Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

Do we have any musical people on DC?

<< < (52/65) > >>

wraith808:
Hmm, I'm getting double notifications from DC at the moment  :huh:

I did Chords 101 with no problem but Chords 102 was baffling; I just couldn't keep up. And the easiest songs just expect you to play chords that you've never "learned." I guess some out-of the-game practice is needed.

But for now I've moved it aside as I'm currently trying to learn violin (!) with my 7-year-old. If you thought listening to someone learn to play violin was painful, you should hear two people trying at once  :o
-ayryq (February 08, 2016, 06:23 PM)
--- End quote ---

In my personal play, I sorted by difficulty, and started at the top.  The lessons needed for the particular song seemed to come up in the Rocksmith Recommends area.  I haven't even done any of the 102 courses yet, though I probably should.   I've learned from that point organically, and from the games and the score attack.  As far as playing chords you haven't learned, they do recommend that you look at chords outside of their suggestions, though most of those have come in the Rocksmith Recommends area also.

I'd recommend when going back, just jump into the songs and follow the Rocksmith Recommends curriculum.  It's pretty good, I've found, about picking up what you don't know, and making it simpler, without doing that immediately.

Vurbal:
As 40Hz already knows, I bought a new Schecter 5 string bass about the time I stopped posting to this thread last year. With a budget of only $400, I was actually planning to buy something used, which really sucks for a lefty. Fortunately for me, Schecter had discontinued this particular model, and I managed to get one literally a couple days before they became pretty much impossible to find. As a bonus, the new price was about what I'd probably get selling it used, so it was practically a zero risk purchase.

I fell in love with it the first time I played it, and I love it just as much now. It's everything I expected from a Schecterat that price (it normally sold for around $650 - $700), except for one annoyance. I say annoyance, but had I payed full price, or if I had to pay someone to fix the 1 design flaw I discovered, I'd be pretty pissed. Instead, I'm mildly annoyed with them, and more annoyed with myself for not tracking the issue down sooner.

To make a long story short (mark that on your calendar), Schecter put passive EMG pickups in the bass, which is fine, but then they paired them with the wrong EMG EQ module. EMG sells 2 OEM specific EQ stacks, one for active pickups (which most of theirs are) and another for passive pickups. Not being an OEM, I can't be sure, but I'm betting the active pickup (200k input impedance) version is cheaper than the passive (1M input impedance) one, because it doesn't need to include a buffer (which active pickups have) to avoid impedance loading the pickups. Even if they're the same price, generally, I know Schecter sells a bunch of basses with active pickups, so it would probably have increased the cost moderately to buy a separate (and smaller) batch of high impedance tone stacks).

Whatever their reasons, here's what the difference between 1M and 200k looks like on a frequency plot. They're different pickups, but the effect is fundamentally the same. There are actually 3 different impedance options listed, because it's for an Audere preamp with a variable impedance option. However, the Low Z and Mid Z plots are for the exact impedances for the active and passive pickup EQ modules, respectively. Not to mention that 1M is what every standard onboard preamp uses, and for the exact same reason.



Fortunately, it turns out Bartolini sells a reasonably priced buffer/preamp circuit, so I can fix it without buying an entire preamp/EQ unit. At this point, I can't say I even know what either the pickups or EQ sound like when wired properly, so it would be wasteful to replace them without finding out - especially at nearly half the original cost of the bass.

40hz:
Just a quick note about an excellent set of affordable headphones for studio use. Check out the Sony MDR-V6 Studio Monitor headset. Close to dead flat and an amazing 5-30kHz (that's right 5 as in F-I-V-E) frequency range. If you're a bass player, these are ideal for plugging into a headphone practice amp or jack. Plenty of accurate bass response without those eardrum damaging overtones you get with general purpose or gaming headphones which are designed to "enhance" the low end.

You can buy them for around $80 street/online. They're amazing. To get something better you'd need to spend a few hundred (and then some) on top of that $80. And the sonic improvement wouldn't be as great as you'd think it would be.

Great for studio and recording use. And exceptional for dealing with bass frequencies. A quick Google will spot you numerous rave reviews.

Highly recommended.

ayryq:
Check out the Sony MDR-V6 Studio Monitor headset.
-40hz (February 19, 2016, 07:24 PM)
--- End quote ---

I have (and love) the very similar MDR-7506 headphones and I think they have the same ear pads. On mine the vinyl coating on the ear cushions started flaking off after a couple years. Got in my hair and shirt every time I wore them. So budget an extra $30 to get the Beyerdynamic EDT250V "velour" ear pads which are much more durable, and just as comfortable as the originals.

40hz:
I found this flat out fascinating...

Craig Leon, famous for his work with The Ramones and Blondie, as well as his work in the classical arena with such leading artists as Luciano Pavarotti, Joshua Bell and Sir James Galway, talks about the inspiration behind and the process of creating his latest record: "Bach to Moog."

In 1968, the album ‘Switched On Bach’ inspired many musicians of the time to explore the wondrous new world of synthesized music making. This ground-breaking album was the first ever to take standard classical repertoire and interpret it solely on a device which generated new sounds electronically. Although there had been research and sonic experiments earlier, it was after this breakthrough release that the synthesizer entered the mainstream of modern experimental and pop music recording.

As a welcome extension to the synthesized exploration of Bach’s music and the many creative opportunities that opened up 50 years ago, ‘Bach to Moog’ album integrates the Moog modular synthesizer into the orchestra as a solo instrument, in ensemble and also as a processor of other instruments.
--- End quote ---

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page