Boodang

Just recorded our latest gig with the L20. I might be late to the party but the quality of the recording is excellent plus the built in SD card makes it so easy. Now a recording is only as good as the source and we are using good mics and quality gear but … the L20 is up to the job. And it’s what, 4 or 5 years old, look forward to what Zoom come up with as it’s replacement. Although the Behringer Wing is looking good but a lot more expensive.

Blues/Hendrix band last night. We had a guitarist friend come up from Karachi for the weekend so we did an impromptu gig. Only a days notice to advertise it but our loyal band of blues fans turned out and it was a great atmosphere. Even had our main guitarist playing his strat behind his head during voodoo. Just need to get him to set fire to his guitar now for the authentic experience!

I've got Babicz bridges on all my basses and I can't notice the difference (but they don't make the bass sound worse!). So why do I do it... because they're well engineered, nicer to setup than a standard bridge plus the saddles lock down, so to me feels solid.... oh, and I think they look great. Technically though, a low mass bridge.

The mid rack tom looks like it's about to fall off the bass drum! An extreme angle but looks like it's mic'd up that way.

Oh, I have no issues with a thru neck. My Sei custom fretless.

If you've got two pieces of wood and decided to join them by slapping one on top of the other and use bolts, any cabinet maker would collapse in an incredulous fit. Bolt on necks should be banned! I love a jazz bass, so my custom has a set neck.

Either detune a step and play like it's in E (the easiest solution) or standard tuning and play a lot of inversions (the interesting option).

The L20 has to be the easiest mixer I've used.... analogue or digital. There's a couple of anomalies associated with the digital side but nothing a 10 min video on youtube couldn't sort. At the last gig I did actually change monitor mixes between songs as volumes settled down and it was easy to do. For small gigs I think it's perfect, the only thing I'd add for a big gig would be an old fashioned analogue stereo graphic on the FoH to get precise control over the eq. Plus great for recording. With the XR I ended up processing with plugins in Reaper, with the L20 I've just used it as a summing mixer and gone dawless with great results.

With the L20 you do get a different set of faders for each of the six monitor mixes they're just not motorised. The way it works; you set your master FOH stereo mix, then you select, say, fader mode A. You set the faders for monitor mix A. When you switch back to master, any faders that are set differently now have a static led that marks the original level of the fader on that channel. To change the level you have to move the fader to that point and then the fader becomes active again. It's not as good as motorised faders but it's not as clumsy as it sounds. Having 21 motorised faders would probably have increased the cost too much! A bit awkward to use but once you get used to it it's ok it's just not as fast to use as the XR as you have to reset a fader before using it. Overall, the L20 is actually quite easy to use live as everything is laid out in front of you, no hidden menus and simple channel architecture. Plus an all in one solution for live plus recording. I miss the motorised faders for convenience but live the L20 is easier to use. Interestingly, the audience can here the difference. A regular crowd at our gigs, same speakers and gear but different desk and I got asked what was we changed for the live sound by several non musician punters. It could just be I was able to set up the L20 easier than I could the XR of course. But it's interesting, lots of options on the XR so you think you have more control, less on the L20 but I could get a better sound. Maybe says more about me than the desks!

Well, the fingering is easy enough so assuming it’s a rhythm problem. This happens a lot with drumming where limb independence becomes limb dependence. Playing a seemingly simple pattern and one limb automatically wants to do something because of what another limb is doing. The opposite of coordinated independence. Im guessing this is a similar rhythmic issue. Rhythmic patterns your fingers are used to playing and this one is slightly different. As with drumming, slow repetition is probably the answer.

Came across this other day, can't remember how I stumbled on it, being going through it for the last month and it's a great book. Basically soloing concepts over ii-v-i. Starts off with an aural chapter of just listening to the guide tones of 1,3 & 5 (of the ii-v-i prgression) in every key until you can sing them. The chapters in the book you do not necessarily do in order and he recommends an order based on whether you want the learning emphasis to be aural or theoretical. Still finishing the practical exercises in the first Guide Tone chapter and it's quite intense, but that's good. Building jazz vocabulary is next but I don't want to get ahead of myself as there's plenty of extra work to go off and do that's implied in the first chapter to really cement the knowledge. PS this is vol2. Vol1 is harmony and all about creating interesting bass lines in the jazz context that's sympathetic to what's being played by the rest of the band. Sort of walking bass on steroids.

The Chuck Sher and Rufus Reid books are awesome. Not trendy and thus probably not popular but a lifetime of learning in them.

