Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[JES]

I have a Teletype script that makes JF and a 16n Faderbank into a harmonic oscillator, which works better for me than the Verbos one ever did.

Mind saying a bit more about that? I know you also had/have an Ensemble Oscillator. I confess I was eyeing a Verbos HO but would love to hear your thoughts across the three.

the scanning on Plaits and the EnOsc are fun but I am thinking more control is…more control.

 

[steubig]

hive mind.

i'm a bit confused about whether or not i'll be able to connect a usb c-to-c cable to a thunderbolt 4 jack.

i'm counting on the smart folks here!

 

[monsterthompson]

Europe just mandated universal connections on mobile devices and other electronics. Let’s see if that spills over to US products.

 

[Starthief]

Mind saying a bit more about that? I know you also had/have an Ensemble Oscillator. I confess I was eyeing a Verbos HO but would love to hear your thoughts across the three.

the scanning on Plaits and the EnOsc are fun but I am thinking more control is…more control.

Sure. What my Teletype scene does is give me fader control over the first 6 harmonics. (I can use Teletype's CV input for the root pitch, or assign another fader and then quantize it to a very limited selection of notes, or just drone...) There's no scan feature because I just didn't want it -- I'd rather play the harmonics on faders and make that part of the improvisation. I find Ensemble Oscillator and Plaits' harmonic oscillator mode more limited than I want for this particular purpose.

Anyway, my method works really nicely when you add some wavefolding or distortion. Since you're bringing in different sets of harmonics, the consonance/dissonance can vary between them, which gives you all kinds of different flavors under distortion. Also, a touch of FM can work very nicely with JF because it's linear TZFM so changes in depth don't mess up the tuning.

I've also used patches in Bitwig Grid for this (with optional phase modulation), but also just Bitwig Organ -- drawbars are basically the same thing as harmonic faders.


On VHO, the sines are really dirty -- especially the higher ones, they're kind of buzzy. This isn't necessarily bad, but it does mess a bit with attempts to distort it afterward. What is bad is how the behavior gets weird if you push the levels of any harmonic too high -- it not only distorts in not very nice ways, but the pitch can suddenly go haywire. This happens especially with the scan feature. I love some of the stuff Caterina Barbieri did with the VHO in some of her music, but for me the module just didn't do what I liked the way I like it. :shrug:


I've decided to sell my Ensemble Oscillator. I like it a lot but the way I use it falls into two categories:

- stuff I could do just as easily with my other gear
- one-trick pony "crossfade arpeggios" that I'm kind of getting tired of.

 

[Robot.G]

You guys going all in modular, while I’m in the basement with a dusty sampler weirdo synths and 4 track.

Did that video make anyone else's Girdle Spring tingle or was it just me?

 

[JES]

hive mind.

i'm a bit confused about whether or not i'll be able to connect a usb c-to-c cable to a thunderbolt 4 jack.

i'm counting on the smart folks here!

if it’s on a Mac, you should be ok but might have limited data speeds or power transfer (more the issue). Also, the device needs to be USB-C.

 

[JES]

Thanks @Starthief . Like you, I’m leaning towards selling my Ensosc. I might wait until the new firmware drops just to see. It’s almost too feature packed in some ways. I wish it was bigger. (Also has my Euro pet peeve — no attenuators on the CV inputs). The Verbos has been attractive for control but I didn’t know about the distortion.

Harmonic oscillators are an interesting take on polyphony, but of course one can also play a polyphonic instrument, or just tune a bunch of oscillators.

That said, I’ve really enjoyed messing with harmonic mode on Plaits through wavefolding. So who knows what I’ll wind up doing. Just Friends is unobtainium at the moment.

 

[monsterthompson]

Modular and a Lyra8.
I've been following this guy on IG for a bit and he's quite good.
Snakes of Russia

 

[hieronymous]

Nice! One part that stuck out for me was near the end, around 5:20? All of a sudden things change, and it sounds like brass, or an alert of some sort. Whatever it sounds like, the whole thing is evocative, and motivated me to fire up my own gear! Even experimenting - gonna try and modulate the velocity randomly on the DFAM to try and make it less obviously 4/4...

Here's what I came up with:



Not sure I'm going to keep it up for long, but I put so much effort into it yesterday it would be a waste not to. Finally succeeded in recording the tracks separately to the Zoom H6, and in a stereo mix to my iPhone. Nothing special, the main thing is that I remembered to start both devices! There was at least one where I forgot to start the video.

One issue that continues is the fact that iPhone videos use a variable stream rate or something like that, so the same audio recorded to a different device will be out of sync. Not necessarily a problem, but more noticeable in longer continuous videos, and by longer I mean 4-5 minutes. That's the reason to try and mix for the video, so that I can release that as-is, and then mess with the original tracks later if I feel so moved.

My experiment randomizing the velocity on the DFAM was a marginal success - I got it to work but wasn't able to control it as much as I would have liked. I think the Subharmonicon is a little loud in the mix, but I'm not going to go through all the effort of doing another mix - I put too much effort into this one already!

 

[Spectrum]

You're recording on a phone? Why? Am I missing a detail?

 

[Starthief]

I wish it was bigger. (Also has my Euro pet peeve — no attenuators on the CV inputs).

YES. I always thought it should be 26HP like Shapeshifter and Odessa, with attenuverters and a couple more dedicated controls. All the CV inputs on it desperately need reining in.

But usually people complain about modules being too big

 

[hieronymous]

You're recording on a phone? Why? Am I missing a detail?

It's just easier to upload a video without having to edit stuff, though I'm finding that the video and audio with my iPhone videos aren't in sync, but it's just an easy slide, at least they can be synced, unlike using audio recorded separately. So trying to catch a live take with the phone, but also have to option to edit the audio to release later as audio-only. That's the idea anyway!

 

[monsterthompson]

I never realized the gate function on this delay. This is cool.
Rainger FX Echo X,

 

[Spectrum]

Wow, a Rainger FX pedal that isn't a wonky shape.

 

[Bob_Ross]

I only just discovered Rainger FX the other day. Have all y'all seen their Minibar Liquid Analyzer pedal?
The sound examples for that pedal suggest it's just a crazy idea that doesn't achieve anything particularly unique or that couldn't be achieved in a more straightforward circuit design...but the sheer audacity of that circuit design has me tickled pink! Hats off to Rainger FX for thinking outside the box.

 

[JES]

I never realized the gate function on this delay. This is cool.
Rainger FX Echo X,

Finally, a pedal designed for actual musicians who **** up while playing. Brilliant. Though I think I can set up my H9 that way.

 

[steubig]

I never realized the gate function on this delay. This is cool.
Rainger FX Echo X,

her “mistake” was the best part of that.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

26518487[/URL], member: 131803"]I never realized the gate function on this delay. This is cool.
Rainger FX Echo X,

26519565[/URL], member: 37282"]Finally, a pedal designed for actual musicians who **** up while playing. Brilliant. Though I think I can set up my H9 that way.

I specifically DON’T want my delay to do that.
I like stacking stuff up with long sustain and variable repeats
Plus I really like long tails on the delay’s decay/fade.

 

[monsterthompson]

I specifically DON’T want my delay to do that.
I like stacking stuff up with long sustain and variable repeats
Plus I really like long tails on the delay’s decay/fade.

Well that’s probably why they made the gate optional with the button.

I’ve got a few Zoia ideas from this.

 

[JES]

her “mistake” was the best part of that.

Fair. I didn't know it was a mistake until she said. But I could imagine using that trick in a band context where I've got delay going and am playing in a key with other people. But I also do tons of feedback swells and have learned with certain settings it doesn't matter so much what the notes going in are.