john

Hey Steve I don't want to hassle you but I am interested to know... Cheers John

Hi I'm recording some new vocals where I need to get a vocal that uses a wide dynamic range. I like the vocal tone I get from close-ish miking, and I don't want to capture too much of the sound of the environment. I have a fair idea about how I would do it. What I wondered is how YOU would do it... Ideas in a post(card) please:) Cheers John

Hi BS If it is any use I have a soundblaster Live! I'm not using...not top of the range by any means but it's there. Cheers John

Hey Steve 'Perfect' recordings aside, it's really about what works. Although I have to admit, recording your acoustic guitar part without an acoustic is a bit radical! I look forward to hearing the results... Cheers John

Hi Steve Well, I'm in Glasgow. Sure you still want to visit? Cheers John

Hi Anyone created any real instrument patches from scratch? Pleased with the results? I thought I'd see if any of you were into actually creating the sounds instead of just using and tweaking presets. Sure they give the ability to work quickly, but to really learn the breadth and depth of a synth I think you have to at least try and create sounds from scratch. If not, sounds tend to take shape by accident rather than design. For me I think the sythesised sound I was most pleased with was a didgeridoo patch I created on my 01W. Its not the easiest of synth interfaces, and not the most flexible of synth designs but I was able to create passable imitations of several of the typical sounds created using a didger, all within one patch. I started by creating a reasonable pulsing drone, which I was able to inject tonal changes in, for rhythm, using aftertouch on the keys to give something close to the tonguing sound. I used the positive y-axis of the wheel to add something that resembled the variation in sounds you get as you change your mouth shape and the negative y-axis to add a change in the breathyness. Lastly I used the pich bend to vary the pitch to emulate the 'sung' notes So, what have you put together and how successful was it.... Cheers John

Hi Can you give any examples of scripts and why you'd use them? Cheers John

Hey Tom Sorry not to answer sooner! No, it's not what I mean. a channel strip (as provided by Joe Meek and Focusrite is basically like one channel from a mixing desk. The difference is that it is like a channel from a very good mixing desk, one that would be beyond the budget of most home studios. The channel strip can be used for signals that you want a lot of control of, and a high quality signal, such as vocals. Check out the Focusrite Platinum VoiceMaster as a budget channel strip. Joe Meek do something similar. TC Electronics do some excellent kit, but it's expensive. Hope this helps. Cheers John

Hi Tom What you read is true to a point. The mike can only sound as good as the pre-amp. If you have a good pre-amp you may be able to make the most of the mike you have, but ideally a pretty good mike and a good vocal channel strip is best on a budget. I'd look at something in the range of a Rode NT2 mike and eithere a focusrite or JoeMeek vocal channel strip. I don't know about the JoeMeek channel strips, but the focusrite gear is excellent. Dave Lang has both an NT2 and a Focusrite channel strip, so he should be able to give you some feedback. I have an NT2, and it gives a nice warm sound. I too like lots of vocals and vocal harmonies so finding a good mike was important. Although I want a vocal channel strip I currently just run the mike through my Spirit desk, and the sound is pretty excellent, especially in comparison to previous recordings. I guess what I'm saying is you might be better to aim to get a decent standard of both strip and mike, rather than puting all of your cash in just an execellnt strip or an excellent mike. Hope this helps. Cheers John

BS No idea! I'd have thought a synth head like yourself would hve tried it by now... Cheers John

Hi Olggu Thanks, now all I need to know is how to use them! Any recommendations on guitar tab for a particular recording of any track that demonstrates any of these tunings? Even pointing me at a recording would be excellent Cheers John

Hi Steve No worries! Cheers John

Hi killerjoe So, when did you buy the shares;) Got any tracks online that use this card? Cheers John

Hey BS You've done it now. Once mentioned, the board's corrupted. The minds of the impressionable artistic community is now polluted with thoughts that are meant to hide in the darkest recesses of the mind.... On that note, Is it too late to get in a mention for Rolf Harris and his fantastic Stylophone solos? Just remember, you started it! Cheers John

