The Filthy Noise

The US-1800 has arrived and is very cool.

crunchysteve — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:08:36 +0000

Well, the audio interface arrived, my Tascam US-1800, and it’s a pretty fine piece of kit so far. On the downside, it requires a driver and won’t aggregate with other audio devices. On the up side, with 14 analogue inputs, 2 SPDIF digital channels and 4 analogue outputs, lack aggregation support isn’t really an problem.

Because it won’t work without the driver, it won’t work with iPad like some smaller models (ie, the US-800) but, provided you don’t connect the device to your Mac or PC before installing the driver, you won’t have a problem with the driver. If you have installed with the device connected, just uninstall, disconnect, restart, reinstall, restart and plug in.

Sound quality is great, no hiss whatsoever. The channel faders are a bit twitchy (and the peak lights, tend to charge up a bit) but, at 24 bit, you can afford to err slightly on the low side with record levels. I’ll have more details on recording quality after tonight, when I plan to record The Collectables’ rehearsal.

The US-1800 comes with two software disks, the driver installer and a copy of CubaseLE. I tend to multitrack in Audacity and export to raw tracks before importing to GarageBand for production and mixdown, but I’ll be giving Cubase a go.

My preference for DAW has always been GB even over Logic because the features get out of the way and let you focus on the sound, rather than routing, fx loops, groups and other analogue desk features that don’t really apply so much in a digital world. So, it will be interesting to see how Cubase stacks up.

- Posted on the go.

The Espy! The F***ing Espy! Whoot

crunchysteve — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:52:55 +0000

March 2 The Collectables play the Basement at St Kilda’s iconic Esplanade Hotel. For a late blooming yokel from double-headed Tasmania, playing the Espy (any room at the Espy!) is a 5 star bucket list item! That Scots waster from the previous band did me a favour because, if I’d stayed with them, there’s no way I’d ever be playing The Espy!

We’re playing The Espy! Whoot!

PK-5A Happens

crunchysteve — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:38:54 +0000

My long-time music friend and blues guitarist, Deadman Turner, has kindly offered to sell me his PK-5A pedal board, an offer I’d be a fool to pass up. This MIDI gadget by Roland is discontinued, and DT’s unit is one of the best kept models I’ve seen. So, in the next few months, expect this bassist to get all Sting on yo’ asses Thank’s DT, VERY much appreciated.

As for a sound module, I’ve ordered an iPad and NLog pro is my app of choice. Coupled with my MIDI-USB cable and the Camera Connection kit, the whole rig’s cheaper than a hardware synth and better sound quality and playability than even Virus hardware. Noice

Kick Hat Kick Snare (repeat)

crunchysteve — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:08:51 +0000

The Collectables got a bit stuck on a song’s beat on Monday night. I could “hear” the perfect riddim in my head but was damned if I could materialise it as a beatbox exercise for Tony. Alex nearly had it, but we both lost it.

Then, last night at Festy Hall, as Papa V. Pretty (dreadfully downplayed support for Incubus, PVP’s mix was awful! Sack the sound guy!) played one of their tunes. (Wrecking Ball, the verse bit) Click, all of a sudden, all I could hear was my bassline over PVP’s beat. Immediate text to Alex

Kick Hat Kick Snare
Kick Hat Kick Snare and swing it.

Update: then Alex found a version of the old line up playing it. Problem solved. Rockin’ little number!

My Last Major PA System & Studio Component for a While.

crunchysteve — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:19:50 +0000

Today I ordered this audio interface so that the band can record gigs and rehearsals as a reference record, or even full albums. The deal was awesome, NZ$ price way less than AU$ price, no freight fee and an overall AU$ cost stupidly below AU$ RRP The US1800 haa 8 balance mic inputs, 2 instrument/line ins, 4 straight line ins and 2 digital S/PDIF channels for 16 simultaneous inputs and 4 outputs over USB2. Schweet Full review when it arrives and is put into service.

UPDATE: Still waiting, hopefully it will arrive today (Feb 8)
UPDATE 2: Apparently being DHL’d tomorrow (Valentine’s Day) eager to get this up and running!

Return of The Collectables

crunchysteve — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:25:51 +0000

There’s word of a whisper that the band I’ve hitched my wagon to, The Collectables, may have a gig soon. More details as they come to hand, probably tomorrow as rehearsal is tonight.

UPDATE: The gig is confirmed, The Collectables are headlining a fantastic 3 band show at Noise Bar (Railway Hotel), Brunswick, on Friday, 24 February. Be there or be a right, regular trapezoid.

The Collectables
The Divine Fluxus
Third band TBA

A Long Break

crunchysteve — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:41:35 +0000

Sorry, dear reader, I’ve been lax, but only for time being sparse over the silly season. I promise to post more soon, truly.

The bad ones are good for you

crunchysteve — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:40:05 +0000

Alex was knackered from it being his second “Friday” in fulltime employment. Tony was struggling with the nebulosity of the info we were giving him for drum parts in two songs. I was screwed into the ground by BAD sleep on an early start and a looooooooong day.

Not every rehearsal makes us feel good, but we become better players just as much from the bad ones as the good. That is all.

Deep, Deep, Deep RAWK!

crunchysteve — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:09:28 +0000

I’ve ALWAYS loved Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water.” I reckon it’s arguably the best song off the best album in the history of balls-to-the-wall rock. Guitar, hih-hats, bass, LET THERE BE ROCK!

So, for years I’ve had this bug bear. Because of SOTW’s school holiday music shop shred reputation. I’ve never got to play it, properly with a band. Nobody wants to do it justice and play it right because they’re afraid of everybody thinking “awful high school kid in a music shop.” Eff off! Played properly, it sounds NOTHING like that kid.

Well, at a social jam on Friday night, a bunch of old farts like me, including a guitarist veritably CHANNELLING Ritchie Blackmore at his peak, cracked it out old school. Tick that one off the bucket list, I can rest easy now, I’ve finally played in an awesome session with awesome musos and the coolest vocals by a great singer.

I think the lovely Linda recorded it, too, but we’ve got to clean up the hard disk before we can capture it off the camera.

GarageBand on iPhone = Awesome

crunchysteve — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:49:24 +0000

GarageBand on iPhone. Not as easy to use as on a MacBook but Amplitube iRig and MultitrackDAW seriously want to rethink their pricing! This top dog of “prosumer” Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) is killer at AU$5:50 on the App Store, yet pretty much does most of what it’s Macintosh sibling does, except mayby track counts and inputs.

Onscreen instruments are better suited to iPad, I think, but still quite usable for sketching a melody or bass line. The Automatic Instruments seem at first play to be a little “samey” but I think there’s a knack to how you you use them which will come with experience. It’s certainly better than having a favourite drum loop and using it over and over in the same song, though. (Guilty as charging myself…)

The interfaces for tracks are familiar, too. The effects are done in a typically iOS way, but make sense in a GarageBand way. There guitar amps (shown), effects pedals (shown), loops and recording tools are are all really nice simplifications for use on a smaller screen than your usual music DAW.

Like I say, familiar in evry way. Also, I’m told 4S has full USB classes, so I’ll be getting a camera adapter kit soon to try out my iMic, Singstars and GuitarLink. GarageBand for iPhone, worth every cent of its $5:49 price tag.