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Describe YOUR Gear / Setup / Equipment / toys
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Norris Shepherd



Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 313
Location: New Brunswick, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 4:48 pm    Post subject: Describe YOUR Gear / Setup / Equipment / toys Reply with quote

Hi Everyone.
I mentioned in my profile that it's been 10 years or so since i've touched a guitar. And my.... how the world has changed.

One big problem is sound quality for some performers in SL. I always feels sooo bad when i see someone, can tell that they are really talented, but find it hard to listen due to poor sound quality.

Difference over gigging in SL is that the musician has to be their own sound tech. I've been buying up magazines and books like crazy since i decided i wanted to perform here, to try and get up to speed. Sooooo much has changed since it took me 40 seconds to save a 10 second stereo *.wav to a file.....

Blah blah blah... so what is YOUR setup? I know i'd love to know....

Just for the sake of answering my own question... (If you are looking for gear to play in SL with... DO NOT get this stuff... i bought before i researched...)

Yamaha Acoustic/Electric guitar.

Leem Vocal Mic

Yamah EMX312Sc Powered Mixer
- 12 channel (4 mono, 4 stereo)
- 300 Watt powered mixer
- has built in reverb
- has simplified, 1 knob compression on 4 channels

Computer running windows 2000 with not much in terms of audio software..
- generic sound card
- bought a video card with a chip recommended by Linden Labs... makes a big difference... doesn't crash as much as before (in case you didn't know... there are very FEW video cards approved... and a LOT that are officially marked NOT COMPATIBLE... but some of these still work)
- Use Winamp for streaming because... umm... Nullsoft (maker of Winamp) invented shoutcast streaming. Looked at Simplecast though.. and might try that one as well. has some nice features.


Set up description.

- Vocal Mic into one channel, Guitar into another.
- Run 'Main Out' from mixer (1/4") to 1/8" line in on soudcard
- Monitor mix from the 'monitor out' on mixer into earphones
- umm that's about it.... compression pretty high up on vocals.... (remember ... idiot compression.. only one knob. yay!)

other notes...

- found a second monitor, and plan on running two monitors soon.
- one for Second Life
- other one for Lyrics / song sheets These binders are driving me crazy!!! Ask me in a few weeks how it works out if you are curious about it...

If you made it this far, congratulations. Smile

...way over my 'goofing off' alloted time now.

Take care.

Norris Shepherd.
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Doubledown Tandino



Joined: 07 Sep 2007
Posts: 1658
Location: RAVELONG @ SLMC Info Island - SIM: Tivona

PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 9:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I get kinda dyslexic reading other people's equipment... and also I don't know what it is if Im not familiar with it... to be honest, I dont know half of the stuff I use...
(as Im typing now and without looking what I remember is:
2 technic 1200somethings
2 numark axis 9s
the mixer with the cool light
the blue sampler and beat machine (I love this)
the thing that works like the 808 but it's not really the 808 <--not with me currently
a newish korg but its not like the old korg (it kinda really sucks) <--not with me currently
a late-90s moog (love it!!) <--not with me currently
abelton live
a im-not-shure mic
the speakers that sit on these cool triangle things
and this very cool frequency knob that really doesnt do anything except shows sound waves, and I like it... but its usually off.) <--not with me currently


so, people, feel free to also show pics of your studios or setups.

Razz
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Distilled1



Joined: 04 Sep 2007
Posts: 392
Location: Chicago

PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gibson 12 string Full acoustic with a Dean Markley pick up taped in the sound hole *and/or other various acoustics and Electrics
Alesis FX8
stereo in Guitar
MK-219 Condenser into a mic channel *or or a Sure BD4.1
main outs into a
E-mu1010
returns back to a stereo in on the Alesis
Monitor out to Acoustic Research powered monitors and/or headphones
Don't use the E-mus soft/mixer as I cant seem to get it right. just set it and forgot it (one day I need to re learn it)
direct into winamp/shoutcast on the soundcard
all run on a Dell XPS700 running XP media and a hella nvidia card and memory.
Streaming on a 9k DSL line with 1500k upstream.



live^
recording below

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I drink so that I can talk to Ass Holes,
This includes myself"
-J.Morrison
http://distill.dmusic.com
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Tommy CUlt



Joined: 06 Sep 2007
Posts: 160

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi All,

I have a pretty simple set up I wanted to share - and for anyone that really does not have any equipment, i think it works well. It is a Boss Micro BR digital recorder. It is a lil bigger than an ipod!! and you can pretty much do near studio quaility recordings with it. One great feature is it has an VERY good quality built in mic. It is easy to play an acoustic guaitar and sing with zero mixing required - and I am still amazed at how much this built in mic pics up. It has a dedicated guitar input, bla bla bla....google it Razz ....but I love how simple and portable it is.

I am sure there may be downfalls with it - because I have never had anything else to compare with. I already had the Micro BR and tried it in SL. Maybe someone else has used one?

