Woodinblack

I got a B1-Four yesterday, but only got a chance to try it out last night. or at least I would have but I coudn't, I thought maybe it was the lead. It works fine on headphones but couldn't use it with my amp due to a wall of noise. Tried it first thing this morning, and using my upstairs setup, which is bass -> effect -> BAM200 ->speaker using my shuker and OMG, it is a wall of hiss, sounds like the treble is turned up and then it has a treble boost on top of that. DId a global reset on it, it is a bit quieter, but still not in any way useable, switched back to the B3n, as next to noise free as you can get (this is using the B3ns power lead). Tried the B1-Four with internal batteries, still nothing. Tried it with my Short scale talman bass on the wall (passive) and it isn't that hissy, ie, a little bit but would be lost in any mix. Is there some 'hiss like mad if someone plugs in an active bass' setting? All bar two of my basses are active and that isn't changing. There doesn't appear to be any hiss when it is on headphones.

Thats what I got it for. Not sure I have tried the others. Well, technically model 15 on the iPad is MPE, but it is mono anyway. It is supposed to be doable to set the blofeld up as MPE, I haven't tried it yet.

Indeed. It would be about the same size as the linnstrument (but with a smaller range). I upgraded to Equator 2 while they had the 25% off and the updgrade offer, and that is pretty impressive. Probably the best synth I have. Works with both the roli and the linnstrument

I got the roli 25 but the I got annoyed because I ran out of space. So I got rid of it and got the 49, but it is quite big so I use it less (but more when I do!). I also have a linnstrument that I keep thinking about gigging with, but haven't yet.

Yes, I have the phrase pads set up with samples. It has a whole programable section I have never used. It is very accessible, such that if someone says "Play a flute sound", you have at most 3 clicks to get a basic one. It is large, although it is very light and it works on batteries. I find they tend to hold their price, and note there are two VR09s, the second one has a better keuboard. The DS is a flexible multi preset device for playing lots of sounds, The VR09 is an organ with some other presets tacked on. Really the organ of the VR-09 is hard to beat until you start going up in price a lot. Mainly because of the flexibility of the drawbars I got the DS at the time as I needed the flexibility and I wanted the sample playback functions. This is the trouble with synths. With a bass, different colour, different look, basically all sound pretty similar. Synths, similar prices, huge difference in functions, but all crossing over each other. It is a rabbit hole I tell you!

Obviously only you know what you get from playing bass but it can always be frustrating for anyone even without your issues. We also all go through phases where we don't want to play an instrument. For me I didn't touch the bass for a decade in my 30s-40s. However, if you get enjoyment from those 7 songs, it means something, it means there is a large amount of enjoyment to be made from other songs.

The botiques, not so general - they are designed to be copies of the synths from the 80s, and that is what they are. However, they are each '1 synth from the 80s', whereas stand alone sound modules are 'a number of synths from the 80s'. You can go from one extreme: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm//353406650861 up to the roland integras. When I used a hardware module I used a Korg O5R/W, just because I have one which I bought in the mid 90s.

That is largely why I use iM1. Its an old 90s synth (it is the app version of the M1 synth), but it was *the* 90s synth, in that any piano sound you heard in the 90s was an M1, and it covers the 80s too. Its pretty simple, most of the sound modules have those sounds built in as that is what most people need. So you are more after taking a keyboard round rather than a module? The Reface DX is great if you want a DX but unless you are a good at algorithm editing it is hard to get the sounds you want from the 80s (I have one). I use it because it has a fantastic quality keyboard for the size and can do a good few sounds. I have a Roland DS61 which I love because you can play whatever sound simply and easily, again large keyboard. If I was more concerned about decent hammond and reasonable pianos and synths, I would go for the Roland VR09.

