Bjork - Hunter & Hyperballad

[4lPh4n0m3g4]

I'm fairly certain that these bass lines were done on keyboard but I'm wondering, how can I recreate the sounds as closely as possible on bass.

Would a small amount of overdrive and heavy compression, in conjunction with a low pass filter work?

I'm currently playing a Dingwall AB1-5, so covering lower register stuff isn't a problem. I have a compressor comming in the mail in the next week or so and I dont have any type of overdrive


Sound samples can be found on this page:

http://www.themp3direct.com/search/?...20mp3&uid=2748


Thanks!

[labgnat]

well the dvd that i have she has a bass player playing live, not sure if those songs are on the dvd tho. and yeah they're probably done on a keyboard. no idea how to recreate that sound tho. bjork rules

[lemur821]

Just kill all your highs and you'll pretty much be there. Pluck over the neck for low notes, but up near a G you'll need to scoot closer to the bridge to get a tight sound. Stick between a low B and a third fret G too.

[RobinBetton]

what's the purpose of recreating the exact sound? The simple acoustic trio (marcin wasilewski) does a version of hyper-ballad using the melody of the song but creating a different atmosphere while still capturing the beauty of the original. What is your intent? is it just curiosity about the tone?

[4lPh4n0m3g4]

RobinBetton: Yeah, I'm pretty much just interested in how to achieve that type of tone and doing some research to see if there are any pedals that would assist me.

I'm mostly interested in utilizing "electronica" style tones lately; I have dub style tones covered already.


lemur821: I've tryed to approximate it using different hand positions/ eq settings and it just isn't the same. Though the sound samples in the link do not do the original recordings justice.

I play through 15's (no tweeters) with dead strings and roll back the highs on my preamp, so highs are not an issue.

I've also tryed using my DOD FX25 as a low pass filter and still not even close.

I think I'm mostly having trouble with getting that right level of "grittiness".

[RobinBetton]

cool. a group i'm playing in is playing hyper ballad on friday would be glad to post a verision later.

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by 4lPh4n0m3g4

lemur821: I've tryed to approximate it using different hand positions/ eq settings and it just isn't the same. Though the sound samples in the link do not do the original recordings justice.

I was actually listening to the originals rather than the linked samples (which are horrible indeed). I found that when I killed all the highs and mids (my mids are at 400 Hz), leaving only the lows, I got very close. Boosting the lows (mine are at 40 Hz) worked even better. I'm using a fretless P-bass with new nickel round-wounds, so that may have something to do with it.

The bass in the recording just consists of a fundamental and the first overtone, which is at a slightly lower volume than the fundamental. There are a couple more overtones, but they are so much quieter than those two you can forget about them. The closer you can get to that, the closer you will be.

[4lPh4n0m3g4]

Hmmmmm... Maybe my preamp ( Alembic F1X) just isn't "dirty" enough ; I prefer to leave my pre set flat and use pedals/ hand positions to change tone.

Is it just me or does anyone hear that "grit" I'm refering to? Or, are my headphone just decieving me?

Oh man, I've been itching for a fretless for over a decade; and I concur that using a fretless will yield different results.


Thanks for the assist.

[lemur821]

I don't really hear any grit. There's a little bit of "octave edge" that I hear, and it's pretty fat (being just two sine waves). Getting close to it is just a matter of trimming away everything that doesn't sound like it, and getting enough sustain.

[4lPh4n0m3g4]

Perhaps my headphones are biting the dust then...

Well, I've been looking for a good octave pedal anyway so this gives me a little more incentive.

Thanks again.