Kelvin's Guitar/drums stuff and JV Squier refurbishment thread.

KelvinS1965

The only issue with that method is syncing it all afterwards. Coming from an analogue tape it may drift over the 3-4 minutes of the playback. If all done together any slight pitch change/time drift wouldn't be noticeable. I can definitely record 2 tracks at a time into Cubase (ie a vocal and guitar) as opposed to a stereo pair (though that is an option of course).

I need to spend a bit of time just trying it out as I bought the Alesis iO4 rather than the iO2 for the 4 tracks at once option (restricted to 44.1Khz/16 bit rather than 48Khz/24 bit when recording two tracks at once).

Spent a couple of hours praticing drums in the conservatory tonight...don't know if it was just because I was a bit tired or the cold, but I wasn't playing very well at all compared to Saturday. Sometimes the music just doesn't flow, hope to be better tomorrow night at the college.

KelvinS1965

We did ZZ Top tonight; Gimme all your lovin' and as usual, was harder than it seems at first. Got the hang of the rhythm/riff part, but hadn't really looked at the solo beforehand, so just noodled around when it was my turn to play on the stage. I'll have to have a bit of a Youtube this week and learn the solos properly...At least I've got the drumming part off pat. Best of all I got to play the white Tele this week, third time lucky, though I should really take the Epi LP next week as that's more suitable for the song.

Only 4 weeks to our end of term/Christmas concert for friends and family.

KelvinS1965

So, New year, new term and all that. I think I said in another thread that I was dropping the local college guitar/drums evening classes as they want to pay the whole term up front and I know I'll miss quite a few lessons this terms as I'll be away during the week (no refunds @ £20 a week makes it a bit wasteful I think). Plus they limited it to drums or guitar, so that means I'll get to play a lot less than last term while each 'group' plays.

So some of us decided to book the local studio we rehearsed for the Christmas gig at. We can all make Friday nights and we get a whole 3 hours compared to about half that at college and it's only £40 or so between 4-5 of use, so works out cheaper too. They have half stacks, an acoustic drum kit, plus a small PA so we have access to better gear than the college had too.

So first night tomorrow with the 'Friday night gang'. We don't have a singer, so I picked up a boom mic stand so I can warble and drum at the same time to help us keep time. It takes a bit of concentration, but once I've got the hang of the drum part the 'singing' sort of comes naturally (with the odd gap on fiddly bits of drumming ). I don't know how much guitar I'll be doing there, but we plan to spend the last hour each week playing songs we've learnt previously to keep them polished up (well a sort of dull satin sheen really ), so I'll be able to swap over with another guy who does a bit of drumming.

Strange, this time last year I was just starting at the college and had hardly played my guitar at all in the previous year (and no drum kit of course back then). I wonder if this time next year I'll be rehearsing for some big gig/have played a few gigs/selling it all off as I've given up with it all...

hyperfish

Seems like you have some good times ahead of you.

Are you going to focus on drums or guitar? or continue with both?

KelvinS1965

I'm going to try to continue with both, but it's a constant battle trying to find time to practice both and oddly it's easier for me to practice drums as I go out into the conservatory (with a jumper on this time of year) and play out there. I can tell my guitar playing has slipped though already. You'd think after 40 years it wouldn't but if I don't play every day then my fingers soon slow down...

KungFuPro

A lot of respect for anyone who can play drums and sing at the same time, singing & playing guitar is difficult enough! Not a big Mastodon fan but I like their single 'The Motherload', surprised at the amount of negative comments about the drummers live singing.
                                Sounds fine to me, don't think some people realise how much exertion is needed playing drums, let alone singing as well. My attempt would be a lot of heavy breathing between beats.

Had a head cold before christmas which triggered a bout of tinnitus, sounded like had a seashell stuck to my right ear. Didn't pick up my guitar for a good month, longest gap in about 4 years. Fingers felt like stone when I started playing again but my enthusiasm for playing has been renewed. I find jamming along to your favourite blu/dvd concert a good way of getting back up to speed.

KelvinS1965

Got home early today, so had a little practice signing and drumming to tonight's song 'How you remind me'. We'll see how it goes tonight though as it probably sounded like someone singing along to an iPod (other Mp3 players are available ), since I wear closed back headphones to hear my drums/backing music. It's only a 'guide' vocal anyway, just to give the rest an indication on where we are in the song.

I tend to play along with my concert discs as well. In fact it's not unheard of for me to get the guitar out after we've watched a film and I put a bit of a concert on (usually after a few drinks too, so maybe it sounds better than it really is ). Up to last year I regularly went for a month or more between playing, but since I got back into it last year it feels odd not playing at least every other day. I hope I'll loosen up quickly once I get chance for a play again tonight.

KelvinS1965

Thought I'd bump my own thread rather than start a fresh one or interrupt anyone else's thread...

I'd like to do a bit more recording using my trusty ZIP drive Boss 8 track, but the problem I have is mastering and ending up with a stereo wav/mp3 file. I did buy an Alesis iO4 earlier this year, but find the DAW software is very fiddly to use and basically it puts me off using it and therefore from recording as it totally messes with the creative flow.

I'm thinking to buy something like a £99 Tascam DP-006 then just use it to record the stereo output of my existing 8 track, then I would be able to get my music onto an SD card in wav form. Having looked at the Tascam manual it looks much more straightforward to export from the device to a PC. Might seem a bit wasteful, but it would also be useful to use the multitrack part if the old Boss ZIP drive starts playing up in future.

Of course it's then easy to get sucked into something like a Tascam DP-32 SD @ around £375 and just get used to recording directly on that (it does the mastering/export thing too). I could still use it initially to get my old recordings off my Boss 8 track (and my even older Fostex X15 4 track), but I'm just concerned that I'll end up with a massive learning curve (instead of just getting on playing and recording).

What does everyone else use? I'm more comfortable using the equivalent of tape; I used to just produce a 'master' by recording the output of my old X15 into a stereo cassette recorder. The nearest thing to that would be good.

Christian 71

The Tascam DP-006 looks pretty cool really not a bad price for what it does. A few of the guys use the Zoom R8 and really rate it, but more expensive but it has more features.

I picked up a used Boss BR80 for around the same price as the Tascam and it's tiny and perfect for what I need. It gets a little fiddly for significant editing work due to the size but it's 8 track and crams a decent stereo mic and a Boss multifx based on the Boss GT10. Means I can take it on holiday or shove it in my bag for rehearsals. It's a great practice tool too as it has slowdown feature so I use it to store all my backing tracks on.

Boss MICRO BR BR-80 Digital Recorder B-Stock

KelvinS1965

I called into Dawsons yesterday and had a chat with their multi-track guru. It seems that all the options they sell would do what I suggest, so any would be a simple way to get my existing tracks off my ageing ZIP drive 8 track. You can then either remove the SD card from the recorder and put it directly into a laptop to burn to CD/rip to MP3, or use the USB connection and utility in the recorder to transfer the stereo mix down track. Certainly seems a bit more straightforward than my existing DAW method.

However, as the ZIP drive is a known failure issue with my current 8 track, the reality is that I will have to replace it at some point. Therefore I think I might just wait a little longer and save up for a model that would be more of an upgrade than a straight/lesser replacement. Otherwise I could just end up buying twice in the long run.

The Tascam DP-32SD is looking favourite at the moment, especially as I'd be able to transfer all four tracks at once off my much older Fostex X15 for posterity. I would tend to use it like a tape recorder, so the editing features would be a bit wasted on me, but the excess of channels(!) means I'd have plenty of options for overdubs/extra takes (even I can pull down a fader on a channel and push it up on another if there is a better take/part on a different track ).