My new instrument (I shall fulfill my dream)

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:48 pm

https://www.proaudiostar.com/solid-stat ... ami-1.html

I normally use Sweetwater to buy gear online because I’ve been buying stuff from them for a long time. I even asked my rep there if he could price match and he was honest and said “not possible”.

I was shaky about pulling the trigger from this company because I’ve read some horrible reviews about their customer service and business practices. I looked up their BBB page and although there definitely are complaints they responded to them with a resolution on the BBB site - I consider that at least a level of transparency.

I had some questions about their process because I’m used to getting auto emailed acknowledgment from vendors, they didn’t. I got a response within 20 minutes and the explanation was concise with the information I requested. The SSL arrived today (5 business days) new, working, legit. So that’s cool. But! It is a pre-order deal and don’t have the monitors yet ( it clearly states delivery mid July ). So it ain’t over yet - but I think I’ll be alright, hope. ;-] but yeah, had to roll the dice on that price I hope I don’t take it up the shorts.

vision · Post by **vision** » Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:57 pm

TheWhat wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:48 pmI even asked my rep there if he could price match and he was honest and said “not possible”.

Thanks for the link, I'll pass it along to a friend. I used to work for a music retailer and most of the prices are fixed by the vendor and all major vendors will cut you off if they discover you selling under that price. It's really messed up and totally hurts small businesses that can't buy in volume for a discount. I guess that's capitalism though.

TheWhat wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:48 pmI’ve read some horrible reviews about their customer service and business practices

II too have heard this and Sweetwater is on my blacklist. I think I've only ordered from them twice in my life, but knowing that retail prices are generally fixed by the vendor I feel like there are tons of alternative retailers to choose from, so why buy from someone with a bad reputation? Plenty of options available.

TheWhat wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:48 pmIt is a pre-order deal and don’t have the monitors yet ( it clearly states delivery mid July ). So it ain’t over yet - but I think I’ll be alright, hope. ;-] but yeah, had to roll the dice on that price I hope I don’t take it up the shorts.

Those ribbon tweeters on the Adam monitors are beautiful. You will not be disappointed. I also recommend buying one of their sub-woofers, which are also amazing. By friend has the Sub10 and it rocks.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Wed Jul 01, 2020 5:58 pm

The rep from Sweetwater basically stated what you said: they have relationships with vendors that fix their pricing and they make up for it with their own 2 year warranty and tech assistance.

I tried the new vendor because they have the word “star” in their name and I have big plans to become a rock star in my late 40’s. No, because in addition to scathing reviews there were also good ones and they had the interface and monitors in a cheap bundle (intro production studio).

How legit are online reviews anyways? It’s either the guy who owns it praising it with 50 fake names or a guy with an axe to grind slamming it with 50 fake names. I went to the BBB site because that seems better than Yelp. They responded to the complaints right on there on the BBB - that doesn’t seem like something a slippery outfit would do. Maybe I’m naive?

Anyway, I detest music stores and gear you can never keep up with, and all the geeks with 500 million sample libraries that can’t play a goddamn Beatles tune much less write one.

Everything is a “blowout sale” until the next “blowout” - might as well be selling lawnmowers.

In the end I just want some nice monitors so I can take headphones off once in a while. Truth be told the room I do my music hobby in would probably need several thousands in acoustic treatment, the desk I’m using is fixed to the wall and is an L shape meaning I can’t really place the monitors the recommended 16” from the wall to avoid bass inaccuracy and there is no where to put stands. If I really want to do it up it will require home improvement projects which is probably not going to happen since I often have trouble to tie my shoes. Lol

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Fri Jul 24, 2020 7:51 pm

Cord management is a problem!

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Sun Jul 26, 2020 8:09 am

...tell me about it

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:27 am

It looks like we might be routing out some holes of the built in desk (from the 1980’s) to put the cabling underneath. The desk is really kind of in the way. The 10 foot 1/4 to mic cables haven’t arrived yet and that will be even more junk getting in the way.

First world problems!

