Dear Maggots;

Just spilling out more of my mindless ideas, this time it's on creating my dream rig for my bass.
At the moment I have on order the king of all basses, the great Upright/Double Bass. I have always thought it would be pretty cool having one but I never really thought I would like it, but after playing a few of them at the bass workshops I have been going too I have changed my mind.

Now I am getting one and I am thinking how would I get the most out of my sound, both level and tone wise. What I would really like is to have something completely rack mounted; amp, effects, wireless, the lot. I have been around a few people with pedal boards and they always seem very awkward, something is always going wrong or broken. By having it all in a case it helps reduce the chances of something going bad. I also want to reduce the amount of time it takes to get is all set up and that's another reason I like rack set-ups, every thing is pre wired and ready to go.

I have been looking at them for a while and I have been thinking that virtual amps are the way to go, well at the moment, running into a PA amp boosting the signal through to the cabs. there are a few virtual amp/ modelling processors out there, on the cheaper end is the Behringer V-amp Bass Pro, pretty good for what you are paying for it, and the Line 6 Pod Bass XT Pro and Boss GT-8 Bass Pro on the higher side. I do like the Pod, so I might go and do some more research into it. which ever one I get I intend to control it via a midi control board like the Behringer FCB1010, lets me change presets on the fly.

A rack mounted tuner is a must along with an external compressor, just so I can have more control over getting it right. I also what to have my wireless receiver in there so I don't have to worry about leaving that at home when I go to gigs, and getting a wireless in-ear monitor system would be a good investment too.

Amp wise I am looking for something around 400 watts on 2 channels, there are a few out there. I like the sound from an 8x10 cab so having an amp that handles 4ohm loads is good, and 2 is even better... two 8x10 cabs, now we are in heaven.

A good hard wood rack box is a must, something on wheels is even better. I have been eyeing up a 10 ru box on casters for this little project, but something smaller might do for the start, maybe a 6 ru shallow fx rack.

Well that's about all I got on this little dribble, I'll post more as the wheels start to turn.

-B.

Dear Maggots;

Firstly, Its been a while since I have posted here, but things might start to change about that. I am thinking that I might start posting here more often.

And secondly, I have gotten heaps of new gear.
I have started setting up a rack mounted synth setup. At the moment I have a rolling DJ/Mixer rack I got from Jaycar, it is nearly perfect for what I want. It has enough rack space to mount all the gear I want and more, it's on casters so it's easy to move and the top can tilt to give better access to the mounted hardware. On top I have a board mounted to support my laptop and enough room there for a kaoss pad or alike later. I also have an Korg MS2000R synth mounted up top so I can have easy access to it's many controls during performances. In the bottom rack I have a Korg Wavestation SR, a really cool vector/wave table synth.This one is good for ambient pads and sound effects.

Here is a picture:


I'll add more of an update later, and maybe a run though video.

-B.

Dear Maggots;

Clockwork Autumn is coming along quite nicely at the moment. Clockwork Autumn is a sort of steampunk rock band I am apart of. At the moment we have a few songs written and are putting music to them, there is something like 3 or 4 that have music and 2 that are nearly complete. Since we do our practice at my house I am thinking that I should invest some money into some studio equipment like a basic mixer, microphone and such accessories.

I am looking at not spending too much on these things at the moment as I do have a lot of others things that I have to pay and get. One of things I am after is the Behringer Xenyx 1204FX mixer for a few reasons, first of all it has a USB port that allows you to record onto the computer, which is very handy at out situation for recording our rough 'garage' tracks. Also It gives plenty of channels and it on board FX.
I am also looking at getting a basic microphone, probably also a Behringer, I am looking at one that is around the $50 mark, not the very bottom and yet along way from the top, but I think it will do plenty for where we are up to. It also gives me more chance to practice vocals as I am trying to learn to sing at the moment, even just the basics. Maybe in the future I'll look into getting a better mic, that is if I learn to sing better, and the one that has caught my eye is the Shure 55SH, the birdcage looking mic. got to get a mic stand and cables as well.
i would also like to get a power pack for the Boss SE-50 that I have had sitting on the shelf for that last year or so. The SE-50 is a fairly powerful vox effect unit used by many Horror-electro bands, such as Psyclon Nine.
The Behringer V-Amp pro for guitar and the one for bass would both be good to have as they are both amp emulators and effect units. These can also be controlled via midi so when we get around to doing gigs and what not and we don't want to worry about having changing pedals, we can program it all to change via the laptop. I know this is done by another local band, the Creptter Children, which is a band we don't really want to be pigeon-holed with, but it is a good idea.

There are heaps of stuff that I would like to get but for now I guess that is a little more then i need but it would be helpful,maybe I'll come back and add some more later.

-B.

Dear Maggots;


W.I.P_keytar

-B.

Dear Maggots;

Doing as I normally do when it comes to equipment ideas, I drew out a little doodle of this clever looking stack of keyboards and effects. I thought it was such a good idea that I went and started to design it in 3Ds Max just to see what it would look like, so here it is. The main inspiration to this design comes from the stand Serj Tankian used during his 2009 Big Day Out show for his effects and stuff.


It basicily is a stand, much like a drummer's cymbel stand, with a rail which supports the different tiers. On the Bottom tier we have the Novation Xiosynth, which is a fairly compact digital synth. Above that with have the M-Audio Axiom which is a midi controller linked up to an Asus 10" note book (the funny looking flat white thing). There is also a Korg Koaspad and Koassilator just for a little extra fun. I was thinking of having a mic also hooked in to the Kaospad which would give a little vocal flavour to the music and I was thinking of switching the two keyboards over so that the smaller xio was on the top, might make access to all the nobs easier for both keyboards.

Unlike with my other design I am more able to get the things I need in a reasonable time span, At the moment I am going to get the 10" Asus note book in about 2 weeks when my pay comes though. I know they are not as powerful as normal sized laptops but they are far more powerful then my desktop is at the moment and I am looking for extreme portability as I will be taking it to TAFE on a regular basis via public transport. I think the second step to this plan would be to get the Xio.

-B.

Dear Maggots;

Why does the most simplest things confuse me so? I am about as socially and emotionally equipped as Dexter (from the tv series with the same name). That is probably all I can expect whilst in this sea of unfeeling. Awkwardness.

-B.

Dear Maggot;

It's been a while since I have posted anything one any of the blogging sites I use, so I'll post a little bit here for the hell of it. More musical research and wish listings. I have been doing a lot of planning into using samples more and working more with midi controlled effects and I have come up with the Roland Fantom XR, a rack mounted keyboard/synthesiser that can also store up a gig of samples and loaded media when fully tooled out.


Being a midi controlled unit I wanted to be able to combine with it the Korg padKontrol. Being know as a drum pad rather then a keyboard I thought it would work great as a sampler pad and being as it is connected via midi means it would be interchangeable with a keyboard come the need to swap. It also has an xy pad that I believe is programmable to different settings, which would be good to control built in effects and filters. It also has lots of pretty lights and flashy buttons that really draw me to this model over others that I have seen. I guess I like a bit of a light show as well.


Another part I was thinking of was real time effects, and the Korg Kaospad comes to mind for me. I love how it is so controllable and you just have to use you finger tip to alter and change the sounds. My idea was to have the sounds of my synth/sample module running straight into one of these then out to the speaker system. This also looks very pretty in the dark with it's fancy back lit screen and flashing buttons. I wants!


Another thing that I was thinking of was doing something like what Sid from slipknot does and use a guitar effects board to modify his sound. He uses, from what I have read, a Line 6 Pod XT pedal board. I have been thinking of getting one of these for my bass, they do have a bass version, But I was after the pro model which is rack mounted.

For a more customised keyboard experience I was thinking of the Korg Radias R or the Korg MS2000BR. Both these synthesisers are based on the same idea except the Radias in the new version of the MS2000BR. The both are virtual analogue synthesisers and have a huge amount of audio power. These things are really limited my your imaginations and creativity. I would love one, and one day I will get one, but they are the big end of the customising, knob twiddling range of keyboards. the radias would set me back about $2500. It would probably be better to get the keyboarded model as that is the same as the rack version but with a mounting bracket and a 61 key controller.


There is also the Korg Kaossilator, which is very much like the Kaospad except instead of editing sounds it produces them. It is very much a touch pad controlled synthesiser. I think they are pretty nifty and after seeing what people can do with one of these on youtube I really want to get one and give it a try.


Earlier this year I had acquired a Boss SE-50 vocal effects processor, from what I read, the same model as the effects unit used by Nero Bellium of Psyclon Nine and many other industrial, hellectro and terror-ebm band. While I wait for my local music stores to find me a power supply to work with this effect, and I have been waiting a while so far, I am thinking about getting a mic so that I can actually use it when it's working again. I was thinking about the Shure S55, for its classic bird cage look, failing that the standard SM58 or SM58beta would be fine, two of the industry standards for vocal mics. It would also help if I could sing but that's something I have to work on.

An in-ear monitoring system would also be a great addition to my stage life as at the moment I am finding it hard to hear my bass and I never hear my keyboards when I am playing them live. There are quite a few verities out there but I was thinking of going either with a Shure monitoring system as I have heard that are some of the best, setting me back close to a grand, or a JTS monitoring system which is the same brand as my wireless pack for my bass, which does me fine. Also having an in-ear system would make playing a lot easier when I start moving away from my amp and moving away from the stage.

Also I have gotten myself a Roland Ax-7 keytar a few months ago, and this has inspired me to making another one for me, maybe even give it a bit of a steam punk look. The way I was planning of doing this was by getting a Behringer U-Control 49 midi controller keyboard and stripping all the insides out and building it a new shell in the desired shape, moving the modulation and pitch bend knobs and some of the rotorary knobs to the handle. Being as the U-control is battery powered and can run through a midi cable makes it the perfect candidate for this plan, also it being fairly cheat and easy to get is a huge bonus. Making some of the panels out of brass and decorating it with odd bits and bobs and pieces of pipe could make it steam punk, along with pretend glowing valves and lights done with LEDs. The ideas never stop.

The Idea of getting a percussion set like that used by 'Clown' and 'Pernochio' from slipknot has been rattling inside my mind. it seems like such a do-able thing to me. I like percussion and driving drum beats, I am also good with rhythm and timing so I am really looking forwards to getting some more planned. What I am looking at for the moment is Pearl 10", 12" and 14" toms as well as 16" and 18" floor toms. just those five drums should be enough for me to work with. I don't think I need to go much bigger then that, Slipknot have a bass drum each turned sideways which it a great idea but I think would be too big for me to fit into my set. Finding a way to mount all these drums onto the same stand it what I have been looking at, I want time to be in a place where I can easily get to them all and I don't want them to be on all their own stands. In the end that might be what happens, having the toms on a stand and the floor toms sitting on their own legs.

I have also been thinking about making a cool little stand for my sampler set up, it is all based on the stands used by both Madonna Wayne Gacy (of Marilyn Manson) and Stitch (of Mushroomhead) where the main body is free to move from side to side by a large spring. I got bore a week or more ago so I made it in 3DS max so I knew what I was looking at when I came to making it.


I am sure there is plenty more for me to write about but at the moment I can't seem to think any more. I will add more as it come to me... my mind never seems to stop when it comes to different equipment choices.

-Benn

Dear Maggot;

Looking around in the nether-space I tent to come across things that catch my fancy. Just posting her some of the things that I would like to get for my music projects, also so I can leave some of my ideas so I can expand on them later.

First up is the MidAir. The Axiom MidAir 37 is a wireless midi controller, it also runs off either batteries, external power or usb power. I like that this is battery powered as it makes the perfect keytar without the handle. The problems that I have found with this so far is that there isn't a very good build quality to it, it is pretty much just a wireless oxygen controller, which is a huge step or two below the keyboard I already have. Another problem I have learnt is that M-Audio have decided to stop making this keyboard early this year. I spoke with some of the staff at one of the local music stores and they said that there are two of them left in the country and the only way to get one is to order it through the dealers. I can go down and put an order on one but it would be a bit hard to pay it off, though I do want one. I need to get a job before I can really spend alot of money on things like this. But I do like it.

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Also there is the Ax7. the Roland Ax7 is a 49 key mobile keytar, designed to look like all those keytars of the 80s and early 90s, and to accomidate the retro generation, unfortanitly the sales of this where not good enough to keep it going so they stopped producing them late last year, which is a pity as they are now selling them on e-bay for nearly 200% of its original price. I do want one of these two, they just have that really uncool thing about them that makes them cool. just need to hood it up to a wireless midair midi unit so that is is also wireless and its great.

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A better laptop would come in handy, more processor power and more ram. Running programs like Reason and ReAktor are pretty good but I just need to know a better way of using them, along with a better set-up for the laptop and the keyboards I am using, whether they are just on tables or on there own stands.

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I would love to find out what different equipment Pysclon Nine use along with the synth they have in the song 'Parasitic'

more later...

-Benn

Dear Maggots;

I have had a head ache for days now, maybe its something to do along with the cold I have at the moment, But it is enough to drive some one insane. At least I have been able to get up to some new stuff not that my TAFE course has gone into school holidays. It gives me some time to work on my own music projects along with art and alike.

The main project that I want to be working on is of course my own sound, some sort of solo sound, something that I can focus all the swirling thoughts at. So far I have a collection of drum beats and a few random leads, all of which I have done using my midi keyboard and Reason. I would like to do some more work with other programs like Reaktor, that is a good little program, DIY synthesizers.

But at the moment none of my songs are getting together, which is a bit of a pain. I am also working on songs with my sister and it seems that both of our choices in sounds don't work together. I got for a slightly harder, heavier industrial vibe and sound, while she goes for some of the more softer, 'fluffier' sounds. I don't know if this project will work specially since I am the only one doing the programming and writing. Her job so far have been about thinking what costumes we are going to wear when we do have a set list ready to play... I think she might just be a few steps ahead of herself there.

My other band InVoid is coming along nicely, at the moment we are learning another one of our guitarist songs, lets just say its not really my cup of tea there. the more we work on some of our songs the more keyboard I am trying to work in. Its not that I don't like playing bass its just that I am not all that good at it. I love it none the less, I just find it easier to experiment with the keyboard, changing sounds, using different synths and programs; while on the bass I can't really do that, my amp doesn't really allow me to jump on with the heavy effect or the volume drops off. They just don't make the effect I want for bass, they only seem to do them for guitar :(

Anyway, no for the Art front. Did some work on more of my tattoo designs, its coming along good now, I just need to find some way of working what I already have into it. I have also started designing my own corset, I know I don't need one, being as skinny as a stick but I think it would look cool, specially up there on stage, something gender challenging and still smart looking. That is what I am after.

Maybe more later.

-Benn.

I am looking for more musicians to join up and start a goth/industrial/metal band. things like Dope, NIN, Cradle of Filth, Manson, Korn, Mindless self indulgence, Skinny puppy, Rammstein, Mushroomhead and more.

I play bass, and a little Keys and programming, also a bit of cello and guitar on the side. I am looking for more to complete the line up such as guitar, singer, drums, either keys or bass. I would like to branch into the more electronic side of music and still keep it heavy.

Has to be in Perth, Western Australia or the close surrounding area, has own transport or the ability to get around, own equipment, and knows the basics for there instruments