Leonard Smalls

Just wondering if anyone's had experience of column/sub all-in-one PAs like this one? http://www.djkit.com/ld-systems/ld-systems-maui-44.html?gclid=CPSi9aHPmdQCFUg6GwodwKELag I'm looking into options for our local community centre which will be a one-PA-fits-all solution that can be moved easily - the hall is max size 700 capacity and that can be split into 150 capacity sections for smaller events. It has to work equally well for metal and folk, and the directionality of these sort-of line arrays would definitely be a Good Thing as the cieling is very high, and as a result the room is quite echoey...

Likey! [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f7XwCsx4fs[/MEDIA]

Buckethead is a bit of a decent slapper...

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1494070037' post='3293003'] Think how you would feel if it was happening next door to you. [/quote] Many years ago our band lived together in a housing co-op house on a lovely square in Pimlico - the whole side of the square, which was large enough to have St Paul's School cricket pitch in the middle,was occupied by co-op folks, so it was a mixture of crusties and punks and ne'er do wells... We were looked down on by the folks who actually owned houses there, despite the fact that we were always friendly, left no mess and were very considerate and were at least 100m from them... So when we finally got our notice to leave (as is the case with co-ops!) we decided to have a rather large party complete with our band, house DJ and a 5kW PA - we invited all the neighbours, especially the snotty ones, but none came. But at about 2am 2 police vans did turn up, and were very keen for us to turn it down. But I'll never forget the look on the police inspector's face as, while telling us to stop the racket, our roadie's large dog gently brushed through the copper's legs without him noticing what it was. All he would have felt was the fluffer's touch [i]down there [/i]- he very quickly left. We did then turn down the music, having had a thoroughly lovely time; in fact Jimbob from Carter USM even broke his arm falling down the stairs. And we didn't feel bad about the neighbours who'd only acknowledged our presence by ignoring and complaining about us to the police...

Back in the late 80s we played a house party and it was reviewed in the NME!

I've never been sacked by a band (yet!)... But I was sacked by Chester Zoo in 1981 for having a goth mohican.

Excellent!

And more excellent sax, again with Jamaaladeen Tacuma on bass, Calvin Weston on drums and Marc Ribot on crazed guitar: [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewor-dArJHs[/MEDIA]

Sax? [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO7rPupQbRM[/MEDIA]

[quote name='Johnny Wishbone' timestamp='1493048069' post='3285174'] Frog and Parrot? [/quote] Yup!

[quote name='Tonteee' timestamp='1493036350' post='3285000'] Wow! Brilliant! Also, danceable drum pattern and excellent funky bass with a discernable root. Them's the ingredients for fonk, right there... When are you next gigging? [/quote] Cheers! We've just turned down Glastonbury (!) due to not liking camping among 250000 people... We only gig when we really want to! And no other gigs planned at present - not easy with band members living in Shropshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Ireland and South of France. There is a Dredd and the Badass Weeds Facebook page - we've been going for nearly 35 years! And my new band, 16 Choke Start (funk metal, hopefully including a rapper and turntables!) will be playing pubs in the South Shrops/Powys/Herefordshire area. No covers either, apart from a few by The Wurzels

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1493031103' post='3284912'] Now i'm curious ? Any pics or Vids of the band to satisfy my curiousity Dave [/quote] A snippett of phone footage from that very gig... Complete with Sister Bez, Bishop Booth, Brother Pointy, Father Johnboy, Pope PeterPiperPicked and yours truly, Cardinal McBig on Parker bass. [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WRGw-D08Gc[/MEDIA]

We don't play any covers, and also occasionally play pub gigs. We usually get a good audience reaction - usually due to exuberance and odd clothing. At a gig a while ago in Sheffield the drummer's wife overheard 2 chaps talking about the band; one said "I don't know what it is but I f***** love it!"

I was a big fan of Stump, and bought my Wal not long after seeing them at the London College of Printing many years ago...

In other words: [i]Music was much better in my youth. Nowadays it's just a noise. The kids these days don't know what music is anymore![/i] Funnily enough, as folks have got older and more jaded they've been uttering exactly that sentiment since Guido of Arezzo and his hexatone system involving the Devil's Interval!