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:35 am

naw I just meant as in the expression.
I've been dealing with the same for years.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Sun Jul 26, 2020 9:34 pm

Robert Smith isn’t fat, he’s voluptuous.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:15 am

tl;dr
Before:

Girlfriend with power tools

images upload

After:

photos uploaded

I still have to hide/attach the Mac mini underneath the desk and tidy up the cables below and get a wireless mouse but it’s a lot of progress.

Update on the vendor ProAudioStar - the transaction is finally complete but it took 7 weeks to get the (2) Mogami 10’ TRS-XLR cables. I’ve been using ungrounded rca cables and they buzz. The new cables are awesome and really make the difference but 7 WEEKS!? They fulfilled the order and it was a great deal but I won’t be using them anymore.

And I got this since a lot of the music I do is looping sections so why not do it on the fly?

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Sat Aug 15, 2020 7:22 am

Pretty darn impressive man.

...I don't even have that much space XD

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Sat Aug 15, 2020 3:25 pm

Girlfriend with power tools is impressive. I told her I would drill the holes because it seemed easy enough. She was like “No, it’s above your skill set.”

It’s true! It was like work to drill through the MDF and it eventually bent the hole saw head. Now I have a headache trying to figure out the midi board with Logic - it’s really a neat piece of gear but I’m kind of a shite programmer. Gah!

It’s easy to set up live loops from existing songs - you just set arrangement markers and it exports them as scenes that can be activated by each pedal. So you can do arranging in real time while playing over it. But parameters are resetting and I know it’s operator error. Maddening

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:43 pm

I think I’ve finally got it so I can record a loop performance and guitar (instrument) performance live consistently. Basically, there is 24 presets you can save - I’ve been testing with one preset with 6 pedals that can trigger a sample/loop scene (ex: 8 measure loop) each. Then switch to the next preset that’s a Logic Pro guitar modeler board to turn effects and amps on and off - switch back to trigger another loop scene etc etc. I’m very new at it and I know there is a more efficient way to set up the presets but for now it’s working and is giving me ideas on how to plan out templates and presets.

The Nektar Pacers 6 main pedals can send 6 messages either all at once or in a cycle: first press=first loop, second press=second loop, third=third etc etc until the seventh which would be the first step again. So you could have 36 sample triggers with one 6 pedal preset - but that seems totally ridiculous considering almost any song I’ve had anything to do with has max 6-7 parts, I’m not Frank Zappa I’m a jackass with a hobby.

I did this this morning basic loop performance with pitchbender pedal guitar live. It’s absolutely possible to play for 45 minutes at a clip until someone bothers me about something. These monitors are so nice if you position them properly you don’t have to crank them very much and they are really full and enjoyable.

HaAGen DaZS · Post by **HaAGen DaZS** » Thu Sep 24, 2020 9:14 am

Nice set up. Jealous of those Adam monitors..

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Mon Sep 28, 2020 11:00 pm

They really are neat little monitors. I have nothing to compare them to really because the only other ones I hear are several levels above in the professional. The only time I really crank them is to briefly check a mix loud. Otherwise they are very full at a reasonable level. It’s completely changed guitar playing because I haven’t used anything but headphones for 2 decades - it’s so nice to just play without things on my head. Been digging in with Lancaster Pulse IR and some cool MesaBoogie and Fender IR captures.

The arpeggiator piano on this is run through an Ampeg svt and Fender Bassman IR capture - sounds pretty cool and scuffed up for digital. ;0

vision · Post by **vision** » Tue Sep 29, 2020 9:15 am

TheWhat wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 11:00 pmThe arpeggiator piano on this is run through an Ampeg svt and Fender Bassman IR capture - sounds pretty cool and scuffed up for digital. ;0

Sounds totally great and electronic.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Thu Oct 01, 2020 4:48 pm

It’s getting better but I have forever to go. :p There are days that I really feel in control of what I’m doing and the mixing sounds good. Then for whatever reason the next piece will just sound like a dogs dinner. Inconsistent.

I have a couple of old friends who actually went to school for audio engineering and are pretty much pro (whatever that means) and they’ve generously given their time for constructive criticism. For whatever reason I’m having a hard time with compression, like wrapping my brains on how to use it in a transparent way. I always seem to screw it up like a newbie.

