Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Best DAW For The Money? Best DAW For Musicians?

Currently it's Mixcraft!

If a good audio engineer were to engineer a song using Mixcraft or any other top DAW you would not be able to tell the difference. The engineer would complete his tasks sooner on Mixcraft. If you are a techno geek with no musical ability stick with Reaper and ad some poorly made and poorly designed Presonus hardware and you'll be in geek heaven on the Cockos and Presonus forums giving people shit by telling them that the Reaper and Presonus shit not working is their fault or the fault of their computers.

End the headaches. Get Mixcraft.

Now for some real time Presonus Studio One bullshit.

Image result for presonus sucks

Below are some recent post on the Presonus user forum. It's a fucking nightmare.

Studio One 4.6 slow redraws when dragging less than 52 items

Anyone else finding the new Ampire REALLY noisy?

List of Bugs in Studio One 4.6 Right Now!

Studio one 3.5.6. problem, plugins overload CPU

MIDI note audition problem : impossible to play long notes

Studio One 4.5 (Performance Help)

Quantize a groove pattern broken?

MIDI note audition problem : impossible to play long notes

Won't play audio on certain tracks

Cackling and popping noises during playback


Thursday, August 16, 2018

Mixcraft University

If anyone every spent months and an months learning a DAW they know how much it can suck. The only DAW that has professionally done tutorials is Mixcraft. You can find a few decent tutorials for FL Studio but they don't really show you how to use the DAW.

 Mixcraft is fairly easy to learn even without a tutorial but most other DAWs are not at all easy to learn. Mixcraft is a musician's DAW Reaper is a geeks' DAW because it always fucks up and they like trying to work with it I suppose but for people who see a DAW as a tool and not a hobby, Mixcraft blows it out of the water.

 Below is a Mixcraft University tutorial video. Tutorials are a great sales tool.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Evil Donald Trump and His Evil Supporters

Call Them What They Are: Child Prisons and Baby Jails.


First off, if you support Trump you are no different than a Nazi who supported Hitler. You don't deserve to live for another second. If you are moral then it is your duty as a musician to write and publish music that opposes Trump and the trash who support and defend him. 

Trump has reached a new low with his Baby Prisons. Separating refugee children from their mothers and fathers is about as evil as it gets and anyone who would be part of that is purely evil. 

I can't say what I am thinking about what needs to be done about this. All I can say is that if you are in the music industry and you have an ounce of morals you will write protest songs and if you write instrumental music you will name that music names like Jails for Babies, Filthy Trump, The Orange Menace, etc...

Do not remain silent. Let your voice be heard. 

Big Problems With Presonus Studio 1 Version 4

Here's a thread from the Presonus forum.  <------ CLICK

Presonus releases another cluster fuck. Even the fanboys are pissed.

Presonus Studio One Artist issues - Gearslutz Pro Audio ..



Thursday, April 12, 2018

EDM SUCKS!


See the source image



You are not alone. Most everyone hates EDM because it sucks and the industry behind it sucks. A friend of mine composed an EDM piece and posted it on Soundcloud. He did it as a lark just to show how simple it is to compose. He used some Mixcraft loops and in a minute or two he had an EDM tune. It was the best EDM tune I have ever heard. It wasn't annoying because the guy who composed it is a real musician. A year or so after he put it on Soundcloud (CLICK HERE TO HEAR IT) and Youtube some fucking asshole calling himself PMonie stole it and the criminals at Beatport are now illegally distributing it and selling it and they refuse to say how many times it has been downloaded.


Why EDM Sucks (a brief history of Electronic Music and EDM ...



Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Mixcraft Tutorials

See the source image

Mixcraft tutorials are professionally made and they are informative. The thing is though, of all the DAWs, Mixcraft doesn't need tutorials as desperately as all the other DAWs. Mixcraft is very intuitive kinda like Garage Band only Mixcraft is far more powerful.

