radiophonic

WRT £££ it's a balancing act. It's pretty dense music - I think we got up to 40 audio tracks, plus MIDI - so there's a lot of detail to wring out and once we've finally agreed a mix we do want it to to really shine. It is only one track at this point though. If it proves to be a major upgrade on what we can achieve ourselves (our guitar player mastered the last album) the we just need to cost it into the album budget.

It was a belter. Nottingham Metal to the Masses Semi Final. We aren't a metal band - more an atmospheric art-rock with classical singing type of deal - so we weren't really feeling any pressure, despite the music being tricky to pull off live due to all the twists and turns and dynamic shifts. Our singer is due to give birth tomorrow(!), so it was definitely a case of 'above and beyond' but what with the impending hiatus, the previous gig being a total car crash for reasons beyond our control, some higher profile shows coming at the end of the year and the venue (The Maze in Nottingham) about to close, we really wanted it to be a good one and somehow everything just clicked. We've regularly been given horrible live sound at the Maze, thanks to 'that' sound engineer, but it was a different guy last night (Phil, who often does sound at the Salutation) and everything sounded great on stage and off. Very loud but super clear. I borrowed a couple of 1x15 Yamaha cabs and really loved my sound and felt much more in control than usual. I even managed a couple of big jumps. Decent and enthusiastic crowd, lots of Friday night drinking and hanging out going on only added to the good vibes. Three total strangers complimented my playing (I assume they were bass players, because ...er who else would notice the bass playing?). Unexpected but a nice detail, plus everyone who had seen us before agreed it was the best they'd seen us. I feel really beaten up today mind.

Seems like a few shouts for Turan and the price looks good. The plan is to see what a pro can achieve vs. what we can do ourselves on a single track - we're pretty DIY and and have two engineers in the band but obviously our resources are more limited than a pro setup. If the results are good, then the next album will be up for grabs. All we have to do now is agree on a mix... or rather argue about it.

We have releasable recordings in the pipeline and I was wondering what folk have done about mastering and are there any mastering studios anyone would like to recommend (or otherwise). Initially we'd be looking at one or two tracks for digital release as 16/44 downloads via Bandcamp, plus the major streaming platforms handled via DistroKid. It looks like some of the bigger studios offer online services for example (Abbey Road, Metropolis). I'm not sure who my band used last time, but I do know it was done cheaply and there were issues arising from their inexperience at the time, that we'd all like to avoid. Anyone got any experience with this?

I'll look into that. I'm equipped. I run mine in parallel with the Okto Nojs > Manta. x

Mastotron x 2? They look to be set the same too - no fuzz but PW dimed.

Cool story. Every time I deal with them, I swear it will be my last. Maybe I just look like a total mug, because they always treat me like one. If Mark (mentioned above) is the boss, he was actually fine on my last visit - although not very effective. The blond guy and the other younger guy? He should just sack them both. They've lost at least a grand in sales from me since my last visit. 20 minutes from my desk and I'd rather drive 100 miles the other direction. I probably didn't spend enough to make it worth their while - I assume that's why I stood with a credit card in my hand for 20 minutes waiting for them to take my money in an empty shop. A bunch of elitist snobs. I actually resent having bought gear from them.

Talk Talk / Laughing Stock. For the umpteenth time this week. The whole record is tremendous, but the bass on on Ascension Day is just sublime.

2019 seems to be all about MIDI. DD500 has displaced the El Capistan for now. Loving Tera Echo and Slow Gear. I’ll probably get a Volante at some point since every delay I own ends up being judged on how close to a Binson it can get. Much later in the day though. CC allows me to have the filter and delay after the loop switcher and just set them to bypass unless needed. Source Audio C4 is likely to be the next purchase - unless Source Audio really Mess up (unlikely) - it could replace the Manta!, Okto Nojs and the PS 6.

Ben purchased my Way Huge Pork Loin. Fast payment and stayed in touch. Recommended buyer.

Oh no. First, the Strymon Volante. Now this.

Right. I'm really surprised by the lack of a parallel loop option on G2 though.

@Salt on your Bass? Just out of interest, why the LS2? You've got more loops than pedals on G2 right?

I'm very into it. Looks like an Echorec with most of the El Cap functionality rolled in, a much more useable looper, some saturation options from the Deco, a real JFET preamp... and MIDI. I guess it will be about 370 quid by the time it gets here. It's big though.

From the Instagram teasers, this will be a big box, so probably more than £300! Looks like a different layout to the existing big three though. Confirmed as the Volante on their homepage.

Strymon are announcing something new tomorrow. The teasers over the last week point to something like a MIDI enabled Echorec of some sort. Presumably there will be more to it than that, but I for one am excited.