-
Posts
4,195 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
3
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Shop
Articles
Everything posted by Leonard Smalls
-
Motobikin' - Barf Roco
-
Death Disco - PiL
-
Share Your Embarrassing Early Recordings!
Leonard Smalls replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
Here's some early Roco recordings wot we did live in our rehearsal and living room in Harlesden back in 1990 (89?). I eq-ed them a bit recently and put it up as an archive! one's pure punk rock, the others aren't (there's even some slap bass in Agnes from 2'20 on, plus drum solo in Phoal). ... I've got some probably far more embarrassing Dredd and the Badass Weeds tapes from 1985 recorded after far too much imbibing which I may dig out! Th -
What's your fantasy Lotto jackpot bass gear shopping list?
Leonard Smalls replied to Painy's topic in General Discussion
-
21st Century Schizoid Man! - King Crimson
-
Tried listening to The Stranglers today....
Leonard Smalls replied to Beedster's topic in General Discussion
With you tube being a streaming service, they tend to normalise all audio to a perceived loudness of -14 or -16 LUFS - i.e. it gets multiband audio and digital compression so it'll never sound as good as a lossless version. Though as most folks don't listen back on decent kit they'd never know the difference. Not sure what this means! Back in the days of NICAM I used to take mixes home to check for rumble missed by the Rogers LS5/8 monitors they used to use... Nowadays all TV is delivered as part of a AS11 DPP file with the audio component being a 16bit wav at 48kHz, bandwidth 20-20kHz with a max true peak of -1dBTP, and max perceived loudness of -23LUFS so in theory pretty high quality, and they use Harbeth 40s which are far better. It was true that in the days of live TOTP'n'all that there was a breed of studio sound mixer (I was post production) who didn't believe in enhancing in any way, it was basically as it came, warts and all, not even reverb on vox - later trainee intakes emphasised creativity over engineering and scientific knowledge, so things have got better! However, with BBC training having disappeared largely all they have to go on is required tech specs.Radio ones here, but they're basically the same as for TV, https://www.readkong.com/page/audio-quality-information-standards-for-4418233 -
Tried listening to The Stranglers today....
Leonard Smalls replied to Beedster's topic in General Discussion
I find this to be the norm... We played a decent venue last year; the sound engineer took ages sculpting the bass drum sound to get that kick-in-the-kidneys thwack and left that as the loudest thing in the mix as if it's somehow a badge of honour to get that sound! But ultimately, both our basses were drowned out every time there was a kick. I know that some venues have poorly designed PAs that will go loud and give the idea of low bass, but in actual fact there is no definition between frequencies due to bad speaker placement, poor acoustics etc, but you can't get that kidneythwack without reasonable subs and mid bass reproduction. It's like the matey wasn't interested in us poor bassistas! I blame metal... -
MF of the Year - Mötley Crüe
-
the Weekend - Stormzy and RAYE
-
Tried listening to The Stranglers today....
Leonard Smalls replied to Beedster's topic in General Discussion
He's a lucky beggar! He's up very high in the mix... I find soundmixers are often firstly obsessed with getting that ridiculous thwack off the bass drum that swamps everything low down, then keeping guitar to fill everything from there up leaving the tiniest of tiny spaces for bass guitar! Not always the case, but far too often. -
Thursday - Morphine
-
What are you listening to right now?
Leonard Smalls replied to Sarah5string's topic in General Discussion
Awesome bit of bass-led avantjazz, funky-as! -
Because You're Frightened! - Magazine
-
C30, C60, C90, Go! - Bow Wow Wow
-
Radioactivity - Kraftwerk
-
Trump's tariff wars...long post.
Leonard Smalls replied to NancyJohnson's topic in General Discussion
Aw shucks! 😁 Bear in mind that one man's impressive is another's "shut that f-in racket up before I call the police!" Indeed... Or at least, hopefully indeed! -
Silicon Carne - the Monochrome Set
-
Trump's tariff wars...long post.