Acoustica, the makers of Mixcraft, are smart enough to realize that the singer/songwriter is generally not a geek and has no intention of becoming a geek. Singer/songwriters want a compositional tool and IMO there is no better DAW than Mixcraft for singer/songwriters. Because Mixcraft is not geek-ware the singer/songwriter can easily become his own producer and engineer kinda like Prince. The singer/songwriter/composer can quickly learn sound editing, mixing and mastering and if he or she has the skills and the outboard gear e.g. pre-amps and mics, he or she can produce professional quality recordings that can be up loaded for sale.

Mixcraft Video Tutorials | Acoustica


Mixcraft University: Mixing - YouTube


Unlike other DAW developers, Acoustica respects its customers and understands their needs. They created a very good product and they didn't simply sell it and forget the buyer. 

If you are interested in recording your music, take the time to audition Mixcraft before you do anything else. Acoustica allows you to audition in for free. 

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Presonus Reviews: Studio One

Presonous is a scumbag company that makes unreliable and user unfreindly garbage. Here are what customers are saying about Presonus products, service and support. Presonus does a lot of sleazy guerrilla marketing so if you read a glowing review it is probably bullshit.

If you CLICK HERE YOU WILL FIND A LIST OF THE GANGSTERS WHO RUN PRESONUS



It looks like Presonus is failing company and you would be wise not to do business with them. They are located in Louisiana and the collective IQ of Louisana is shockingly low. They may be going out of business soon.

Corporate Headquarters Presonus

18011 Grand Bay Court
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806

United States
Phone: 225-216-7887
Fax: 225-926-8347

Background Of  Stephen Fraser Presonus CEO

Mr. Stephen Fraser has been Chief Executive Officer at PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. since February 2015 and served as Chief Operations Officer since May 2010. Mr. Fraser oversees PreSonus Audio Electronics's supply chain and manufacturing during a period when it is significantly expanding its product line and distribution. He served as the Chief of Staff of the BEHRINGER Group of Companies and served as Chief Operating Officer of BEHRINGER International GmbH since November 2005. Mr. Fraser was responsible for planning, organizing, and overseeing the core operations and overall administration. He joined the BEHRINGER Group in June 2004 as President for USA and Canada. Mr. Fraser has a wealth of experience in business development, sales and corporate finance in executive positions including, Chief Operating Officer of HotelGuide AG; Managing Director at ICE plc and President of Lenlyn Ltd (a related company of ICE plc); and an Head of Corporate Finance, London branch of Banque Bruxelles Lambert. His early career in corporate banking, corporate finance, and operations included heading up corporate finance at BBL in Europe, and he has held high-level financial and operations positions in Europe, North America, and Asia. Mr. Fraser holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Economics) from Canterbury University.



 

1.0 out of 5 stars
The most horrible support I have ever had!!
ByPeggy Jacksonon January 17, 2017

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY!!! I owned this board for approximately 4 years and it never performed to expectations. Now it has the same problem that I read on forums that many others have with it in that it freezes from over heating after about a minute of playing. Over the last week I have spent three sessions waiting for technical support for an hour just to see what my options are for this 50 pound paper weight. No one has ever answered! I am not sure they even have a technical team, but just a looping phone message. They have a whole new line of Boards coming out soon but with support like this LET THE BUYER BEWARE!!!



1.0 out of 5 stars
Not a reliable product; Repair service is dismal
ByD. Ankneyon March 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

As other reviewers have reported, quality control leaves something to be desired. Worse, Presonus isn't able to handle repairs in a meaningful way.

I returned my initial mixer because it was broken out of the box. The replacement unit arrived and functioned for two months. I sent it in for warranty repairs (they're heavy, so it cost my $120+ out of pocket). It was in repair for a month, and when they returned it to me, it was broken in a new way.

I've had two bad units and Presonus has been unable to get a functioning one in my hands; I've spent my budget and am out a significant amount of cash.

If you need a product you can rely on, you should keep working. It's feature-rich, but it's not a product you can count on when there are musicians in the room ready to make music.

UPDATE: They just returned it to me from the second warranty service. This time they physically damaged it (it's clearly not a shipping issue). They have been unable to get a functional, undamaged unit in my hands in five months and two warranty repairs (each "repair" broke something new).