Hi Warren Ok, I don't know how much help I can be as I am not an Akai user (some of the other BB users should be able to help) but as a start I'll give you some suggestions for areas to look at. Are the samples assigned to the same Midi channel as the incoming Midi notes? Similarly, are the Midi notes being played matched to the notes or note ranges that the samples are assigned to? Most samplers have a manual sample trigger (an audition button or similar) This will at least confirm that the outputs are set up correctly. You can help narrow it down by assigning a sample across a range of notes and then hitting one of the drums. This should confirm that the channel assignment is correct. (try setting the drum midi controller to use channel 1, and assign the patch the sounds are assigned to to channel 1. Are you getting a sound (never mind the pitch for now). If yes, the channel assignment is working. By narrowing the range that the sample is assigned to you can sort out which note each drum is coming in on. remember you will need to assign 3 main things for a sample. 1. What patch it is assigned to. 2. what root note the sample is assigned to (i.e. the pitch is the same as the sample). 3. what midi note will playback the sample. At a patch level you will need to select a Midi channel to trigger the patch. Hope this helps. If note, post back and I'll see if I can give any more advice. Cheers John

Hi Ok who can give a recommendation for mike types and placment for a really natural sounding drum recording? Cheers John

Hi Didier I don't know how much help I can be. I use a red (very light) sharkfin plectrum for strumming, a white sharkfin for songs that require a mix of strumming and picking on an acoustid and a stone (yes a stone) for all electric guitar. Why a stone? Well it's very hard, shaped a bit like a pick and very smooth so it glides nicely over the strings. I find I can get a good range of tones from it too. I have one stone I mainly use but all of the stone picks I have have one thing in common, they were all gathered from a beach where the water had polished them very smooth indeed. I've been using stones as lead picks for about 16 years. It was just a moment of inspiration. Since I started using them I've tried various other picks and always been disappointed. Before that, I used an Eros pick. I don't even know if you can get them anymore! Cheers John

Hi I forgot, my Roland VS880... Oh yeah, the wish list... Good piano Cello Good Violin A focusrite vocal channel strip. Sonar and Wavelab latest Ovation acoustic Taylor acoustic Fender strat Gibson SG Any decent five string bass Electronic drum kit Portable digital recorder PCMCIA synth/audio card for my laptop Should I stop now... Cheers John

Hi Guys Ok here goes, although I have to say my memory for all the details is rotten, so I might miss out the odd model number. Carillon Audio PC Creamware Powersampler Creamware Pulsar 2 Sonar 1.0 Wavelab Spirit 20 channel desk Behringer Composer Pro Behringer Ultrapatch Rode NT2 Mike Several Shure mikes like sm57, 58 beta A stereo mike I can't remember the make of! Korg 01W Roland EP7 EMU ESI4000 sampler Boss micro rack delay Marantz Power Amp Tannoy M1 speakers Yoshi Electric Guitar Zoom 4040 fx Ovation copy acoustic numerous other instruments (from didgeridoo, to bodhran, chanter, violin...) and softsynths and softsamplers Cheers John

Hi Thanks sparrow. btw if you have Sonar 2 adding drum loops would be really easy, just add them as embedded audio! Now getting the loops, that's a different matter... Cheers John

Hi All What, no advice? has anyone else out there dabbled in other tunings? Maybe you lot are just unadventurous!

Hi Ok, for a start I thought you lot might like to describe your recording set ups and how you use them... Extra marks for listing your wish list too... Cheers John

Bongstuff Now who was that keyboard player with The Karma Violets... John

Hi What, no one? Cheers John

Hey Bongstuff Brian Eno, My life in the Bush of Ghosts. Excellent! I'm not sure who was all involved but... Sakamoto co-operated on a number of albums with David Sylvian. Can't remember the album names though...but some excellent tracks, shame about the vocals , but maybe that's just me! Cheers John