nekomatic

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When I learned classical guitar I was taught to tune with harmonics. Getting a cheap classical guitar to sound in tune is a bit of a fool’s errand anyway though.

It’s really hard for a choir not to go flat when singing unaccompanied. If they aren’t led and rehearsed by someone who knows what they’re doing, I don’t think this is going to get any better…

That’s an amazingly useful website, thanks! We have an Auris hybrid estate - I haven’t tried it with bass gear but the boot is a decent size, and TFL says it doesn’t pay for the ULEZ. Only complaint is the ride is a bit bouncy, which has caused it to scrape the ground if you take a sharp speed bump too fast. Which? say they basically never go wrong though.

Yay!

Thanks. I feel bad for the band, and gutted to miss a gig, but I’m leaning towards giving it a miss. Anyone want a ticket for Nubiyan Twist at Gorilla a week on Thursday? 😐

Are gig audiences observing any precautions at all against you-know-what these days? I’ve got a ticket for Nubiyan Twist in a couple of weeks, which would be my first gig in at least 18 months, but if it’s going to be a room packed full of maskless shouting happy-go-lucky youngsters I can’t say I feel all that keen on going.

Not off the top of my head, but have a look for Christopher Stembridge (and maybe others) playing the chromatic harpsichord, on which some of the keys are split in half and one side plays a note tuned according to one keynote while the other side plays the ‘same’ note but in a different key. It sounds proper weird.

I never knew this, and went off in search of more information. It turns out to be even more complicated than that!

I bet I know who that is… (follows link) yep!

Sounds like you all had fun - maybe I’ll make the next one…

How about your local authority’s music service, or a local secondary school? They’re probably under-resourced, so a donated instrument would probably help them give more kids access to music making.

Ignore me if I’m talking rubbish, because any expertise I have here owes much more to the textbook than the battlefield, but have you ruled out an intermittent short in a speaker cab or cable, or a dodgy mains supply?

Can it drive a load of lower impedance than its input impedance, at a gain of 1 or more? Then it’s a preamp. What it does with the rest of its time is its own business 😎

You asked for cheap… https://www.toolstation.com/work-bench/p12739

Well I've watched the first lesson and while it's obviously much too early to rate the course, I like his style and he's already suggested some significant changes to how I've simply been holding the bass, so I'm definitely going to learn something! Watch this space…

I’ve always felt GP were a good make but that’s not based on any science on my part. I may have read a Which? review at some point. Anyway whatever make you get, use the slowest ‘intelligent’ charger you can find. Fast charging is terrible for batteries. You do need one with proper end-of-charge detection though, not just a super cheap one that goes for a fixed time then stops.

I do find myself thinking that the paper coned electromagnetic speaker in a wooden enclosure is the worst possible way of converting electricity into sound, apart from all the other ways that have been tried from time to time.

I’m aware that the claimed power output of cheap audio kit is routinely vastly exaggerated, but I’ve always assumed that the quoted output for something like a bass amp would always be true continuous RMS watts, or the manufacturer would lose all credibility. Are there documented examples of name brand bass gear failing to deliver the claimed output when tested?

I’ve signed up. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I’ve never tried doing it myself, but Rod Elliott has a guide

That’s really useful, thanks. I’ve got plenty of books and other material to play, it’s the technique focus and the regular schedule that I reckon would be a help.

I see that enrolment for another session of this course is now open. I'm wondering whether it might be a worthwhile investment to scrub up my very rusty technique (and frankly it's never been brilliant) and get me into a daily routine of playing something given I don't have any bands or projects going at the moment. Has anyone done it and would you recommend it? It promises to be suitable for all musical styles, is that true or is it really all funky semiquavers?

Some bracing - I'm going to stop there for now and see how it performs, I can add more if it seems like anything's vibrating and the slot port blocked: