Al Krow

Feel for you on the first situation - it can be disheartening if you're putting in 90% of the effort. But how are you liking the new band set up? Do you feel part of things or feel more like a session musician / hired hand?

But if bandmates are just "passengers", shouldn't they be paid less to cover their fare for coming along for the ride? 😁 More seriously, if they are, should they expect as much of a say in the direction of the band, choice of new song material etc?

Very untrue of either of our lead female vocalists, who are just lovely individuals, but a great phrase that I'm nicking!

Been having a little chat with a fellow bass player who's thinking about forming a new band as to what the decision making style was in the two bands I'm in. I've always felt that there's been something desirable about the "band-ocracy" model where everyone gets an equal say e.g. in terms of song choices, genres, investment in equipment and publicity (band showreels etc) and it's been the model we've applied successfully in the covers band I formed a decade back and where the current line-up pretty much all been together for 7 years now, with one recent joiner after my fellow co-founder stepped down last summer as he's planning to move out of London. But it's meant that the band plateaued a while back, not helped by Covid, and went forward at the pace of the talented hobbyists rather than those who were semi-pro and who could only nudge things forward despite wanting more. I initially thought the new covers band I formed a year back would follow the same model but it's ended up with the two semi-pro members in the driving seat and pushing things forward, including letting go of one of our co-founders last autumn who was not prepared to work on material outside of rehearsals, so would come unprepared on new material and was becoming a brake on us moving forward. The new band has really taken off with 40+ paid-gigs already in the diary for 2023, albeit currently mostly pub rather than better paid functions gigs. It currently doesn't have the feel of a band-ocracy but maybe that will change once the two newer members are settled in and contributing more to the development of the band than just turning up and playing? So I was wondering what leadership style/model your bands currently operate or have taken in the past, and which areas of band life all band members get an equal say in and what's decided by one person? How well have the different models worked in your experience?

All good points. But does that effectively mean only you have access to the mixer on a gig? Digital desks can typically remember settings too.

In terms of your entirely valid question of "why most small bands don't have one of these or a similar from another manufacturer in their setup" - I think some bands prefer to have the immediacy of onboard controls and faders, rather than being obliged to use a separate tablet or phone, either from an accuracy of adjustment perspective (sliders on a tablet or phone won't generally have the precision of a manual slider) or from a performance delay perspective i.e. needing to fire up a tablet or unlock a phone mid-set, which can't so easily be done anyway whilst holding a microphone in one hand etc.

Two of best past and present Yamaha BBs! How do they compare?

Yup, it's 5V DC. Even tried with just batteries tonight. Same result.

Yup, exactly this.

Yup I have, but I think it's a separate point? Because the Boss is only getting as far as the inputs, whereas this is an output issue.

But it's the same issue on two separate brand new U4s - one's mine and one's the singers. Here's the thing: no hum at all when: - the transmitter and receiver are both on but the mixer is switched off; - the mixer is on and I pick the transmitter up in my hand; - with direct headphones into the mixer ie not via the wireless U4. Sounds like some sort of grounding issue related to the mixer & wireless. Any obvious fixes to try out?

So my 1.0M cable has arrived. Not been able to eliminate the background hum entirely, which is a shame. Volume issues all fine as expected with the TS rather than TRS jacks. The hum seems to be loudest on channel 1 and quietest (but still present) on channels 4 & 5 so we'll be making use of those at the next gig.

Not much downside at the AliExpress offer price! Look forward to how you find them; no doubt get your thoughts on the main IEM thread once you've had a chance to put them through their paces. I'm loving mine: find they are besting my Audio Technica over-ears which set me back circa £200, which I certainly wasn't expecting!

Just spotted this on another thread and it's the flip side of Woody's comment below. So whilst a high-end roll off from cables might be something that's not too much concern for bass players, it may well be for the singers in particular? In which case a wireless mic set up for singers is potentially no bad thing? I guess with wired mics, the solution is to simply give the singers a little treble EQ boost to compensate.

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Just reading back, and actually the Zoom L-8 has pretty much all the functionality you're looking for on a small desk, other than pre/post fade.

I was very content with my Smoothhound @sirmuppet and I've no doubt you'll get what you need from yours, too. I traded up to a Boss WL-20 a couple of years back and loving the compact form factor. Allows to me take a little wander into the audience with a pretty good range.

Wow, that's impressive regular amount time on the fretboard. So 2 hours on new material plus any time doing other stuff ie are aiming to do more than 2 hours / day?

Whereas one of the things I'm loving about the budget Zoom L-8 is just how compact it is!

Cheers buddy. I think you've hit the nail on the head - if you want high quality video you need a decent camera for low light. But the internal mic on most of them is really nothing to write home about! When you say take your your audio off the desk - is that your band's Zoom Livetrack L-20? I'm guessing everything is completely mic'd up and going through FoH and any backline is DI'd through the PA too? How many mic's do you use for the drums?

Ah Shirley up to you work that one out? Enjoy 😁

Whereas an octave pedal generally sounds pretty good when used judiciously. @Gareth Hughes I agree no adventure (or massive outlay) involved in getting an octave pedal, haha! But consensus seems to be for Nathan on this one occasion: venit vidit ad cacas. He can however play!

Does look good and some great features. What's the video quality like - particularly chip size / ISO rating for low light recording? That's where something like the Sony a6000 series shines with its APS-C chip, but that plus a Rode stereo mic is a multiple of the cost of the Q2N so horses for courses: the Zoom Q2N is a complete video/audio package and costs pretty much the same as the Rode Stereo mic I'm using, by itself! PS really starting to appreciate the Zoom Livetrack L-8 mixing desk I got off the back of your recommendation (of its big brother) - so thanks again for that!

A little bit of feedback on my recently acquired KZ ZS10 Pro's. The smallest supplied ear buds that came in the box seem to be fine and comfortable (and another band member has said the same), so I'll make do with those for now. I've A/B'd the ZS10 Pro's against my "proper" i.e. over-ear decent headphones (an older Audio Technica model - ATHPro700Mk2) from the monitor output of my Zoom L8 desk with everything set flat in terms of EQ. The AT headphones had a slightly better bass response, which I was expecting, but the ZS10 Pro's had crisper more articulate high-end and mids, and the AT's felt a little muffled in comparison. So, overall, I find myself preferring the ZS10 Pros over a pair of £200 over-ear headphones - I wasn't expecting that!

Surely just get a Boss OC-5, or whatever your particular low end pedal of choice is?