1.0 out of 5 stars
Worse than behringer

ByJared Mcdonaldon March 7, 2011

Buying one of these mixers is a real gamble on your part. You might get a good one. You might not. I got a bad one. It had bugs at first, but after a few days of 'use' it completely locked up and will not pass audio. My guess is that presonus knows exactly what the problems with these boards are, but they continue to sell them to people. If you get a bad one, it will be a pain in the rear to try and rectify the situation. Countless hours with tech support. You may have to ship it back to your dealer or ship it back to Presonus for repair or replacement. Don't just take my word for it, go to the presonus forums and read through all of the problems. It is true that every electronic device has issues now and then, but if you are like me and your reputation rides on your ability to provide sound for people who are paying you, this 'toy' is not for you. It is simply not reliable. In my book, presonus was always better than cheapo brands like behringer, but now, they are on the same page.


1.0 out of 5 stars
STEER CLEAR!!! I usually give good reviews but...
ByDoug Won May 20, 2011

You can look at the reviews I give. Almost all of them are very positive.

IT ENDS HERE!!!
The "Idea" of Studiolive is great!
That is as far as Presonus got with this.
I have owned this board for (almost) a year now. I have had NOTHING but problems.
Like a previous person stated, It did not work out of the box with my firewire, so
I had to upgrade my PC. Not a big deal.
However, it is under CONSTANT Crash Control! When I say constant I mean, at least
once or twice per day it crashed my Brand New Dell Studio PC.
I know that it does this with ANY PC out there. I have a friend who has a HP Laptop
he has about $2k into and his crashes at least as much as I do.
BELIEVE ME- There is NOTHING more frustrating than working on a song for 2-3 hours
and losing it all!
NOTE!!!!: THEY CLAIM THERE IS AN AUTO SAVE FEATURE, HOWEVER, IT DOES NOT SAVE ANYTHING
OTHER THAN THE FILE NAME!!! NO MATTER WHAT THEY TELL YOU!

It Doesn't stop there!
When you call customer service.. FORGET anything other than basic support. There answer
is to uninstall and re-install the program.
I have talked to them COUNTLESS times and now they just flat out LIE to me. "We will
have someone call you back" THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED!!!! I HAVE NEVER ONCE GOT A PHONE
CALL BACK!!!

NOTE TO PRESONUS:
SHAME ON YOU! YOU CHARGE $2,000.00 FOR A PRODUCT LIKE THIS??? THEN YOU WON'T EVEN STAND
BEHIND IT??? SHAME ON YOU!
YOU WILL EVENTUALLY SEE WHAT THIS TYPE OF SUPPORT WILL GET YOU.
DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHY A GREAT IDEA LIKE THIS IS NOT "FLYING OFF THE SHELVES"?
THE REVIEWS ARE WHY!!!!!!!!!!



1.0 out of 5 stars
*BEWARE: HIGHLY NOT RECOMMENDED

ByEddy Garciaon September 11, 2014

I was about to invest in one but THANKFULLY, I was able to test drive it for a couple of weeks (Still have it). It's a practically new piece of gear (owner bought it for a church but has never used it) Buggy, buggy, extra-mega buggy!!! Such a nice looking piece of gear (5 stars for that) but sooooo faulty with the freezing problem. I thought @ first that firewire was the problem but, definitely, is the console. Had previous problems with a Presonus Studio Project that I got as a present a couple of years back. In conclusion, I will NEVER buy anything from Presonus!!!



1.0 out of 5 stars
Lousy tech support, lousy manuals

ByRaul S. Tolentino Jr.on December 21, 2010

Bought the 16.4.2 about two months ago.
Problem #1 : When I tried to connect it to my PC, I had issues with the firewire connection. I tried to contact tech support - no answer. I finally figured it out on my own, bought another firewire card and solved the problem.

Problem #2 : It comes with a bunch of cds, with no clear instructions on how to install them or if there is a sequence to installing the cds. I tried to contact tech support - again no answer

Problem #3 : When I clicked the Universal control software, a pop-up appeared telling me to upgrade the software from inside the program. Yet how could I do that when I couldn't get inside the program because the @#$%^ pop-up prevents me from entering the program everytime I click it. I called tech support - again no reply

Problem #4 : The Capture software doesn't work, but then again, I don't use it.

