BigRedX

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1469542199' post='3099203'] That said, what would it cost you to achieve good-sounding tapes from scratch now? This chap's holding up his 21-year-old tape player, which must have been a rare find and he seems to pooh-pooh a lot of modern builds. On the other hand, what's "inferior" to him could likely be "perfectly fine" for the rest of us. Given he insists that "EVERYTHING" we knew about cassettes was a "LIE," shortly before admitting that FeO tapes were a bit crap, I expect he may be exaggerating a little! [/quote] Actually that cassette deck he's proudly holding up is a rubbish modern build. It might sport Dolby S and three heads, but IME a solid transport mechanism and a rigid cassette compartment that keeps the tape as close to perfectly aligned over the heads as possible given the format, is far more important in getting a decent sound off the tape. Any dual capstan, 3 head machine from the 80s sporting an Aiwa or Nakamichi logo will vastly outperform his deck despite being supposedly less well specified electronically, and he certainly wouldn't be able to wield it with such ease, due to its considerably more substantial weight!

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1469549566' post='3099293'] Reality check.... Where do you see SVT 810 rigs being used? That's where they belong. Not down the Dog and Duck. 'Fraid so! [/quote] Of course in those circumstances the FoH sound for 99% of the audience will be from the PA, and the onstage sound for the musicians will be mostly from the foldback and IEMs.

Yet another bollocks video full of lies and misinformation. As someone who started off their musical career by releasing music on DIY cassette and then put out as mini album on cassette a couple of years ago here are some facts that the video glosses over. 1. Although noise reduction improved massively by the 90s in the form of Dolby S, the physical build quality of cassette decks had significantly fallen from the high-end machines of the mid 80s. I had top of the range models from both Sony and Aiwa from the 90s and both have been binned due to failed transport mechanisms that ate cassettes as they died. However my Aiwa desk that I bought in 1984 is still going strong mainly because the whole transport and cassette loading mechanism is so robustly engineered with most of it being metal rather than the flimsy plastic of the 90s models. That makes it a weighty beast, and certainly not as easy to hold up as the example in the video. 2. What these analogue purists don't tell you is the reason that they like the sound so much is (just like vinyl) tape distorts in a way that the human ear finds musically pleasing. However it is changing the audio. Just because the distortion is one that most people like the sound doesn't stop it being distortion and and change in the sound that the producers of the music didn't really intend. It's not "HiFi". 3. While there are plenty of bands putting their music out on cassette, don't expect any of them to have a 100% analogue path from instruments to final final cassette. When we made our cassette mini album this was the initial intent as we did the recording live to 24-track analogue tape and mixed it down through an analogue desk with all analogue outboard processing to 15ips stereo tape, every other stage of the production process was digital. We could have gone analogue for the mastering, but it would have significantly increased the cost (about double), but when it came to the cassette duplication, none of the manufacturers in the UK we contacted could accept tape and all wanted either a CD or digital files. 4. While there is an undeniable retro charm for those discovering cassettes for the first time, for those of us who used the technology the first time around, MP3 does everything the cassette used to do but quicker and better. When my first band released their music on DIY cassette (send us a blank cassette and an SAE and we'll send it back with our music recorded on it), it was only because we couldn't afford make a vinyl single. While there were some bands in the late 70s/early 80s who were strictly cassette only, all the "big" names in the DIY cassette scene were putting out vinyl just as soon as they could. These days all the idealism of the scene can be achieved with a Soundcloud account and a Facebook page. And when my band were lucky enough to have a retrospective completion album released it came out on CD! Me, I'm getting all my 70s and 80s demo cassettes transferred onto my computer as CD quality digital files as fast as possible before the tapes degrade so much that they will no longer play.

Practice in the same way as you are going to play. Therefore if it's a standing up gig, practice standing up. If it''s a sitting down gig practice sitting down. Setting your strap length so that bass is at the same height sitting or standing only works if you find that height comfortable for playing. I certainly don't, plus I'm so short that if I practiced that way the bass would be just under my chin! IME for rock music playing sitting down for most people sucks all the life out of the performance whether it's on stage or in the studio.

Make your own?

If you are still looking for 5-string semi-hollow long scale basses how about [url="https://www.facebook.com/334082209985909/photos/a.342059922521471.77637.334082209985909/1127924587268330/?type=3"]this Atlansia Fortune Bass[/url]?

I don't find a lot of use for the octave E on the G string. If I'm up at that end of the neck I'll generally be doing something that involves playing a tune on the G string while keeping a drone going on the D. Therefore octave D (19th fret) is important to me. If I'm going any higher I'll be wanting 24 to get another G. However more frets means that the heal is moved further away from the 15th fret so it is actually possible to get to the 19th fret much more easily.

The Ibanez isn't 34" scale. AFAIK the Warwick is the only 34" 5-string semi-hollow bass currently in production. I don't know how it compares with the JC because I've never played one. However I use one and it sounds great to me. One thing to watch if it's important to you is that the Rockbass version has a flat top and back as opposed to the arch-top of the Warwick version.

The octave harmonic will always be exactly an octave above the open string, so it's just as accurate.

Just about anything by New Order or Japan.

The one in the photo is not extra long scale as the bridge is in the wrong place and therefore it probably isn't a C bass. If you really want to know more about it, the best thing to do is get some better photos of it and drop Overwater an email with them in.

