Al Krow

A well trodden discussion topic! Covers bands range from hobbyist musicians for whom playing once or twice a month live for fun is the goal, and they're in no way dependent on the income and are happy to accept £50 a head. I have several band members in my crew whom I would term "semi-pro", and for whom income from the band plays a key part of their earnings. We do a mixture of pub and function work and we don't accept pub bookings for less than £100 a head. We've pretty much got weekly bookings already in the diary for 2026 from our pub residencies. Function work pays considerably more and some BC'ers are in bands doing purely function work, some making a full time living from it. Quality tribute bands can often command very good money too - reflecting the time in and effort into their product. Solo artists are providing their own kit and transport and having to entertain a crowd without the energy we can get from bandmates and a live drum kit behind - they deserve their pay and good luck to them! It's not one size fits all.

You miss the point? The invention of the production line took away skilled work from mechanics who were able to able to put a whole engine together from scratch. AI already has the ability to take work away from skilled song writers, which I wouldn't regard as a mundane task, or have we all been wasting our time discussing that very issue on this thread?😅

For sure. Just as Henry Ford did with the car production line (see longer post above).

+1^^ for me. Very happy to recommend the Nux. Sounds like a great approach and look forward to your findings!

100% And, as I said at the end of my previous post, the parallel is that AI can't fake a live performance by a human band, which is what audiences want. They can already listen to a Jukebox if they wanted. So whilst I fear for the future of the aspiring song writer in my band, who's working on his 4th album, I'm very glad we can be out at gigs each week doing something we love.

With AI, is the situation different to Henry Ford inventing the production line and taking work away from skilled workers who had the skills to put a whole engine together from scratch? Do we complain about AI coming up with better computer code to enable more rapid and successful cancer diagnosis, and lament the loss of software engineering jobs for graduates who have invested time and treasure in their chosen careers? Or do we musicians now find it a concern because it's getting a bit too close to home for comfort? AI opens the door of creativity to many, whilst challenging the livelihoods of others already skilled in the art of songwriting and of the session musicians and sound engineers laying down parts on recorded tracks. Just as having the ability to play the horn parts on keys, using a drum synth or downloading backing tracks for live performance, has already done for decades. Authenticity is, for me, key here - let's be honest when AI has been a significant part of the creative process and not pass it off as being purely our own work? But if, for example, AI had written "At Last" for Etta James to sing, or "Can't help falling in love" performed by Elvis, would we have listened? Will the audience care who wrote the song if hearing it gives them joy? Or is this all just taking us back to the time pre-Beatles when 95% (I'm guessing here!) of leading performers had their song material provided for them? And 100% of covers and tribute bands already do today? AI can't fake a live performance by a human band, which is what audiences want to provide them with the soundtrack to their weddings or parties and end-of-the week nights out. They can already listen to a Jukebox or hire a DJ if that's what they prefer. So, whilst I fear for the future of any aspiring songwriter trying to break through in the fearsomely tough world of the original musician, I'm very glad we can be out at gigs each week doing something we love.

You've had and loved several BDDI's over the years. You know that it nails the BDDI tone? 😅 If you're liking the GP-50, any reason not to just get a BDDI to sit alongside it, and job done?

Interesting. Is that partly because Country is a relatively uncomplicated genre in terms of song structure and chord progression, and therefore a relatively easy one to get under AI's belt?

Nope "you being exactly correct" = I did prompt it to be country. (ChatGPT would have understood my response 😅)

Yes, exactly correct.

Been a very interesting 24 hour journey for me. This thread (and thanks to the OP for starting it) prompted me to look into what the AI song-writing process involved, which I'd not done before. And as I commented earlier - it's scarily easy! I shared the song earlier on this thread, and also with a few close muso friends, who were very complimentary about the quality of the song. One mate, who's also a bass player and band leader of a covers band, rightly challenged me by asking: where's the "pride, value, wonderment" in using an AI song writing platform? He's 100% right that it would feel pretty shallow in itself, but as part of the full YT video which it inspired, well quite a surprising amount! It's probably the most creative thing I've done in a long while! Will be fun to see if we can play this well, live, at some point down the line!

