Vocalizer 1000 Manual
Got my VL3 in and it is a digital wonder.Got my first gig with it this Sunday and would like some advice from those experienced with this effects unit.At what average positions do you find all the adjustments most realistic and not overdoing the effects. Like so many effects for various instruments and voice I find weird things happening when you turn it up. Like the pitch correction pot on the VL3. Why would they give it the ability to go totally bonkers when wide open?Which combo of harmonies do you find for a mid range to low male voice to blend with for an 'all purpose' hit the button and get three part harmony for songs sung along with an acoustic guitar. I don't have the time to program many settings, just need one good one for refrains for country/blues/folk/southern blues sort of stuff.say like 'Blue Sky' by ABB.Any advice would be appreciated at to what position you use the most out of your VL3.I do know one thing.through my tiny PA the compression knob is a no no. That's like a shot of 1,000 watts into the system just to turn it up 1/2 way.
I think you can concentrate on a 3rd above your lead vocal for most songs, a 3rd below and a 3rd above for other songs, and in some cases, a 3rd and 5th above you lead voice for others. Listen to the song. For FX, use a minimal amount of reverb, just enough to provide a little ambiance to your voice. If you have a digital delay (which is better than reverb in my opinion) try a small amount of 'slap back' DD. Don't over do FX.You will have to spend a little time on your Vocalist in order to figure out what sounds best for your voice, the keys you are playing in, and the song you are doing. For example, if you are a baritone and sing lower than the original key of a lot of songs, a harmony with a 3rd under your voice will probably not sound as good as a 3rd above your voice most of the time. A lot of it is common sense.
Just keep in mind that harmonizers are not completely plug and play. You have to experiment. Be a little patient. You will get good results if you work at it a little. Today's harmony devices are a lot smarter than what they were 20 years ago, but you have to be smart about how you use the technology.
Hang in there.Mike T. How right you are. Since my post I have been spending hours with it and results get better and better as I shift the settings.
This thing is amazing. Yep with my baritone voice you can get a really nasty sound using lower male voices that sound like a robot. My best setting so far is female at thrid and fifth above but for some songs I double my voice on one side and third above on the other without M/F effect.Just was doing 'Fox On the Run' with two chicks backing me up.what a hoot that is. One thing I've found is keep that guitar going so the machine knows where you are but I've also been able to do some accapella sp?
Endings that are quite dramatic like some great harmony singing group doing a fancy no music only singing ending to a song. After years of nothing but voice and guitar with no effects I am finally joining the digi world of music magic. The other thing I can suggest is to keep the highs down to a reasonable level on harmonies. I don't like a lot of highs on my voice either. I've heard way too many singers that had good voices that cranked up the treble on the voice and it sounded tinny, yuck. Vocals are very mid range, and cranking up the highs on a mic that doesn't have a frequency response over 14 or 15k will only spoil the sound. Highs on harmonizers make them sound more robotic.
With a good mix they are hard to distinguish from the humans.Your show should be more entertaining because not every song sounds the same because you only have one voice and two hands. That ending you described sound like a lot of fun!If you recall, or read my signature, I use a Vocalist Live pro and feed it midi data. Sometimes after the music stops, I have it change chords and the vocals change with info from my midi track. People take notice. I'm not familiar with your Vocalist in particular but there may be more than one setting for the guitar volume you have to play in order for the Vocalist to get the correct chords. Check your manual. With some harmonizers, you can turn the guitar volume off completely, strum chords, and the unit will still generate harmonies.
Experiment!Mike T. Yes dude.experiment I have and it is all coming together. This thing has brought me out of hibernation into playing in public once again.My fave is two chicks backing me up.but on certain songs one male backup is cool.This thing is sensitive but as long as you deliver full chords and a continuous voice it is in the pocket. It is a new era. It is a new ballgame.for old farts like me to want to rehearse everyday with their backup singers AND my looper.hey.I'm there.Thank you Digitech for pulling me out of mothballs back onto the stage. I'm an old fart too, so you're not alone.:poke:One other thing to keep in mind as far as setup options.
You can adjust the Noise Gate Threshold on your Vocalist 3. I don't know if you looked at the default setting, or if you know what it does. Being this is your first harmonizer, let me explain.How to set the noise gate threshold is affected by how much your microphone picks up sounds other than your voice. This can cause your harmonizer to process your guitar playing and send it through your system along with your voice. That will give you a weird noise coming out of your speakers. If you are not aware of it, you can be left scratching your head.Your Vocalist model noise gate threshold can be set between 1 and 20. The higher the number, the closer you have to stay to the microphone in order for your Vocalist to get a strong enough signal to process.
Conversely, the higher the number setting, the less you will experience 'leakage' of your guitar playing into the microphone and being processed by the Vocalist, which you do not want. I suggest placing your speakers close enough to you to hear clearly when you are practicing and play strong chords to determine if your guitar playing is being processed.
(Don't sing, just listen). That little test will help you determine if you need to change the Default setting of your Noise Gate threshold. If set too low, it can really spoil your sound, if set too high, you have to stay on top of the mic, and if you back away a little too far, you won't hear any harmonies or they will seem to cut out. Generally, a setting somewhere in the middle work best, depending on mic you are using.Check page 23 in your owner's manual for more info. This is just an FYI.Adding a harmonizer can really help any musical act. It opens the door to doing more material. Most songs have harmony of some kind and other songs can't ever be attempted unless you have harmonies.Enjoy!Mike T.
Thank you Mr. This is explaining some of the sounds I was baffled about.
So you are saying I do not want my acoustic guitar to get in that mike just into the guitar input. I usually lke getting right up on a mike but have found with this VL3 I don't have to.it is as if it added attenuation not just volume to the mike.Generally I have found to keep the harmony going smooth it wants your voice held and chords continuously being strummed into the device. It seems happy then.cut back on guitar or put a little break in your voice and your back up chicks get confused.As I turn knobs to get the most of out this thing I did hit areas where wide open is not good for anything.it will put a weird flutter in the sound out the front.But definitely this thing is a keeper although it scared me yesterday that all the sudden my guitar volume went down and back up for no reason. No telling what's happening inside this lil computer to make that happen but after it did it twice the rest of the practice session went well without a hitch except for my tiny pa getting over heated and distorting. That's a lot of sound coming out of two acoustic/pa amps.
I may have to go to a real small PA. I have one but it is two big for me to lug around.so one of the lil compact ones may be in order to reinforce the sound without distortion.I've never known why all these devices.amps.effects etc. Have such a range on their pots when never can you use anything wide open. I would rather they make wide open as max volume the little thing can handle not a distorted over driven mess.
I don't know your sound system, how you have it connected, or anything about the guitar you are using. Most anything will work if you don't play too loud, Generally speaking, you want to be able to play the guitar with a moderate strum, so it doesn't leak into your microphone.
That is true with any harmonizer, no matter who makes it. You can change the level of sensitivity of the guitar for a 'low volume' guitar or a 'higher volume' guitar in your Vocalist, check page 12 in the manual. If you are getting distortion coming through your speakers, you might be over driving the guitar input. There is an instrument level light and if its primarily on RED, you need to adjust your guitar sensitivity on the Vocalist. If you hear distortion after you edit this setting, you could be doing the same with your mic.
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If you back up from the mic and still get distortion, you little set of speakers or your power amp may not be enough to handle the levels you are playing and singing. You could turn down a bit and see if that helps.An acoustic with a shallow body doesn't amplify as well as a deep body acoustic, which is probably better for using a harmonizer. But if you strum just hard enough for the Vocalist to pick up what you are playing, then you can start adjusting the Threshold until the noise from your microphone picking up your guitar starts to go away. Its not rocket science, you just have to adjust your playing style if you tend to strum hard and your guitar leaks into your mic and is picked up by the Vocalist. Its easy to adjust.