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1468240836' post='3089466'] they have - I also highly recommend UPS and their access point services. Usually a local newsagent [/quote] I'd check out the UPS local collection and drop-off point carefully before using them. My local one is completely rubbish. I wouldn't trust them to tell me the time of day and certainly wouldn't want to risk anything valuable with them. On the other hand, the actual service I get from UPS itself and my local driver is exceptional.

Surprisingly no.

[quote name='Shylock' timestamp='1468336432' post='3090239'] This band in Leicestershire area were good when I saw them a few years ago and certain different to the usual pub cover bands but, for me, after a while one song sounded much the same as another, mind you, I am not the biggest fan of 80s electronic music. [url="http://www.analoguehaze.co.uk/"]http://www.analoguehaze.co.uk/[/url] [/quote] But again not really a synth band like the OP was looking for. Just another band doing 80s (and some 70s) pop covers.

These days 2GB of RAM is not a lot especially if you soft synths are sample-based. Does it make any difference which soft-synth plug-in you are using? Also does it happen from recorded MIDI data or just when you are using the keyboards?

I own an EBS 4x10 cab. It sounds very nice. However IMO it's fairly neutral sounding in a modern bass cab way and I can get an almost identical sound when I use my Dr Bass cabs with only minimal tweaks to the tweeter settings and the amp EQ. So therefore I would have thought that most of what you really liked about that rig would be down to the amp rather than the cabs. Also it's massively heavy. I can barely pick it up on my own. The only thing of a similar weight that my band loads in and out at gigs is the drummer's stands case, and at least that has wheels on it!

IMO a musical instrument that is no longer playable due to a part having worn out is worth absolutely nothing. Or maybe £5 as firewood.

IMO "just" playing is practicing. It re-enforces what you already know which can be just as vital as learning a new technique. If you are in a gigging band knowing the songs inside out and being able to react to any musical situations that may arise during a gig due to one of your band mates messing up can be far more important than working on a technique that you'll never use outside of your music room.

Third-rate graphic design, poor page layout and bad typography. All things that have unfortunately become synonymous with BGM.

[quote name='stuckinthepod' timestamp='1467990001' post='3087907'] There are a few out there. www.electronic80s.net/ Electronic 80's are an authentic and energetic 5 piece band paying tribute to the best music of the 1980's. [/quote] Listening to the tracks on their web site it's just 80s pop, not the all-electronic music the OP is on about.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1467983293' post='3087809'] Pretty much all of the bands that I've worked with recently that have used laptops, tablets and music stands have not been using them for music, crib sheets or prompts. I'm wondering if there are those who see that kit on stage are jumping to conclusions before the band has started? Laptops for running backing tracks, or some sort of automation, tablets for running applications such as Positive Grid's BIAS or Jam Up and Music stands? Well my friend keeps all her capos, plectrums, mouth organ, tuner and hand wipes on hers. [/quote] It all depends on the type of music being played, but for any music that has it roots in "rock" it's a good idea to avoid things that get in the way of your performance and the audience. Even something as innocuous as the simple mic stand can do this. I've seen several performers with an "energetic" stage presence during songs spend an inordinate amount of time between songs fiddling with the mic stand to get it back to a suitable position which IMO can completely kill the energy that they've just been building up. Either get something that will stand up to the abuse, modify your performance so you don't have to rebuilt the stand after every song, or learn to live with it and make sure that you practice coping with it.

[quote name='vsmith1' timestamp='1467971926' post='3087635'] Interesting replies. I am out in the sticks so the "dog and duck" crowd get what they get. We're not very metro out here. Just thinking that a re-work of Empire State Human [Human League] might be fun as a 4-piece drums, bass, 2xguitars and vocal. [/quote] The trick would be to get a sympathetic arrangement that works with more conventional instruments. Remember that most of the early stuff pre-dates affordable polyphonic synths and will be composed of many individual monophonic lines rather than chords. On the other hand it's also worth bearing in mind that all the early Gary Numan songs were simply standard post-punk guitar orientated stuff re-arranged for a few Mini-Moogs. And you'll find that there is surprising amount of heavily effected guitars (or cheap organs) lurking in the songs of a lot of the early electronic bands. Good luck - and if you work out a decent arrangement get it posted up here somewhere!

Because there is an unspoken/unwritten rule that says pop/rock music performances are about more than simply playing notes. However having seen how many musicians spend most of the gig staring intently either at their hands or their feet, rather than interacting with the audience and looking as though they are enjoying being there, they might as well have a music stand up there.

[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1467891950' post='3087055'] You MIGHT get it in if you used the jack socket hole for one of the controls, but you'd need to bore a hole for a side entry jack, and I suspect you'd need to get a craftsman to install a battery box in the back of the bass as that would involve the removal of a fair amount of wood, then there's the wiring to the stereo out socket........ Mmmmm. Personally, I plug into an MXR 80 outboard pre. G. [/quote] Even then I doubt it would fit. The Darkglass unit is three tone controls and requires you to keep the original volume control, plus you need to find room for the pre-amp block and a battery. As I keep saying what's wrong with the controls on your amp? The ones on mine do everything I need to compliment the sound from the Bass VI.

Because most of the people with an interest in doing this kind of music are still creating their own stuff.