jimmarchi1's forum posts 8022

Importance... I don't think that word means what you think it means.

I have a great ear and I use it, but you're just wrong about training. Early training backs my ear up as a writer, arranger and even a transcriber of other people's songs and arrangements.

chord names are more of a jazz/rock/pop thing... good to know but not what I mean when I say classical training...

I'm sure your ear gets you by. That said I am respectfully rolling my eyes at your entire statement.

wait, since when did venue owners at any level below the big time pay per musician?

No, this predatesyoutube

maybe globally, but if the issue was geographical we would all wind up in bands together and the uneducated would cluster together as well

god my vocal sucks.... HELP ME EB!

you know what, I hate being the only classically trained musician in every project I participate in... you feel isolated amongst a bunch of mindless bashers who you are constantly tryng to sheppard along, even the accomplished players are often incredibly unmusical and just don't 'get it'

people who have never spent serious time in a student orchestra or big band are more concerned with what they CAN do than what they ought to do...

but I love popular music.... so it is what it is

oh my god, I was my band's tech! guitar/bass setups, amp maintenance, making cables between shows.... and I ahd a tech and a roadie at that time, but tneither were up to the bg jobs so I just grudgingly put my axe down and got my tools out....

the worst is when you are writing 90% of the music, arranging everything, teching AND losing 75% of income to 4 way split with guys who are taking a cut of not only tour revenue BUT ALSO hold copyrights and publishing on amterial they contributed no more than 2 notes to, and those were in the arrangement and not technically part of the actual copyright!

lesson learned, being egalitarian only encourages people to mooch

I find myself unwilling to start over or play many shows as an amature because I got spoiled getting paid to play larger venues, even as a support act for big time bands. At worst we broke even (including gas, tolls, road crew and food/lodging). When things shrunk down at the end of my successful band I felt quite bitter about it was still making demands of small club owners that we would never have had the balls to make when we were starting out, just feeling excited to get on any stage at any cost...

as far as drummers, I am really spoiled having worked with some great ones on both sides of the glass including having had a long musical relationship with the drummer for Thrill Kill Kult from the late 90s until the end of the so-called noughties... I would rather make techno music than train another mediocre drummer to be a first class ensemble player. In my successful band we started with 2 different studio drummers who cycled in and out and were both demanding, fixated on money (one ofthem had a serious gambling problem he was always trying to fund at my expense) and were just generally insane (and I am not usually one to talk). At the behest of the other band members we dumped them in favor of a guitarist who experimented with drums in his free time who I had to sit and train. Ironically he became very 'in demand' in philly after our band broke up, not because of his fancy chops but because I gave him metronomic time and harnessed his guitarist's sense for ensemble playing and helped him apply it to his fills etc. I can't even get that guy to play with me now even though I literally MADE him the drummer he is now.

these days I just find it easier to go down the electronic path

no humans were harmed during the making of this track

Karaoke? I dunno, there's a lot of legit playing mixed in with the sequencing on this song, even some of the unorthodoxed percussion is loops of me actually performing with broken bike chains, pipes, cookie sheets and rubber mallets, LOL... and the tonal instruments have a real 50/50 mix of performance and mechanical sequences....

people who can't read but try to play western music... I don't mean you need to site read like a session musician, but if you look at a piece of music on a page you should have a general idea what it sounds like after a few minutes...

I am just sick of dealing with people who have the mechanics down but cannot read... even close friends. It takes FOREVER to get something across to them, even if you have a nice tidy demo and I no longer have the free time to hold every player's hand until they are ready to jump in and make a part their own.

yes... I used to A/B a Plexi or JMP against an early Dual Showman on the road.... eventually the rig grew and became less about clean and dirty and more about layering different textures while working my volume control to vary the amount of grunt, but I began with basically what you are describing, just louder... for a while recently my jamming rig had 2 heads on a head switcher for clean and dirty sharing a 2x12 cab, but I found I seldom went fully clean and that I could get clean enough for my purposes using my guitar volume

the Deluxe Reverb is a great amp but probably does not have enough headroom to stay bone clean against the supersonic given that the supersonic is the same basic output topology but with more ounch thanks to a solid state rectifier... unless you keep the super's master criminally low or run it on an attenuator to halve the output to the speaker then I would suggest something more like a blackface tremolux or super reverb to keep up with an overdriven 20 to 30 watt amp

I recommend Radial Engineering's switchers... you will probably get best results with their active ABY, the switchbone.... I swear by mine. Its beat to shit and I still use it. Never needed a backup, never had it go down and it played thousands of shows. The active circuitry can be dialed in by ear via a recessed toggle to sound VERY transparent. It also has a bult in boost with 2 different mid boost modes as well as a fully adjustable full-range mode. Worth the couple hundred bucks they cost. Everything else out there either gave me hum issues, had iffy sound quality, or was not robust enough for heavy gigging.

