Dave Bryce

I ran Alesis’ synth marketing division about 25 years ago. Most of what I knew about the DG8 was not of a technical nature, unfortunately….and what I did know then is probably forgotten at this point. Sorry. dB

Re: Atmos Binaural, I’ve made this observation myself. It’s especially noticeable for me listening to Atmos remixes and the respective stereo fold downs of older material on Apple Music, then listening to original stereo mixes and switching back and forth to and from Spatial processing. When listening to actual Atmos mixes on a multiple speaker setup, I’m not sure the hype thing is an issue. Not so easy to A/B, though. dB

Available at MPN Shop. Intro price $29.99 dB

Not always. There's a time limit. I forget exactly how long... Same thing with posts, if memory serves. They can only be edited for so long. dB

Wasn't me. dB

I think the Roland Handsonic (HP20) can do that. dB

Cherry Audio just released their first drum machine plug-in! Introductory sale price $49. Now available at the MPN Shop. dB

My usual rig is a Kurz Forte 7 and a Korg Kronos 61. Not bank breakers, but not exactly cheap either dB

I’ve been a fan of these guys since they appeared on Snarky Puppy’s Family Dinner Vol. 2. dB

I’m figuring on a low scoring game. Both team’s defenses are playing really well currently. I think SF has more raw talent…but KC has a better QB, and a more experienced coach. As with last year, if #15 is allowed to hold on to the ball as long as he wants, I suspect KC will find a way to win. dB

Totally with you. That’s always been one of my favorite things to do…and then mess with the style and arrangement of the tune. Similar to the way I cook. 😁 dB

I’ve never heard the Durham, but I’m told the technology is similar to the Cloudlifter. What got me interested in the dBooster is because it was made by Royer, who I believe pioneered the active ribbon mic circuit. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it for years, and was curious what all the fuss was about. So far, I’m pretty impressed. dB

Honestly, I’m not sure what I’m looking for. I figure maybe it’s a combination of things… There’s another factor at play. I find myself listening to the craziest amount of music these days. Some old familiar selections, but way more stuff with which I’m not so familiar. Not streaming services, either - mostly vinyl and CDs. I find that I pay more attention when I make a conscious choice to hear a specific body of work by an artist or band. Not just in passing or as background, either - I find I’m paying a lot of attention to the playing, the arranging and the production. I frequently sit in the sweet spot of my music room and just listen. 🥰 I think that’s one of the things that’s affecting my difficulty in picking music to play. Perhaps I’m in more of an input phase than an output phase at the moment. 🤔 Currently listening to side 2 of the John Coltrane Quartet’s “Ballads” record. Just finished listening to Side 3 of the “Live In Montreal’ record Hiromi did with harpist Edmar Castaneda. Chet Atkins’ ‘Hifi In Focus” record is on deck. Maybe Electric Flag’s “The Band Kept Playing” record after that… dB

Many useful suggestions here. Greatly appreciated! dB

I’m kind of the same. I can wander around on guitar playing cover songs and just exploring chord changes and scale fingerings on guitar more easily/longer than keys these days. Probably because I’ve spent way less time getting guitar songs ready for bands or recording, so my expectations aren’t as locked in. I don’t read as well as I probably should, so classical music past things like Bach inventions or Hanon exercises aren’t something for which I typically reach. dB

Exactly my problem. dB

I’ve actually just acquired one of Royer’s R10 mics along with one of their dBoosters. I’ve been using it on my piano, and have been surprised and delighted with the results. Really natural and full sounding, and way easy to position. I've been A/Bing the dBooster with one of my Cloudlifters, and frankly the dBooster has a cleaner, sweeter, more coherent sound. Been switching back and forth between the +12dB and +20 dB setting, and I think I like the +12 a bit better - feels a bit more dynamically sensitive. Also, I’ve found that the channel compression from my SSL SiX that I would normally use on my piano mic isn’t really necessary with the R10 and dBooster. dB

I’m having an odd situation occur. Hoping I can get some help/suggestions from y’all. I’m not really playing in a band right now so I don’t really have any tunes to learn or practice, and I’m not working on any recording projects. Consequently, when I sit down to play keyboards or pick up a guitar, I’m having difficulty choosing what to play. I don’t feel like doing scales or exercises, and I’m not really inspired to sit and improvise (which is what I usually do when I sit down to play with no immediate goals). I’ve even tried working with newer instruments to try and learn more about them…but I’m having trouble coming up with material to play while I’m exploring. Is this a problem any of you come across? If so, what do you do to move past it? dB

I was motivated by a bunch of factors. First of all, Amazon. I couldn’t help but notice that a whole lot of people buy gear from them, and there aren’t many sales ….nor the ability to bargain on price, or talk to anyone about purchases being considered. For the most part, I intentionally kept the product listings to affordable offerings in an attempt to make that decision even easier. I also tried to keep the selections more towards utility-type products than things like instruments (except software, of course). I was even able to add one of my favorite lines: Strymon - a way cool boutique brand that (as far as I can tell) never goes on sale and is only carried by a few select dealers. Another factor is that I don’t love selling banners. I couldn't help but wonder if the folks who come here would consider buying some gear here instead to help support MPN…. 🤔 I also figured - incorrectly - that when it came to stuff like software and the available discounts on planned dates (Black Friday, etc) that if we offered the same prices here as the software manufacturers and dealers did that it would make a difference. It didn’t. Neither did free shipping on the hardware stuff. Lastly, there’s a long-standing vision for this place that’s kind of like a digital town. We have virtual bars, town halls, schools, libraries, theaters, concert venues, and a trade show hall, so it seems logical that having a local store here could be a good addition. Boy, do I hear ya. 😬 I appreciate you saying that. ☺️ I didn’t kid myself that pretty much everyone who comes here already has a bunch of familiar and comfortable options to buy gear already. It was probably a better idea to find an established retail partner and figure out a way for them to open a “store” here. I sort of tried making that happen with the Kraft folks, but that didn’t pan out. Not sure they were the right partner… I sincerely hope that y’all don’t take any of this as any sort of complaint or guilt trip. Hey, I made no secret of the fact that I considered this an experiment. Honestly, I feel it was worth the effort, because now I know the answer to the questions that I had about how well it would work. I’m one of those crazy people who believe that the only way to learn is to try. 😎 dB

IIRC, Mr. Lange was married to Ms. Twain when he produced her record. dB

Audacity rules. 😎 dB

So, Waldorf is offering the MPN Shop their software products to add to our lineup; however based on the extremely low sales of the other software (and hardware) lines we currently carry, I’m not inclined to take the the time to add this line….or any other lines, for that matter. Truth be told, I’ve already turned a couple of the lines off. As far as I can tell, we’ve managed to keep up with the specials and discounts offered…but for all intents and purposes it does appear that the MPN Shop in general has not been a desirable addition to the community. Any comments or feedback would be welcome. dB

All pretty much fine in Thousand Oaks…but then again, we live up on a higher elevation than most of our valley. dB

Seems pretty on topic to me… 😎 👍 dB

Just watched it (brought COVID home from NAMM, so I’m catching up on TV time). Very cool and interesting documentary. Brought the amount of effort it took to pull this off into a whole new perspective for me. dB