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All your basses are belong to me...

#2
It sounds exactly like a machine is playing. Unimpressed. So a student of robotics chose to make a bass robot instead of a janitor robot, Whoopie. I'd rather see one that gets me a beer from the fridge and do dishes for my wife than a "bass player" robot; and my aircar, they promised we'd have aircars by now.

A machine can lift tons of weight but an Olympic champion weightlifter is much more impressive. So it goes for all aspects of technology. Human achievement and skill is always better.
 
#6
96tbird said:
It sounds exactly like a machine is playing. Unimpressed. So a student of robotics chose to make a bass robot instead of a janitor robot, Whoopie. I'd rather see one that gets me a beer from the fridge and do dishes for my wife than a "bass player" robot; and my aircar, they promised we'd have aircars by now.

A machine can lift tons of weight but an Olympic champion weightlifter is much more impressive. So it goes for all aspects of technology. Human achievement and skill is always better.
Click to expand...

While I understand your position, google Arduino for me. You'll be mesmerized by what you find and the level of human skill it takes to make such an extraordinary project with that micro controller. His craftsmanship is on par with, if not exceeding, that of many luthiers on this very site. Not only did he cut, print, etc. the parts for his project (heck, some people here use Warmoth in their builds), he also programmed the electronics for it, kinda like when a boutique or high-end bass company builds a bass from scratch and then installs a pre-amp they designed.

You are unimpressed because you are uneducated in the arts of programming, 3D printing, and laser cutting and the various mathematical, logical, and analytical skills they require.

EDIT: Oh... and this robot needs two rollers (one metal or plastic and the other foam or rubber coated) that pinch the strings where the plastic meets the foam/rubber. This would allow for slides :bassist:
 
#7
96tbird said:
It sounds exactly like a machine is playing. Unimpressed. So a student of robotics chose to make a bass robot instead of a janitor robot, Whoopie. I'd rather see one that gets me a beer from the fridge and do dishes for my wife than a "bass player" robot; and my aircar, they promised we'd have aircars by now.

A machine can lift tons of weight but an Olympic champion weightlifter is much more impressive. So it goes for all aspects of technology. Human achievement and skill is always better.
Click to expand...

A few years ago I saw a robotic mini-fridge that actually catapulted beer at you. It came with a remote and everything, so you never had to leave the couch.

Also, I'm impressed by this. It's quite a daunting feat, I'm sure. Of course I'll always prefer human bass players, this stuff is always cool to see. As long as it's in the lab and not on stage...
 
#8
That's just awesome. Was it you that built it? I know what comes into making things like this, was it just one person that did everything? Insane if so! :D Great job.

Need to model some fingers though, pick playing on a bass is shameful even for a robot ;) (just kidding)
 
#11
Sure it's great that he chose to make a bass player but compared to the new mars rover, it's just an expensive toy. But note that its not a machine that can play an instrument, it is a machine that emulates an an instrument. Build a ten fingered machine that grabs a jazz or a Sadowsky and plays like Victor or Jaco, then I'm impressed. I will step back and say that yes the builder has a bright future in his field. He will likely go in to make things that actually have a useful purpose.
 
#13
96tbird said:
Sure it's great that he chose to make a bass player but compared to the new mars rover, it's just an expensive toy. But note that its not a machine that can play an instrument, it is a machine that emulates an an instrument. Build a ten fingered machine that grabs a jazz or a Sadowsky and plays like Victor or Jaco, then I'm impressed. I will step back and say that yes the builder has a bright future in his field. He will likely go in to make things that actually have a useful purpose.
Click to expand...

Ok, I'm going to call the McDonald's right outside of the Biltmore Estate and let them know their player piano is useless and they should hire a musician instead because player pianos don't sound as good...

Yes, human talent is better MUSICALLY; and while I agree that this is not the future bassist, I cannot understand how this does not impress you.

You seem to think scientists are supposed to invent things that benefit you. Have you ever considered that some scientists actually enjoy inventing and occasionally like to make something cool and interesting just for art's sake?

Come on dude... it's even MIDI capable...
 
#17
Hey I liked it !!! I didn't hear any lack of human touch. In fact it is better than many computerized music of today ... even if it is a human who played bass on the record it is compressed, quantized etc to make it perfect.

It is still a human who made the music and all .. so I'm ok with it. Maybe it is because I heard a lot of MIDI 8bit/16bit music for video games ... as long as there is a human behind it !
 

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