BigRedX

Unless I am missing something there's no way of synch'ing this accurately. i.e. no MIDI clock input or even tap tempo.

Will you be playing The Freeze, Chant No1 and Musclebound?

I assume thesis the process of lazy translation? I managed to work out what they all should be except "Wristwatch Swap"

Who's your bass player pedalboard inspiration? Me

Hurtsfall played at The Chapel in Nottingham last night supporting Byronic Sex & Exile with Jan Doyle Band also. There was a decent turn-out for a Thursday night and a sizeable portion of the audience dancing during our set including some people who I didn't know from other bands or previous gigs. Sound on stage was probably the best that we've had at the venue. It's always difficult judging how much an audience is going to damp down the bounce back of the FoH speakers which has a tendency to change the on-stage mix from the one we have painstakingly set up at the soundcheck. This time the mix was reasonably similar to what we had set up earlier which definitely helped us produce a good performance. We played a lot better than we did on Saturday when we only had enough time to set up and play which is always a bit more nerve-wracking than it should be. It helped that none of the bands playing had drummers and only Byronic Sex & Exile were using backline which meant there was plenty of room on stage, still there were a couple of close calls when our singer nearly trod on the footswitch that controls our drums and second synth backing parts. I had to quickly move them out of the way in a suitable moment between songs. Sold CD copies of our new single, but unfortunately no T-shirts after I spent 2 evenings getting the new designs sorted and ready for sale. But overall it was a great gig. We have a break while we're working on recording our album and getting two new songs ready to perform, and will be back for our next gig on 5th November again at The Chapel when we will be opening for gothic icon Aurelio Voltaire. Apparently the show is nearly sold out so if anyone here is interested in going I suggest that you get tickets ASAP. Photos hopefully coming soon...

Surely if you are playing larger venues and arenas the PA and foldback will be more than adequate for FoH and on-stage monitoring, notwithstanding the fact that you'll probably be using IEMs. Plus I haven't worn jeans with any material that could flap since the mid 70s, and if I was that loud I'm be even more deaf than I am already.

The next Hurtsfall gig is on 5th November opening for the brilliant Aurelio Voltaire with Lesbian Bed Death also playing. Normally I'd post this up about a week before the gig, but we've been informed that there are only a small number of tickets left so if you would like to go to this you need to get them now. Should be a great gig although based on my experiences of previously sold out gigs at The Chapel getting the gear off the stage and into the dressing room after we have played will be challenging!

Looks like "King". The sticker on the back says "King's Neck" which was the original Hagstrom truss-rod system. This bass is essentially a fusion of the first two basses I owned - a Burns Sonic and a Hagstrom Futrama.

Our new single will be available to buy on CD only at gigs: It won't be available to download and stream until the official release date next month, and we're not intending to release this version of "Calling Out" in any other format so if you want these now you'll need to come and see us play live!

My local Co-op is mostly playing obscure early 80s "hits" at the moment. TBH I find I can tune out BGM unless it's something I like

Our new single will be available to buy on CD only at gigs: It won't be available to download and stream until the official release date next month, so if you want a sneak preview you'll need to come and see us play live!

I have a bass where the strings are probably 5 or 6 years old, but that's because it's been unused and in storage for the last 5 years. The basses I play regularly all have their strings changed every 3-4 months.

I often forget that on here I am in a minority as someone who is first and foremost a composer and not a bassist. For me being able to play instruments is a means to an end (making it easier to compose) and not the end in itself. I'm only a bassist insomuch as it is my preferred instrument when playing live with other musicians. For me technique is irrelevant unless a lack of it gets in the way of being able to perform the songs live. If I come up with something that I don't have the ability to play consistently well there are a number of options available to me that don't involve having to spend hundreds of hours working on my playing technique. If necessary in the studio I can build up my "performance" out of shorter easy to manage/play chunks, or even note by note if that's what is required to get the result I want for the song. For live I use a non-standard tuning on one of my basses because it makes several of our songs much, much easier to play. In a way that's what bothers me about Mr Berthoud because IMO he has made things deliberately difficult for himself, starting with the choice of instrument on which to perform his "feats". It makes for engaging viewing, but without the visual component would it be as impressive? Most of the artists I like are probably fairly average as musicians, but the magic happens when they play together and compose, not showy technical dexterity, and for me the important thing is how memorable I find the song, not how accomplished as musicians the people playing it are.

