RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE

Good point about the piano Steve . One of the hardest instruments to learn . Speaking of dogs at gigs , I did play a bizarre gig with Fred the deaf dog in a pub in Fulham . 🐕 Lovely big placid dog . The pub was full of smoke high up into the ceiling . Alas, we were not Celtic frost , but a blues band called sponge fingers

Coming from a large family, always working plus socialising I have done well initially to actually get as far as I have playing the bass . When I was around 15 mum managed to get me a bass ( hohner firewood precision copy ) from her freeman's catalogue . This was after a short attempt to play a lovely black les Paul copy . Thankfully she was allowed to change it. I phoned up an ad placed in sounds for lessons . " You don't need lessons for bass" . Um.. ok. It wasn't until I started learning tab from American guitar mags and meeting one of my best friends through work that I actually could play something remotely tuneful . My friend at the time was charging me £5 and he would play endless metal for hours after I fed him . If I as broke, I'd give him my ozzy albums that I had on cd . It was through him that I discovered Rudy sarzo hot licks video. He also got me to play my fist gig ever ( 30th birthday gig ) with him on guitar in front of 200 people in the centre of London . That got me auditioning for bands . Playing root notes , and frightened to stray too much in fear of sounding too much like les Dawson I was somewhat ltd . when stu hamm and slapping and tapping became popular , I spent too much time trying to do that ( unsuccessfully obviously) and one guitarist who was possibly going to be in a band with said " f@@k stu hamm! Learn the basics" So I did , and started seeing a lovely bloke in tooting ( John hills) . I spent a few months with him , and learnt some theory and a bit of proper music . I day a bit ' every good boy deserves fudge ' etc . He helped me understand triads , scales properly etc . Plus he let me usd his WALfretless for brief periods . I ended up being in a few bands but got bored for a few years . Then after doing my 40th birthday gig on front of 70+ people got the urge again to join a band again . It took me a while to up my game when playing in a proper gigging pub band , and eventually I could play by ear a lot better . But with bands , they start off well and dissolve. Mainly due to ego or commitments . Im pleased to have played places such as the grey horse🐺 in Kingston albeit to shady managers and one man and his dog .🐕 I packed up playing in bands for good around 10 years ago. I have purchased more bassses in case I do gig , but may offload then although letting go is hard. Since noodling at home , I find bass a lot easier . I did have a five string but sold it as I was too nervous to use it live . I thought it more fun to jump around doing rock poses for entertainment rather than people watching me looking bored . I was going to get another 5 string but I have a bass whammy . I found 5 string not difficult to understand . Fretless.. the best neck I have on any bass is my vester custom series . I like the one that my bass sold me on here that he made . All that said, I have now finally got my finger out this year and am managing to record stuff on soundcloud. For years I was trying to use GarageBand on my old Mac mini , but tbh the Ram was not powerful enough and I had glitches everywhere . Plus I never had time to use it due to work and band commitments , Now I have a Moog grandmother which I need to get to grips with ., plus a better Mac with more storage etc. Apps are cool also . so, I'm still keeping a musical interest and it's good to see that everyone here still has . In my case age and time seem to have made a difference . I could have done a lot more with everything but I'm more or less happy with my lot . Just do what gives you enjoyment .

I was thinking of dragging them to my external hard drive maybe ..

It's the better one of the box sets imho . That's another thing ....everything is now in "coffee table " format . Don't start me off on the jigsaw puzzles 🐄

Happier new year ! I've recorded a fair amount of noise over the last few months .. The files have been saved , also saved on iTunes . Do i still need to keep files , or do I bin them ? Just wondering about space on Mac etc cheers

😸

Thanks DAD I've been googling . I think you're right . sometimes there are sneaky upgrades to something you have just purchased, and I was just double checking. Lots of experimentation now. Should take another year..

Howdy ! Wishing you a happier new year ! anyway , regarding the above : I purchased the iv and not the 4G . Not sure which is better . Does it matter? I find it annoying that the model numbers are too similar , and confused me somewhat , I'm just about to plug it in , but looks like I'll keep it anyway . It works with the Apple camera connection kit which I have . I purchased it because it wasn't breaking the bank , has everything interns of drum pads as well , seems to be a better upgrade to the akai mpk mini first version which I have and is somewhat smaller than the m audio radium 49 which I purchased as a semi novice many years ago This keyboard hasn't got a midi out socket, but I purchased the alesis q keyboard which is on its way to me on Monday . That has a midi out socket . So, it looks like I've covered all bases ( basses?) So if anyone has any advice about the oxygen models , I'd be interested to hear what you think . Cheers

Similar thoughts here . I remember buying vinyl to be played when I got home from work. Once iPods and then iPhones were introduced, it all stopped as I could listen to music on the train/ bus etc. Headphones of course. Now it seems to have lost that sparkle . Similar to your Kate bush box sets, the tangerine dream ones are well worth it.