We were discussing alternative names for our punk band the other day and came up with; LSD…. standing for Leaky Sex Doll. Or just The Leaky Sex Dolls. We were thinking of putting a sex doll over a keyboard (nobody plays keys in the band) and letting it slowly deflate over the course of the gig. I do have a standards jazz project coming up and suggested it for this but apparently I’m mad (I thought it showed inspiration compared to ‘so & so’ trio!). Anyway, anyone is welcome to use it as it’s not been taken up (probably for good reason) but in homage you have to do at least one gig with a sex doll on stage.

Maybe upgrades can be put into three categories; modified = tone upgraded = engineering cosmetic = aesthetics

Actually I don’t think I can tell any audible difference between a standard bridge and a top end expensive one like a Babicz or a Badass but…. that’s to miss the point. They’re way better engineered and far better and easier to set up. A bit like tuners, do the same thing but better engineered, work smoother and just work better. Nothing to do with tone. So maybe modified is ‘tone’ and upgrade is bettered ‘engineered’.

I think modified is a good term for pups and pre amp, but maybe upgrade for things like tuners and bridge.

Actually I’m with the op on this one. I bought a s/h squier bass recently not realising it had been upgraded. The new gotoh tuners worked brilliantly, the badass bridge awesome, the Aguilar pups were sublime, the sadowsky pre amp exquisite. What a git of a seller, sold me a piece of sh!t but turns out to be amazing. Ruined the whole experience for me.

I’m not put off by upgrades but really does depend on what’s been done. After all most basses are built to a strict budget and are not necessarily going to get the best parts available, and as most upgrades don’t add much to the value, if it’s the sort of thing you like you could be getting good value for money. For instance, I’m not sure I could tell the difference in sound between a standard fender bridge and a Babicz but I much prefer to set up the latter. Replacement pups might not sound better, just different, but I’ve replaced the pups on all my non custom basses. There’s something to said for upgrade tuners on squiers! I put a graphec nut on every bass, a small upgrade that i think actually makes a difference. Strap locks a worthy upgrade? It very much depends on what’s being done to what. Upgrade tuners on the Squier I wouldn’t think there’s much to complain about, Babicz bridge on a genuine 60s fender could be considered sacrilege!

After watching a documentary I thought I’d give the 88 black nylon tape strings a go. But also I’ve got a little project on the go where I’m doing some Eberhard Weber style tracks with high register melodic bass lines. I’ve got a five string high C but when it comes to fretless i prefer a 4 string neck…. so I’ve strung my jazz A,D,G,C with the C being 50 gauge which rotosound well as a single. Playing notes lower down on the C string rather than higher up on the G really makes them sing on the fretless. I can see this being a permanent setup on the jazz bass.

So, having used the XR18 for the last couple of years, and using the L20 all last week to record.... I reckon the L20 is just a better sounding desk. With the XR you get carried away with the built in plugins, the L20 has none of that flashiness but to my mind it just sounds better straight after the gain stage. I've recorded with 5 different bands the last week and everyone mentioned how good they thought the L20 was compared to the XR. I'm relatively late to the party on these units but they're both awesome!!

Recorded Friday nights gig with the L20. Spent most of Saturday sorting out the gig gear but just got to play back the recording through the desk. I have to say the L20 did an amazing job. I thought it sounded so good I called the guys up to come over and have a listen. I've recorded the band through the XR18 and then processed it thru various plugins in reaper. This however I think is good to mix down as it with no extraneous processing. I'm going to do some recording during the week with both the punk and blues bands, and I'm going to use the Zoom. We'll see how it compares to the XR18 but so far loving the zoom

Just got sent a pic from last night's punk gig.

I think for me it was the realisation last night that the modern generation have been brain washed into thinking the only thing that has groove is a duff duff beat. I think they have a case for suing the music industry for nurelogical damage!

Our 80s punk band played at the Brit club last night. Right place, right audience= a great gig with fantastic atmosphere and energy. Played at the Canadians the other month and they didn't get it, played to the Brits, our home crowd, and they loved it. Middle aged ex punks singing anarchy in the UK! Half the audience weren't even born in the 20th century but they got the vibe, joined in and loved it. You have to enjoy the Jam and Clash for energetic sing alongs. I wouldn't have picked it as my fav but a Town Called Malice went down a storm with everyone. On the technical side used a zoom L20 for the gig and it sounded great and was easy to use. Also recorded it the SD card. Also went old school with old passive Yamaha speakers and amps.... best sound we've had so far. Could just be the desk that made the difference but equally loved going to passive speakers.

I just find it very sad that people listen to something like James Brown and say it doesn't have groove!! A sad day for mankind.