wateroftyne

The gig's on Monday... We started rehearsing on Friday, the first of three full days in the rehearsal space. Yesterday was just us, i.e. the core band. Today was the band and the lady backing singers (who are amazing - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx5YpUIPQwg"]see what I mean?[/url]). Peter Brewis of Field Music come along to rehearse his bit, too. Nice lad. Tomorrow is another intense all-dayer, with visits from Joe McElderry, Ruby Turner and Ben Ottewell out of Gomez who are all doing a song each. We're not hooking up with MK or the orchestra until Monday's all-day pre-gig rehearsal at the venue, but we've got those tunes ready to go anyway. It's an eclectic mix of tunes and styles, it's fab fun, the band are all great lads, and I can't wait. It's bloody tiring, though...! [url="http://www.safeconcerts.com/news/2013/feb/8170-more-acts-announced-for-sir-bobby-robson-a-celebration.asp"]Here's a more recent story about the gig[/url].

Been rehearsing with the AG500 all day. The intention was to swap to the Walkabout at some point to compare, but I was having so much fun I forgot. It's more accurate than the Walkabout as you'd expect, but still very punchy. It's a different flavour of goodness. I might do more A/B'ing at the rehearsal tomorrow...

[quote name='Stan_da_man' timestamp='1360779466' post='1976409'] Precision w/ flats > Ampeg B15. Zzz... Use a decent engineer or just learn to do it yourself. [/quote] Hmmmm...?

Speak to Howard 'The Bass Doc' (he's a member on here). I've seen him get lovely 'burst bodies for not much at all. He's had problems with his internets but I think he's back online now.

I've heard good reports on TB about the Walkabout...

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1360750098' post='1975680'] Mastering has a lot to answer for, all pop is mastered to be the loudest it can be, with tiny RMS to peak ratios, ibut the desperate need to produce loud mixes also means that the mix engineers are also gettiing in on that act, they are limiting audio on very peaky signals (kick drums, snares etc) to get maximum level, they are taking ducking and sidechain techniques and p[arallel compression to extremes, carving eq harder than ever to get more and more seperation. Panning is LCR as much as possible to aid seperation. This isnt new at all, I was listening to Curtis Mayfields Superfly the other day, and you can hear some of these elements even on that (LCR panning oin nearly everything, great seperation etc etc), but then the idea was to create a cohesive mix, now its to make a loud mix, the intention is different, and one thing that happens when you take this to the logical conclusion is the bass looses everything over 125Hz, because it isnt 'necessary' in the eyes of the engineer, and will make it harder to get loud. Its not directly to do with digital versus analogue really though, its all about trends in music and what is perceived to be the best way to get the mix across. Digital definitely allows for a far wider frequency range, especially in the low end, but having that available doesnt necessarily mean people no longer add enough midrange info into bass sounds into a track. Once again have a listen to the Kit Richardson stuff I did, Nigel's bass is clear as a bell, you can hear every single note and inflection, its also got plenty of bass energy - anyone here worth his salt could transcribe the bass parts to the Kit stuff without a problem I think! Personally I think live sound is at least as much to blame, the current insanity with unbeleavable low end sub bass dominating every mix and SPLs over 110dB are making people think that music only sounds good when the bass is a mahoosive wall of unintelligable sludge trying to rearrange your organs. I like it loud, but I like my hearing more, and a great mix live or on a recording os the one that carried the emotional content of the performance and track best to the listener, in some cases a wall of unintelligble sludge would be the best solution for that, but nowhere near as often as it is offered as the solution. [/quote] Word.

[i][size=5]'Dum, dum dum, dum dum dummer dum....'[/size][/i] [i][size=5][/size][/i]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1360680403' post='1974487'] right... I know you'll have some expertise here.... how do you see flat wound strings, and also less valvey sounds effecting how we hear the bass "in the mix" ? [/quote] Pfff... it depends. IME chances are the engineer doesn't have much experience with them, or doesn't know what they are. They'll be EQ'd the same as rounds and they'll sound like crap. If you're working with someone who knows what they are, and what they're supposed to sound like, then it can be great, but it doesn't happen too often. And then there's the final mix and mastering, which can undo all the good work anyway...