Basically they’ve conveyed to me that I’m probably using too many things (effects) just because they are available. Like completely destroying an image with photoshop just because you have a bunch of neat buttons. Newbie ★■◆●. Lol

I guess it’s just chop chop stick with it and learn from mistakes like any good football coach would tell you: “Stick to the fundamentals, keep your nose to the grindstone, establish the ground game, go up the middle and give 110% go go go!”

vision · Post by **vision** » Thu Oct 01, 2020 7:36 pm

TheWhat wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 4:48 pmFor whatever reason I’m having a hard time with compression, like wrapping my brains on how to use it in a transparent way. I always seem to screw it up like a newbie.

The reason you're having a hard time is because using compression is super hard. Unlike tone, modulation, and spacial effects, dynamics processing is the least obvious, least intuitive, and hardest to grok because it works against your ear's (and brain's) natural ability to focus on sounds. It took me years before I could use a compressor smartly and I've gone through a lot stylistic choices. I still have problems with it!

One thing I've noticed though is context plays an important role. If I'm adding compression to a full mix I always ask myself "is this necessary or have I just done a bad job mixing?" Usually it's the later and I can get away with remixing then using a limiter to take care of transients. I don't have any advice, just wanted to say don't feel bad. I'm my opinion it's the most difficult thing to get right.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Fri Oct 02, 2020 12:34 pm

Of course this just came out a couple days ago. Also, he's british so he must be smart and use the word "extraordinary" once every paragraph. ;p~ Guilty of #3! Been watching some Al Schmidt videos discussing his technique where he rarely uses EQ or compression at all - old school thinking - just level and panning. My mixes seem to sound better with fewer plugins - funny thing that! Leadfoot.

vision · Post by **vision** » Fri Oct 02, 2020 8:26 pm

That video is decent. I skipped though it as it seemed pretty basic to me. I'm not sure it would have been helpful early in my music production career since I feel like raw experience is the best way to learn about compression. I cut my teeth during the Loudness War and developed some pretty strong opinions on mixing and compression. These days I'm fully "less is more" and only use compression on individual tracks when there is no other alternative (and would rather ride the fader) and my full tracks get light compression with low thresholds and soft knees followed by a brickwall limiter to take care of transients.

He only hinted in the video, but using BPM to Millisecond converter tools and set my attack/release times in tempo to mask any pumping.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:12 am

Ahh! Then you didn’t see #1 then? “Do you even need compression”. He asks are you sure you want a compressor when you could use automation for the fader instead? That seems like a common mistake I ALWAYS make. As a quick fix I’ll slap on compression to fix small parts that could be fader volume automated. It’s laziness.

The SSL interface came with 2 SSL native plugins (and 8 others for full use test for 6 months) you can “rent” them for $12.95 a month (year prepaid) - and I just might because I really like the X-Comp for putting the Jazz Bass through. It really is excellent. The bass is the only thing I really compress all the time.

In the end there are no magic shortcuts though. Trial and error chop chop!

vision · Post by **vision** » Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:50 am

TheWhat wrote: ↑Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:12 amAhh! Then you didn’t see #1 then?

Ha, I saw that it was the #1 mistake, but I stopped watching right after the text on screen. Preaching to the choir. Compressors are a crazy tool. I find that there aren't enough compressors with character out there. A lot of plugins I see do the job and sound transparent, but these days I only want to use compressors that have an interesting sound, either a nice Opt curve or a good amount of saturation. It reminds me of a compressor plugin I was really attached to in the early 2000s made by Native Instruments, but it only ran in Direct X and that's old fashioned now (plus I use Linux).

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Sun Oct 04, 2020 2:35 pm

I tend to only use per-channel compression for punch.
...Or partially taming my vocals which can get pretty wild even mid-phrase...

