BigRedX

In Isolation have two gigs this weekend for the start of our mini-tour: Friday 17th March, Nottingham, at The Old Salutation Inn With: X-Superstar (Andy Cousin from All About Even and The Mission), Gothzilla and Feather Trade Saturday 18th March, Heckmondwicke (near Leeds), at Westgate 23 With: Gothzilla

The longevity of CDRs is dependant upon a lot of factors such as the quality of the media, the machines used to do the duplication and how they are handled and stored before and after being sold. I have some that are over 10 years old that still play fine, but others stopped working reliably within a couple of years of purchase. I recently transferred all my CDs onto the computer and all the discs I had problems with were CDRs. These days I wouldn't trust a CDR without also having a backup on some other medium.

If you are gigging regularly, and as an originals band you should be prepared to go anywhere that will pay your travelling expenses, you'll be surprised how many copies of your CD or vinyl you can sell - obviously dependant upon your band being able to deliver both sonically and visually at the gigs. So don't think too small, unless you are going for the limited edition market, because in the long term it will work out a lot more expensive. Get your CD up on Bandcamp and you can potentially sell it all over the world. However it is my experience that the band needs to be gigging in order to continue to sell CDs etc. The only Terrortones product that I still have in significant quantities is the album and that's because the band stopped gigging shortly after it was released. And you should definitely do T-Shirts because they are far more profitable for the band than a CD. You can get a 50 printed a single colour on one side (and if your design is good you can make a single colour print look fantastic) for just over £5.00 per T-shirt, which you can then sell for £10-£15 each. And when it comes to picking sizes go more for the larger ones. IME even if your audience is mostly composed of skinny hipsters, most of the people who actually buy your T-Shirts all want L or bigger. In a way it's a depressing situation that punters are prepared to spend at least £10 on a T-shirt that may have cost you less the £5 to produce, whereas they won't buy your CD that probably cost the band £1k+ to record and press, even though you are only selling them for £5...

Push them to what? On a traditional analogue synth there is nothing to push these values to as the controls are all potentiometers and switches. In order for these to "read" the MIDI data every single switch and pot would need to be replaced or duplicated by circuitry that can turn digital data into an analogue value that the synth can understand. I suspect that how the Minitaur works and why it is over twice of the Behringer Model D for a synth with a lot less in the way of features.

I switched to using a FRFR about 5 years ago and it would be very difficult for me the consider going back. Nearly all the gigs I do have full PA support, and at many of them I found my amp and cabs completely redundant either because the stage was too big for me to be able to hear it the moment I was not longer stood directly in front of it, or because I had been asked to turn down to such a degree to not affect the FoH sound that I could hear more bass guitar from the guitarist's monitor on the other side of the stage then I could from my rig immediately behind me. I opted for a Line6 Helix Floor and an RCF745 at a combined new price of just over £2k. That might seem a lot, but it was less than I paid for my previous bass rig which had been mostly bought second hand. Also because this set up can be used for all the instruments I play (bass, guitar, and synth) by the time I had sold all the equipment that it was replacing, I'd actually made a small profit! I've not noticed any problems with the RCF being excessively bass heavy when used in wedge mode, but that may be down to the bass sounds that I currently need with the two bands I play in. I've only had to use it on a couple occasions when the PA has been strictly vocals only, and it has always sounded fine FoH and no lack of volume even with reasonably hard-hitting drummers. TBH these days I hardly ever use the RCF outside of the rehearsal room. For most gigs I go straight into the PA from the Helix and use the venue's foldback system. The RCF only comes to gigs where we are unsure about how good the foldback will be or if we have been asked to provide a bass rig for another band on the bill (although I always warn them in advance about what they will be getting). However I'm not the kind of musician who can only play well if the on-stage sound is perfect. So long as I can hear myself well enough to tell that I am in time and in tune, that will do, and I'll trust that the sound engineer is making me sound awesome for the audience. I also don't worry about not having a conventional bass rig ruining the band image. For one band I play with we have made a conscious decision not to have any amps on stage and the minimalist look works well for us. It also means that we tend to sound better on stage and FoH. We also do lots of gigs supporting reasonably well-known bands from the 80s and 90s and interestingly there is a 50/50 mix of those who still use the same old amps and cabs from back in the day and those who have ditched the back line entirely (occasionally the guitarist will have a tiny all-valve amp).