I adjusted many of the patches on my Vocalist Live Pro too, for the same reason you need too. I've got a full band sound going and if I don't have my speakers placed far enough away, my mic starts to pick up the music. Its more of a problem in my practice room because my PA cabinets are about 3 feet from my mic.My voice range is baritone, the same as yours. What I noticed when using an SM58, some of the lower notes I sing are a bit garbled, I switched microphones and the problem went away. I have been using an EV 767a lately, The lowest frequency (unless I'm right on top of it) is 70hz, so that sounds better with my voice than the SM58. That said, the EV mic is a bit too bright for my taste. It goes up to 22Khz (well, so the specs say) and I have to turn the highs on my mixer way down to get a good sound.
I think I'm going to pick up a Beta 58a. That mic boosts the frequencies from 7khz to 9Khz which is the most important vocal area, and it tops off at 16Khz. The SM58 tops off at 15Khz. I believe the Beta 58a should be the right choice for a baritone. I can EQ each individual voice in my Vocalist Live Pro so I can avoid getting the garbled notes with the SM58, or continue using the EV for the time being.I would like to encourage you to work with the unit a little more, don't get discouraged. It WILL work.
We have to be flexible in order to bring a new piece of technology into the act. But you really don't need to do anything major. I can honestly say if not for my Vocalist, I couldn't do 85% of the music I play.
Most classic rock songs (as well as standards) have harmony, Try playing CSN without harmony and see how the audience likes it, Having great harmonies is worth the effort to get a handle how to work it into your act.You may have read some of the equipment I have in my signature. The PA I use for live gigs works well with everything I have running through it, I have to use a small PA with drums, bass, guitars, strings, organ, etc. And vocals going on. Be judiciousl on how much vocal enhancement you use. From what you said, you figured that out already.
Personally, I don't use the 'Persona' feature very much, I don't use the Humanize (which allows the harmonizes to be slightly off at times so it sounds a bit imperfect, like people) I want my vocals right on key. I tend to sing a little flat sometimes, so I do use a little pitch correction on songs that I don't do the best job on. Otherwise, I keep FX down to a minimum. Everyone has their own way of doing things, so I'm sure you will arrive at levels you are happy with.
Oh yeah, the compressor can be over powering, you really have to use it sparingly. I know you figured that out too.I hope what I've been passing along helps a little.
Keep me posted.Cheers!Mike T. Yes sir.you have a very similar set up as mine.almost identical except for brand and models.Got into the manual and yes.getting better and better.in fact I just freaked myself out with my rendition of Bobby McGee. Didn't hold a thing back.did all the Janis things at the end with my JBettes backing me up perfectly. I hope the audience will appreciate a deep voice singing this song instead of the usual screeching female voice they are used to.but no matter this thing is making me more and more confident every day. IT is what I've been looking for all these years.My band in the box is a Roland PMA and folks are amazed how clearly it puts out a full band while I switch to an electric guitar and wail away on fast blues leads yet subdued in volume thanks to my lil Super Champ amp.My acoustic guitar is perfect for the VL3.
It is a thin body Takamine with a good preamp output. I am finding I like old strings on it better than a crisp new set of Elixers that almost make it too clean and crisp.more woody sounding with month or more old strings something of which is a boon to me because at one time I had to change strings every four hours of performance with a rock band do to corrosion from my over acidic touch.Get this.got my looper in the act and had three guitars going at once on Blue Sky. Rhythm, and double harmonic lead. That's a first.
And now through the looper I can do my G. Allman and Dicky B. Leads along with Blue Sky and Ramblin Man.Funny.I find my self trying to harmonize with my virtual vocalists.as in swapping up notes to add texture to the refrain.its crazy. People are very very impressed with this set up.I am on key most of the time but I've hated the sound of my own voice (like John Lennon did) all my life.
I have to sing in character just to stand it. The VL3 does not have the voice style setting but the doubler does it for me so what I'm hearing of me sounds acceptable.Yep.one must learn to work this device and change up the way you play and sing but for me it is for the better.
I don't have to over play trying to get rhythm while my little finger is playing a lead and for some reason this hook up between two devices and two acoustic amps has eq'ed the guitar out the ying yang with very good presence even at low volume. I can softly finger pick and hear everything.please note.I have frequency deafness as so many of us former loud band rockers have.
The booster eq lets me hear again. I may incorporate an ear bud monitor too and then I'll hear perfectly.I dramatize songs unlike so many of our cohorts who simply keep to the format of the original song from start to finish. I stretch out a song for a couple extra minutes with extra lead.and now stop the music and sing accapella with my back up singers for dramatic effect like some good gospel group.I also do original stuff that is mostly instrumental.just pretty background music but with surprises of super fast playing and all the fancy tricks we all know to impress.It's is a whole new ball game now and I don't think I will ever play without these devices again unless just sitting around the kitchen table with my southern buds.Thank you for your advice. I am not totally tweaked out yet but getting there.Next question. Why is the VL3 doing this weird thing into my digital recorder?
I have a little 8 track Fostex which will record just find without all my devices. The guitar comes through ok but lord.the voice sounds like it is coming through a 1930's crystal mike.so at this time I can't make a reality check on my recorder. I'm just taking the line out from the second amp right into the recorder and definitely what it is getting is not what comes out of the speakers.Cheers.are you in England? I'm in LA (lower Alabama) waiting for the oil slick to get here. It is a disaster beyond belief. I sing a song about it written years ago.' The Road to Hell.'
I'm not sure why you are getting a bad sound out of your Vocals when you plug into your recorder, while the guitar sounds fine. When I did some recordings I took a direct out from each channel on my mixer and plugged each one into a separate track input on an old Tascam recorder. It sounded fine. Being that I was running direct outs from my Studio Master mixer, I monitored the mix through a set of head phones and it came out fine. Have you tried taking the sound from your mixer (are you using a mixer in your setup?) instead of from a line out of your amp? The line out from 'the second amp' doesn't give you any independent control other than the settings on the guitar amp. Sending the XLR outs from your Vocalist to a mixer and then to the recorder would give you more control over the sound at the mixer level, and give you more options on how to send the sound to your recorder.
I use my Vocalist in stereo, one side is the lead, the other side are the harmonies. The other two channels coming out of my mixer were the L/R outputs from my main KB with all my sequences. I had all channels panned to the center. I'm not clear on how you have your rig setup, I don't know exactly what you are using live when you mentioned a second amp??
Check page 11 in the owners manual to see typical configurations. If you can explain a little more about your setup that might help me understand what's going on a little better.As I mentioned before, I don't know all the answers. I can only share what I've learned and hopefully learn some things from others as time goes on.
If all else fails, give Digitech a call and ask them. The one time I called them with a question, the guy I spoke to told me what I wanted to know.I didn't know you were doing a one man band act.
I thought you were just playing acoustic guitar and singing. So many players around my area do that, and years ago I decided to do the OMB thing so I could take jobs solo acts normally can't do.By the way, I do Blue Sky and Ramblin' man too. I've been toying with doing One way out, but I haven't gotten around to working the song out and putting it together on tracks. Other songs come up and its always been a back burner tune for me. Allman Brothers is one of my all-time favorite groups. At least a few KB players have good taste after all!
I primarily do classic rock tunes and usually stick with the record. Around here, that's what folks around here are expecting to hear. There are a few songs that I play a longer than the original version for some fun, like Neil Young's 'Southern Man'. I have the lead guitar parts recorded well as they sound on the record, and then I take off on a stretch with a Rhodes EP solo. I do one song after the other in a set to keep things rolling so the audience doesn't have time to think about whats next. That way I'm in control of what songs I'm going to playing.
