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I've been saying for decades that "A Matter of Life and Death" with David Niven was a classic and now the world (UK film buffs at least) has/have caught up with me.

Also "Life is Beautiful" is both inspiring and heartbreaking.

You know Russ, if you were to put a disability and a fruit in front of your name, no-one would question it. You have all the visual appearance of a blues man who hasn't just been round the block but had it fall on him AND the chops to back it up!

Way , guy!

Sorry Zurf, I put £ instead of $, but I've found that with most things musical/Hi Tech, you can put the appropriate sign in front and the number stays the same both sides of the pond.

No slight intended Russ, but the Powerpod only has 4 inputs and Zurf wants 8. I find these powerpod type mixer amps are great if you already have stomp boxes and other kit, but for uses other than live where everyone has their own kit to get the sound they want, I've found their limitations quickly become apparent and necessitate upgrading or buying other stuff to overcome these problems. Also this solution would need the purchase of a recording device or a sound card/break out box to get the audio into the computer.

I will sit back and continue to let you advise Zurf on his Potastudio (it's been so many years since I used one!)  as I can see that you're well on the ball!

PS: LOVE Old Dogs Need Some Lovin', Russ (sorry I didn't leave a comment). The sound/feel you've got going on there is COOL AS MUSTARD!

Hey Zurf!

Firstly: the quickest and easiest solution is to get your portastudio to someone who can say "It's buggered/OK" - it would take too long backing and forthing!

Mixers can be and are both live and studio. I have a Soundcraft Studio mixer that I have done numerous gigs with.

As you want both I would look into some of these analogue mixers that offer USB or Firewire connection to record to a computer. I know Behringer do some great stuff at a competitive price point.

The Xnyx 2442 FX will do this job (it's younger bro', Xenyx 2222FX, has 8 mic ins, but it's always better to have at least 2 spare; if you can afford one with more inputs, better to get it as you will see 3 months - 1 year down the linw) It USBs to your computer making it a recording interface.

As to speakers - will they be installation only or will they go on the road with you? If they are of the PA ilk, it would be better to get some with a good top end rather than a low bass end as being enclosed in a (relatively) small space will mean you have to EQ all the bass out - why get it?

Also whether they are installation or PA, I would recommend Powered speakers (Amp built in) as these match amp to speaker and give much better quality - also less bulk to transport.

YES you can absolutely do all this on £1000. I wouldn't think of buying mixer or speakers that would need upgrading tho'.

rs_shadow0000 IS the reincarnation of Sir Stanley Unwin!!!!!

My opening night playlist (in order)

1: Notte e Giorno Faticar by the LSO (Instrumental Version) - now's the time to switch off!

2: May the Road Rise With You - PIL

3: Somebody to Love - !

4: Louisiana 1927 - Martin Simpson (Live)

5: Valpariso - Sting

6: Motorcylce Emptiness - Manic Street Preachers

7: Lively Up Yourself - Sir Robert Nestor Marley

8: Superstition - Stevie Wonder

9: Solstice Bell - Jethro Tull

10: Nimrod, Enigma Variations - Elgar

Hey Tony!

There are two ways to go here (in the UK at least).

Agents require a liscence which can be expensive which goes on to your percentages, but they make their money by getting you work DO NOT PAY AN UP FRONT FEE!!! - If they can't be sure of getting you work, they aint worth having. You may be required to provide CDs, posters and promo bumpf.

A manager, on the other hand requires no liscence and can, effectively, do the same job. If you can't find anyone doing either job, check around for other musicians who have their own circuit and offer them a percentage for getting you gigs.

Also befriend these other gigging bands/artists and ask if you can play in their break as an advert for the landlord/entertainments manager of the venue (many will agree to this as they appear better value to the venue - Don't do this often at any one venue or you will get a reputation for playing for free and no-one will want to pay you!

Make friends with your local rag and get them to list your gigs in their What's On guide; this may be seen by other venue managers and is always a good way of showing how busy you are (i.e. worth employing!)

Before doing anything where newspapers are concerned, MAKE A PRESS RELEASE that explains who you are, what you do, etc if you do not provide this you can take pot luck as to what they say about you!!!!!!!!!!!

I made a dream come true for a disabled, wheelchair-bound musician at my own, not inconsiderable, expense, by making an album for him in between doing jobs for the BBC, the Gov't and a company that makes power stations. I didn't give them a press release, told the reporter it was a project done with no budget and in the paper the first line described me as "a low budget recording studio"

BE WARNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope this helps!

Hey bud!

Did I make suggestions about writing motivation to you on another thread?

Ingore everything I said!!! You don't need help from me in the art of crafting damn fine songs!

            as Mustard!

Hey Phil!

And there was me thinking it was going to be a romantic thing about true love forever. You twisty scribe, you! 

Hey bud_wiser!

Nice reply Selso! (Didn't find out what happened after you got canned; hope all going excellent, mate. Checked your site, some good strong songs!)

When writing do you begin with words and put chords to it? If so try reversing this; find some chords in a key you like singing in and string them together by experiment. If they sound sombre, change them or their order - it might be easier putting words into a known rhythmic pattern.

If you usually begin with music try working with lyric. Think of something that's both close to your heart that makes you happy/laugh and work with that. When working this way it helps to know if you want to do 4/4 or waltz, whichever, but you can make the rhythm work on the edit.

A song doesn't have to appear in 7 minutes to a couple of hours in one sitting to be heartfelt. Something that's close to my heart I wrote a song about in 1992 but was never happy with it so kept thinking of it as a work in progress. Last year the missing pieces fell into place and I think it works now.

If you feel deeply about your subject matter, it doesn't matter how you get there in turning your feelings/ideas into a song as long as you stay true to how you feel about the subject matter.

Then again you can turn all the above on it's head and work opposite to yourself and all you know and see what happens!

It's a learning process, experiment and enjoy!

Listening to the Zep (again x3) while writing this. I was priviledged a couple of years back to have a few hours alone with Robert Plant's Cort Acoustic - does it matter how it plays?

                                  IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!!!

Hey Topdown

I always go with what I like and I listened to the Rush  - very good - but I went to the very end of Fred Zep!