An aside, there are great options for low wattage overdrive amps outside of the Fender camp. Overdrive was never fender's specialty, they just got lucky with the tweeds, tweed amps were never designed to be blues monsters, they just came out that way due to the limited technology of the 50s. All thru Leo's run at his own company you see him push for cleaner, punchier and ore open sounding amps... I would recommend a tweed deluxe for OD, but given your choice of the supersonic I expect you want a tighter bottom and more modern drive character. If you can find one, the Marshall studio15 is well worth the hefty buy in.

thanks for listening, Jeff

it just kinda turned itself into synth pop the last month, I had a bunch of basic stuff programmed into MIDI back in January/February so I could jimmy with the structure and improve on keys and guitar over it and it just took off since I had a lot of synths fired up already to do remixes.... so a few weeks ago I opened the MIDI files and started assigning hardware and software to them and creating samples in my shed, LOL (for instance it opens with a rhythm loop created by slowing down a broken bike chain as it fails to rotate properly... I was fixing my bike and thought it was pretty groovin' broken)

here's more or less what I think the vocal should sound like, only with a real singer...

I did my best trying to give a tolerable vocal performance and really put a good couple evening's work into doing some cool stuff with the vocal in the mix.... much to my son's consternation. Hes totally sick of this song even though he was dancing to it the first 100 or so playbacks....

the reason I pushed the ac4 point is because nothing truly cops amp breakup if you are going to be discerning... I am sure you can get a boutique OD pedal to give you a horseshoes and handgrenades approximation though

I just don't get why the soundman won't let you use your very expensive 4 watt bedroom amp.... its really not very loud, mostly sub-gig level except in full bore power amp distortion with the master wide open

a lot of church guys use full size ac30s, its a very popular praise and worship platform and the ac30 is easily twice as loud as the ac4 if they are both thru a big 2x12, thru its internal speaker the ac4 is considerably lower in sound pressure... I don't think I've ever emt a praise band player who used anything smaller than an ac15 or Princeton reverb both at about 15 watts....

thanks Ebow... I have since improved a few spots in the arrangement/structure, added an electric guitar lick and synth double, finished the music mix and done a scratch vocal I have been carefully comping and mixing in case no one with a better voice volunteers to sing for me.... but god does my vocal suck, so I hope posting it will encourage someone to do a better version for me and maybe even fix my mediocre lyrics

if you got the sound with the AC4 why look further?

2 words to contradict this: Glenn Campbell

https://youtu.be/4qoymGCDYzU

but I guess his bass VI/baritone playing that sat so well between the guitar and bass players in his band is the exception that proves the rule...

we all go through the big strings phase encouraged by players like SRV to think that thick gauges have thick tone regardless of the neck scale, wood in the guitar, pickups and signal chain... derp, brian may, billy gibbons and many others make 8 gauges (and I think in billy's case 7s) sound huge because they know their gear and are monster players in their idioms....

use the gauge of strings that holds tune well for multiple songs in adverse stage conditions and that feels effortless to play (this does not always mean less tension as too light a gauge can be tough to control when bending for those of us who don't have a super light touch)

I think you said that last year, Boom. Or something along those lines.

I hate closed minded musicians, especially folks who are otherwise talented. People who say thing like "I can't work on music without a prominent guitar in it" or "I'm not going to play rock guitar anymore now that I took a few jazz lessons."

the AD30 is a slightly modified ac30, its a little fuzzier with more precise control of the mids at the expense of some jangle set clean.... at full bore the AD lacks the clarity of a good vox ac30 or matchless c30.... I have voxes and a matchless, a guy I played in a band bought a 1st run AD single channel like page's after I started using the matchless live with my old plexis and it does that zep reunion and page/plant on mtv thing in spades, but its not as versatile overall as a vox.... now, a customclassic ac30 is voiced too bright (more like an ac50 mk2) to do the page thing, you will want a 90s reissue or fawn tolex handwired for a pagey sound... I have played through just about every era f ac30, see my review for more info if that's a sound you are interested in... I'm an ac30 expert having been inside lots of them. Such a great amp.