I do get requests for the typical classic rock tunes, like Sweet Home Alabama, and Free Bird, which I usually save for the end of the night.It sounds like you are making great progress as to what you can do and can't. Like any new device, you have to work with it to get it to do what you like to do. We didn't learn how to play over night either.My ears aren't what they use to be either. I'm 62, I started playing in garage bands when I was about 14 years old, so that takes its toll. Be careful with ear buds, you can do more damage if you're not careful.
I practice with head phones sometimes at night and I keep them pushed forward on my head so the sound isn't going directly in my ears, and use open back phones. I play at an absolute minimum volume to be safe.If you've noticed my sig, I live in central Pennsylvania. There's a section of the Allegheny Mountains right behind my house. I use to go hiking and camping up in the state forest all the time, before I had surgery on my feet. I'm going to get outside more this summer and try to shed some lard. I exercise, but not enough to lose any noticeable weight. A few too many beers, and lot of hot wings and BBQ sauce, and I'm a happy camper.Cheers!
I'm about ready for a few cold ones right now.Mike T. My system is.Tak guitar and sure 58 into the VL3.from there the guitar goes to the Jamman.then to a Marshall acoustic amp. The left output on the VL3 goes into the Marshalls PA side and gets more eq, reverb.the line out from the Marshall feeds a Laney accoustic amp that completes my front. Line out from the Laney goes to the M8 fostex recorder.that's it.except I sometimes add my Fender Champ in them mix as a monitor.I had better luck yesterday using the Fostex. I put the line in to the second input instead of first.seemed to make a difference but still sounding crappy and I suspect that is because my studio PA is the cheapest piece of junk one can get in a PA.a Phonic. The lil acoustic amps sound much better than it does. I'll try playback through them and I will take the l/r xlr out puts straight into the recorder to see what happens.I have to search for ways to wire.
It seems some line outs are not the same as others and some won't even make signal into some devices. All electronic stuff. If I don't wire up my rig just right sequence.nothing. And.found when I bend over to adjust the floor devices I hit the preamp on my Tak and shove all the sliders wide open.hehehe.I usually sit up high on a bar stool to play but no more.must be low with my foot switches.I'll send a photo of my rig at a yacht club my brother took.
He's been down lately.god we're getting old.I started in my first band at 14 in a garage with a Fender Electric XII and a Silvertone Amp.dang I wish I had those back.I graduated to other bands playing rhythm for some of the best lead players I've ever known. I was honored for them to let me on board but! As we tried to keep up with what the people wanted I wanted to stay with CCR, ABB, Stones, Led Zep.ect but no.we went horn band and could do a pretty amazing replica of Chicago, Blood S and T. And kept on some of the motown classics. At that time our lead player shot himself at 19. They looked to me to take over.only room for one guitar now and I had to learn lead or be out.
By then I had an ES330 (always a problem with feedback but sometimes would play through the feedback for sustain cause I had no effects.just straight into two amps.a Fender Bassman and a Fender Dual Showman. One for clean, hit a switch and both amps were on. My Bassman provided that harmonic distortion to rip off a lead then back to clean through the Showman running through a giant double 15' Ryder cabinet.Went the band went disco I had enough and quit.but they kept on and are still playing today! 40 years later!I had other fish to fry but first tried my hand at the big time as a sound man with Super Sound. We toured with some semi biggies like BB King (he was not a household name back then) Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes, Barry White, Dr. Hook, White Witch, Brownsville Station, The Meters (some of the Nevel Bros.), Wet Willie, etc.
We had a bid out on a national tour with Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty. They deemed our system way too big for their needs so after losing that contract I quit and went back to teaching which I did for 30 years playing only hit and miss gigs with upcoming bands and lots of sit ins.My first OMB act was powered by a Korg X3. The only song I actually played on it was Whiter Shad of Pale. The rest of the songs I would just hit play and poof.there was my back up band.
I only used a LP in that act but felt it was so hokey I just could not continue on with it so took a long hiatus from music until I decided after retirement to try one more time.So with sawdust in blood i'm after it once more with my new electronics.jb. Wow, that sounds like a jerry-rigged setup. I have no clue what you can do to record with the setup.
