Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[lucas303]

Soooooo. Today I made my twice-annual run to the ginormous Asian grocer that's not anywhere close to our place. It is however 10 minutes away from a Long&McQuade. So I stopped in to try out a Hydrasynth. They also had a Modal Cobalt and, shockingly, the Oberheim OB-X8 which is currently a cool 6400 Canadian dollars.

The Oberheim sounded exactly like you'd expect. Well laid out, all the presets sound like classic synth sounds. Easy to initialize and program. Not particularly my thing musically but if you put a $6000 synth in front of me, I'm going to play it. Sounds suitably huge. I prefer the sound of my synths, which conveniently are not $6000.

The Modal Cobalt was, um, ok. Works fine, would have been thrilled to have it in 1989 when I had no synths, but now I don't want it.

Then there was the Hydrasynth. I immediately took to the interface. I found it super easy to program, well-featured, and flexible. I ran through the presets which were way more varied than the Oberheim, and then repeatedly initialized patches and programmed stuff.

Programming was super easy and fun. The interface is brilliant. The modulation was really spectacular -- it's like a modular in a box and I was quickly routing envelopes and LFOs to one another and then on to destinations. also liked how it felt as a physical instrument.

But here's the thing: I didn't make any sounds that I really loved. I should love it. It checks all the boxes but...

To my ears, the filters were fine but not exciting, the various kinds of distortion same deal (drive, lo-fi, etc) and the mutants were cool but not mind-bending--FM works well, harmonics works nicely for emphasis after FM, PWMs are interesting but nothing earth-shattering, I also didn't like how the volume of the dry sound seemed to drop when adding the built-in delay or reverb. I'm not normally taken with wavetables, though the "roll your own" is definitely a cool feature and I admit I just haven't used wavetable synthesis much so the magic might be in there.

It was like 45 minutes with it, not a day or anything.

What am I not getting? If I'm in a room with one again, what should I try?

In other news, I have zero need for another mono synth and yet am very tempted by the Magella Implexus. Trying to just patch up complex oscillators in my rack instead and see if I really want another dedicated mono.

My perspective on the Hydrasynth is quite skewed because most of the time I'm using it to make drones that I just latch, and only occasionally change notes. Also it's my first synth so I have no experience with others to draw from. I definitely wouldn't consider myself an expert with it, but I'm learning.

All that said, one thing I've found through my own experience is that it's easy to take it to extremes, with cranking mutants and wild wavescanning. Part of its power, IMO, is the ability to dial that way back. So maybe experiment with the modulation being subtle, which is very easy to do with the mod matrix. Also, experimenting with cross-modulating the modulation sources can be fun. An LFO triggering an envelope, that then modulates a different LFO...that sort of thing.

Something that makes a big difference in the overall sound, that you might have missed, is the "voice" button. Bringing up the analog feel, and turning on warm mode, makes a big difference and is something to try before passing final judgment.

 

[steubig]

My perspective on the Hydrasynth is quite skewed because most of the time I'm using it to make drones that I just latch, and only occasionally change notes. Also it's my first synth so I have no experience with others to draw from. I definitely wouldn't consider myself an expert with it, but I'm learning.

All that said, one thing I've found through my own experience is that it's easy to take it to extremes, with cranking mutants and wild wavescanning. Part of its power, IMO, is the ability to dial that way back. So maybe experiment with the modulation being subtle, which is very easy to do with the mod matrix. Also, experimenting with cross-modulating the modulation sources can be fun. An LFO triggering an envelope, that then modulates a different LFO...that sort of thing.

Something that makes a big difference in the overall sound, that you might have missed, is the "voice" button. Bringing up the analog feel, and turning on warm mode, makes a big difference and is something to try before passing final judgment.

excellent point about the analog setting in the voice section. there’s another parameter in there (can’t remember the name right now) that also adds some mess to the sound along analog lines

 

[lucas303]

excellent point about the analog setting in the voice section. there’s another parameter in there (can’t remember the name right now) that also adds some mess to the sound along analog lines

Random phase?

 

[JES]

So you both use that? I definitely did not on my explorations.

@lucas303 – I am all about modulating the modulators, or at least mixing them.

I have spent some time yesterday and today reading about complex oscillators and experimenting with various FM and wavefolding configurations in Euro. I can’t decide if I want something with the polish, ease, and interface of the Implexus or to buy one for Euro. Would violate my “setup is frozen until at least December” rule though.

 

[lucas303]

So you both use that? I definitely did not on my explorations.

@lucas303 – I am all about modulating the modulators, or at least mixing them.

I have spent some time yesterday and today reading about complex oscillators and experimenting with various FM and wavefolding configurations in Euro. I can’t decide if I want something with the polish, ease, and interface of the Implexus or to buy one for Euro. Would violate my “setup is frozen until at least December” rule though.

I always use warm mode and some generous amount of analog feel in my Hydrasynth patches. I use random phase most of the time, though not necessarily always.