You can on the Gr55 too, if you use the external editor, most people dont. The technology of both of them is fairly old, as both are later rehashes of older models, the Miniak is a micron with a vocoder added, so back from 2003, and the GR55 I think is one of the JV modules with some updates. I would say the GR55 is probably the more advanced of them both. I would certainly not call the miniak advanced for the price, unless you really needed the vocoder and the keyboard. If I was just after the module and not the keyboard and had an iPad, you will find much more powerful software synths as apps. I use an app (although quite a basic one).

Indeed, most modules dont do as much as the GR55 anyway, although a bit easier to setup. Some of the glitching you don't notice in the GR, it is really fast, like it will decide that the note playing is a D, then a fraction of a second later it realises its an e, so it pitch bends up. Not really noticably internally, but a bit of a pain outside. Its quite a surprise looking at the data from it. I think they are great devices. Either you can get a basic module which gives you a set of preset patches, which is pretty simple or you can get something a bit more fancy and synth like, such as the Argon/blofeld/deep mind etc. I guess it depends what sounds you want.

Wouldn't you be better off with a sound module rather than the Miniak, assuming you haven't got an iPad or need keys. The miniak doesn't have a better sound module than the one in the GR55 Note also that the output of the Gr55 can be a bit glitchy for fast patches.

It would be entirely possible for this to happen, but the only autotunes I have are the one in voicelive, whcih is more concerned with keys for harmonies etc, and the one on Logic Pro which is just a generic 'how close do you want to an even scale'. I presume the fancy ones that people pay for do more, but whether they do or not, I don't know. https://www.antarestech.com/product/auto-tune-unlimited/

We have gigs coming up but one of our most reliable and best paying regulars has shut down, so that is quite a loss. Not sure if it will open again and if it does whether it will still be the same. Our previous regular pub that shut down a few years ago opened up briefly before the pandemic and when we went back they said they were interested in live music, and when we quoted the price said 'oh thats crazy, we can get groups from london for £150'. Needless to say, they never had any groups and then closed down 6 months later. The centre of town which used to be very full of live music on a weekend is looking pretty sparce now. In the time I have been playing here, which is 6 years, we are down from 6 venues that had groups to 1, with a couple of places that have acoustic nights.

Its software, it can be set to whatever you want. Different systems default to different things, and most studio autotunes have an instrument or type selector.

I think the problem is that people are still confusing the use of auto-tune as it was intended, to correct pitch with the use of auto-tune as an effect. I hate autotune as an effect, its like your mobile is out of range, and just as annoying, but auto-tune as a correction well, I can't hear that. I seriously doubt there has been many albums made without autotune used in some way this century

Not 80s then, much more 90s

The 505 is a good solid bass, had one a long time ago, and the only thing I didn't like was the colour.

I would hazzard a guess that 'most people' set their pedal board up and barely ever change it. Some people change theirs all the time. I just changed mine now, before that it was the same for several years.

No, that is how I use it. It is in legato (as it is a legato patch). press a note to hold that note, press select to cancel the note. If you press it for a long time then yes, it goes to select to select a patch but the time you have to hold it is considerably longer than the time you have to cancel it, it would be nearly impossible to do it accidently I would think (certainly never happened to me in hundreds of gigs). Just looked, and what you are describing is Hold mode, where select toggles between legato and normal mode. I have never used hold mode, mine is always set up in legato mode.

Why do you do it that way? Pressing the 'select' button is the standard way of cancelling the last legato note.

True, it does seem I should and odd that I hadn't already! I will take the blame for the SRs and the SY1, but the looper that was all on you and part of your revenge - I got that from reading your thread! I think on that score it works. I don't need that many patches, most of mine are empty, and the size / battery / convenience and accessible drum track to play along to seems quite compelling really.

My keys go straight to the PA so never tried mixing with a bass amp.

Yes, I forgot to mention, the actual sounds I use are from iM1 on the iPad from the 12 step, which is also running the mixer. Apart from the Yamaha reface DX which is using its own sounds.

No, open notes to be avoided as my right hand is playing piano. Hammer ons on slow notes. I only do it for Linkin park - in the end.