In Isolation Name chosen long before I joined, and the band has built up a decent reputation so no reason to change. Hurtsfall Our ex-guitarist came up with it shortly before he left, but allowed us to keep the name. Not being a real word despite sounding like it should be, it makes the band very search-engine friendly. IME the best band names are ones that come to you out of nowhere. Every time I'm been in a band that has agonised for ages over the name we have ended up with something that is less than brilliant basically because it was the one that the majority of band members hated the least. Nowadays if I came up with what I thought was a really good band name and another band member refused to be in a band called that, I seriously consider sacking them. A good band name is more important than a stroppy guitarist.

I suppose it is dependant upon your genre, but all the bands I've been in, physical media sales (CDs vinyl and even cassettes) have always far outstripped downloads. And does anyone even buy downloads these days when they can stream the music for free on Spotify? As a punter, if I've been sufficiently impressed by the band I will want to buy a CD (or other media of your choice) at the end of the gig. Nothing for sale at the gig will nearly always mean no income for the band. What sounded good at the gig accompanied by a visually interesting performance by the band and a couple of beers for the audience, doesn't always translate when you are contemplating buying something from your phone or computer the following day. There have certainly been a number of occasions recently where a band would have made a sale to me if there had been CDs available at the gig, but having listened to the recorded version the following day I wasn't sufficiently motivated to buy a download. And as I always say, when anyone with a recording and $50 can get their music on all the streaming and download sites, having physical product for sale shows that you are a bit more serious about the band and the music. So, on to the practicalities... If you are looking at CDs the key words are "Replication" and "Glass-Mastering". This means your CD has been professionally manufactured. "Duplication" will mean CDRs which may look cost effective for short runs but has the disadvantage of a considerably reduced shelf-life. I wouldn't expect and CDR to still be playable after 10 years and there are some parts of the world where their lifespan is measured in months rather than years due to climactic conditions. Last time I looked, for the price of 250 CDRs you could get 500 properly manufactured CDs. As a punter I'd only buy a CDR "pressing" if it also came with a download code for an uncompressed audio version as well. Also unless it has changed in the last few years the traditional plastic CD case with a four-page booklet and tray insert works out cheaper than almost every other type of packaging, except maybe a simple non-gatefold card cover. And I wouldn't worry about the company being UK based. Even if they have a UK business address there is a good chance that some part of the production will happening another country. Anywhere that is 100% UK based will probably be more expensive. The last release I was fully involved with - The Terrortones' LP - the label printing was done somewhere in the far east and the vinyl was pressed in France. Only the packaging was done in the UK and that was simply because we wanted something unorthodox, I work in print design with have plenty of helpful contacts, and our chosen route was able to be disguised as a booklet and therefore I didn't have to pay VAT on its printing. In the past I have used the following for long and short run media, although it's now over 7 years since I had anything produced, so none of my recommendations are based on recent performance: Disc Wizards These used to be by far the cheapest for CDs, but all their packaging used non-standard templates, which meant that if you switched to them last minute you might find yourself having to redo all your artwork to fit. Media Hut Mobineko Last time I looked they were the only broker offering proper CD Replication on short runs that wasn't unfeasibly expensive. Hope that helps.

Unless you are absolutely desperate for the additional income, I wouldn't even consider it. For me the whole point of having my own purpose built music space is that it available to use any time inspiration (or just the urge to play some music) strikes. I turn up. Switch on the gear I want to use and I'm ready to play/compose/record. On of the bands I'm in used have a permanent rehearsal space that we rented to use 24/7 and then sub-let the evenings that we didn't need to other bands that we knew reasonably well. That still didn't prevent members of the other bands abusing the equipment in there. Even something as simple as rewiring the mixer and rack effects and then forgetting (or not bothering) to put everything back how it was before could add and additional 30 minutes to the set up time, that could have been more productively used by us.

Unless you are flying, or chuck all the gear in the back of the van for gigging, I personally wouldn't bother with a hard case. Get a well-padded gig bag instead.