Leonard Smalls replied to NancyJohnson's topic in General Discussion
It's a straight cut and paste from Alvin Gibb's FB post, with a sentence from me explaining what it was... Basically 3 members of UK Subs were held in custody (not me!) then deported. Charlie Harper somehow got in. -
Tarmac The Knife - Bobby Darin
-
Trump's tariff wars...long post.
Leonard Smalls replied to NancyJohnson's topic in General Discussion
Looks like UK Subs bassman Alvin Gibbs (and much of the rest of the band!) fell foul of the must-not-criticise ruling - they weren't allowed in and Charlie had to play with a scratch band! From FB: Some of you might have seen posts on UK Subs’ websites, which provide photos and video of a random line-up playing with Charlie at a Los Angeles Punk festival at the weekend. You might therefore be wondering ‘how come?’ Well, the truth is that Stefan, Marc and I were all denied entry into the USA whilst somehow – perhaps he used a Jedi mind trick, or, more likely, caught an immigration officer at the end of their shift eager to get home – Charlie managed to get in. Having already been on a plane for 11 hours, upon my partner Roz and I arriving at the immigration booth we were beckoned to, we were told that Roz could go through, but something had flagged up which required my being taken away for questioning. There were two issues: 1) they said I didn’t have the right visa for entry and 2) there was another issue, which they wouldn’t disclose, both of which prevented me from being allowed into America – I’m now wondering if my regular and less than flattering public pronouncements regarding their president and his administration were a factor; or maybe that’s just me succumbing to paranoia. I was then taken by two police officers to another part of LAX and escorted to a very cold holding pen where I discovered Stefan and Marc in situ along with some Columbian, Chinese and Mexican detainees. My luggage, phone and passport were all taken from me, and at 4am (I’d arrived in LA at 7pm) I took part in a second interview conducted by a very sympathetic female immigration officer, who even kindly went out into the airport to see if she could find Roz to update her on my situation and pass on information regarding the enforced flight I was to take back from whence I came. She did both, and I’m most indebted to Officer Jones for her assistance and decency. Luckily, Roz was able to change her flight to the same one that I was escorted onto by two police officers at 8pm the next day – at that point I’d been in the holding room for 25 hours without sleep and with only a pot noodle and a couple of cups of tea to sustain me. Roz had been obliged to spend 25 hours in the airport waiting for me to emerge. Another eleven hour flight was then endured, the worst bit being I was denied any alcohol because its United Airlines’ policy that any passenger being escorted onto a flight in that manner cannot be served as much as a single glass of wine: Stefan and Marc, on the other hand, who travelled back via British Airways, were allowed to make the most of the free booze on their flight to help offset the stress of our shared experience. I’m really sad that the true UK Subs were unable to provide the performance and the diverse set we’d prepared, all of which the audience deserved; although kudos and congrats are in order for the three musicians who stepped in last minute to play with Charlie. The photo I’ve provided is of Roz and me sitting outside a bar, sharing a few wines together, after finally getting back to our homestead in SW France – despite being happy to be home, my scowling face reflect the after effects of 2 days without sleep. So, in conclusion, although not being something I’d want to replicate, it was actually an educational experience and, honestly, I’m kind of proud of myself for being thrown out of America at the age of 67, now knowing that my relationships with that country is over for the foreseeable future. And maybe, just maybe, that’s why the chorus of track 3, side 1, of the first Clash album keeps running around my head. A -
Turn to red - Killing Joke
-
Shoal Man - Sam and Dave
-
Trapped - Colonel Abrams
-
What are you listening to right now?
Leonard Smalls replied to Sarah5string's topic in General Discussion
https://circl8radio.com/ Excellent internet station based in Chester... They're playing a track off Weeds' ep at 1720 today followed by my entry to BC's monthly compo compo. There's no accounting for taste, though they're currently playing Shriekback which is a good sign!