Problem #5 : I sent an email to their tech support regarding plug-ins and I have yet to receive a reply.

The product is good (hence the single star) but their tech support stinks!! If you're prepared to look for your own solutions to any problems that may crop up, go ahead and buy it. Otherwise save yourself a lot of frustration and grief and go buy something else.





1.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible Product. There is no way to download the ...

ByGabriel Veraon October 1, 2015

Terrible Product. There is no way to download the free download software that comes with store purchase. Instead, they are clearly just thieves. The sell what amounts to useless merchandise and steal consumer's money.




2.0 out of 5 stars
Overall buggy operation, weak design, and weak support put it firmly in the semi-pro / consumer category

ByDavid Gon March 7, 2015

This mixer's sole strength is the Fat-channel with rotary encoders and level/parameter meters for each channel. This is a great feature, though other offerings such as the A&H Qu-16 have since blown past Presonus. Presonus and the StudioLive series have a number of major issues:
* The LCD screen on the mixer is super weak. Every other manufacturer of digital mixers is decades ahead of this.
* Lots of noise out of this board. Sounds like a cheap 16-bit piece of Chinese junk. Noise floor easily 15dB higher than other competitive boards. Also lots of noise over Firewire, even more in fact.
* Major transients through all the outputs anytime you plug in/out Firewire, turn off/on a PC, etc. Even with all faders at zero. Makes the board pretty much useless for doing anything with firewire at a live event.
* Presonus support is weak at best. They don't even have a phone number. I had a fader go bad and needed a replacement, and you can't simply call and get a replacement. You have to sign up on their web forum and post a ticket, and then wait days for a response.
* Overall buggy operation and the above put this mixer firmly in the semi-pro / consumer category.


2.0 out of 5 stars
Presonus Tech Support and Studio Live Mixer Problems

ByBruce Livingstonon December 29, 2009

Verified Purchase

Presonus Studio Live Review

Presonus did a good job designing this mixer and as live mixers go I'm sure it would be nice. However this mixer is advertised as a device that is supposed to work with computers via fire wire. In my case the Studio Live failed miserably. In addition... working with Presonus Technical Support was very disappointing and very time consuming. In the first place don't think you can call them and expect to get on the phone with anyone in a timely manner, expect to wait a long time. They only take calls Monday - Friday from 8-5 central time and are closed on holidays... (A voice message saying they are closed the day after thanksgiving would've been nice ....it just rings and rings) After much calling and emailing the technicians responded to my emails and messages at a snails pace. I did get a voice mail box one time... This person was in the accounting department. The technicians only have a hand full of suggestions and really appear to be grasping for straws. I tried to setup the SL on two Windows PCs and a Mac. Once the setup was complete I was able to see the feeds from the SL in my recording software. However, once the computers were re-started the SL connection went away and was never to be seen again. I had a second SL delivered and had the exact same results. I exhausted every technical procedure that Presonus had (which wasn't much) and I was never able to make this work. Presonus support pretty much bailed at this point so I setup an outside computer resource with a remote connection to my Studio PC to see if they could isolate the problem... all to no avail. Bottom line... As far as I can tell the SL driver for their Universal Controller does not work with a good many chip sets and fire wire environments. I gave it three weeks of my time and effort, tried two PCs and a MAC before I moved on to the Mackie Onyx 1640i. If you want to wait for Presonus to get their act together on the fire wire side then buy this mixer, but... you may be waiting a long time.
Sorry Presonus... the truth hurts.



2.0 out of 5 stars
Presonus audiobox and studio one
Bybruce liebowitzon November 22, 2013

I had purchased an audiobox and studio one came free with it which was great. The volume control on my first audiobox had failed and it was past warranty and it would have cost a pretty penny to fix it so I bought a new one which wasn't much more. The hardware was fine on this one but the drivers were giving me fits. It would crash constantly and I lost many hours of work due to this. It took tech support days before they got back to me and by that time I had set up my Propeller head studio. Their tech support was great and the sound is much better. I downloaded new audiobox drivers over and over again but to no avail. I even formatted my drive to see if there was a problem with windows, but that wasn't the problem. I felt tech support was weak in that they didn't care.