Power rating should be in Watts. The lead (and fuse in the plug) will be rated in amps. Watts / Volts = Amps

So long as the combined INPUT power rating of the amp and power cab doesn't exceed the rating of the cable you'll be fine.

If hitting the "Submit Reply" button doesn't appear to have done anything, don't hit it again. Select and copy the contents of your post - although you shouldn't even need to do this as the forum software should have automatically saved your post as you type it - and then select "Go to topic listing". Nearly every time you'll see that your post has been added to the end of the thread, and on the rare occasion that it hasn't, if on trying to reply again doesn't bring up the contents of your post you'll be able to paste it back in from your copy.

Are you hoping to record enough songs for a whole album? How much time have you booked? Last time I was in the studio to record a whole album's worth of songs in a single session it took 3 full days. Two days recording the full band playing live, and the third day for overdubs (mostly vocals and Theremin), and then the best part of a week to do the mixes. And this was for simple Psychobilly/rock 'n' roll being performed by an extremely well-rehearsed band.

I've started typing this post several times over the past couple of weeks and if I decide to hit the "Submit Reply" button this time, I think I have managed to articulate what I want the say properly... For me I just don't find any of the music he plays in the videos posted in this thread interesting enough to to be enjoyable for more than about 30 seconds. In that time I can appreciate the technique and skill required, but as a composer and arranger, from my PoV the music itself is the important thing not how you play it. I acknowledge that this is simply a difference of taste between myself and Mr Berthoud, and if he is able to make a living out of doing this then good on him. However a couple of things struck me. Would he seem as impressive without the video? Take away the visual aspects that show the technique and all you are left with is the music and does it stand up on its own to be worthy of our attention? I'm not sure it does. And that leads on to my second point. In many ways the technique is only impressive because his choice of instrument adds and extra level of difficulty to the playing (and Mr Berthoud is not alone in this). Would we be as impressed on GuitarChat or KeyboardChat if he was playing those same pieces on guitar or keyboard. Again I think not. I spent a lot of time in the 80s and 90s trying to play things on particular instruments that would be not only better suited to other instruments, but would be a lot easier to do too! And guess what? The typical audience member at my gigs really wasn't that impressed by what my band(s) were trying to do. All they cared about was, did the songs sound any good, and with the benefit of hindsight, they would almost definitely have sounded better played on more appropriate instruments. Mr Berthoud's playing technique is remarkable, but for the most part it is technique for its own sake, and from my PoV there is very little big or clever about deliberately making life harder for yourself...

35 years? More like 48. The original Stingray came out in 1976.

I own two boxed set re-issues with "bonus" tracks. The first is The Pretty Things "complete" boxed set, although it doesn't include the last two albums as they were released after this came out. The Pretty Things released a lot of music that never made it onto any of their albums, so for the most parts the bonus tracks are a neat way of collecting together all the recordings from a a particular era around the album into one place. Unfortunately there has also been some mission creep and there are some live recordings and alternative mixes of a few tracks. None of these add anything to my listening enjoyment, and one set in particular turned out to be very disappointing. When the band recorded their third album "Emotions" the record label insisted on adding various horn and string parts to the songs in order make them sound more "contemporary". The band always said they hated these, and therefore the re-issue includes mixes of the songs with out the additions, which I suspect most fans were looking forward to hearing. Unfortunately IMO the difference is less pronounced than I was expecting and the overall effect is that I'm listening to demos rather than the finished article. Maybe it's because I've spent 25-30 years listening to the versions with the additions, that for the most part without them they sound "wrong". The other is "Electrogenesis" by Vice-Versa (who went on to become ABC). This is a four disc (on vinyl only) boxed set collecting together all the recordings they made from 1978 to 1980. While it collects together all thirteen songs that were officially released including those on the almost impossible to get "Aspects" cassette album (which is the main reason why I bought this), the rest of the collection is multiple alternative recordings of these songs with only 3 songs that were never released before in any form and none of which are particularly good, and once again I find that the versions I like the most are those I have spent 40+ years becoming familiar with.