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1492510028' post='3280759'] Bet you are a Derek Bailey fan, aren't you? [/quote] Funnily enough, I tend to like the idea of him more than the practice. Saying that, I went to see him once at the Barbican where he was supporting the crazy trio of Bill Laswell, John Zorn and Dave Lombardo. And he was excellently entertaining! His fellow musicians were a turntablist and keyboard player who spent as much time using his elbows as fingers. 2 of my companions thought it the worst rubbish they'd ever heard, whereas me and t'other one hadn't had so much fun since That Night In Amsterdam. However, I do like this DB album, with Jamaaladeen on bass and Calvin Weston on drums. Allegedly when Mr Bailey walked in Jamaaladeen said "Hey Derek, let's funk!" [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOGdAFxe9_0[/MEDIA]

Music must always have humour... Even if it's only hiding round the back of the drums! And I could never confine myself to playing [I]purely[/I] rhythm. I like bass, in any genre, to at least occasionally, be seriously centre=stage. Probably because 2 of my favourite players are Bootsy and this chap: [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ekyz6IDQlY[/MEDIA]

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1492365649' post='3279715'] Country music is also a very broad church. How do you feel about that stuff? Elevator music/Kenny G has NOTHING to do with jazz and never has. Come to think of it, on listening to your example about I got the distinct impression that this was some decent players with a sax player who felt like he had to put in irrelevant atonal squawks from time to time in order to be taken as a serious jazzer. Mor smoke and mirrors but at least there is SOME musicianship in there. [/quote] I'm not normally a fan of Both Kinds of Music, though I've enjoyed Hank Wangford's take on it! However, I feel that some jazz fans have a very narrow, and perhaps snobbish view of what jazz is; anything they don't like is sneered at as "fusion" - especially if there are electric instruments, or, the horror! effects... Here's the supremely talented John Zorn with barely a tune in sight, then it gets all melodical. Bit it's about the aural assault, the spectacle, and most of all, the feeling: [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF5tidRij1g[MEDIA]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1492282678' post='3279240'] I've found that a good range of speakers can help with mixing. [/quote] I use Adam F7 monitors, AKG phones and rubbish Logitech computer speakers, and if I can be bothered to move the laptop, Ditton 66 and Leema Xavier via a Bryston bsst14 amp, which shows any faults down to 18Hz! However, I'm a bit lazy and rarely spend more than 3 hours mixing and try and do all playing in one take. I sometimes have the old BBC make-do attitude of "it's good enough for sport" though I don't often sink to "it's good enough for news"!

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1492273693' post='3279153'] I get this a lot too, the mix sounds decent on the studio monitors, then you play it on something "inferior" like my home cinema system, and suddenly you hear some right howlers! I need to put some rubbish speakers up in my studio for mix checking, keep meaning to get round to it. Monitors and headphones doesn't cover all bases. [/quote] I've remixed it so you can hear the drums... https://soundcloud.com/leonard-smalls/16-choke-start

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1492074024' post='3277629'] I am so glad to see a lot of what [b]I [/b]think of as jazz in this thread, rather than the usual lame "fusion" stuff that seems to be widdly rock guitarists wearing serious expressions playing everything starting on the "and of 1", prefereably in weird meter and with very little reference to a discernible melody. My heartfelt thanks to the usually silent majority! [/quote] Arf! Jazz is about expression and musicianship, and pushing the boundaries (or not, in many cases!). As a result it's a broad church, and not all of it is to everybody's taste. Personally I can't stand lounge/elevator type jazz as it seems safe, sanitised and designed for people who don't like to be distracted while they eat their prawn cocktail! Each to their own - but this is more my type of thing, though I can see why many would think it unlistenable unmusic! [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKYq4H3-iKM[/MEDIA]

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1492206122' post='3278740'] Great stuff as usual Leonard, got more than a little Primus vibe to that. [/quote] Cheers! And you're right... The mix sounds much wonkier on small speakers than it did on my monitors - and it's worst at the beginning. I think I was too keen to get it out! Still, our drummer's back from hols so maybe I'll re-record using him rather than my own programmes and fiddle with the balance at the same time. Though that's likely to be after the deadline.

I started off with 1 line - "Death From Above", and a slightly Phrygian bassline. Then the guitarist from my newly formed band came round, we had a fiddle and somehow it became our eponymous debut song. As we don't have a singer, and our drummer was on his hols, all those bits are down to me (I have to do everything, me!). So I spose it counts as an entry to the compocompo as that was the initial inspiration! And can I just apologise to those who think there's rude words in it, there isn't though it's a touch suggestive if you can hear it. It's just my diction is poor! And I'll apologise to everyone else because of the racket... Track remixed - look into the future for link!

Our singer used to be in death metal thrashers Arceye... But we're a lot more funky than that - but still rockin'. And I usie my thumb as a plectrum and for slapping, as well as 2 or sometimes even 3 fingers. It's odd, but I can't help myself!

Why thank you! It's all done with smoke and mirrors though... I'm currently wading through; standards seem to rise every month!