Saturday, May 27, 2017

RIP Greg Allman

Gregg Allman - Wikipedia



PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2 Digital Mixer Reviews

  • Computer issues.

    Using the board hands on is pretty simple and I like the quality of sound from the on board sound effects. My issues is PreSonus the company that makes the board is not very customer friendly. They will send you emails on how to try and fix the problems, even have you load programs on your computer to evaluated your situation.But they will not call or talk to you. I have called several times. But with all that said I received 6 emails from them. After I emailed them twice and then a Sweetwater tech had to call them for me it had already been 72 hours before I called the sweetwater tech. Who was very helpful and took remote control of my computer to help. As Sweetwater goes they are a five star, Tech support line, but as far as PreSonus. I give them a 2 star. But I have never and still to this date 10/13/2016 received a call from presonus.

  • from Albany, NYFebruary 24, 2015Music Background:
    Producer, musician, songwriter, video director

    Great board but beware of software bug

    Had this board for a few months now, obviously it has a lot of great things going for it. But I contacted Presonus Tech Support regarding some issues when backing up, and they confirmed that one of the issues is a software bug. After backing up all of your scenes and settings thru their VSL software, when you restore those scenes back onto the board, all of your Aux system settings are lost... they all revert back to "Post". Since I have them all set to "Pre2" (pre fader yet retains all EQ and Fat Channels), this means when restoring you have to go back through each scene and reset it. If you use all 80 scenes, that takes an hour or so. Not a deal breaker, since hopefully you only need to restore your backups if there's a catastrophic board failure, and in that case an hour or 2 is worth it. But if you're in the middle of a show and you rely on your saved scenes, that's a problem. They didn't give me a timetable on the bug fix, but the board has been out there a while and you'd think it would have been fixed by now if they plan on really doing it. And I also had a problem when restoring backed up scenes where i was only getting sound out of the L side, until I went into Locate mode and re-saved the scene on the board itself. But the cause of that is still TBD, and Tech Support said my scenes were fine, so it could be an issue with my OS or drivers, according to them. Given the bug, I haven't bothered to track that down since it's irrelevant until the bug is fixed. Still, it's a nice board, but if I'd known about these issues I would have gone with another company.

  • from Perrysburg, OHDecember 14, 2014Music Background:
    Pro musician, recording engineer, live sound engineer

    troubled mixer

    I purchased this board in 2012. It seemed to have most of the features I needed for live gigs with the exception of a simple effects foot switch port for the 2 effects channels. A midi pedal was a royal pain in the neck to configure for a simple on off reverb switch [which never worked]. But I worked around that by eventually using outboard effects that had foot switch capabilities. So everything went well until 4 weeks before the warranty ran out. At a gig, I went to fire my rack up and the board just gave me a blinking light show on the display and no signal. We were able to grab another mixer and started the gig 2 hours late. The warranty covered the repair; no problem there. Thank goodness for warranties.
    My next complaint is more annoying. A handful of times when turning the board on at a gig, I'll get a massive feedback loop with all faders down. Anyone that has gigged out a lot knows that will tick off a club owner faster than anything. We haven't lost any work yet, but I am wary about using this board anymore; or purchasing another Presonus product.

    Having registered a rather negative review on Presonus, Sweetwater has been stellar about addressing my issues over the years; even stretching the boundaries a bit here and there.
    Sweetwater will continue to be my first source for gear. But I will think twice about buying the Presonus brand again. In Presonus's defense, I realize I may have gotten a lemon.

  • from TXMay 5, 2017

    Poor quality

    Biggest piece of Crap I owned. After 18 months the firewire quit working. Presonus wants $200.00 + to fix it. Over 1/4 of the price I paid originally. Lousy quality from them thieves is what I'm sayin'. KMA Presonus!