I don't think you'd have any problem with this jack socket needing to be replaced. It's a well-know weak point of Warwick basses, and I think most people would be surprised that it has lasted this long!

Personally I wouldn't consider a bass that's only 30 years old, sufficiently vintage to be worried about keeping it in original condition, especially when the modification wouldn't even be noticeable under normal circumstances. And even if it was, for me usability always trumps originality when it comes to maintaining an instrument. However if you really want to avoid replacing any parts, I would take the bass apart and if possible gently squeeze the jack socket contacts so that they grip normal plugs tighter. Even if you find one of those Planet Waves leads eventually it will damage the jack socket even further, and then no plugs will work reliably with it. Of course if it is a barrel jack socket your only option is to replace it, and since they are notorious for failing no-one think badly of you for doing so.

I've owned interfaces by Korg, MotU, Focusrite, Behringer and none of them had any kind of built-in EQ. The MotU was used in conjunction with a TASCAM digital mixer so I had EQ on input that way, and these days my recording interface is a Line6 Helix which has plenty of EQ options. If I wanted EQ on input I'd probably buy a small mixer to put on the front end of the interface. It would have the added advantage of being able to monitor the signals I was recording without having to pass them through the computer first, therefore avoiding any kind of latency.

The problem I have with D-style connectors is that most of them are designed for computing use where they will be attached once and probably never touched again until one of the devices they are connecting fails. Musical equipment that does not live permanently in the studio requires something robust enough to survive being plugged and unplugged maybe several times a week for months in a row. Most computer type connectors do not fall into this category.

That's 8 balanced lines. Clue is in the labelling Hot/Ground/Cold which would equate to pins 2/1/3 respectively on an XLR connector. Just check the channel numbers carefully on the D connector as the channels appear to be arranged in triangular groups of 3 (channel 1 is pins 24, 25, and 12 etc.) rather than sequentially.

Don't hold your breath waiting for them to actually be in the shops. Some of the stuff they announced pre-Covid has still to make it into production.

Republica? At Rebellion? As much as I'd like to see them, that can't be right?

You could say that about almost any mass-produced bass that isn't a Precision or a Jazz.

If I'd had the money when I was a teenager, I would have had a 4001 (or a John Birch copy), as for me they were the iconic bass of 70s pop/rock. I don't have one now because I have no use for a 4-string bass and when I have tried one the pickup cover is in my preferred picking position, and IMO they look wrong (and on some of the older models the "cover" is an essential part of the pickup and so they don't work) without the cover in place.

Bassist from Freddie and the Dreamers used one too (probably the most untypical performance with a Thunderbird you'll ever see):

As I've said before, most bassists claiming to be lusting after a Rickenbacker really want Precision with a 4001 holographically laid over the top.

For the sorts of gigs I expect Killing joke to be playing that rig is a complete waste of time from a sonic PoV. However it seems work well for hiding the backup keyboard player.

Nearly all my bass amps have been PA amps, usually two channel solid state for bi-amping. I've only owned one dedicated bass amp in 45 years of gigging (and only used that for about 5-6 years). I've now stopped using any dedicated amps at all and go straight into the PA via a Line6 Helix.

Paging @Bassassin

Are you working towards getting the PA to do all the heavy lifting as far as the band's sound is concerned or is it simply a way of having to take less gear to gigs? What sort of band is it? Originals or covers? Do you have your own PA? what size venues are you playing?

In my guitarist days I ran a Marshall PowerBrake with a Hughes & Kettner Tube 50 combo, to allow me to run the power-amp section at full tilt whilst keeping the on-stage volumes at a suitable level. This offered numerous levels of attenuation (11 IIRC) from "off" to full output. The thing to realise about these devices is that good ones are relatively large and heavy, and can get very hot very quickly (they are essentially turning all that unwanted power into heat). The PowerBrake was equipped with a fan to try and cool it down, but at the the end of a 45 minute set, even though the fan had been running continuously, the casing would almost be too hot to touch. In retrospect the difference between using the PowerBrake as my volume control and simply using the master volume on the amp would have been negligible in a live band mix, because there is no speaker break-up which I have come to find is more important to my guitar sound then any distortion added by the power amp valves working hard.