I'm not sure what the neighbours would think about a gig in the basement at full volume, haha! I've got two separate AC adaptors, one that came with the unit by Fidus (made in China) for home use, and a separate one for gigs by Dongguan Lewe (also China). Both are 12V 5A 60W PSUs A&H recommend their spare part: AH-AM12199 PSU, but this seems to be tricky to get hold of? What PSUs are other CQ desk owners using?

Thanks gents - appreciate the input. To clarify although the Zoom was connected, it wasn't actually providing any signal / output at the time of the noise. Similarly the other inputs (PC stereo in and bass via my Boss GX10 pedal) were connected but not in use. The set up had been connected with devices on standby for a couple of hours, whilst I was had been in another room, when the noise went off. Had happened on several previous occasions. Worryingly - it happened on the final two songs of our gig on Saturday night. Unfortunately the unit is now out of the 12 month A&H warranty having been bought as B-stock from Andertons 15 months back, who have a 3 months return policy on B-stock goods. I do otherwise love this A&H desk, not least the UI - has been a joy to use! So I have (foolishly?) sourced a second hand apparently vgc used A&H CQ12T as a back-up unit, which will allow me to get the CQ18T checked out by a local tech and/or A&H.

Even more scary is that a close mate, whom I formed a covers band with back in 2013 and has written 5 albums, just commented: "TBH that song sounds as good if not better than many songs coming out of Nashville". Whether that's fair or not, the fact that was his reaction just shows how good AI already is at composition. Very glad that, like you, I'm focussed on live performance.

Scarily easy as I've just figured out! Another nail in the coffin for aspiring originals artists hoping to "make it", just as streaming has already proved to be? I suspect that where the industry is heading could well be similar to where classical music has ended up with performers, in our case covers and tribute bands, being custodians of a vast library of music that is already much loved; with occasional new material to sit alongside the great songwriters and composers of the past: read ABBA to Zeppelin for Bach to Verdi. The Times They Are A-Changin'...

Updated below.

Look forward to getting your thoughts on it!

Oooh how did you manage to get to preview it a year or so back, given they haven't released the Quimera yet?!

Having a good preamp sound is quite key, so finding something that works for both FoH and in your IEMs is definitely worth investing a bit of time on. HX Stomp can be a little harsh from experience, unless you've put the time into sorting the EQ. I've found the IEM tone from my Boss GT1000 Core and same patch on the GX-10 to be excellent for both IEM and FoH. The other big difference can be from the IEM ear pieces themselves. Several of us in my band are using KZ ZARs (£90 Amazon or £35 Ali Express) and I'm sure others on the thread will be able to recommend other models.

Bananana Effects Quimera: a powerful polysynth pedal for guitars and keys - SYNTH ANATOMY Nice little review posted here.

Sadly, the Meris Enzo X has had a lot of bad press about its poor tracking, and not on my shortlist on that basis. I personally wouldn't want to use any of them as a standalone multifx eg for clean preamp or drive. But for synth, and also for filter and modulation/pitch shift, for sure!

If it comes in at £500 or less, although definitely not cheap, that actually doesn't seem like bad value for such innovative and cutting edge tech? And you can pay significantly more for some old-school analogue preamps or Eventide pedals. Be interesting to see how this stacks up against the Polyend Mess that @Kiwi recently got (currently £519 with Andertons) and also looks excellent.

+1^^ Does look amazing!

Nice one Michael! Coming back from tonight's gig, part of me thinks: "why am I not the least bit surprised to hear you saying that?!". Probably the same part that is loving the baby brother of your GX100, and finding it's delivering a core sound and some fab fx I'm really happy with in my band mix.

Confused! I thought you loved it! What changed your mind over the past month?