNDS decent, but then you'd expect that from a professionally recorded live video. However this arrangement is entirely lacking in all the things that make the original so captivating. And Dave Gilmour's guitar parts are terrible pastiche of the synths in the recorded version.

Just had another look at the OP. If your bass is short scale but needs longer strings for the additional length after the nut/bridge, ask for Newtone for a set based on their Axiom Bass VI strings but without the high B and E (although it might be quicker and still as cheap to just buy the Axiom set).

I might have been reading too much into it, but there were times in that video where Kate Bush's expression seemed to indicate that she wasn't at all happy with what was being done to her song. On the other hand she might just have been struggling to pitch some of the high notes due to poor monitoring...

And if your on a proper computer you can get there in a single move by clicking the triangle next to your user name at the top of the page and selecting attachments.

I'm sorry, but apart from the vocals this to me sounds like a nasty pub band cover, that steamrollers over the subtlety of the original recording.

Will that apply to speakers are taken out to gigs rather than just placed in the relative safety of your lounge?

It's an interesting idea very poorly executed. Like it or not people buy an instrument first and foremost with their eyes. If they don't like how it looks they are very unlikely to ever pick it up and find out how it plays or sounds. I'm very much a fan of instruments made out of different materials and in interesting shapes (after all I'm a Gus user), but this is just boring and needs the attention of someone with an eye for product design.

IIRC that was partly forced upon him due to Ernie Ball acquiring the rights to the 3+1 headstock design when they took over Music Man. They have certainly been very diligent in cracking down on other bass manufacturers who try and copy it.

Leo Fender obviously thought that his original bass headstock "design" was too big because he reduced it on the Stingray.

Price is irrelevant. If you really want a Wal then nothing else will do. If you think something else is a suitable replacement for a Wal then you probably don't actually want a Wal. The same goes for any bass or guitar that is not in the budget copy market.

Either that or you haven't expressed yourself very well. To me your post implies that you can directly compare various high-end basses. You can't at any level above that of the Fender copy market, it's all entirely subjective. The person in the market for a Jaydee (or any other high-end bass) is unlikely to also be in the market for a Wal, and if they are it will be for entirely different reasons.

But a Status or Jaydee is not a Wal. They are three completely different designs of bass with completely different strengths and weaknesses. I would never consider one a substitute for any of the others, and if I did I'd probably be just as well off with a Squier.