Dankology

I realize that this is much-covered ground but I just wanted to have a bit of a grumble about my own fickleness. We did some recording earlier in the year for which I used an Aerodyne Jazz stung with flats which I was really very content with. As time went on I decided I wanted something a little pokier as the bass (a PJ, of course) was not really cutting through on some songs live. As a 40th birthday treat to myself not long afterwards I treated myself to a US Jazz with EMGs from the Marketplace here. It was strung with rounds that were a bit slender for me but the whole thing sounded great - nice and present both in rehearsal and live plus it was, improbably, lighter than the Aerodyne so my dodgy shoulder was happy too. Last week I went back to change one of the bass parts on the studio recordings and was gutted to hear the difference between the two basses. To the point that we left the old part as-is. I know that the original part had been subject to some EQ and had been recorded through a nicer desk but it was clear that the intrinsic sound was much more suited to the song. And more pleasing to my ear. So today I'm going to pull the Pyramids off the Aerodyne and see how they sound on the Jazz via its JVX pickups. If that doesn't float my boat I'm trying the other EMGs that came with the bass and if that doesn't help thicken up the sound I'll be open to suggestions. Unless they involve not using my lovely, light new bass. We supported a band the other week where the bassist had what seemed to be a Jazz Deluxe and played with a pick through an amp with loads of top end and still had a lovely thudding sound - I should've picked his brain.

It was "bongos" rather than washboard... The Fall were an interesting case though. Much like Beefheart and the Magic Band, the one individual really defined the band beyond any other member and yet there are still line-ups of each band that I would say are very much not The Fall or the Magic Band despite MES or Van Vliet still being present. (FWIW, I'm referring to the Fall post-2005 or so and the Magic Band around the time of Unconditionally Guaranteed)

Our XR18 cost £250 secondhand on Ebay - no significantly more than a new XR12...

What tablets does everyone use to control these? I've now bought a Kindle and a Samsung tablet second hand - neither of which had 5Ghz functionality (despite being advertised as such), which is, of course, the main advantage of using an external router. I just want a cheap tablet 8" - 10" screen, 5GHz wireless compatible - doesn't seem too much to ask...

...and in or around Manchester, you could do worse than coming and seeing Joan the Wad at the Eagle in Salford: Live version of forthcoming single here: https://t.co/WjB2fuB7h9?amp=1 Tickets here: https://fatso.ma/MOdT The main act (Juliper Sky) sound very promising too. joanthewadmusic.co.uk

I dunno, mine (linked to above) struggled to be heard above an entirely unamplified small acoustic guitar and single vocalist. I could hear it ok but it apparently did not project into the small room at all.

I've got a fretless one of these that I use a lot at home and have gigged once or twice: http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Crafter_BA400_EQ_N.html I think I got it for about £250 (give or take) on Ebay. I believe Alice Cooper's bassist uses the fretted one. Make of that what you will.

Why, thank you. Although the Waddup track is by someone else who inexplicably shares our name. I'm not sure how well vocal tips via the non-singing bassist will go but I'll look out for an appropriate opportunity...

I've videoed possibly hundreds of other people's gigs over the years and yet still can experience what feels like a tautening of every sinew in my body as I sense the camera coming over to me. The way I try to think about it is that the discomfort I feel is a result of not wanting to look like a @r$e - but if I did look like an @r$e it would be apparent to everyone in the room, whether there was a camera there or not. At least with a video you can edit down such moments to the bare minimum - no such luxury in real life... Also, videos have let me notice things I can do something about, such as the horrible perma-grimmace I used to have - and also how much better everyone looks when they are not conspicuously self-conscious. I do hope you crack it - there's something immensely satisfying about seeing yourself utterly lost in a song. This is the most recent one we've shared and there's lots to fault: it's a cover that we've only ever felt our way through, it's the hottest day of the year, so we're all sweaty so I'm in shorts and there's no hat to hide the thinning hair plus I left the bass muted much longer than intended at the beginning... But seeing ourselves absolutely immersed in the performance has been incredibly useful to us.

This was one of the reasons I moved to the Jazz w/rounds - we have one song that benefits from the odd pop here and there and the PJ with flats wasn't letting them cut through. Having said that, I like my flats quite well worn in so a newer set may well have been better. Listening through last night's rehearsal recording, I now have the opposite problem: the pops sound horribly tinny and thin. There are likely some technique issues here...

This couldn't have been worse timed for me - just yesterday I decided I was a Jazz-with-rounds convert and had decided to sell my flats-equipped PJ... I might just hold onto it until after next batch of recordings now. Damn you, Basschat.

I think that's exactly the point: put up a misleading attention-grabbing headline and it might work as clickbait (look at all those YouTube videos with titles like "why you should never buy a five-string" and "why all the pros only use a Precision bass"). But a good number of people remember only the headline - and with something like this and when it's hard enough to convince musicians to wear ear protection before it's too late, that requires a robust debate of the available evidence. I'm not really sure what you were trying to achieve here. The debate you have generated seems worthwhile and educational but you seem to object to that. Did you really just want to put up a post titled "earplugs don't work" and hope everyone just nodded and chucked out their ear protection?