As I mentioned with my few experiences with recording some of my tunes at home, its a pretty straight-forward setup. At my age, there's really no point in investing in recording equipment. I did a few cover song demos to get gigs about 4 years ago, but I wasn't all that happy with the way the CD's sounded.
Vocalizer 1000 Manual Instructions
The guy that did it for me was doing it as a favor so I didn't want to take up to much of his time, it was gratis.You have a very interesting background. I did the hotel circuit back in the early eighties as a solo act for 3 years. You can't make any real money doing that, but there were no regular jobs to be found back then, there was a recession going on and jobs were scarce. 5 or 6 nights a week playing in a Holiday Inn, Sheridan, or a Hilton. A lot of the gigs were along Interstate highways so there usually wasn't a lot of locals hanging out at the hotels because of the prices.
But it helped me get my chops together and was better than a low paying 'real job' or no job at all.I've primarily play part time these days, and I've cut it down to private parties that like my music and keep booking me for their affairs. The jobs I take now pay what I ask or I don't play. The equipment is just getting to hard to move and its tough to find roadies. Most local bands and DJ's have friends their own age to help move their equipment like we did when we were young. Life goes on.I hope the picture I attached of my LIVE rig shows up on this post. A guy from one of the organizations that books me for their private parties took it a few years back.Later guy.Mike T. I have friends at all levels of the music world including OMB's doin it since the 80's.
The others were in rock bands who toured and currently my bass bud Osama Affifi is a bit younger but has made all his bread off the bass. If you go to his website you may see photos I took of him while playing with the drummer of the Doors. That was a hoot of a night.Another site you can go to and see me setting in is catfishflats.com George and I go back to teenagehood. He opened for the ABB band and Wet Willie a few times back in the 70's.
We co-wrote 'I Am An American.' One of the songs on his album 'Down at the Flats' includes references to my town, my bar, and me. Another is about my brother.and others are tributes to Duane Allman and George's wife from Russia.George is a hard core troubadour and has hit it for sooo long. He did nothing but rock for a living for 20 years then gave into the 9-5 world but still.still.on weekends will go play a 10pm-3am gig. That's ONE big reason I don't do it anymore. The hours are crazy. In these parts they don't start until 10pm or later.we were usually 8-midnight back in the 70's.but still did not get home until 3am.That's why I love these lil Sunday afternoon gigs at the Yacht Club.
Bunch of oldies around.hang loose.just have fun.I've also had much fun sitting in with bands all over. I'm not famous but somehow my appearance makes them think I can play a guitar. Hehehe I played an entire set with a band on a cruise boat last summer. It was a hoot.Today we worked my rig to the bone. I even connected it up to the PA so we had four amps going at once for just one acoustic guitar and one voice. I discovered how to record too.got it down. I took an XLR signal out of the back of my Marshall amp and bingo.decent sound.
It is one of two ways you can connect it to a PA and the XLR output was liked by the lil m8 Fostex.A friend came over and just kept playing while I twisted knobs.He brought his Marshall acoustic amp to see how it would go for two Marshalls being the PA. I almost traded him a brand new Specialized bicycle for his Marshall.then put my Laney back on line and actually liked it better.and putting the lil Super Champ in the mix does a good thing too.so I'm ready to go for next gig.no need for PA but another friend may bring his Mackie system to the gig and fill in with his DJ act.Where I play is an old redneck yacht club out on the deck. They have no $ in the budget for music anymore so I'm all they've got. Hey.free beer.But.actually they are refreshed to have me up there just banging chords and singing. The two OMB dudes who played there for YEARS really got old. They are both good acts, both good musicians and singers better than I could ever be but.just something different made me popular and my raw thing kinda is enjoyed.
Vocalizer 1000 Manual Pdf
I know for me I really like to see a couple of guys with acoustics doing a good harmony duet. Now I can do a duet alone because of the looper and my magic VL3.I quit music years ago because the people who I played with and the bands I did sound for were so intimidating with their incredible skills I realized I would never be up to snuff but at least my new devices have gotten me back out in public.I also had a bad time joining bands after I had quit. I did try to join a couple of local bands only to be shot down. One complaint was that I played too much and put on too much of a show while playing.