Lots of good advice above, but I'm going throw in some contradictions... Remember that you are the customer/client, so make sure that you and the rest of the band know what you are paying for. So what is it? A potential "hit" recording that together with a viral video is going to net you one million plus streams a couple of weeks after it's been uploaded, or do you simply want something that you and the rest of your band think sounds great which you'll be selling from your Bandcamp page? If it's the first then you and the rest of the band do exactly what the producer wants. Don't be surprised if everyone other than the singer and maybe the guitarist is told to go home. Trust that your producer knows how to make your song sound brilliant and leave it all up to them. If it's the second then remember that you are the ones paying and that the engineer and the studio is there to do what you want. I'm a great believer that for the most part a good performance from the band trumps technical recording perfection. So unless you know in advance that you are all going to be recorded separately and have spent the last few weeks practicing the songs like that, insist on performing as a band all in the same room. If the studio can't accommodate your wishes then you have probably picked the wrong studio. Don't spend ages listening to your performance solo'd and picking it apart. The only mistakes that need to be fixed are those that are still obvious (to you) when the whole mix is being played. Don't be tempted to use fancy gear being offered in the studio unless you know you'll be comfortable with it within a couple of minutes. You should know your own instrument and amplification inside out and know how to get the sound(s) you want out of it, so make sure it's all working properly before you go into the studio and you'll be fine.

A couple of photos of the Oxjam gig:

Next Hurtsfall gig is in Nottingham on Thursday 10th October at The Chapel above The Angel Microbrewery supporting Byronic Sex & Exile. Also playing will be Jan Doyle Band in full goth mode.

My two, both of which should have been brilliant but ended up being boring: 1. Propaganda at Rock City. A Secret Wish was probably my favourite album of the moment, but what was being performed at the gig was barely recognisable as the same songs. The vocals were most inaudible apart from the shouty bits on Jewel/Duel, and every song was ruined by inappropriate and unnecessary guitar solos from an inappropriate and unnecessary guitarist. Horrible from start to finish. 2. Fleet Foxes at Nottingham Trent University. When they were actually playing it was brilliant, but a significant portion of the gig was taken up with endless tuning and re-tuning of instruments, off-mic inter-song banter between members of the band, and between the band and the front two rows of the audience. I'm sure it was all interesting if you could hear what was going on (apart from all the tuning), and would have been entertaining in a small intimate club setting, but half-way down the hall I had no idea what was going on most of the time. I would have left after about 3 songs if I hadn't been with friends who appeared to be a lot more tolerant of the whole proceedings. Probably the most boring gig I have ever been to where I actually liked the music.

Hurtsfall also played Oxjam Beeston yesterday. Our synth-driven post-punk/goth was sandwiched between a band doing covers of songs like "Fat-Bottomed Girls" in an Americana style and a sensitive acoustic folk duo. We were playing out doors so it was just as well that the forecast had changed from 40% chance of rain to sunny and some clouds. Compared with our recent gigs the sound on stage was a bit weedy, but at least we could hear the drums from the backing. There was a decent crowd watching and although we couldn't persuade them the come any nearer to the front of the stage, they did appear to be enjoying us. The cover of "Enola Gay" went down well and caught the attention of a number of people walking past who then stayed to watch the rest of the set, and the timing of the set was just right so it started to get properly dark during our last two songs which added to the atmosphere. Even sold some of our new T-shirt designs - this was the first gig that we had them - which is a rarity for Oxjam where the focus is on donating to the charity rather buying band merch, and would have probably sold CD copies of our next single too, except despite being promised them for Friday, they still haven't been delivered. There were a couple of professional-looking photographers in attendance, so hopefully some decent photos will show up on social media in the next couple of days. We're back in more conventional (for us) surroundings on Thursday when we play at The Chapel in Nottingham supporting Byronic Sex & Exile.