Rosie C

I nearly got the air 25, but I liked the look of the Axiom 25. It sits on my desk hooked up to my desk top computer. It's great for entering notes/data but I can see I would need the 49 or 61 to perform live. I have a pile of manuals to read now!

The final bit of the jigsaw... a Roland XV-3080 synth, with a pair of expansion cards for more woodwind options

Right now I'm in the middle of learning to use a synth (Roland rack-mount XV-3080). I have a plan to send MIDI files to it to add additional sounds when playing live. So effectively using backing tracks. In the 'studio' my partner sings BV and plays percussion. I multi-track vocals, mandolin, recorder, accordion and bass. On stage that's clearly impossible. For larger gigs we have friends who join us on keys and double bass, but many gigs there's just two of us which gives two problems: if we've just sing a ballad (2x vocal, mandolin and percussion) then change to an instrumental (recorder+percussion) the energy drops and the sound is very thin many of our songs have an 8 bar instrumental intro. Playing it on recorder then quickly popping the recorder under my arm to play mando and sing is an amusing party trick, but always means a 2-bar percussion fill-in as I swap. For (2) I'm thinking to have the intro played on the synth from a MIDI file. I can strum overtop on mandolin. For (1) we can add harpsichord/acoustic guitar/etc. harmony. For both probably add a kick drum to synchronise us. We'll also have a 2-octave MIDI keyboard and an electric drum pad on stage with us so we can play the synth live. But in all cases be honest with the audience - that two people isn't enough to play some tunes well, so we have some assistance. We haven't tried it on an audience yet, but I think it's fine as long as we're honest.

I don't know much about the speaker. I originally ordered one from Blue Aran, but after a few days it was marked unavailable and I got a refund. I struggled to find much in the way of 8" bass speakers, and ended up getting this one which is unbranded: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355768432655 I'm sure you're right about the power rating - and the amp is only rated at 30W. Hopefully it will do though - if this doesn't work I can put the original speaker back in and sell it on and use the proceeds for a proper battery bass amp.

Thanks Matt, I'll look into that. My own use is playing in a Morris band - outdoors with violin, accordion, etc.

Reporting back as promised. I tried the Crate amp as it was with my upright and a lifeline pickup. It sounded alright, but was lacking bass / depth. A mandolin-playing friend loves these amps and I didn't want to damage the speaker cone, so I bought a generic bass speaker and swapped it in: The old speaker was in a machined rebate, and another 1mm diameter and the new speaker wouldn't have fit, but it worked out OK. The new speaker claims a rating of 45W RMS, response 30Hz-4kHz, sensitivity 90dB. I wasn't sure about the dB value, but the price was low enough to try it. Initial results are good. There's a much deeper tone, though notes on the 'E' string distort unless I play gently. So my next step will be playing with the EQ on the amp, and adding a GEB-7 EQ pedal to my signal. Before: New driver: Grille removed, and it turns out there is a port, though I guess not the right size for bass: New speaker fitted:

I had the spanners out today - a £10 Roland bracket off ebay, the bottom half of a spare cymbal stand, and a 22mm tom arm and ... ta da!

I was invited to join an established folk band for a rehearsal last night, with a view to joining them. I've not played upright properly for a few months, and just before I found the G string has failed in some annoying buzzy way (notes on the G string buzz horribly, the same notes played on the D string are fine). Anyway, I was about first there, and set up with my trusty Crush 25B amp. There was accordion, violin, octave mandolin, clarinet, bodhran and washboard. The set list was a mixture of Morris dance tunes, Irish folk tunes and Klezmar. All went well - I kept it simple, mostly improvising, root-5'ing the chords with an occasional run on chord changes.

By chance I heard a Brian Eno on Radio 4's "Infinite Monkey Cage" on Saturday, talking about AI tools that can de-reverb a recording. Though I guess the equipment and resources he has are immense compared to what I can lay my hands on

My keyboard controller arrived. The keyboard is lovely, although only 2 octaves it has proper full size weighted keys. I've managed to find a copy of the user manual, and there's much reading to do. The last bit of the jigsaw is a synth. I was going for a new one from a smaller company, but I've found them quite unhelpful. Instead I'm thinking of staying 'vintage' with a rack-mounted Roland XV-3080. But I'll have to do some research first...

You just play 4 pieces, instead of 3 pieces, scales & aural. NB: I've been doing ABRSM, Trinity and Rock School, but they all have more or less the same option.

An alternative is to do the ABRSM digital exam. No particular date - when you're ready video it and send in the video.

Oh, and for me too. I have a wall like the wall in Hogwart's Castle with all the "Educational Decrees" nailed up. Grade 1 acoustic guitar, Grade 2 viola, Grade 2 recorder, Grade 3 piano, Grade 4 bass, Grade 6 theory.

I second this! We renovated a little barn into a practice space, including DMX wiring so we could feel like rock stars. But the cables were duff and it never worked reliably.

My previous piano teacher was very keen on going to grades as soon as possible - using them as targets to aim for. I found that caused me stress, and a subsequent music teacher (who liked to think of grades passing by like road signs, leisurely and without stress) said that teachers who teach a lot of children are used to pushing students through exams quickly as that's what many parents expect. Edit: I'm working on grade 4 at the moment. I took grade 3 last year, and one per year feels about right for me.