On May 21 2014 18:37 Wombat_NI wrote: Hey folks, update of sorts. Was trying to get a Brood War Terran theme cover with people off here, severely underestimated my RL commitments though.
My kid's mum will be finished school within the fortnight so I can get back to playing and recording/attempting to mix etc. Don't want those who put in time to have nothing to show for it, so it's still on the cards!
No worries happens rl stuff. Send me the stuff i' ll mix it, i have plenty of time to do this.
Got my new Jazz Bass. It is so perfect. It dominates any other fretted Jazz I've played. The frets are perfectly level and have essentially no wear or sharp edges, the "dent" that Ishibashi told me about that said it was deep is essentially a surface scratch that took me a few minutes to find, the neck is perfect, the finish is perfect (both the neck and body are slightly darker than my other Jazz, but this one is a year or two older). The pickups are perfect (they're the same as my fretless. The last person that owned it set them a bit lower and I like that better so I did that to my fretless). It's essentially perfect, just like my last one. Though this one is over a pound heavier. All it needed was a slight tightening of the truss rod to get rid of a bow (likely caused by the huge change in climate) and it was ready to go. The strings are already at a decent height and are adjusted so they match the radius of the fretboard.
It took about two weeks to get it because of a combination of Canada Post's slowness and a long weekend delaying things. Was packed just as thoroughly as my fretless, though sadly without the funny drawings on the box. Will post more stuff tomorrow including pictures and maybe some sound clips comparing it and my fretless (despite being identical in specs they sound completely different for obvious reasons). Ishibashi is as perfect as always and I would not hesitate in recommending them.
My hands are dead. After not using roundwounds for a significant period of time, using them a bunch in one evening has done a number on my finger tips. I guess tapewounds are a little too nice to my hands.
After playing since January I have basically seen the light. At first I had to pretty much force myself to practice guitar, and now I can't stop playing. Not everything is structured actual practice (I spent an hour just half assed doing the finger style to Romance/Spanish Ballad while watching TV) but I'm literally having to force myself to put down the guitar and do something else.
And now sometimes the notes and chords I play turn into actual music too. It's so great
Do you think it's ever okay to carry around a naked guitar in public?
I have a rather cheap electric guitar I carried around the other day with just a strap, and I felt like I was running around shirtless in a crowded town. Like some kind of exhibitionist.
Does that make sense to you? Would you carry an unprotected guitar if you weren't concerned about its 'health'?
Do you mean like without a case? If you really don't give a shit about the guitar it's fine, otherwise just invest into a gig bag or something and bring it around with you.
anyone have good ideas/videos/songs for learning good vibrato?
it's hard...
There are two elements to vibrato - frequency and depth. You will need to experiment with both to achieve a pleasant sounding vibrato.
Frequency: how many times you bend the note per time unit. Generally a constant frequency sounds more pleasant than a dynamic one. I like to match my vibrato with the tempo of the song (for instance, two bends per beat).
Depth: how far down or up the note goes each time. No rules here, but generally bending just a little less than half a step sounds very pleasant. In some cases I like to bend way deeper, especially when I'm high up on the neck and I'm trying to get a very emotional sound.
Hey, anybody here know anything about Audio Interfaces?
I'm looking to plug my guitar into my computer directly (and use amp simulation software) as well as using the interface to plug in my SM57 for recording. The thing is, I already have a decent tube pre-amp for the mic so it'd suck if I couldn't use that because all audio interfaces I can find seem to already have a mic pre-amp build in. Looking to spend 50-100 Euros max and obviously I'm looking for a better sound quality than what I already get by plugging my stuff directly into my onboard sound jacks.
If you want to plug your guitar straight into any audio interface make sure it has a High-Z input. (Stands for high impedance. It will make your life MUCH easier.)
All audio interfaces (pretty much) will have a preamp built in, but that doesn't mean you have to use it.
Many interfaces will have these combo jacks. They are great I would highly recommend them. You should seriously consider it because it allows lots of flexibility about what you can plug into your interface.
When using the combo jacks: If you use a TRS you might be able to select between line level (what you should use after your micpre) or instrument level (what comes out of a fancy keyboard.) (Note: not all interfaces let you select, but its okay.) If you plug in with an XLR the interface assumes the signal in is mic level, so it will engage the preamp that is built into the system.
If you ever plug a XLR cable carrying line level or instrument level or speaker level you will get horrible instant awful distortion.
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One feature of an audio interface is being able to record and playback at higher bit depth and sample rate. Make sure you can get the settings you want to use for playback and recording on the interface.
At school we use 44.1kHz and 24 bit. These are fine settings because the only way you'll need higher quality recordings is if you have very expensive recording equipment.
If you really want to you could record at 48kHz, but honestly i think that would cause more headaches than it is worth. You'll often need to convert your recordings down to 44.1kHz
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The other major consideration is how many inputs you want. I would highly recommend getting more than you think you need. If you think you need 2 get 4. If you think you need 4 get 6. Nothing sucks more to spend a chunk of cash on an interface that won't suit your needs in the next few years.
Thanks for the info, I can't find any interfaces that offer 32-bit depth though, only 24-bit at my price range. Pretty sure the audible differences aren't that major?
EDIT: I found one that looks pretty good, the ESI Maya 22 USB. Here's the features:
seems like a solid choice. I would read a few reviews, but it looks like it is very good for your needs. It would also be worth making sure that XLR port is TRS/XLR. It looks like it is from the picture, but it doesn't say so specifically on the specifications.
It isn't always necessary, but some audio interfaces have horrible drivers that have really high latency. This is a freeware plugin that will work well. (If necessary.)
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/3mLHX6g.jpg)
