kelp

Black is the new black. I love the revised look!

Go with your instincts. I try to picture myself on the same stage and assess whether I'm comfortable being a part of what's being presented. Then I think about what disclaimers I'd have to make to my closest friends/musicians who might come see us.

This one goes in the "everything kills you" category! I have a small EMF meter and we like to keep an eye on levels in the home. At least one study CLONK recommends that a level of 1 mG (milliGauss) maximum is tolerable long-term. Our home in the city seems to hover around 1.5 mG. Getting close to select appliances raises levels. Oh. Yeah. Keyboards. There's almost no level increase when I power on my Yamaha P-125, but my Nord Lead A1 spikes to almost 100 mG from the playing position! The Nord also has a notoriously noisy power supply. Anybody looked into their situation before? Concerns? Nonsense?

I'm gonna quote myself from that first link! Posted a month ago. Still valid. We have six people connected (one that is 150 miles away).

After trying a couple of different options, I've had the best luck with Jamulus. Here are some key points: 1. Everyone should have an audio interface with a low-latency driver. Stay away from built-in soundcards and ASIO4ALL. 2. Everyone should be wired. WiFi, regardless of speed, has too much packet jitter. 3. Run your own server. The Jamulus install allows this. You need to understand how to forward ports in your router. 4. Depending on distance, better results may be achieved by having the person most centrally located run the server. 5. Monitor yourself locally (mute yourself in the app mixer). 6. Understand that the timekeeper has the worst situation. If a beat is played, I hear it and react to it. The drummer hears my latency. As others play with the drummer I obviously hear their latency. 7. Understand that things won't be perfect. Audio will garble from time to time. Don't expect "CD quality" sound. 8. Ensure minimal network traffic at your location. No Netflix. No YouTube. No Zoom. Etc. Given all of this, I've had successful rehearsals with drums-bass-guitar-keys-vocals, even with faster tempo songs (>160bpm). Ideal? Far from it. Workable? Yes.

Cubase user here. I stay current and am on 10.5 Pro (Windows). Looking at the comparison chart, the Pro features I use most are VariAudio, tempo detection, audio alignment (HUGE time-saver for me), loudness metering, and spectral curve comparisons. The careful observer will note that most of these are all corrective features! Yes, I get tracks from people and they need touching up. Available in other versions, I reach for Retrologue, Groove Agent, and Halion Sonic SE. MIDI capabilities are great. I don't use any compositional tools like the chord pad. I used to use the score editor but have switched to the free version of Dorico. I like the look and I count myself to be a fan. Every DAW will have its strengths and weaknesses.

Is it legal? Or is it against the law?

I've tried to use jamkazam in the past, but my internet speed wasn't up to snuff. My bandwidth is now very good, but jamkazam seems to be out of commission. Lots of 404 hits on their website. Forum is missing. Installer doesn't load. I read on another forum that they are overloaded. Not sure which is true. Just turned to jamulus and have had some initial luck with it.

They have three subscription options - digital only, print only, digital+print. The last one certainly offers what you describe.

I received mine. I've had this happen though 2-3 times over the last several years. SOS has always been good about shipping out a replacement issue. I've never had results by contacting the post office. I would contact SOS and specifically ask for a replacement. If you don't get satisfaction feel free to PM me. I'd be happy to send you mine (as I typically part with it when the new one arrives).

Thanks everyone. I'm digging into all suggestions. MXR said the Micro Amp would color the tone. I assume due to the 1M input impedance? They suggested the CAE Boost/Line driver for cleaner boost (only a little more expensive). The advice that a little can go a long way strikes me as practical.

I do have a little Mackie mixer but am trying to go with something more compact. That Yamaha looks cool - thanks for the tip. I'm now wondering if the Nord's output is -10 and if a +4 level shift pedal would help...

The inputs are not coupled. The line input goes directly to the power section. This setup technique is listed in the Bass Block manual (and recommended by Pat Quilter himself).

I play either synth bass or electric bass on a song-by-song basis in my current band. The synth bass comes from a Nord Lead A1. My head is a Quilter Bass Block 800. The electric bass goes into the instrument input and the Nord goes into the line input. If I run the Nord"s output around 75% (with patch volumes at max), the electric bass matches volume around '3" on the instrument gain knob. I then set the master volume of the Quilter for overall volume. I sometimes feel like I"m running out of volume. It"d be easy enough to boost the electric bass, but that throws off the balance between the two instruments. Any recommendations for boosting the Nord"s output? The manual says it"s unbalanced, line level (no other specs). A pedal is preferred. Perhaps the MXR Micro Amp? It"s input impedance is 1M; output impedance is 470. The Quilter"s line input impedance is 10k. Thanks.

Bait taken. Thanks for the tip!

Yet another comment that the Akai is fussy (as Sound On Sound put it) about samples. Like RudyS said, you have to "wash" them (so to speak) in Audacity. I have had no luck exporting from Cubase (in a variety of formats) and importing. Edit: Ah. I see it was related to BWF metadata. Never figured that out before.

I enjoy the music and try not to direct attention to myself. The reason I'm out is because someone else is the focus. If there's a breakdown bongo section then the bongoist [yeah, it's a word!] should get the spotlight.

Thanks so much for checking that! The reverb is per-slot, yes? Does it also follow the panning? But I do understand what you're saying about getting only half the image, which is curious. That means setting the output to a stereo pair and panning it is the same as sending it to a single output.

I think I just found the answer in the Nord forum (courtesy of Infinite5ths): https://www.norduserforum.com/nord-lead-rack-forum-f12/4-outs-on-a-nord-a1-t10043.html It seems the System Menu routing function controls the routing option for each slot (but still applied globally).

My intended use case is to split the keyboard and have slots 1,2 play combined in mono and slots 3,4 play combined in mono for a total of two dedicated outputs. Is this possible and how would you set the routing? And does a stereo output sum to mono if only one output is used? The manual states, "A B C D - Slot Output Routing Route the Slots to the audio outputs of the Nord Lead A1. Slots can be routed to output pairs (1-2 and 3-4), or single outputs. Outputs 1 & 2 are routed to the headphones. Ranges: 12 (default), 34, 1, 2, 3, 4."

Great. Happy filtering!

When you say, "I tried setting it to record whilst twiddling and nothing changed," - did you mean you hit the actual record button in the transport bar? You need to activate the "W" button on the track instead, which stands for "Write Automation." What you're trying to do is automate a parameter. When you're done, the "W" will de-activate and the "R" button will activate, which stands for "Read Automation." It should now play back the changes and you should see an automation lane created, which can be edited. I don't know which version you have, but the manual has extensive information on automation. It can be a bit daunting at times (both the manual and the power of automation)!

I saw one reference to it in a search about road cases. But they allow you to design custom foam inserts for existing cases. There's a little web-based CAD interface that allows for cut-out shape selection and it even renders to a 3D model. I carry a few pedals in a small roll-on suitcase and I recently designed an insert for it. Haven't received it yet, but I was excited by the idea and experience. Supposedly takes 9-12 days. https://mycasebuilder.com/customfoam

Gone overboard on "Love, Reign o'er Me."