FWIW, the direction I'm currently headed is to have my euro be just for modulation and effects, with the voices either being the Hydrasynths or the bass. I will likely mess with sampling at some point in the not-so-distant future too, but I'm not sure yet whether that will be with a euro module or some separate piece of hardware.

 

[steubig]

So you both use that? I definitely did not on my explorations.

@lucas303 – I am all about modulating the modulators, or at least mixing them.

I have spent some time yesterday and today reading about complex oscillators and experimenting with various FM and wavefolding configurations in Euro. I can’t decide if I want something with the polish, ease, and interface of the Implexus or to buy one for Euro. Would violate my “setup is frozen until at least December” rule though.

some sounds get the analog or random; some don’t. depends what i’m trying to do.

i was at perfect circuit today, wish i had seen your post before i went cause i would’ve asked of they had an implexus. sorry.

instruo cs-l is a pretty nice complex osc. big, but lots of interesting possibilities. make noise dpo is cool. both in the 26hp range. implexus looks to be standalone?[/QUOTE]

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Some food for thought:

 

[steubig]

Some food for thought:

thanks for posting this.

bach: my last upright teacher hipped me to the fact that the bach cello suites were based on dance pieces, which really made me understand them more (and also makes me hear how other people play them differently).

pulse: hell yeah. been trying to deal with this for the last few (several?) years. imo, even slow/rubato stuff should have pulse (which i look at as drive or forward motion).

space/silence/fermata: so important, creates a heightened sense of anticipation.

continue exploring: yes!

in the moment when playing: whew sometimes easier said than done at time. (the state she's talking about is what i want when improvising . . . )

the technique stuff is fascinating.

i may be missing it happening, but i really wish ebass players could converse on this level.

 

[monsterthompson]

Some food for thought:

“We’re human. We’re human, not machines.”

I’m out!

 

[lucas303]

i may be missing it happening, but i really wish ebass players could converse on this level.

Judging by TB, the majority of electric bass players are too busy arguing about whether Fender is good or bad, making the same tired jokes about "carrots" and the "best bass for metal," etc.

 

[theunknowndude]

Judging by TB, the majority of electric bass players are too busy arguing about whether Fender is good or bad, making the same tired jokes about "carrots" and the "best bass for metal," etc.

thats why I stick to this thread / the effects forum… usually get none of the e above

my current thinking is do I try and get a pedal that I can try and make my pedalboard “amp and cabless” and give me more insight to taking my synth to band more… currently using my genz Benz shuttle just to run everything into and then use the DI out but then wondering is it worth it to buy the amp sim / cab sim etc. I guess if I bring my shuttle and cab then I have somewhere to rest the synth on to play and could spend money elsewhere hmmm decisions decisions

do you guys usually gig ampless?

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Judging by TB, the majority of electric bass players are too busy arguing about whether Fender is good or bad, making the same tired jokes about "carrots" and the "best bass for metal," etc.

or spend 8h pressing refresh on your web browser for the latest Broughton pedal.
that’s time well spent right there………

/end me

 

[theunknowndude]

or spend 8h pressing refresh on your web browser for the latest Broughton pedal.
that’s time well spent right there………

/end me

haha
Good luck with that… I’ve managed to own a polytope and a you’re doom but never got to a Broughton…

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

haha
Good luck with that… I’ve managed to own a polytope and a you’re doom but never got to a Broughton…

if you ever catch me doing the refresh crap for 8h Ill allow all of you regulars a free kick straight to my nut $@ck.

 

[steubig]

if you ever catch me doing the refresh crap for 8h Ill allow all of you regulars a free kick straight to my nut $@ck.

intriguing offer and one not to be dismissed out of hand.

 

[theunknowndude]

if you ever catch me doing the refresh crap for 8h Ill allow all of you regulars a free kick straight to my nut $@ck.

Mine were aeons ago… I bought and sold them on before they turned into a rarity thibg!

 

[Spectrum]

do you guys usually gig ampless?

I love to bring an amp and crank it. Can't crank it at home, so at gigs I get to stretch its legs and indulge a bit. But I'm not running my bass through my synth rig, either, it's just bass > pedalboard > amp. Synth rig is all separate and runs through a PA usually.

 

[theunknowndude]

I love to bring an amp and crank it. Can't crank it at home, so at gigs I get to stretch its legs and indulge a bit. But I'm not running my bass through my synth rig, either, it's just bass > pedalboard > amp. Synth rig is all separate and runs through a PA usually.

yeah sounds like a plan to me!
At practice we had guitar going into mixer, synth into mixer, bass (through pedalboard into my genz Benz head Di ) to mixer and then bass kick drum run to PA… was good for our tiny practice room but I guess do like having my cab on stage at gigs…

 

[monsterthompson]

Ambient modular jam in a minor key done for Halloween. Fired up the big PA system in my apartment.

 

[lucas303]