Violin sound.

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Raymond for your kind thoughts. Yes indeed the BOSS could have been dead as supplied. It's a negative center pin type that's needed.

It's negative center pin and the one I've bought.

I did try a 9V battery in fact tried two but thought both must be discharged; my DMM was down in the workshop and due to dire weather I didn't fancy venturing down but when I did I found both batteries reading 9V.

As your rightly say Raymond a simple diode possibly only costing less than 1p would protect against wrong polarity connection but in the BOSS manual it states protected. Companies buy diodes in very large quantities costing considerably less than 1p each.

I might still have hundreds of these diodes; I used them a lot during my vintage radio restoration days. I also used Zener diodes for fixing voltages on power supplies such as this one I made; I made two indentical; one for me one for a friend and used Zener diodes together with a wafer swtich to supply 10V increments for powering old battery radios.

I designed and made two of these including winding the transformers. HT 70V to 140V using a wafer switch and Zener diodes supplying 10V increments but also using solid state voltage regulators to supply 0V to 32V in both negative and positive it depended on what the valve grids needed.

I'm OK with the DITTO though and possibly it suits my needs better than the more complicated BOSS so I'm not too bothered; I don't like losing money but sometimes it happens and for the amount involved I won't lose sleep over it.

I wish the weather would improve but I can dream on; it's the wrong time of year with more bad months ahead.

Kind regards, Col.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

On more thought, Colin.
Looking at photos of the RC2, I see the output socket is also labeled Power On.
So, it may only turn on if there is a cable plugged into the output socket.
I have some other pedal that works like that.

 

[DM60]

On more thought, Colin.
Looking at photos of the RC2, I see the output socket is also labeled Power On.
So, it may only turn on if there is a cable plugged into the output socket.
I have some other pedal that works like that.

I have a compressor pedal that turns on and off when there is a cable inserted.

 

[TalismanRich]

A lot of old pedals that used only batteries would disconnect power when the cable was removed to save battery power. My old Vox wah is like that . A lot of the original pedals didn't have LEDs to indicate power, so unplugging was a sure sign that power was off.

My Boss Blues Driver and Tube Screamer and H2O chorus all light up if you don't have plugs inserted. I' would guess that the looper does the same but that "power on" comment certainly deserves investigating.

 

[TalismanRich]

Colin, I checked the Boss manuals, and the output jack is indeed the power switch! It's the same for the RC1, RC2, RC3 and RC5.


Turning the Power On/Off

Turning On the Power
Insert the plug of the connection cable into the OUTPUT jack.
* This unit is equipped with a protection circuit. A brief interval (a few seconds) after power up is required before the
unit will operate normally.

Turning Off the Power
Remove the plug of the connection cable from the OUTPUT jack.


OUTPUT Jack
Connect a guitar amp or monitor speaker here.
* The OUTPUT jack also doubles as a power switch. Inserting a plug into the OUTPUT jack switches on the power; pull
out the plug to switch the power off. To avoid unnecessary depletion of the battery, pull out the plug connected to the OUTPUT jack when
you’re not using the RC-2.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks everyone for your kind advice and suggestions which I do fully appreciate. I did read the manual and saw that the cables need connecting to put power on; I've tried but so far without success; I've got the correct adapter but tomorrow whilst shopping I'll also buy a new 9V battery. I've been so busy not allowing me to get into the studio; I've got time in the evenings but I'm tired out having been grafting in the garden on my hands and knees removing couch grass rhyzomes from the middle meadow in the perishing cold and chilling wind; today it was forecast as feeling like 3C but up the exposed steep garden the prevailing breeze dropped the temperature further; I'm working hard to clear the meadow before Christmas then I can relax and spend time indoors. This bitterly cold weather drains my energy and if I don't clear the meadow now I'll be fighting tall couch grass again next springtime; this grass is a real nightmare it spreads so quickly.

Heavy rain is forecast all day tomorrow so I'll spend time in the studio and update later in the day. I can put the studio heating on all day making it comfortable.

Thanks so much Rich for taking the time to post your comprehensive reply; I'll double check everything tomorrow.

I have spent some time in the studio when I've been rained off trying to sort out playing the Yamaha YEV-104 like the following;

The sequence I tried;
1 Yamaha YEV-104 electric violin.
2 Red Eye Pre amplifier.
3 Beringer UMC40 4HD Interface just for it's +48V phantom power
4 Rode NT2-a Condenser microphone powered by the phantom power from the Beringer.
5 Tascam pocket studio.
6 POG2 Polyphonic Octave Generator.
7 Yamaha THR10 Amplifier

I appreciate the above will offend sensitive ears but at the moment it's the best I could do; I'm having to fight just about everything from things wanting to update; export from the Tascam to my desktop; convert to MP3 then Audacity to remove unwanted bits; the above is raw and unedited. Audacity wanted to update and when it did I spent ages because it wouldn't play audio so it was onto YouTube to sort it out. I played from memory and as I'm only playing for my own enjoyment I'm happy so far; practice will make me better; I have other gear too to learn to use; I tried adding the sample to YouTube but I think I need to convert it to MP4? I subscribe to AVC and even this had to update before I used it; I admit I'm struggling but I'm not giving up because when I can spend time in the studio I enjoy it. So much to learn all at once; I'm trying to run before I can walk but I hope everything will fall into place eventually.

