Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[steubig]

I still want to find a good solution for looping in software without having to buy a pedal. I have Audio Damage Enso, but it's kind of a pain in the ass even with foot controller switches assigned to it.

All the looping I'm doing now isn't live looping, it's... sort of undead looping. Recording something in Bitwig, opening the file in Sound Forge, cutting it to length I want, then dragging it back into Bitwig to loop it. It's a useful technique for sure, but I also want to be able to play a looper more like an instrument sometimes.

a lot of people i know use max/msp. it’s too brainy for me.

 

[Colum]

a lot of people i know use max/msp. it’s too brainy for me.

I’ve been putting off learning it for a while.
I’m half afraid of the rabbit hole it will drag me down.

 

[lordradish]

Oooooof. Sometimes the worst part of a chronic illness is not the symptoms but the part time job navigating the medical system. Absolutely destroyed my work week, hence my art week. By Tuesday night I was already messed up -- I even had to skip to band practice and go to bed at 8pm. But now I'm back it. I'm working on ways to vary beats between oscillators in an intentional way. I spent a bunch of time trying to get the Vector Sequencer to do it, but I don't think it will. I may need a precision adder and another voltage source to pull it off the way I want to do it. Instead, I just routed the Perfourmer's LFOs to pitch, ran them slowly and in quadrature, and experimented with different shapes. Beads was for texture up high but it's a little bleep bloopy for my tastes. I have other ideas there.

That sucks. I know how hard it is to be sick when it's not a chronic illness, I can't even begin to imagine if it is. And it can be hard to be creative when you feel like that. Good thoughts coming your way (I'm a bit late to the party on this one, sorry).

 

[lordradish]

Various kill switch ideas have been suggested and considered, but the bigger plan is a new car

I suppose I could rig something so that when the car starts it blasts music from my ambient noise tracks on a loop unless you enter a code. If you take my car you have to endure my noise. Heck. Maybe I’ll guest link it to ugly’s mixer only feedback jams.

Car alarm companies would pay you millions for that, just don't forget to share the royalties with him.

 

[Colum]

I still want to find a good solution for looping in software without having to buy a pedal. I have Audio Damage Enso, but it's kind of a pain in the ass even with foot controller switches assigned to it.

All the looping I'm doing now isn't live looping, it's... sort of undead looping. Recording something in Bitwig, opening the file in Sound Forge, cutting it to length I want, then dragging it back into Bitwig to loop it. It's a useful technique for sure, but I also want to be able to play a looper more like an instrument sometimes.

There’s plenty of free looper VSTs to run in a Daw. Give it a google
You can also get a midi foot controller to assign to its parameters.

 

[hieronymous]

Been following along but been super busy. Finally had a chance to listen to some of the music posted recently - very nice stuff! I haven't been able to post much, and what I do post is still bass covers on YouTube shorts - kind of the antithesis of this thread?

But today I did three relevant things:

1. visited Alembic in their new location (Rohnert Park, California) to pick up a power supply for my SF-2 Superfilter - for the life of me I could not find mine.

2. started prepping to introduce the SF-2 into my signal chain (basically as an expensive high-pass filter - those are all the rage on TB right?) - only to find my SF-2 wall wart! Duh! It was right next to me this whole time, but buried under a tangle of cables. Oh well, will have to find a nice gift for the folks at Alembic...

3. also plugged in a new power strip that I bought towards the end of last year - it's the D'Addario Power Base, it has 3 plugs spaced out for wall warts. Bending down and plugging it in inspired me to plug in the power strip for my synth rig - need to do at least one more Jamuary post!

There have been other adventures - a "gig" playing along with pre-recorded tracks, getting out my '76 Ric 4001, etc., but those don't seem to fit here. Happy New Year everyone - both solar and lunar!

 

[steubig]

@hieronymous et al.

a friend turned me on to this power strip (i got one of the longer cables).


very useful for wall warts, etc.


Belkin Power Strip Surge Protector with 8 Rotating AC Outlets - 6 ft Long Flat Pivot Plug - Heavy Duty Extension Cord for Home, Office, Travel, Computer Desktop & Phone Charging Brick (2,160 Joules) https://a.co/d/9yeXgP5

 

[Spectrum]

@hieronymous et al.

a friend turned me on to this power strip (i got one of the longer cables).


very useful for wall warts, etc.


Belkin Power Strip Surge Protector with 8 Rotating AC Outlets - 6 ft Long Flat Pivot Plug - Heavy Duty Extension Cord for Home, Office, Travel, Computer Desktop & Phone Charging Brick (2,160 Joules) https://a.co/d/9yeXgP5

I went to Lowes or Home Depot and got one of those long power strips with ten outlets on it spaced apart so you can plug all wall warts into it. I think it's about 3 feet long. It sits beneath my synth rig and it's essential.