Cheers - TC
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Zak Claxton



Joined: 16 Oct 2007
Posts: 2008
Location: Podul/33/243/154/

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I may have described this before, so if anyone gets deja vu, that's why. Here's the Zak System for SL, listed in order of signal chain.

(1) Martin D-18V acoustic guitar
(1) Set of seven Hohner Marine Band Special 20 harmonicas
(1) Groove Tubes GT55 vocal mic
(1) Groove Tubes GT30 instrument mic
(2) 25' Planet Waves XLR (mic) cables
(1) Mackie 1202-VLZ mixer
(1) Digidesign Mbox USB audio interface
(1) Apple Macintosh G4 1.25Ghz MDD tower that I only use for streaming
(1) Rogue Amoeba Nicecast broadcast software

And that be all. Oh, and some guitar picks. And a glass of water. Very important.
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BabbleGrabble



Joined: 21 Nov 2007
Posts: 589
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Without the effects rack and the software, I believe this is about as low-tech as it gets:
- Takamine acoustic guitar
- a pretty decent microphone I bought ages ago (I think it's a Shure - I'm away from it at the moment), on a mic stand, aimed at a central region between my mouth and my guitar
- a Digitech effects rack (also picked up ages ago) for reverb
- Creative sound card on a PC running XP Pro

Mic plugged into effects rack - effects rack output into sound card mic input; I'm using SAM to stream (which also allows for playing along to prerecorded tracks saved as MP3's) - SAM also saves a recording of the broadcast, which I then post to my Web site.

So I am looking into getting this audio input / MIDI keyboard / guitar effects / mixer combo, a Line 6 TonePort KB37 ... anyone have any knowledge or experience with this product?
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Distilled1



Joined: 04 Sep 2007
Posts: 392
Location: Chicago

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Babble we need your help please describe how you set that sound card to pick up your mic input and what ever you play in SAM. as it will be the same in implecast and shoutcast I believe... I have 2 people that can't get it.
_________________
"Being drunk is a good disguise.
I drink so that I can talk to Ass Holes,
This includes myself"
-J.Morrison
http://distill.dmusic.com
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EvaMoon



Joined: 30 Nov 2007
Posts: 462

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let's see...

I have a

-Roland Juno-D keyboard (in world and out!)
-Audix OM5 mic on a boom stand
-iPod

all feeding into a

-Eurotrack MX-1604A 8-channel mixer

From there I cable a stereo feed into the line-in port on my

-Intel iMac w/
-Nicecast from RogueAmoeba

I monitor w/headphones from the mixer

and it's all piled up around the desk I'm supposed to be working from.

Challenges:

-Dunderheadedness. It's hard to broadcast if you can't remember to actually hit the start button.
-Bad eyes. I can't seem to position things so that I can stand behind the Roland, sing into the mic and see anything more than a suggestive blur on the monitor.
-Getting to my chair without tripping over all the crap

Eva
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EvaMoon Ember in SL

Eva Moon & the Lunatics
Musical mischief after dark
http://evamoon.net
Calendar: http://evamoon.net/sl
http://www.thesixtyone.com/evamoon

Lunatalk Blog: http://evamoon.net/blog
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BabbleGrabble



Joined: 21 Nov 2007
Posts: 589
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Distilled1 wrote:
Babble we need your help please describe how you set that sound card to pick up your mic input and what ever you play in SAM. as it will be the same in implecast and shoutcast I believe... I have 2 people that can't get it.

Yes, this took me a while to get working. I am not at home now, so I cannot provide a complete description, but these are the main things I remember making all the difference for me (please keep in mind that I use PC's):

Now this is probably going to sound idiotic on my part, but I needed to go into the Playback options for Volume Control (Windows) and uncheck the "Mute" for Microphone and virtually everything else.

Then (also in Volume Control) under Options > Properties, select the "Recording" option under "Adjust volume for" and OK. Here, make sure the first option is checked instead of Microphone (it says "Stereo Mix" on my PC here, but it is called something different at home, and I've seen other names listed on forums, but I believe it is always the first choice, not selected by default - Microphone is the default, which does not incorporate other sources).

In the SAM settings, there is a place to configure the mixer (I can't remember how  to get there off the top of my head - there are "Pipeline" settings accessed via the Configuration tab in order to get to the Mixer options). There is a place here in a dropdown menu to set the output for your microphone (again, I can't remember the exact phrase they use) - I set that output to go directly to my soundcard, bypassing the SAM mixer. You can see the pipeline diagram at the bottom adjust accordingly.

Also in SAM, I believe the configuration of your stream must be set to use the pipeline instead of the soundcard.

Sorry for the vague details - I can provide better explanations from home if any of this is seeming to be helpful in any way. I realize you are using other software, so this might be a bit obscure.
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BabbleGrabble



Joined: 21 Nov 2007
Posts: 589
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

EvaMoon wrote:

Challenges: ... Getting to my chair without tripping over all the crap

Very Happy for me, this is probably THE hardest thing to deal with
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