I'm not scared of showing mistakes or feeling foolish.

Kind regards, Col.

 

[rob aylestone]

Col, I quite like the sound of the violin with the effects, the snag though is you have forgotten the key signature? It’s falling in love again isn’t it? The 4th and 5th notes are a snag. Wise men said, is a perfect fifth jump. The fourth note should be a whole tone up, then the fifth note should another who tone up, not a semi-tone. A Major third up from the first note, not a minor third. That said, it gives the piece a rather scary haunting sound, but it’s in D Major which should have an F sharp and C sharp every time. The two little hash signs next to the clef. The tune would be D A D E F# G F# E A B C# D E F# G F# E D

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks so much rob for your patience and information. I'm struggling with so much and as I said I was playing from memory not a score; I wanted to get anything at all recorded and found lots of obstacles in the way not having done it for so long. I need to go back in order to understand key signature; yes Falling In Love again with Scarborough Fair which I'm still practicing with. I've now bought a new 9V battery and will try using the BOSS again today.

I'm struggling a great deal on the personal front due to my wonderful wife Bron passing away in March this year; it's still very raw and I'm trying to adjust finding concentration difficult; I'm all over the place with so much to contend with.

I'm slowly getting to grips with the POG2 and RED EYE; the weather too is messing my life up quite a bit; I want to sort the garden out but can't plan a day ahead with confidence; the Met office are guessing; when they forecast heavy rain and it remains dry all day I look out of the window and if it isn't raining I don my heavy work gear and get cracking; today is forcast heavy rain all day and it's certainly raining; I feel constantly upside down.

I hope I'm not moaning or making excuses; I'm doing the best I can; I thought I was in for a clear day to spend time in the studio due to the heavy rain but I've just received an email from a close friend saying she's awaiting an ambulance; she's unwell with assorted health issues so another day of uncertainty; I can't relax at all; on Friday we plan to visit another friend who is increasingly frail in a care home assuming my friend is well enough to travel. 2025 has been and still is the worst ever year of my entire life. I'm 78 and as I age so many are passing away around me;

I've no intention of sinking into deep depression; Bron will forever be with me in spirit and I've so much to occupy myself with.

Time now to turn the studio heating up; then it'll soon be dinnertime; it never lets up.

Thanks once again rob; you're doing your best to guide me in the right direction. I'll print your information and take it into the studio to try it out.

Kind regards, Col.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I think I've gone full circle. I tried playing a lot of my violin gear in the front room but found it to be impractical especially when I had visitors; cables srewn across the carpet etc all had to be moved including the music stand; I took the lot back into the studio. Due to this constant cold weather I've had background heating on in the studio but each time I now wanted to play my violin I had to plan when to turn the heating up in the studio; this was OK at times but at other times the studio was heating up nicely when I then needed to be elsewhere so turned the heating down again. I lost the ability of simply picking the violin up in the front room.

Whilst Bron was ill I bought her the two guitars and amplifier but she was too ill to play with them. I'd bought her a Yamaha mini keyboard and this was also too much for her. I'll always retain the guitars and keyboard etc but recently I brought the keyboard into the office finding it small enough to sit on the desk in front of the computer monitor allowing it to be connected to the computer.

I'd been watching YouTube videos like this one; Fabrice has lots of such piano tutorials to watch and I was fascinated by how easy he makes it look;



I was amazed by how easy a piano keyboard is to understand compared to a violin with its strings and bow; the piano keys are fixed so hitting the right key hits the correct note; I very quickly grasped the piano key layout after all there are only 12 keys to memorize the keys in batches of twelve along the keyboard. Following Fabrices instructions I played my first notes on a keyboard; I know to play a piano to professional standards is very difficult but speaking as both a violin and keyboard novice the keyboard is so much easier to understand.

Now the keyboard has grabbed my interest I was keen to learn more; I watched lots more YouTube videos but also videos on best keyboard to buy for a novice;

I've bought the above keyboard through Thomann and am awaiting delivery. I'm eagerly looking forward to its arrival. Playing the mini keyboard on my desk isn't practical; it sits too high for comfort; the new keyboard comes with a dedicated height adjustable stand and I can set it up permanently in the front room it only having one mains adaptor cable and it's light enough to move around if needed; it can also be played solely on battery power; it appears to be a very complicated but highly comprehensive piece of kit for a novice to understand;.