I'm a fan of ALL music, but the ac30 was a reat find being form the eyar the boys got their black ac30s

dude, page used everything, LZ1 is a supro, had one, cool amp, very pagey, on trick poney but what a trick

LZ2 had a solid state ric amp, a hybrid vox UL series like the beatles used on Revolver (you can ehar it allover the track particularly in living loving maid) and a little marshall superlead, maybe an early matamp orange and of course little supros again

LZ3 and 4 have more marshall but also lots of ac30 as well as an even smaller 5 watt supro practice amp sort of like a fender champ that delivered the stairway solo.... subsequent albums used even more ac30

live page started with a superlead and sound city (think the who's hiwatt), switched to a custom hiwatt (many people think that's his best tone, its pretty nice), then back to the marshall though heavily modded for more headroom, there were some orange 120s ons tage though maybe just for theremin, dunno.... then after zep he went ac30 and fendercustomshop amps for awhile as well as those petersbiurg amps that are basically communist JCM800s on steroids... now he uses a mix of orange ad30s which are basically gained up ac30 copies and orange custom shop 50 waters that seem to be a lot like the original oranges with the cathodyne phase splitter and baxandall tone stack

the consistent thigs in his rig are really the tonebender fuzz and EP3 delay... he elaves them on a lot of the time and works his volume controls.... the amps changed a lot, his technique and primitive effects are most of his sound... Page ahs been really open about his settings for stage amps being 'just on the edge of breakup'.... heavier distortion is more the fuzz and the lift you gt from the famous echoplex preamp circuitry

some of the other bands you want to emulate are a lot more stereotypical plexi stuff... ut there's more to emulating these sounds than just getting a plexi so don't stress over your amp.... any decently made tube amp will usually get you a good guitar sound

I eman, I got the 1st ac30 as a beatles guy, but I have almost NEVER copped a beatles tone from it except in jest, I actually tend to play my voxes at above 5 on the volume and favor the normal channel over the top boost, I embraced them because they do MY sound, not because I could get my hero's sound... though I admit I own a brain may treble boost and sometimes get my Queen on when no one is around to hear it

sorry, I am totally rambling at you today... I have a cold and can't get my thoughts straight

anyway, maybe buy yourself one of those little JTM1s, they soud good in their own right and have righteous crunch at bedroom level

oh, and 50 to 100 watts is loud as fuck pushed o full bore distortion even thru inefficient speakers with 2 to 4 db attenuation... LOUD

I still have a 50 watt traynor and even attenuated a bit thru really inefficient light magnet celestions it peels the paint off the walls by 3 on the volume dial... its fun, but I have to be in the right mood to play it at home

No, I meant the dirty little secret (DLS), the channel switching amrshalls like the DSL are junk and not worth talking about... marshall's last really good designs were the single channel 800s, 900 SLX and the rare Studio 15, though those amps are different shades of 80s arena marshall, not a lot of cream and free tones in them

no, matchless does not make a complete clone of anything, the model I was going to suggest is a unique design with a marshally flavor that breaks up at reasonable volumes, but it costs more than a plexi reissue so never mind.... if you don't have a budget just forget about early marshall tones; old ones, RIs and boutique clones have really gotten pricey the last 15 years.... back when I was acquiring amrshalls in the late 90s and early 2000s there were still deals to be found, but these days? ugh

work with what you have and be yourself.... when I was collecting old amrshalls years ago I stumbled on a 62 ac30 for a reasonable price and vox has defined my sound ever since... I wasn't thinking it would replace the marshalls in my affection, I just got it because I'm a beatles fan and it was more of a piece of memorabilia for me at the time.... but after bonding with it I went on to buy vox after vox and currently own 3 ac30s and NO marshalls

I would suggest a late 60s or early 70s traynor as an alternative, but the prices are getting steep on those too, especially in Europe and the UK

People seem to like the 1 watt marshalls and having tried them I thought they had very good voices all their own, but only the 800 version really evokes its namesake, the others are just good sounding bedroom amps

unless you're going to be a session musician you should just focus on your own sound and being the ebst you that you can be, bonding with whatever gear you can afford and building a signature tone around it

part of the sound is the loudness.... the DLS gets horsehoes and handgrenades close as does the newest version of the plexidrive and Xotic's SL drive, but no cigar.... its as much about the speakers and cabinets as anything, plus the clean up and dynamics just can't be replicated by anything less than a similar amp... if you GO DLS it won't sound its best unless you have a blackface fender, Nic voiced them for the deluxe reverb.

I'm kind of an authority as I have owned plexis, JMPs, clones/boutiques and toured them extensively... nothing quite like it....

solution 3 is your best bet.... or joina band with a dedicated rehearsal space where you can actually use the thing as it was intended to be used.... I gotta tell you I almost NEVER even had my superleads in my home, they were usually at the rehearsal space or studio because they are just a pointless amp for playing alone.... oh, and get an attenuator like a hotplate in case angry soundmen are shouting at you to turn down from 10.... up to -4dB attenuation sounds pretty okay and better than digital modelling or an ampinthebox pedal to my ear

or you can get a bluesbreaker or similar amp like a traynor and rebias her for 6V6es, that will take you where you wanna go, though you'll have to be aware that it will cause an impedance mismatch and possibly eat tubes without additional modding, but the JTM45 works pretty well with 6V6es due to the GZ34 rectifier nd the fact that it original used KT66es, a beam trtrode like the 6V6 versus the alter plexi sound that uses the EL34, a true pentode with a very different character to a 6_6 type tretrode....