That freaked me. Hear I am on top of a table with folks around me hitting wild ass licks on my LP and they are diggin it but the band says, 'That is too much, you prima donna, you just do too much.' I knew then it was just me or nothing.Increased the noise gate one more notch today and I think it is a good thing. Funny.the manual says 1-20 on the settings but only 1-9 are available.
I've seen that so many times and had some manuals that are so badly written you have to call the company for the real settings.I guess this is keeping my mind going a bit. I have so many settings now between six devices (including the amps) I have to figure out which ones to set where.and another thing I discovered today that my Laney line out is much more hot than the Marshall line out.getting it tweaked.Just got back from poker with brother and father and other guys. My father is 89 today. I'm happy to hear you were able to get a good connection to your recorder. You have to admit, what you are using for amps is an odd setup.
But sometimes you have to work with what you have. I'm not laying money anytime soon for new gear. Its nice to pay some bills with it to keep the collectors off my back.I've got to head out, more later.Edit: Its odd that there would that big of a mistake in the printed manuals. Its usually better if there are smaller increments on important settings so you can fine-tune your settings.Wow, your Dad's 89. I'm 62 and even that sounds so far off in the distance. I won't make that age, to fat, use to smoke, high blood pressure runs in our family so I suppose I will be pushing daisies long before that!Cheers,Mike T.
Although an odd set up I can't understand why it is not a standard. When the acoustic/pa amp was born it brought me back to the days when we had no pa.we sang though our guitar amps as even the Beatles did once. Put it all in one package with all the EQ and effects you need instead of the usual pa. (for small gigs of course)It works well.
I played at a private party out on a deck. Inside the house this guy had this huge pa set up for kareoke/dj stuff. He came out back to hear me and was blown away by the quality of sound coming out of these small amps the were carrying my entire load of sound. They really are amazing.I just ordered stands for them and a boat load of extra cables to make sure my next gig is not shut down by a bad wire. I have so many but of varying ages and you never know when one is going to quit on you. We used to make our own that were super heavy duty can take anything but I'm not in to soldering anymore.can't see what I'm doing.Getting stoked about my next gig May 16th. Don't have the pics from the last one cause brother dear didn't send them to me.
His GF just left for NY so I think he's brain scattered at the moment.I keep getting comments on how good the last gig was so it keeps me pumped. Maybe one day I'll charge $ for it again.
Naaaa I'm too lazy to do that.We are still waiting for the oil blob monster to come ashore. If you have a 20ft boat they may hire you at $1500 per day to go help with the so called 'clean up'. If this thing hits the marsh lands there will be no clean up there.impossible. Best thing would be is to burn all of it and hope mother nature can heal in a century or so.Want to practice but getting late. Maybe go fishing for the last time tomorrow before the oil gets here. I'd say my rig and PA work out well for me.
Some of the stuff I use is pretty old, like my Studio Master Mixer. I use to use that back in the eighties when I was on the road playing full time. The reason I stick with it is that it has 4 XLR outs. Most budget mixers may have two or none. I like a separate ground to avoid any hum. I realize there are TRS cables that are suppose to be OK, but I wire my mixer to stereo EQ to power amp with good quality XLR cables and its quiet as a mouse.The advantage I have with my set up and OMB act is I have no one to compete with, so there's no volume wars. I keep the volume down to just loud enough for the music to be effective and my vocals and harmonies are clear and above the music.My next gig is a private party outside.
They put me under a picnic pavilion with a solid roof. I bring tarps in case we get driving rain. I've only had to use them once. I powered down, covered everything up and kept watch on my stuff. When the rain stopped, I started playing again and had no problem. I won't run off a generator.Its really a shame about that oil spill. We need all the oil we can get our hands on but drill 5000 feet below the surface presents some more problems when something bad happens.