This morning I modified my music stand to accomodate my enlarged sheet music scores; if these were placed horizontally it wasn't a problem but the ones needing vertical placement flopped over at their top ending in frustration.

The new backing (6mm thick MDF) is 17" square fully supporting the enlarged scores. I've now brought the Yamaha electric violin and Yamaha amp back into the front room but only with the POG2 which is better to live with and once again I'm practicing playing my violin.

I was also kindly prodded by rob @rob aylestone who in previous posts referred to piano notes which I didn't understand leaving me somewhat confused but now rob's piano information makes a great deal more sense to me so thanks again rob.

This is my ongoing story and I hope it helps any other novice reading it; never give up; the mistakes and ballistic learning curves are overcome but only by perserverance and practice; I'm trying to learn everything at once but by doing so I'm not losing interest and this is so very important to any novice.

Kind regards, Col.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

Yes, the keyboard is a lot easier.
You have a map of all the notes layed out in front of you, and you can use whatever finger you like to hit any note.
I'm on a journey with the piano, learning to sightread.
But you can also just make music on a keyboard without looking at a score.
If I want to check out a melody to see what the intervals are, I will go to a keyboard first.
The keyboard can help the violin journey.

The keyboard does sound really good in the videos.
All my keyboards cost quite a bit more. What I pay for is better quality and full size keys.
For synths I like 'Fatar' branded keys, which is what Moog use.
For a beginner, though, your choice is probably Ok, and good value.

 

[R D Smith]

I took piano lessons as a child, from about 8 until 13 or 14 when I got more interested in girls. I could sight read and play fairly well. When my wife and I were renovating my folk's house in preparation to move in, we sold the piano. I sat down and played it a little before it got picked up. That was in 2003.

Fast forward to this year, I have been looking for a keyboard/synthesizer for a year or so, and finally settled on a Korg Kross 2 61. I have really been enjoying it. I can still read music, but not fast enough to play it. So I'm in the process of relearning piano. Happily, (as you have discovered Colin) there are a bunch of YouTube videos on how to play just about any song you can think of. Much easier and quicker than buying the sheet music. I do however, regret not keeping the music I had from my childhood.

A quick note on music guides. I found a guide on scales and arpeggios that shows the correct fingers to use for the different scales, left and right hand. I thought that was useful as I had forgotten that. It does make things easier to practice those correctly.

Anyway, we went to my brother's for Thanksgiving and my sister-in-law has a Yamaha baby grand. I sat down and was noodling around, I had forgotten that a real piano has weighted keys. That took a little getting used to, but I managed a few Christmas tunes and original things I have been working on. A very enjoyable evening.

I know you will enjoy your new keyboard Colin. The neat thing is, you can set up combinations with strings, brass, etc. and sound like an orchestra. It's been very satisfying for me.

 

[rob aylestone]

I have a Korg Kross! It makes some amazing sounds!

 

[R D Smith]

Yes it does! I'm very happy with it!

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for your information Raymond. I've been watching lots of YouTube videos many stating don't start trying to play every note correctly; I tried this whilst playing the violin and it became obssessive to the point I ended up only playing very few tunes which I still do but I'll try lots more new tunes once I get settled back into the studio. I started to make decent progress sight reading violin scores so need to pick it up again; good luck with yours on the piano. I'm sure the keyboard is going to be a huge help and be fun making up my own melodies. I can always upgrade the keyboard at a later date but as a keyboard novice I think the keyboard I've bought will keep me busy for quite a while; I had looked at the more expensive types but used not wanting to go mad at first.

Korg Kross 2 61.

Thanks @R D Smith I've seen Korgs mentioned and they look and sound wonderful; at around £600 new they aren't out of my price range but I need to walk before I run although the Korg information is well worth bearing in mind after all you guys are light years ahead of me but I'm learning all the time. The YouTube videos have really got me interested in keyboards and the information they show is easy for me to understand; I think violins are so much more difficult but I'm still making slow progress with my violins. The new keyboard hasn't arrived which I expected considering it's Christmas; it'll be here in a few days but I'm making lots of progress in the studio in the meantime. Hindsight is wonderful isn't it? You'll quickly come back up to speed with your sight reading; good luck with it. It sometimes pays to go back because it's easy to forget what you once enjoyed doing. Yesterday I visited a retired friend residing in a care home; he's called Noel which is fitting for Christmas? When I mentioned to Noel I had bought a keyboard his face lit up; he has a very nice Yamaha keyboard he owns and plays in the home;



Noel is one of the last real gentlemen and it's a privilege to know him as a friend.