How much treble is on this bass tone? Hardly any. Can you hear every note? Hell yes. Mixing bass like this is a dying art. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVlSdY6N7Dk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVlSdY6N7Dk[/url]

The same applies to violins as it does to basses and guitars: when you do buy one, regardless of wether it's a cheap Chinese thing or something second-hand and decent, take it to a repairer and make sure it's set up correctly. It'll be money well spent. Where are you based, OP?

[quote name='lefrash' timestamp='1360615034' post='1973528'] Is it just me or is this whole idea ridicilous?? The biggest day of your life (and your wifes life) and you're playing in the band?!? Hmmm.... very strange to me. I could see the point of doing perhaps 2 or 3 tunes if you sang or played guitar - just a bit of entertainment for the attendees, but playing anything even close to a full set is so daft! IMO of course! [/quote] [quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1360619422' post='1973637'] Okay, I'll take the opposite view. A wedding should be about the celebration of a union and a chance for friends and family to catch up and party. To put a halt to that so everyone can "look at what I do!" seems a tad tacky. So if you do -- one song. Say thank you. And let the band do their job. P.S. i was also asked if I would play and sing at my son's wedding to which my reply was "The day is not about me." Oh, and one other thing. That may be the only chance the most important people in your life hear you and they will be doing so under less than ideal conditions. Think about it. [/quote] That's me told. FWIW, Mrs. WoT & I have a lot of musical friends, and our relatives are interested in what we do. We did about 45 minutes with different people getting up to do a bit - we had fun, doing what we do with our pals. And after that, the 'real' band finished the night off. I'd consider it a success...

Well, maybe we should have a cuppa and a natter sometime.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1360592059' post='1972882'] Having heard reports on how damn good the new TH500 amp is, I'm sure you'd also like that as well. Apparently very close to the WA 'tone' if you have a fiddle with the EQ. Not as complex in terms of what the EQ can do, but the mid control on the TH500 is apparently VERY good. [/quote] Cheers, Gareth.... I did consider the TH but I'm still not over my lightweight 'thing'. I need to know there's a big lump of steel inside the casing otherwise I get the shakes. ha ha. I tried an AG500 at the bash by pure chance, and I liked the sound of it straight away. All that matters now is how it does at the gig. We'll see... The Walkabout 's got big shoes to fill.

Hi all It's here... courtesy of Molan. The first all-transistor / non modelling head I've used in... ages. Just fired it up and it sounds completely marvellous, but.. the living room isn't a gig, so let's see how it goes. I have a block of four all-day rehearsals followed by a couple of gigs coming up, so lots of time to A/B it with the Walkabout. Whichever loses will be for sale... smackdown!

How I miss the days of Howard (The Bass Doc)'s Bass Place in Newcastle. You could doss around all day, plunking about on basses whilst passively smoking 1,000 tabs. It was a social hub.

Ha ha - I found a crappy video of it... http://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=501373121321

Mrs. WoT & I both played at our wedding, with a scratch-band of mates. It was fun, but we were wrecked...

[quote name='Johngh' timestamp='1360536597' post='1972098'] Well to be fair, I have dealt with my fair share of deals on here that have had problems. Including driving a 60 mile round trip to pick up a bass that a seller didn't send, the bass was bought by a guy in Germany. And having to organise the courier and pack the bass. What I find inexcusable is that PM's are not answered, but just ignored. In this instance the OP's PM's were ignored and mine were as well. It takes 2 minutes to send a PM to explain the situation and take the pressure off, then the member having the problem understands and will get a resolution, and the moderator can move onto other stuff and just keep an eye on developments. Instead PM's are ignored which leads to the member who has bought the item having more anxiety, and the moderator having to file endless reports to the other mods and admins on what is happening. TBH we have a dim view of poor comms, and PM's being ignored. Comms are king, because we're a forum innit ! [/quote] Fairy nuff - you have a better idea of what went on than any of us...

To be fair, we don't know what's gone on behind the scenes. Presumably the OP does, and he seems happy enough, so maybe it can be filed under 'extenuating circumstances'. Forgiveness is one of the more pleasant human traits.

I agree with the OP. No-one has truly turned things upside-down since Cobain.

Crap mastering as well. New stuff just doesn't hit me (sic) like it did before the loudness war. It just makes everything... blander.