have you tried any matchless amps?

one, electronic forum is probably a better place to post this and get informed answers

two, you will want to give a lot more detail about your working methods to get sound advice here....

for instance, I can't make electronic music without my Yamaha P-85 as a full size controller for my real and virtual instruments, but I need all the keys and I need the realistic weighting and aftertouch because I legitimately play the piano, but if I didn't I could be happy with a lot less keys or maybe none at all....

my advice is to get as much physical control of software as possible, maximum knobs, faders, pads and keys with the best feel possible, if it takes 2 controllers to do that then fine...

the mix so far:

original demo:

as you can hear there have been many refinements including changes to the 'chorus' and 2nd verse, I ditched the bridge completely and used some harmonic ideas from the chorus to create musical breaks, but this has the basic vocal concept... I would be grateful for lyrical help and melodic tweaks to pull it all together...

needs a KILLER vocal, please respond if you are willing to collaborate with me!

welcome.... you have a lovely country; beer, cheese and Front242... sometimes its good to take time off from the guitar and play another instrument for a little to gain perspective and avoid falling into a rut.

sort of... depends how hard the clipping (and therefore compression) of the drive is.... a softer drive or a tube pedal will be comdination of boost gain, drive gain and drive output as well as amp controls all working in sympathy to produce clipping at different circuit points as well as to create a composite volume.... hard to explain, read a book

its the message board, its meant to be chatty... its shame your DX needs work, but who cares about the pitch bend? its totally rick wakeman!

doesn't get that hot? try turning the treble all the way down and gunning the gain. In hot mode the ground on the tonestack is lifted minimizing the effect of the treble control, however it DOES act as a gain control for the mids, by turning it all the way down you max midrange gain and its a SUBSTANTIAL boost compared to hot mode with the treble above 2ish

I remember that article.... Scotty is sorely missed.

but how much circuitry is in those pedals? and did you have them all maxed out? you said 'boost'

I dunno, I just assumed you had your whole board hooked up too... try letting the ac4 do more of the heavy lifting, you would be surprised what its capable of in hot mode as long as you don't dial the master volume full back to bedroom wanker.

I can change the key on demand to suit whoever, but good point... I really like it in B minor to D minor

anyone interested in singing a great lead vocal for me on a pop/dance track? its somewhere between house music/EDM and mid-period Depeche Mode so far... based on the song I was writing for an earlier EB collab that never materialized.

I'm looking for a crooning male vocalist with the ability to 'growl' as needed but will consider a female singer if shes got soul... any help? If you sing my song well, maybe one day I will do a favor for YOU!

you load up a pile of cheaply made gadgets and weir interactions occur... you have an LFO in there even if its not effecting the audio its always on and LFOs have strange itneractions with excessive gain stages of which you have plenty, there's typically some filtering or gating in any LFO circuit that's always on to prevent the oscillator from thumping in time when you aren't playing and that could also be the culprit. These are the perils of using lots of effects.

Roland dropped a lot of gadgets on us yesterday including the boutique series TR909 clone, but most surprising is another 303 type of synth:

https://www.roland.com/us/products/tb-03/

its a modeler but the interface and appearance is right there so it can go toe to toe with the Bassbot and the price is right in there with a used x0xb0x, maybe cheaper. Definitely cheaper than the Bassbot. I expected a new Roland 303 to be cost than the clones, but its not very expensesy at about $350.... but will their ACB modelling sound right? At the least the sequencer is right and could be used to create realistic patterns for other monosynths. The video demos, of course, sound retty legit:

https://youtu.be/xcje0uhewfg

Anyone planning to go out and try one this week?

no no, the back profile is not to my liking! I'm not picky about frets or radius, I have everything from 7.5" to 14" and in old guitars you get whatever frets were in fashion in the 60s, 70s, 80s and you just go with it... but I really like a deep, soft V or 59/60 style Gibson shape that's not wuite a baseball bat but gets close to an inch at the thickest part because its less fatiguing in classical position as well as bluesy positions with my thumb up... you think thinner is faster, but its fatiguing if you have long hands like mine

the Baja's switching is very cool actually, the series position has its place... I actually recently changed my number 1 tele to 5 way with all 3 modern positions as well as two series positions, in and out of phase for Brian May meets Brad Paisley sounds thru my Voxes and Matchless... I never bump positions because the control plate is setup volume-tone-switch. I can adjust my volume with my pinky but no matter how sloppy I get I can't bump the pickup selector by mistake. I always rewire teles like that if I plan on keeping them.

I really like the Bajas, but its really just that the neck is fatter versus the wimpy little American Special neck

needs a lil tweakin' but I am really proud of this

and the original version by Raymond

https://soundcloud.com/raymondhayter/surfing-the-solar-wind