Enjoy fishing while you can.Cheers,Mike T. First of all I want to thank you for this correspondence. It is good to talk to another OMB person who has the time to discuss the trade. I have local buds who are musicians and have a wealth of knowledge about playing but all info, opinions, and experiences are always a boon to me. It is how I learned. Not from an instructor but fellows of the road.I've ordered two stands for my acoustic amps which will get that sound up and at em.
Yes.it is great to bet able to make a lot of music alone. No one's ego to deal with, drunk band member, no shows, and even in my old band swapping girlfriends and wives around.it was crazy.I wish everything was XLR connects.
Harmony Vocalizers
The old 1/4 plug is ancient tech and I am always plagued with hum. The only way I can stop it is to touch the mike as I sing and hold the guitar strings.it grounds to me. At one time that was (and still is) very dangerous. I've had the bejesus shocked out of me from a mike.but now it seems at least most of the ground gets to the Earth but not all of it.I wish I had my old mixer board back. It was an old Peavy that had true stereo and gobs of ins and outs but I think I've got this thing figured out with my acoustic amps which act like powered speakers and mixing together each with its own eq. Add the eq from the VL3 and lots of sound is happening.Almost got another Marshall but found by a switch out experiment that my little Laney (one of the first acoustic amps) adds a little extra and with all three amps going I have no distortion and pretty good projection.Just ordered me a foot switch for my Super Champ so I can play clean then over driven with a click. Unfortunately I cannot find a foot switch for my Jamman Looper.looks like it is already out of production for a smaller model that doesn't need a foot switch to go between prerecorded loop channels.
I have to bend down and twist a knob to change loops.Very exciting about my next two gigs and already folks are trying to book me for $ after hearing me recently but I hesitate to take on a class reunion. Those folks want to dance and really need a DJ with their younger year songs.not my list of 60 songs made up of a hodgepodge of stuff between the 50's and early 70's.I am bad about learning new stuff.
Since I can't hear so well and play by ear I depend on songs already in my head from yesteryear. But then.I don't like anything new new anyway but if I want to learn an oldie new I better have had listened to it well years ago or it won't fly for me.Good luck with your gigs.Oh.yes.I've been in the outside storm thing. We have gale force winds and driving rain that can come up at any time in the summer here. It is amazing how much abuse some equipment can take.All and all.I'm all about my VL3. It is so much fun to have back up singers out of nowhere and I'm learning more and more what that device likes and doesn't like.The looper is another thing.
I miss the click on/off by a fraction of a beat most of the time but just deal with it since I'm the only one playing along with it. Sometimes though BINGO get it so seamless it sounds just right.Thanks for all your advice and sharing of experiences. In my retirement music has become more important than ever to me. Kinda late in life to get started with it again but hey.everybody's got to be somewhere. Yeah its been great talkin with you too. I have time now because I'm not working a day job these days.
I probably spend too much time on the Internet, but I was without a connection at home for years because I was sick of paying the cable company their high prices and getting poor service. Now I have a Verizon DSL and it works GREAT, is plenty fast enough, and its 29.99 a month. T1 speed too.I have been going over some of my tunes so I don't get too rusty on them while I work on newer ones. I think we need to learn other tunes (not necessarily NEW songs, but songs people ask for or will enjoy) so we don't get stale.
It works that way for me. I juggle around my sets so I don't get bored with the same old stuff. I probably have somewhere around 120 songs sequenced that I can play out with a little brushing up, and many more that I either play for special occasions or age groups, or just retired because I got sick of them. We have to keep our feet moving.It sounds like you're making a little investment in your setup, and that is necessary sometimes. I'm pretty well set, but there is always something else we can use.
I usually only buy something when I know I'm going to earn enough money to get a return on my investment. I have bills to pay and i don't want to work a menial low paying job if I don't have too. I'd rather live on a low budget and play music.Keep me posted on what your up to. You can send PM through this site if you don't want to keep adding to this thread.Cheers,Mike T.