  • fromJanuary 25, 2017

    Eehhhh

    I'm on my second board within the year the firewire was messed up on the other board so they went ahead and replaced it which was cool but this board is a little bit noisy. The preamps are ehhh and what can I say about all of their other products I have the e66 monitors one of them came DOA so they replace that right away and the second one blew three days later they replaced that then the third one went. That's when I called it quits and bought a pair of JBLs. I also bought a refurbished PreSonus Channel strip right from the factory and that came DOA as well. I got my money back and I will never deal with this company again. I'm going with an avid controller and Antelope interface pretty soon

  • fromFebruary 15, 2016

    Buyer Beware

    I liked my 16.0.2, I really did. But after 2.5 years in service, in a smoke free, clean, air conditioned studio, my 16.0.2 failed. Internal inspection showed the +5V power supply rail lost regulation, and went high. This burned up areas on the power supply board, and exploded capacitors (contaminating large areas inside) and damaged logic components on all three peripheral circuit boards. One capacitor that blew was rated 65V, so that give you an idea how high the +5V rail went. The mixer is a total loss, all apparently because a fan was not included in the design, leading to degradation and eventual thermal runaway in the power supply.

    A digital mixer is a computer, with audio interfaces. Any computer power supply of this size requires active cooling. The 16.0.2 not only lacks a fan, but the vents are very small and located on the sides where they cannot do much good for passive cooling. Very poor design. Restoring this one would be throwing good money after bad.


    Problems with Presonus Firebox in Windows - Cycling '74

Saturday, May 6, 2017

The Politics of Music

Image result for this machine kills fascists

I think we can all agree that most music to which the masses are exposed to, sucks. IMO music today is being used to dumb down the masses. Music today is fraud. Here's why. Kanye West sucks as does, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Nikki Minaj, that fat whiny cow Adele, Britney Spears etc.. etc... etc.. But how are these wastes of protoplasm get BILLION of views on Youtube? They're not. The views are fake and Youtube knows this. 




For decades America has been descending into an ever deepening abyss of fascism.  "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power." Benito Mousilini

Today America is being run by fascists/corporatists and now we have a Whitehouse full of them and a congress and senate owned by them.

There was a time when artists and musicians made political statements... Beethoven did it with the Eroica.  

Beethoven Symphony No3 Eroica (Muti-Philadelphia Orchestra ...


Image result for guernica picasso
Picasso did it with the painting Guernica.

Minstrels for ages wrote and performed protest songs. In the colonies the broadside ballad became popular and an American tradition of protest songs continued until recently. Today, meaningful protest songs are few and far between but now we need protest songs more than ever but sadly the numbers of political songs have dwindled. 


Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways - Smithsonian ...



The 10 Best Protest Songs of the Civil Rights Movement | Spinditty


Take the time you pathetic millennials and Gen Xers and listen to some songs that have a meaning a purpose other than entertaining your feeble brains.  Google greats like Phil Ochs, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, John Forgerty, Tom Paxton, Bob Dylan, Pete Seger etc..

You no longer need a recording studio to record or a record company to sell your songs. You have sites like Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube on which to post your songs. No matter how good your song is, don't expect to get a record deal. The record companies are run by fascists who need a trip to the guillotine. 

Pull your head out of your materialistic ass, put you filthy fucking ego in check, and go out on a limb, leave your vomitous EDM comfort zone or your fuck dem hos gansta rap mentality and start writing for people with more than a few brain cells to rub together where your music can do some good. 

Be warned. I know a lot of patriotic Americans today are really pissed off and they would like to see a lot of the gangsters and traitors who have hijacked America dead but until there is a military coup we are stuck with these pigs. Be clever and be careful with what you write. You are now living in Trumpistan.



The first thing fascists do is to censor and control the media. Hitler did it and now Trump and his fascists are trying to do it.

Get your work out there. Busk! Post! Perform on independent radio and at open mic nights.



Friday, March 31, 2017

Grow Up Jeff Berlin and Shut Up and Play Your Bass

Image result for jeff berlin
Jeff Berlin is Fat Guy on the Right

Jeff Berlin was a bassist, teacher and musician but now he's a big fucking crybaby. Victor Wooten is a bassist, musician, innovator, artist and one of the most respected musicians on the planet. Jeff likes running his mouth to make up for the fact that he can't hold a candle to guys like Victor and the slew of young bass players who are pushing the musical envelope and expanding the function and possibilities of the bass.