Anywhere else I prefer to put some kind of gain plugin somewhere near the end of the FX chain that I can automate. Not a big difference from automating the fader except that I can put it before reverbs, delays, or any similar thing that creates a tail, so that if it has to be adjusted in a weird place it's not going to go changing the volume of that tail unnaturally.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Mon Nov 09, 2020 1:14 pm

Yehaw! They just added the x-comp to the bundle that comes with the SSL2+ - love it on the Jazz bass. I thought I was going to have to put up another $150 clams to rent it for a year.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:45 pm

Have you guys messed around with the Neural DSP stuff at all? All of the plug-ins have a 14 day free trial run (everything works including midi and saving presets and recording). For some reason I had never heard of the company. The plug-ins are just a real step up in amp modeling compared to what I've used. The company is based in Finland and are known for Darkglass bass equipment. Someone in a bass forum suggest I test out the Darkglass Ultra plug-in and I was skeptical because I think a lot of their development has been geared towards metal players. It certainly has drive if that's what you want but the trick is to lightly blend (That Sucker) it and it just pops and you can't really tell it's there. The midi is easy enough to map to the Nektar Pacer and the cabinet modeling has a sub kick IR to get some more bump in the rump. Really great value.

https://neuraldsp.com/plugins/darkglass-ultra

I also got the Archetype: Cory Wong plug which is really focused on clean electric tones. I haven't heard a (fake computer) clean tone that sounds this good on a Telecaster. It's really remarkable and at $140 bux a completely awesome value. Oh yeah, you don't need a DAW to run them, the stand alone works perfect which has major implications for live use with a laptop and a small interface - backpack amp. No audience losing hearing, coffee shop Hendrix ;-]

https://neuraldsp.com/plugins/archetype-cory-wong

In case you care! Happy Holidays!

Oh yeah. Here's an incomplete 1980's porno/car commercial/the bridge to Badge by Cream that uses the Wong guitar and the Darkglass bass plugins, the synthpad is the Arturia Mini V moog instrument.

vision · Post by **vision** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:59 pm

Thanks for the heads up. I tried to look at their site but too much of it required creating an account, so ★■◆● that noise.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:21 pm

Haha. I guess if the vaccine doesn’t kill me or make frog legs grow out of my eyes Neural DSP will dox me to all the Parlor bros with the Hawaiian shirts.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 2:37 pm

Too much required to make your software guitar sound like this and the people in the next room don't get woken up? Okie then.

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:37 pm

Heh... brings to mind flashes of Doom wads

Maybe something with lots of blood floors and an annoying number of pain elementals?

I could definitely hear this as some kind of BGM, anyway.

I've been (deliberately, ironically) working on my spontaneity a little bit more this year, and mixing that in with actual thought-out stuff. It's been interesting... maybe I'll finally make that thread to share stuff that I've been talking about in yours.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 10:46 am

Music is such a fun hobby. The technology now a days is so good that within 10 seconds you can get in the car and drive around to check the sound you are trying for. I remember when I first started 30 years ago you'd have to wait for someone to mix, put it on a tape (not CD ; p ), you'd have to meet up with them, play it on questionable references, and only then could you change it and wait all over again. Now it's just, NOW.

The hardest part is actually "thought out", actually crafting a piece. It's just so easy and tempting to just jam and layer and tell yourself you're going to fix it later. The song is the hardest part. Bells and whistles are neat and amazing but in the end kind of useless without a good script.

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:43 pm

Yeah, for me it's all too easy to overthink everything I want to happen in a song, and the problem with that is, no matter what you're capable of doing you're capable of dreaming a little bit more... which means it always sounded a little bit better in your head.

So I've been trying to walk back a little bit towards that "jamming with myself" mindset. And of course that issue with being able to work on music so easily, like you said, that is when you say to yourself "I'm going to fix it later" you have to actually do it, too.

But that's what a lifetime of overthinking anything and everything is good for XD

vision · Post by **vision** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:41 pm

TheWhat wrote: ↑Wed Dec 23, 2020 10:46 amThe hardest part is actually "thought out", actually crafting a piece.

This is the problem I'm dealing with right now. The other day I was playing around with my gear and I game up with a great melody. But I can't decide what the song should sound like. A rock song? Orchestral? Electronic? The melody has potential for a lot if interesting movement, but I can't seem to decide on a mood. Hoping that inspiration comes soon...