 

[monsterthompson]

I'm running a Furman 15A rack supply and two of their Pro Plug strips.

 

[steubig]

i find this very useful for carrying in a box with a bunch of pedals.

edit: because the plugs rotate, you can get more wall warts in a smaller length.

 

[hieronymous]

And I forgot the two most important things I meant to post:

1. I appreciate hearing about the difficulties that people are going through and offer my sympathies - one of the best things about this thread is the supportive community.

2. I went ahead and ordered the tabletop Grone Drone! Looking forward to experimenting with Clouds and maybe getting in a Jamuary track with the drone before the end of the month. Also, the shop owner is about my age and we were both teenagers in Tokyo at the same time.

@hieronymous et al.

a friend turned me on to this power strip (i got one of the longer cables).


very useful for wall warts, etc.


Belkin Power Strip Surge Protector with 8 Rotating AC Outlets - 6 ft Long Flat Pivot Plug - Heavy Duty Extension Cord for Home, Office, Travel, Computer Desktop & Phone Charging Brick (2,160 Joules) https://a.co/d/9yeXgP5

i find this very useful for carrying in a box with a bunch of pedals.

edit: because the plugs rotate, you can get more wall warts in a smaller length.

Yeah, that's cool! I got the D'Addario on a whim and to support my local store. I play out so rarely so it'll probably live at home.

 

[monsterthompson]

And I forgot the two most important things I meant to post:

1. I appreciate hearing about the difficulties that people are going through and offer my sympathies - one of the best things about this thread is the supportive community.

2. I went ahead and ordered the tabletop Grone Drone! Looking forward to experimenting with Clouds and maybe getting in a Jamuary track with the drone before the end of the month. Also, the shop owner is about my age and we were both teenagers in Tokyo at the same time.

Grone Drone updates

 

[Starthief]

I went to Lowes or Home Depot and got one of those long power strips with ten outlets on it spaced apart so you can plug all wall warts into it. I think it's about 3 feet long. It sits beneath my synth rig and it's essential.

I've got one of those, very handy.

I have a 1U rackmount power distribution unit (basically just individual switches for 8 outlets) and some 6 inch long extension cords so I could plug wall warts into it. It's great for devices that don't have their own power switches, and for resetting the stupid cable modem / wifi router without having to crawl under the desk.

 

[lucas303]

2. I went ahead and ordered the tabletop Grone Drone!

Gonna' need to hear lots of this.

 

[monsterthompson]

I've got one of those, very handy.

I have a 1U rackmount power distribution unit (basically just individual switches for 8 outlets) and some 6 inch long extension cords so I could plug wall warts into it. It's great for devices that don't have their own power switches, and for resetting the stupid cable modem / wifi router without having to crawl under the desk.

I had one of these units briefly but mine was defective and power would occasionally flicker even when the switches were off. I didn’t trust the internal wiring so I retuned it. Too bad because I really liked the concept.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

27174024[/URL], member: 340182"]Gonna' need to hear lots of this.

the demos should have less of the incoming signal and more of the « wet only » signal.
i wanna hear that thing annihilate the #$&* out of the dry signal

my 2 mad scientist cents

 

[Bob_Ross]

I’d consider going with a dedicated separate looper because you have more options for where you place it in the chain. Perhaps you want the loop at the front of your chain one day and the back the next day. Then you can experiment with loops into delays or delays into loops.

I am a huge advocate (as some of you have probably already noticed) of being able to rearrange the order of pedals, especially looping delays, on-the-fly...so that for example you can capture a loop of some sonic mayhem that required the use of a chain of other signal processors...and then, at the tap of a footswitch or twist of a knob, send that loop back through that same chain of other signal processors. Or through a different chain of other signal processors. Or to another looper.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I am a huge advocate (as some of you have probably already noticed) of being able to rearrange the order of pedals, especially looping delays, on-the-fly...so that for example you can capture a loop of some sonic mayhem that required the use of a chain of other signal processors...and then, at the tap of a footswitch or twist of a knob, send that loop back through that same chain of other signal processors. Or through a different chain of other signal processors. Or to another looper.

You forgot to name drop the Klein Bottle you use to achieve said process.

 

[Bob_Ross]

You forgot to name drop the Klein Bottle you use to achieve said process.

tbh I prefer the Loop-Master flip-flop switches I have on the Big Board to the Klein Bottle for this purpose...easier to see their status on a dark stage, which makes it easier to know what's happening (or has to happen) with signal flow.

 

[Starthief]

Miezo owners, do you have any recommendations about humidifying? I've been using Humidipaks in the bag that came with it, but with three of them it's still barely at 40% and they dry out pretty fast, and I wonder if the bag just doesn't hold water (vapor) all that well.

Which makes me wonder about a good hard case for a Miezo 18.

But then, I've been thinking about getting a whole-house humidifier anyway because of static electricity, being prone to nosebleeds and dry skin etc.