There are a lot of things that make Victor a great bass player beyond his technical gifts. I think most of it is the fact that Victor sees music as an art and not a competitive sport. The music inside Victor is liberating, soulful, important, inspiring, adventurous, joyful, considerate, loving, thoughtful, generous. And if Victor could only play whole notes his playing and music would still be liberating, soulful, important, inspiring, adventurous, joyful, considerate, loving, thoughtful, generous.

I play bass guitar and from a chops point of view I have always played catch-up with other musicians.  My music theory chops are also nothing special but I figure that since there are only 12 notes in Western music I really don't need the chord scales as a crutch for what note to play and when to play them like Jeff Berlin does. I guess I feel that way because I don't care if my music of playing impresses anyone. I grew up and even before that Jeff it knew that music was not a competitive sport. I knew that the function of the bass in the music I was playing was the same as every other instrument. It was to serve and add important musical words aka notes to the conversation.

Victor Wooten had enough of Jeff's mouth after Jeff started a bunch of shit talk. Victor posted an open letter to Jeff Berlin.

Victor writes:

Another comment of yours (posted below) was brought to my attention and I feel the need to respond. Please read and consider my thoughts before becoming resentful. I am writing as a friend who loves you and wants to see you succeed.

First: I love many of your ideas and actually love the fact that we appear to disagree at times. I welcome that. I often invite educators to my camps who express conflicting views in order to help students realize that there is more than just "my way" of approaching music. Disagreeing is not a problem for me. I know that we learn and grow because of it. Feeling the need to prove that "I am right and everyone else is wrong" is a dangerous way to live or teach. 

Proud FA's Comment: I think Jeff needs to fire his shrink and hire Victor. Demolish your ego Jeff and accept the fact that Victor Wooten's playing appeals to more people than does yours. You may not think it is fair but that would be your fragile ego talking. What is boils down to the music in your heart and Victor's heart and the contrived "play it safe" music in your brain.

Believe me when I say that there are many of us successful musicians and educators who really want you to succeed. We believe that you do have a lot of good to offer. That was why I originally invited you to my camp. But, it is your toxic attitude that keeps you from being invited back. It is also why you continue to be excluded from many other places including, ironically, The Players School, which you founded.

Proud FA's Comment: Jeff you are stinking up the place and you are pissed that the new young players are surpassing you so shut up and play your bass.

Please keep reading.

Second: I'll remind you again since you seem to have forgotten. During your visit to my camp, you went on a rant about there being NO good female bass players. (A totally ridiculous statement, I will add.) Ariane Capp, another successful bassist/educator, asked you about Carol Kaye. You responded with a horrible, degrading, and inappropriate comment about Carol Kaye's sexual preference and body parts, as well as what you would or wouldn't do with her. You said all of this in front of students, which included underage kids. (I think my mother was also present.) That was bad enough, but to make things worse, you never answered Ariane's question. You never mentioned Carol Kaye's bass playing, musicianship, or accomplishments.

Proud FA's Comment: Your shit talking about Carol Kaye tells me that you are a bigot and perhaps that bigotry goes beyond gender and sexual preference. I got news for you Jeff, the two most critically acclaimed string players today are Victor Wooten and Eric Gales. In fact, Joe Bonamassa easily acknowledges that Eric is the best guitar player living today and BTW you may want to check out Eric's bass player; he's in the same league as Victor. I seriously doubt whether Joe or Eric would hire a sterile player like you. You know what they say Jeff? Those who can do, those who can't teach, and those who can't teach...bitch about their students.

Please understand, it is not totally because of your ideas alone, but how you deliver them that is hurting you. Your misguided rhetoric coupled with your bullying tactics are the main reasons you are having trouble getting the work you desire. As much as you want people to accept you and your approach, and I know you do want that, become accepting of others and their approaches. That's what we should be teaching our students. Please accept these pieces of advice from me. Acceptance is healing!

