IndyKlipschFan Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 Ok first things first. 1.) Do not modify anything unless you want to change it to sound like "Something else." By this, I mean, if they sound great now... do not attempt to change/ color the sound with ropes, caulking etc., etc.. Some people hear feel the cornwall belle la scala and k horn with metal horns ring in the midrange. If you do not.. Do not caulk it.. 2) I agree a bad singer can only be made to sound worse most of the time with too much effects, or improper effects. Like any novice wrong use of delays by digital machines along with reverb too. (Yes, they are different as well.) Stay away from anything marked Echo...LOL 3.) I use the keep it simple stupid (KISS) process. I use a a simple Alesis Nanoverb. It is like 89 dollars, can change the settings in a snap.. Warm tones/ effects with minimal learning "upcurve" too. In a live situation all you need. Hope this helps. The 5k on up, lexicon units in a studio with lots of time are, of course, the state of the art stuff. In real life..on the fly... NOT very practicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myhamish Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 Here'a B3 story. Way back in 1968, we had a garage band just outside Toronto called, "The Rorks". We'd play at house & pool parties and small dances. We had a bass player/singer, drummer, lead and rhythm guitar/Farfisa organ player. The rhythm player's Mom made him quit when we started travelling around for more gigs, so we advertised for another player and got this guy out of Toronto named Vic. He showed up with a Hammond B3, Leslie and we had to haul it into the bass & drummer's Mom's basement ( they were brothers ). The Hammond had been spraypainted white and the legs had been chopped off so it would sit on a 20 degree angle with the keyboard down. The Leslie was also white. I was doing the lighting and booking arrangements. All summer we'd stay in the basement and practise. The big tune was " You Keep Me Hanging On" by Vanilla Fudge - a bit of a shock for the rest of the band who were used to the R & B and soul stuff. So we had a huge gig doing a grade 8 grad dance in the next town. We hauled all the equipment out, into a u-haul and set up for the dance. It went well, but during the last set, we noticed these guys in suits standing there talking to the chaperones watching us. Anyway, at the end of the dance, they came up and told Vic they were taking his organ back. Apparently, he was behind on payments. Sure enough, there was a big truck from a Toronto organ company outside and they took the Hammond gear with them. I wasn't too nice with the guys in suits but quieted down after they pointed out that at least they let us finish the dance before pulling the plug. We drove Vic home and gave him the whole $125 for the gig out of pity and never saw him again. I ended up hitch-hiking out to Vancouver into a totally different scene. Years later, there was a one hit wonder by a Toronto band called "The Kings" with a great little ditty called, "This Beat Goes On/Switching to Glide". Seems the organist was Vic. Every time I hear a B3, I remember those days. Hamish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodog Posted July 22, 2003 Author Share Posted July 22, 2003 IndyKlipschFan, I'm taking this advice. I'm going to listen a bit more and see. Seems that the midrange *is* a bit aggressive, but it ain't bad by any stretch! Not bad at all, actually. I have to listen a bit more critically to see just *what* it is that I'm hearing. Plus, caulking can be easily undone *if* I decide to do it. I will NOT make any modifications that cannot be easily undone, excepting for perhaps the cabinet finish. Again, the room has a somewhat 'wet' acoustic, 1.5 secs, and it is a bit more on the mid-high frequency side than I would like if I could pick the dream acoustic. This tends to bring those mid horns out more. However, I don't want to, nor will I change the room. I'm fortunate to be able to play for and direct a very fine group of singers, and, having come from a building where the sound was pretty much dead, I wouldn't change a thing about this room. It really flatters live sound with it's liveliness. I know what you mean about restraint on effects. I've played and sung in a few ensembles in my time, and moderation is the key. One thing I *do* want to change is the finish on the speakers. I'm pretty sure they came in unfinished birch, and the previous owners didn't do a very good job with the staining. I would leave this to a professional, since I'm sure I would screw it up. Even if I decide not to change the color or re-veneer, I would definitely like it if they could be polished to a fine sheen. They have a prominent place in the room, and I want the visual appeal to match the sonic appeal. I finally got rid of the cat odor. I cannot believe that someone would let their cat do something like that (scratch the grills, pee on them, etc..). disgusting. thank goodness the woofer wasn't affected. I've done a few searches for veneering/refinishing/etc. on the forums. There's a wealth of information out there. The fellow over on the 2-channel forum, (I think) who redid those heresy cabinets in a reddish color... man... what beauties! I run the bass and treble knobs straight up (flat). no loudness, nothing. Any extra EQ i want from the keyboard is done with the keyboard parameters.I like the fact that I have a lot of headroom, but for the most part I'm into beautiful sound, not loud sound. (We do have a dance around Valentine's day every year, and a church member brings in a couple of high powered sub-woofers and an incredible homemade light show (you would not believe how good it is... lasers and all), and we definitely get loud then. I'm not worried about this though, since we've done it twice already with the Technics SB-5000 speakers and they came through unscathed. The Cornwalls/Heresys would eat those speakers for breakfast and not even burp!) so, to make a long answer even longer.. I'm going to go S-L-O-W-L-Y and not be too anxious to change anything, except the appearance. oh, I use an Alesis Quadraverb, pretty much just for a smooth vocal reverberation when I want to use a mic. Thanks for the advice, I'm having a lot of fun listening to these babies! Forrest ---------------- On 7/22/2003 12:14:15 AM IndyKlipschFan wrote: Ok first things first. 1.) Do not modify anything unless you want to change it to sound like "Something else." By this, I mean, if they sound great now... do not attempt to change/ color the sound with ropes, caulking etc., etc.. Some people hear feel the cornwall belle la scala and k horn with metal horns ring in the midrange. If you do not.. Do not caulk it.. 2) I agree a bad singer can only be made to sound worse most of the time with too much effects, or improper effects. Like any novice wrong use of delays by digital machines along with reverb too. (Yes, they are different as well.) Stay away from anything marked Echo...LOL 3.) I use the keep it simple stupid (KISS) process. I use a a simple Alesis Nanoverb. It is like 89 dollars, can change the settings in a snap.. Warm tones/ effects with minimal learning "upcurve" too. In a live situation all you need. Hope this helps. The 5k on up, lexicon units in a studio with lots of time are, of course, the state of the art stuff. In real life..on the fly... NOT very practicle. ---------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodog Posted July 30, 2003 Author Share Posted July 30, 2003 ha! the first modification has been completed. Since I run about 120 feet of cabling (total for all 4 speakers) I changed from 18 gauge lamp wire to 12 gauge heavier cable. I also changed cheapo connectors (wires from the CD player to the amp, etc.) to heavy gauge. Big Big improvement in low end and overall power without even touching the speaker innards. Put on Ricki Lee Jones' 'Pop Pop!' and listened to the delicious plucky thump of acoustic bass. ahhhh... Forrest ---------------- On 7/22/2003 12:14:15 AM IndyKlipschFan wrote: Ok first things first. 1.) Do not modify anything unless you want to change it to sound like "Something else." By this, I mean, if they sound great now... do not attempt to change/ color the sound with ropes, caulking etc., etc.. Some people hear feel the cornwall belle la scala and k horn with metal horns ring in the midrange. If you do not.. Do not caulk it.. ---------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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