JamHub Silent(ish) Band Rehearsal Solution

[Mike]

Hi guys,

I guess this form is as good a place as any for this. John, our drummer recently bought a new house with a double garage for his young family, and stretched his budget on the proviso he was given the garage for free reign for a Boy Project, which turned out to be a space for his vDrums and eventually for us to rehearse.

He built this room inside his Garage and it's immense. Lots of power points, good lighting - carpet, heater, the works! He also got this JamHub Green Room bit of kit which is immense. Basically you can plug a whole series of instruments and mics into the Hub and tailor yourself one of 7 unique mixes to listen to as you play. We rehearsed for the first time last night with it and it is unbelievable - fantastic tool for being able to practise as a full band in a residential area at night - since we all have jobs - (plus John has a small child and one on the way very imminently), the sound quality and control is just great and now all of our stuff is set up and ready to go whenever we want to rehearse. Recording scratch demos is also a complete cinche.








For the technically minded here's what we were using into the JamHub

John - Roland TD20 vDrums
J - Behringer Bass Driver DI/Amp Sim Box
Gareth - Guitar Rig 4 running on a laptop
Mike - MBM Dual Drive -> MBM Echo Base -> iRig on iPhone (Fender amp model)

I have to say I was amazed at how good the iRig sounds when used like this, and it takes pedals extremely well. I'm completely made up with it.
On top of all this we'll be saving around £3,000 a year in rehearsal space costs, not to mention our standard half time pub trips will be replaced by a few tins or bottles, and the reduced hassle of lugging drums, amps and cabs in and out of cars.

It's not for everyone, and we'll clearly still be using rehearsal rooms to rehearse for gigs every now and then - but I had a great time last night.

[robroe]

the entire time im reading this im thiinking....playing like this all the time is going to fuck up your live show.

then at the end you posted you are going to practice live for live shows.


so do what you want

[timhulio]

Needs full-length mirror so you can check yourselves rocking out. Otherwise awesome. Wouldn't like to wire those things together, but alas this side of being in a band is still a mystery to me.

[Mike]

Needs full-length mirror so you can check yourselves rocking out.

And live webcam feed to youtube for all our fans.

This way we'll be able to rehearse so much easier than we would be when Drummer Baby Mk II arrives.

[lorez]

that makes me want to move and get a double garage. Sounds like a great plan and I bet some of the money saved could be re-invested in to recording/equipment.

[robroe]

its hard for me to rock with more than just the guitar chord coming off me. i flail around too much.

hell yesterday i broke my glasses with my own drum stick i was headbanging so hard playing

[Doog]

Looks brilliant mate, I've often had very similar ideas to use few amp sims, electronic drumkit, mixer and headphone splitter.

[Mike]

Looks brilliant mate, I've often had very similar ideas to use few amp sims, electronic drumkit, mixer and headphone splitter.

Yup, tis effectively just a one box solution for this - it works great particularly if some of you are a bit fussy about the mix you want to be hearing personally (I shall name no names, but I like to hear my Guitar and Vocal probably way louder in the mix than the other guys do anyway haha)

[avj]

Very cool stuff, Mike. The JamHub stuff is an absolutely genius innovation.

Years back I tried to get a similar setup going with a few SansAmps, drum mics, mixer, and headphone mixer so we could hear the vocals properly (we practice in a studio's dead room), but was eventually overruled after a few sessions for feelings and objections similar to Roe's. I think it takes a certain level of maturity and comfort with one's instrument and setup to be able to adapt and effectively practice in this way, and I would love to be in a position that allowed me to make use of one of these JamHub setups. I'd even argue that a JamHub/direct-in type of practice allows for a more dynamic experience, as you can properly hear yourself and others without the usual trappings of the slow-creeping volume war.

I'm mega-interesting in your feelings after a few sessions, as I think you'll find it a real great tool when used in conjunction with the occasional normal full-volume practice -- that's my schoolgirl daydream about it, anyway.

[George]

Awesome! This definitely goes on the want list. Out of curiosity (sorry if I've not read properly but) do you have have it through headphones each, or out of a PA/hifi or both?

[damienblair17]

Y'know, I saw this a few months back. Seems like a great idea if you have electronic drums.

Also, that's A LOT of wires, looks like.

[stewart]

hmm. we has electronic drums... this could be useful.

[Thom]

Looks great Mike. Would love to get me a garage set up like that. Really really useful.

[Bacchus]

Really useful.

[Mike]

Awesome! This definitely goes on the want list. Out of curiosity (sorry if I've not read properly but) do you have have it through headphones each, or out of a PA/hifi or both?

Headphones each, but there is nothing to stop you adding a PA/HiFi for recording/full room sound - the beauty of the headphones is that you can tailor a mix to what you want to hear when getting parts down pat.

[Rayjaysonic]

Cool stuff, I wondered if that Jam hub was any good when I first saw it in a magazine a while back. Always thought it would be a good idea but very interested to hear how it works in practice!!

[Sloan]

Cool stuff, I wondered if that Jam hub was any good when I first saw it in a magazine a while back. Always thought it would be a good idea but very interested to hear how it works in practice!!

same!