I am, as it happens. And I have to say that this sounds like tabloid-level nonsense in that a half-truth is being discussed out of context in order to suggest an attention-grabbing non-truth. I have no doubt that prolonged extreme sound levels can defeat the protection provided by ear plugs - whether by overcoming the protection they afford or by transmission through the bone but I also have no doubt that most musicians would rarely, if ever, find themselves in that sort of situation. If you need ear defenders, you need to turn down would be my rule of thumb. I'd be interested to know if this chap was a medical doctor with an interest in audiology or an audiologist (with a PhD). And also, as I said before, what commercial interests might be influencing the advice he is giving (or the apparently sensationalist way he is delivering it).

I'd be asking about what possible commercial interests might be at play in the formulation of this man's opinion.

I do like the look of that X-Touch... Might be one for the Ebay watch list though as I've spent up on the mixer itself and the next thing we're looking at is IEMs - have recently finished the 70+ page thread here on that topic. Thanks for all the pointers - no doubt I'll be back here with a list of queries after our first rehearsal attempt with it.

I had put a 50Hz high pass on the vox and overheads (actually 51Hz as my mousepad thing wouldn't let me get to 50) but I'll have a go at applying it across the board. Other things I've just done (and would appreciate hearing any strong opinions on): -added all the drums to a DCA group for quick global adjustments -added everything other than the samples/loops and the walk-on music to one mute group, and the looper to another mute group (so we can mute the instruments at the end of the last song but have scope to leave a loop going for a while afterwards). -added the appropriate noise gate presets to the vox, kick and snare channels (but anticipating having to tweak these) -added two reverbs, a delay and the stereo combinator to the FX rack - possibly at the recommendation of the FB group and/or extensive Googling... -made sure that the all the buses highlight the channel strips in bright yellow to avoid possible sends-on-faders confusion

Yep - that's already in place and working nicely.

[this has been cross-posted with the Facebook XR18 group - so apologies to anyone reading this twice] Hi everyone... Have just picked up a secondhand XR18 for our 5-piece band (keys, gtr, bass, drums, samples/loops with 3x vox) and am very cautiously making my first move away from analogue mixers. Will be using it in rehearsal for the first time next week and for a couple of gigs in a month's time. I think I've got most of the basics clear in my head: have got inputs labelled and grouped, basic monitor mixes assigned to a couple of the auxes, couple of snapshots saved, external router all up and running, fixed IP, Reaper properly set up to record etc etc. I was just looking for some advice about the FX. We aren't going to be using any heavy duty "creative" effects (well, not just yet) so I was thinking about just having a couple of reverbs - one for the mains and one for the foldback. Is this the sort of thing that people do - or should I be having a compressor and/or a graphic EQ on there too? Would really appreciate some real world experience of how people are using the effects for small club gigs... Many thanks!

Brilliant - thank you!

Apologies for awakening an old thread but I've had a couple of comments about the level coming off my GP12SMX combo's DI. I am intending to pick up an Orchid DI (really like the reviews vs price for these) but wasn't sure how to wire the lead needed to go from the XLR out on the amp to the unbalance jack-in on the DI box. I've got a handful of short balanced XLR>TRS leads but I'm guessing these might not do the trick.

Only seen Michael Kiwanuka's set but thought the sound in general was a world better than anything I've heard on the Glastonbury TV broadcasts for many years.

Just do it! I love mine - sounds great, really useful eq and it's phenomenally powerful. I think I turned it up to 3 in a 200-capacity venue... Only had it above that level once when I first got it - vibrated every light fitting in the entire house. It's not light but it's not immovable either. I think I paid just over £200 for mine about a year ago.

What a great idea... No idea what it is though. Although it is maddeningly familiar.

We should probably talk...

We've found it easier with slightly bigger promoters - the smaller single-handed guys seem to much prefer putting on a night of solo performers but when we've contacted the bigger outfits we've had more luck getting support slots and the dreaded multi-band nights. I think it's key to personalise your overtures- if a promoter or venue can tell that you're familar with them and have identified them as appropriate it surely goes down better than a blanket one size fits all message. Getting to know the promoters and other bands pays massive dividends - we're not shy about turning up to other people's gigs with a pile of CDrs that we hand out as people are leaving. I'd also make sure you have stuff on all the major online platforms so that you can email someone a list of easily clickable links to suss you out. And videos - always videos, good quality ones, including at least one of you nailing it onstage. The other thing we've done is just cutting out the middleman and putting our own gig on - even (or especially) off the beaten track to build a local following and then later on you get to drag them all into town for a big night out 🐵 Apologies if this is all eggs and grannies but it's what's been working for us. Good luck!