Jeff, you are taking a "boxing" approach, and that is not a good way if you want to be accepted, respected, or hired. That brutality mentality is exactly why many musicians, educators, and institutions choose to keep our distance from you. (You can't box with us if we don't allow you in the ring.)

Proud FA's Comment: Jeff, it sounds like when you do box, you have blocked too many punches with your head.

Please continue reading.

Third: Once again, you are telling an inaccurate account of what happened at my camp years ago when you called a student (Denson Angulo) up to play. In your recent post (see below), you stated that "he was livid" when you pointed out that he couldn't play. That's absolutely not true, Jeff. THE TRUTH IS: at camp, you actually "praised" Denson for being able to accurately execute everything you asked him to do.

The first time you posted this lie, I sent you the recording of what actually happened just in case your memory was failing. (I would rather think that your memory is failing than think that you are purposefully lying.) I even posted it on your page to make sure that you got it. But as usual, you removed my post and chose not to correct yourself or apologize to Denson. I'm happy to resend or repost the recording if that will help you.

To remind you: Denson Angulo is an accomplished musician and educator in Utah. He plays and performs on both electric and acoustic basses. He is also a double bassist in the symphony. He's an accomplished martial artist and martial arts teacher who uses it to help others. He's not a bully. He's definitely an amazing father and human being! Denson has accomplished things you and I will never accomplish. You should be praising him on your page like you did at my camp, not falsely criticizing him like you routinely do to people who have achieved things you have not.
In closing:

Jeff, I understand why you are bitter, but there are better ways of dealing with it. Until you can figure that out, things will continue to get worse for you. You can change your location and try to make a new start, but you can't run from yourself. And I doubt you will find the counseling you truly need by posting your troubles on Facebook. Hopefully, Nashville will rub off on you, because your approach will have to change in order for you to make it here.

Proud FA's Comment: You had a good run Jeff and it is time for you has beens to move over and let the young masters like Victor and Cody Wright take over and carry the torch. 

Your shit talk about Carol Kaye is beyond the pale. Jealous much? Here are some other influential bass players to whom you cannot hold a candle when it comes to advancing the art of music.

Larry Johnston... In your dreams Jeff

Geddy Lee... His artistry is something you never had

Charles Mingus.... Always played the perfect notes

Cody Wright... Too good for words!

Jaco Pastorious... Not even close

Les Claypool... Never took himself to seriously and his playing rocks.

Flea... The don't call him Flea for nothing

Will Lee... Total package

John Entwistle... Feel, style, grace, taste

P-Nut... Not full of himself

Bobby Vega... Beautiful playing

Tina Weymouth... Her playing tells has-beens to go funk themselves.

I long to know the Jeff Berlin I grew up admiring, and I am not alone. There are many who would happily welcome that Jeff back into our circles. Trust me, when you stop alienating the community you so desire to be a part of, your world will be a much better place. Until then... well... I'll just continue being hopeful and patient.
With Love and Hope,
VLW
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Here's a comment from Jeff's Facebook page. 
Jeff wrote: "The same thing happened to me at Victor Wooten's bass camp, admittedly before I went into therapy. I angered people there, one guy in particular who told me that he could play. He couldn't, and I used musical examples for him to play to show him this. He was livid, but I wanted to show him and everyone else that day that what they believed about their ability to play wasn't necessarily true and that music itself instantly exposes our musical capabilities for what they really are. I made it possible for him and everyone else that day to see the truth which could have been the best musical day of their lives. But they rejected my views outright, even the fellow that couldn't play but didn't like that this was pointed out to him."

Proud FA's Comment: Jeff you can play the bass and if you were not so wrapped up in yourself you Could be in the same league as some of the greats but your musical ideas are clever but in many ways musical nonsequiturs as evidenced by B-3 where Stu Hamm and Billy Sheehan smoked you. That should be the least thing that should bother you. The fact that you are a liar is your major malfunction and why you never reached your potential.

https://soundcloud.com/cg-instrumental/malmsteen-on-bass
Since you think music is a competitive sport hot shot, cop this.