Nicko

Tioxide in Grimsby I assume. I visited it a few times and the stuff used to get everywhere. I'd be blowing it out of my nose for days.

I suspect the context was that I'd indicated that I thought the band was going to fold due to the singer moving out of the area (a good 2 hour drive and the singer has no transport). He may have been suggesting that I suggest we sack the singer and find a new one, but IMO he should have been asking her what she wanted to do.

The only suggestion I "shot down" was the idea of recording via relay which the guitarist had already declined, although I actually sent a long email explaining what we would have to do in order to record in that way. I have a habit of explaining things as they are. If you're that sensitive perhaps we wouldn't work very well together in a band anyway. Me, passive aggressive? Your opinion is valid, of course, even if its wrong.😀 I can be a bit sometimes, although I tend to read things twice before I send them but maybe by the end I was so tired of the discussion I really didn't care that much. I actually thought the "what do you want to do" was more passive aggressive than my responses, but then maybe my compass was off.

Me too. I agree. I was quite happy to simply not rehearse. It was the constant emphasis on me deciding what to do that was the final straw.

He is good, but nothing special. He's one of those drummers that makes it look effortless, which isn't necessarily a good thing for a gigging band as he's a bit anonymous He didn't get us any gigs, but did some great artwork for logos and flyers. The band was together for nearly 2 years and it never felt like it gelled personality wise, but that might be me.

Absolutely, I don'rt understand why I was the one who had to make a choice, when it wasn't me setting the ground rules. No, I laid out the options for how we could do it, but said that we wouldn't be getting studio quality sound as I'm not a sound engineer and lack the software and knowledge to get the sounds right. AFAIK i'm the only one with any home studio equipment or experience, but if you listen to my tracks they are demo quality.

I want to tell the drummer to stop being such an old woman, and the singer to either commit or feck off. I mean you can't move to Cambridge end expect to be in an band based in west London, but apparently only I see a problem with this.

No quite the opposite - I have the jointly owned PA, which has been left to me to manage since we bought it. I don't want it so will be expecting them to buy me out. Holding my breath.

Here's the summary of an extended Whatsapp exchange with the band yesterday: Drummer: "I'm not comfortable meeting as my mum is shielding, but if we can find a rehearsal room in with opening windows, I might be ready to start practicing soon" Guitarist :"Fair enough, but I've already had it so I'm not that worried about meeting up" Me "I'm not that concerned, I think the chances of catching it at rehearsal are no more than in a shop" Drummer "I've been thinking that maybe we should do some home recording, although my job's not secure so maybe will have to wait to commit to buying anything" Guitarist "That sounds cool" Me "Its difficult to do it live due to delay in transmission" Drummer "perhaps I could lay down a track and then you and * can lay down the guitars, and then (singer) can add vocals. Is it possible? Singer "I'm up for that" Me "Yes, but not straightforward - I've sent an email" Guitarist "I'm really only interested in actually playing with real human beings. Are we able to do it at (Drummers) house" Drummer "No I live in a cottage" Me "I agree, I don't see the point in online collaboration for covers. I have space and recording gear but can't record more than two instruments at a time. I can't see recording drums in the house" Drummer "So Nicko what do you want to do?" Me "Ideally be in a band that rehearses regularly and gigs occasionally" Drummer "That's not an option at the moment. What do you want to do?" Me "Oh It thought you meant long term. Short term I don't know as you understandably don't want to practice and (our singer) is not available cos she's moved" Drummer "You don't want to do home recording. I've said I'm available to practice soon, as long as we can find a suitable room So what do you want to do?" Me "I don't know. Its not me that's causing an issue. . You want to do home recording but don't have the equipment or the knowledge - I've sent you an email. You will practice sometime, but only if you can find a room with windows. The only one I know is XXX and its due to shut permanently" Drummer"so what do you want to do?" Me "Until today I didn't know, but right now I think I quit."

That's kinda what I meant. Under Pressure isn't a great harmonic idea and is not exactly demanding to play, its just appropriate and memorable. Does that make it great?

This may be heresy around these parts, but I'm not a great believer in "great basslines". There are basslines that fit the song and ones that don't. Playing straight 16th root notes can sound brilliant, and playing a fancy slap riff can sound awful.

For bass I use Dunlop Nylon 0.88 as I find them easier to keep hold of with sweaty hands. Generally playing guitar I use something marginally bit thinner especially if strumming rather than picking.

Irrespective of this, I've never seen a band play with an electronic kit that doesn't lose something that you get with a real kit. I depped for a band that used a good electronic kit but it was noticeable listening to them that it wasn't a real one. It might have been the settings he was using, or maybe that he wasn't tweaking the sound to suit the room but it seemed to lack the aggression that you get when you strike a real skin in anger. It wasn't just me that noticed either. On the other hand, there's a massive benefit in being able to regulate the drum volume, but only if the lead guitarist plays ball.

I think you'll find Amazon always have a box twice the required size, but never one the right size.

Copacabana normally refers to Copacabana in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. There are also towns of the same name in Bolivia, Columbia and Australia. All of which are south of Havana, Cuba. The song is actually referring to Copacabana night club in NY.

I got lumbered with storing the band's PA and transporting it to gigs. In an attempt to lighten the load I started taking the amp line out direct to the PA and eliminating the need for a speaker and using traditional monitors, not IEMs. It was OK, but it definitely doesn't sound as good on stage as going to the (albeit small) Markbass 102P cabinet and having a little assistance from the PA. Would the punters notice the difference though?

I'm not a great fan of bass instrumentals, but this is really good.

This unless I misunderstood the question. When installing Amplitude I put the VSTs in the Cubase folders, and set ABleton to look there.

Yes. Ableton's preferences are set to look for VSTs in my Cubase VST folder. All my other VSTs appear in both DAWs. Baffled. I have 64 bit installed.

I had this issue in Cubase, and it actually appeared under the plugin/distortion submenu. In Ableton, I can't find it at all though.

After many hours of frustration and a bit of head scratching I finally got the download to work. But only in Cubase. A semi success. Thanks for the heads up!

Well if there were a compo for the best lyric this months "I trembled in my moccasins" would get my vote.😁

Out of curiosity I tried a sample Soundcloud mastering on one of my hosted tracks, and was blown away by the difference it made. How do they do it, bearing in mind they have a single audio output that's already mixed - is it mainly overall level and EQ? Obviously I'd like to be able to achieve a similar result so any pointers to successful mixing and mastering would be gratefully received.

Oh dear.

The only way I can see to download it is to go to the shop, and put it in my cart. Then they want me to pay for it. I have managed to download Amplitude 4 and authorise it, but neither Cubase not Ableton will load it. Not sure its really worth the hassle to download something I never knew I needed. The Authorisation Manager and Product Manager seem to be completely unnecessary, not to mention the Custom Shop Manager.