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:52 pm

I'm trying to get out of the choice paralysis and midi programming vortex. The midi stuff is more useful than the 80 billion sounds of course, but you can easily look up and it's 4 hours later and like nothing to show for it except the LED going on when you want it to. The bass has taught me so much that I thought I thought I knew but didn't know about writing parts, puzzle pieces fitting together not just flailing. And unless I really am looking for a specific computo effect with a keyboard part I've been forcing myself to play it again. I learned that when I spent like 45 minutes piano roll editing a part, getting frustrated and barking: "I could probably just play the ***king part by hand and it would be done by now!" Sure enough, played it by hand and it was done in 2 minutes. lol DAW use and quantizing can really become such a crutch that you start to lose chops. So yeah, going back to using a DAW as a tape deck theory more often. ;-}

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:03 pm

vision wrote: ↑Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:41 pm But I can't decide what the song should sound like. A rock song? Orchestral? Electronic? The melody has potential for a lot if interesting movement, but I can't seem to decide on a mood. Hoping that inspiration comes soon...

You could always do one of each. ;-P

vision · Post by **vision** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:32 pm

TheWhat wrote: ↑Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:03 pmYou could always do one of each. ;-P

Oh I fully intend to. It's a solid melody and progression that's I'll likely reuse a bunch of times. I just can't seem to get started. I have a couple loops and a MIDI track in my DAW, but I'm still waiting on that inspiration.

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:43 pm

I mean, I can describe what I'd do, but it's not something that works so well when you're not writing lyrics into the song...
My first deliberate action when starting to work on a track is usually to ask myself "what is this song about? and what is its central metaphor or message?" and usually I can figure out the tone and the instrumentation based on the answer to that. And sometimes time signatures too, but that's a whole other kettle of fish...
If answering that question doesn't give me any ideas, I'll listen to other songs that have a similar metaphor going on, or if I've got vague ideas for melody or progression I'll listen to midi tracks from games or mods or other things that have similar parts and figure out what else they've got going on around it... if I'm lucky, something clicks.

So I guess after all that, the most useful thing I can say probably is -- if all options seem equally good, then any choice you make will be a good one. I don't know if this is good advice for someone else, but if I were trying to advise myself, I'd probably say to me: "Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and pick the first thing that comes into your head before you let yourself question it."

vision · Post by **vision** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 7:32 pm

Alter-Fox wrote: ↑Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:43 pm...ask myself "what is this song about? and what is its central metaphor or message?"

It's good advice. In this case, I feel like the question is "what haven't I already said?" I've written A LOT of music in my life over several genres and I'm always looking for a challenge, so I guess really I'm looking for a new challenge. The other day I was thinking about granular wavetable synthesis so I might let my exploration of that guide me.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 10:48 pm

How does one write music for games? A movie I can kind of picture because you’re writing to images and a script that’s outlined. But a game is more choose your own adventure. Do you have a main theme then have stripped down variations that keep triggering by time or location in a map or something? Just curious. The last music I had published was the ‘on hold’ music for my friends business. The money is being used for a Mission SP-1 expression pedal, a DI box, and some cables lol. Don’t tell her but it’s an Arpeggiator, a keyboard bass line, and a simple beat.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Sat Jan 02, 2021 9:09 am

I don’t know why it took me so long to get a DI box but it really improves the bass tone and signal.

TheWhat · Post by **TheWhat** » Tue Jan 05, 2021 8:06 pm

Ok, I’m just about done with my midi apparatus. ;-@ I’m waiting on one more dual footswitch (Boss FS7) as external for the Nektar Pacer (4 external footswitches possible). The Mission SP-1 toe switch counts as one. So far I’ve tested it a wahwah with the expression part as the sweep and the toe switch as on/off.

I know there is an old man with 2 broken guitar strings somewhere in the world that has a song that makes you cry and I have a midi pedal board.

Here's some bs but the I like the guitar playing. Breaking up clean tone.

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Wed Jan 06, 2021 8:21 pm

The first 20 seconds or so for some reason remind me of the lo-fi creepy drones from Doom 64.
The rest is... not like that... but it's still got a sense of real fun.

Especially with those strange beastly sorta speaking voices.