I'm keen to get my hands on the new keyboard and as you say it's going to open up a whole new world for me to play in;

Back to the violin; I had copied violin sheet music to memory stick and played it in the studio through the laptop but could do with it a bit larger in order to quickly make out the notes. I have my old desktop computer so yesterday I pulled it out but found I'd removed the HDD and DVD player; this wasn't a problem until I found three HDD's and two DVD players; now which are the original; it being winter and the usual Yorkshire black hole I struggled with kitchen lights switched on and even trying to use a torch; last night in total frustration I quit.

This morning with what passed as daylight I tried again but still it was frustrating; I wondered what it would cost to simply buy a used plug and play desktop because I'm totally fed up of 2025? On Gumtree I found a desktop with decent spec running Win11 across in Wakefield and was about to contact the seller when suddenly the light lit up between my ears; could I connect the new monitor to the laptop? YouTube to the rescue; of course I could and did;

WOW; lots of problems so easily solved with just one single idea. The new monitor is a 24.5" and a bargain;

It arrived with the new PC keyboard yesterday on next day delivery which is brilliant considering it's Christmas when all couriers will be working flat out. I can now use the laptop with large monitor as core for the studio; I can play large size music scores; music; instructional YouTube videos and edit through the Internet all at pretty lowcost. I connected the laptop to the monitor this afternoon and enjoyed a short violin practice. The studio can now be reorganized with all the gear I have.



Above is the YouTube video I found and there's another showing how to connect 5 monitors to a laptop; my studio is starting to look like mission control. I hope all this helps any novices viewing it because I'm discovering things just with a bit of thinking. I now need to stop buying and start playing; the PC keyboard I bought is now a spare; I'm using a wireless mouse.

Kind regards, Col.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

It's bitterly cold outside with snow so I've been rearranging gear again. I'm going round in circles. The new Yamaha keyboard is wonderful but I found even at max volume it left a lot to be desired; I tried connecting my Yamaha amp and also a Fender amp but couldn't get the sound I liked however much I played with the controls; the keyboard on its own sounded lovely but through each amp it's totally different.

I had two M-Audio BX4 monitors in the studio so after watching more YouTube videos these are now in the front room and I'm happy with the sound and the volume is much better although it won't lift the roof. The difference in sound between the monitors and amps is amazing; I've got so much to learn but little by little I'm making progress.

The Yamaha YEV 104 violin is also back in the front room together with the Yamaha amp; I've just set it all up; neatly coiling the cables and adding a rubber band to each. I now have immediate access to both the keyboard and violin. Background heating remains on in the studio but I no longer need to keep turning it up for each session. The keyboard has an unexpected bonus; I can easily read A4 size music scores. The violin still needs the stand and enlarged scores but it all looks promising and I can now benefit from lots of practicing in comfort.

When the cuckoo comes perhaps I can open the studio again but this is quite a while off.

Kind regards, Col.

 

[DM60]

When the cuckoo comes perhaps I can open the studio again but this is quite a while off.

That is one intersting bird. I was watching a documentary on that bird and I was totally shocked how it lays and raises its chicks.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

I had two M-Audio BX4 monitors in the studio so after watching more YouTube videos these are now in the front room and I'm happy with the sound and the volume is much better although it won't lift the roof. The difference in sound between the monitors and amps is amazing; I've got so much to learn but little by little I'm making progress.

Studio monitors always do better. They have HF tweeters. Looks like you're set up.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks @DM60 The cuckoo is indeed an interesting but rather nasty bird; laying it's eggs in another birds nest then letting the other birds raise it's chicks. I think it's the only bird that does this.

I placed a lot of faith in my two amps Raymond and found they have limits; I'm learning all the time but it's very slow going; I spent ages trying to get good sounds out of the amps using the keyboard and thought it was my ignorance at fault. YouTube came to the rescue when I started browsing finding studio monitors could be used; then I spent more time looking at how to connect the monitors but as usual overthinking got in the way; the monitors connected in minutes; I tried the switched powered monitor first and this worked so then I connected the second monitor; I'm delighted with the result and as you rightly say the HF tweeters make such a lot of difference.

I added eight 13A sockets to the corner of the front room when I gave the room a comprehensive makeover; TV; TV box; CCTV; radio; table lamp etc soon occupied most of these and now wanting to use more of my studio gear I'm out of sockets so I've just bought these from Toolstation;

I'm awaiting notice to collect them. I think when I have these sockets I can regard myself as set up; I hope so because I seem to have been spending a lot of money lately and it's now time to make full use of what I've bought together with what I already have regarding gear. It's looking good and later in the year I'm considering buying another pair of studio monitors then I can have permanent monitors in the studio and front room. When it comes to having a home studio I think spending is going to be ongoing as experience is gained and gear is being upgraded; it's a wonderful hobby though.

Kind regards, Col.