Cats come first 😼. How does it feel being without vinyl at the moment ?

Love rush ..and indeed prime Motörhead . I would imagine that'd sound great on 5.1 especially moving pictures . Levitation would sound fantastic . Unfortunately I'm on the ground flr with large bay windows . We live in a disposable world now , with gadgetry improving and space saving ideas for the likes of me . Keeping one eye open is the best way for me I guess 😺

I had the nad back in the day . Brilliant amps !👍

Hmmm... good point . The only things though , are that I don't have a huge dvd collection . plus I live in a small flat 😾 I'm open to change though ..

I love these threads . There are always pros and cons , for and against which format is seen to be best . Many tangents . I still have a fair bit of vinyl , but way less than when CDs first came on the scene . We all know that when cds first came out , they were bloomin ' expensive . They were in ADD DDD etc and DDD was at the time said to be the best quality . A lot of bands rushed out awful quality like Black sabbaths castle communications stuff which was appallingly bad . The annoying thing about being a fanboy of music is that cds were being made with extra tracks not on vinyl . The sound quality and mastering improved . I of course started selling my vinyl and buying the cd equivalents over the years . I found the original pressings of albums from hawkwind and sabbath were far and away much better than the later pressings . Tangerine dream and klaus Schulze sound much better on cd as there is no frying bacon sounds or clicks etc . Just my opinion of course . The album covers from those bands are grear though . In the '90s I noticed that the stones had their original albums made on cd the way the vinyl was . Sticky fingers for example has the zip! The price for those was around £8 . Far less than when cds first arrived . In terms of my stereo setup , I too started on the dual cs505 turntable. My best CD player at the time was a Philips one which I would've kept but the price in repairing it wasn't worth doing . I have a nackamichi 5cd player which is close enough . I always swear by heavy speaker cable . Back in the mid '90s I had a rega planar 2 turntable . However a friend knew of a possible pink triangle ( which needed a new arm ) may be available . I still have it , and it is heavier than Gemma Collins . More punch than Tyson etc Having said all of that , and living in a small flat I often think if it's worth keeping all the vinyl . I will always purchase cds . I think the only annoying thing about cds are the digipacks ., Too bulky which will decompose in time I have paid my dues to the record industry many times over . Most of us have . I have transferred a lot of my cds to my hard drive . Pita and time consuming The quality on I phone is great if you have decent headphones . However, I have started buying cheap downloads of albums which is very good quality and saves me a lot of hassle these days . I'm still paying , so that's ok . As I am old and been around the block , I'm beginning to avoid expensive rip offs unless there really is something of value . I sold my metallica lightning box set as it was gathering dust and I have their best albums on Japanese imports which to me is a great sound . I sold the binge and purge video box set as that will be released again within the next 5 years . I sold my slayer box set . What was funny about those is that the sponge evaporated and they were unplaced for many years . I still have the tangerine dream '70-'80 box set , but have purchased the latest cd box sets as they are not too expensive, look cool and have unreleased stuff. I could be wrong , but if you buy legitimate downloads , it still belongs to Apple for example . If you buy the cd it is yours. Plus you can put it on your hard drive . One other thing : living in a small flat ..some of those soundbars and speakers are improving . Not there yet , but not far off of true stereo sound . Naim muso for example . If a soundbar ever matches a stereo I may sell vinyl , stereo etc and just get that . My tv goes through my stereo which is great for watching you tube etc . For music DVDs I don't know if I should buy downloads of them for space and convenience . Anyway, I'll leave it there ..

Rip. Lucky to see him at knebworth in '85. Great day out . Ironically, due to my similar stature , hair style and love of all things stu Hamm , my guitarist friend named me West Ham . Some things just stick ..

Wow! That is very distant . Never expected anyone to see that 😸

Ha! Well spotted .. 😸

Pretty groovy ! I have album sleeves in the hallway. I took albums out of the sleeves due to possible condensation issues living in a small flat. My frames are not as good quality as these tho 😼

Please don't tempt me 🐕. 😸

Update : after more procrastination, I seem to have finally found solutions to the issues that I have / had . I took a gamble and ordered a fold up table from the Amazon . plus I have a laptop stand on its way for the mixer , which has bend discontinued but is the perfect fit for it . It's criminal really the ltd amount of time I've spent on the Moog grandmother . I can now get my finger out and have no more excuses . Tbh, I fell in love with it when it came out and after many years of being broke I purchased it on Black Friday 2018 a few months after moving into this flat . I also purchased a few of those cheapie mini effect pedals from gear for music around the same time . Anyway, here are some pics : The pipes will be boxed in by builder after Christmas and walls will need painting etc The fender amps are not actual amps . They're seats

Coming along nicely.. The dog and the green bass look out of place though , and would be better suited to my home 😼