Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[Vunz]

Latest jam, this time just double bass pizz, but very jammy:

 

[monsterthompson]

I got a new gear hauler. Just in time too, as I've been asked to do some live sound ambient noise for a very "interesting" event. It is still in the planning stages, but this could be one of the more unique gigs I've been offered.

 

[hieronymous]

Yesterday I started working on a "commission" - no money involved but kind of a passion project that can also meet the needs of others. Sequencing with my Doepfer MAQ16/3, the DFAM & Sirin have been fired up after a break! Disappointed with the results yesterday, but tackling it again, it is taking shape. Putting 3 against 4 - nothing special but I need to type it out so I can follow along!

Tried to come up with something on the Grone Drone, but was disappointed with the results. The baked-in rhythm bugs me...

Got a new pedal from Quebec! It's my first Canadian gear purchase (that I'm aware of) - I don't like to be snobbish about where my gear comes from but I am certainly proud of the stuff I have from the US & Japan. Actually, the Grone Drone is from Uruguay - broadening my horizons!

OK, back to the commission and my planned Cliff Burton bass cover video...

Oh and completely unfinished but my band finally added our bandcamp If you like groove metal stuff -weren’t going to publish it til the album launch but I’ll add here anyway as we have one song up (profanity warning )
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Digging this! You should have an ambient remix version!

I got a new gear hauler. Just in time too, as I've been asked to do some live sound ambient noise for a very "interesting" event. It is still in the planning stages, but this could be one of the more unique gigs I've been offered.

Glad to hear about both the transport & the gig!

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Yesterday I started working on a "commission" - no money involved but kind of a passion project that can also meet the needs of others. Sequencing with my Doepfer MAQ16/3, the DFAM & Sirin have been fired up after a break! Disappointed with the results yesterday, but tackling it again, it is taking shape. Putting 3 against 4 - nothing special but I need to type it out so I can follow along!

Tried to come up with something on the Grone Drone, but was disappointed with the results. The baked-in rhythm bugs me...

Got a new pedal from Quebec! It's my first Canadian gear purchase (that I'm aware of) - I don't like to be snobbish about where my gear comes from but I am certainly proud of the stuff I have from the US & Japan. Actually, the Grone Drone is from Uruguay - broadening my horizons!

OK, back to the commission and my planned Cliff Burton bass cover video...



Digging this! You should have an ambient remix version!



Glad to hear about both the transport & the gig!

What did you get from Quebec?

 

[JES]

50/50 odds it's a Count to Five.

Thanks for the recs @theunknowndude --I will check them out. Sorry to hear about your bass. At least it's clear in the mix which is not always the case in heavy music. Looking forward to your record.

@hieronymous -- I think the grone drone has a fundamentally good sound. It's just a matter of how to integrate it. Congrats on the commission. That sounds like fun. Ditto for your gig, @monsterthompson

Since tomorrow is typical Tuesday madness: friends of all genders, I present to you the final two instalments of Jamuary (because it's already the 31st on the other side of the international date line).

30 Jam

For this one, I added more filters and more feedback. In addition to the wonderful BB+N out of my Joranalogue, I added a Manhattan Audio SVVCF and a Serge EQ. Those went into my Doepfer A-138M, and routed to a Belton Brick reverb, and Beads. Key parameters controlled with Control, and my poor Vector Sequencer played a 2 note sequence. Oscillators are from the Vermona Perfourmer.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

31 Jam

I’m wrapping up the month with something a little different. A canon of sorts (or is it not very phasey phase music?) with my wife on vocals, based on an unheard (by you) piano part, and into some granulators, and time based effects in Ableton Live. I’m messing with Live’s time-stretch parameters to get different timing despite its compulsion to beat-sync everything.

 

[hieronymous]

So I did come up with a Jamuary Grone Drone track - first I put up a short bass cover of Metallica's Orion on YouTube, but it didn't get any traction - because I haven't posted in a couple of weeks? So I took it down and put up the Grone Drone track - and it's past 350 views?!! Cool, I guess people like noise drones too. Tomorrow I'll try the Metallica vid again. And I used this:

What did you get from Quebec?

A(((Ole))) from Guptech - Rat/Octave/Boost bass version - my wife liked the graphic and it showed up on sale so I grabbed it.

 

[Spectrum]

I have found in the past that when I put up a video with the name of a recently released piece of gear in the title, it gets a bunch of views. So if you want lots of views, keep buying new gear for your videos!

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I have found in the past that when I put up a video with the name of a recently released piece of gear in the title, it gets a bunch of views. So if you want lots of views, keep buying new gear for your videos!

synthfluencer

/end me

 

[Spectrum]

synthfluencer

/end me

If I'm a "synthfluencer" (god it hurts to even type that out) then I really suck at it, given my low subscriber and view counts, plus the fact that I don't monetize the channel.

 

[scott sinner]

Crap, I'm supposed to be humidifying my basses?? I live in a very dry climate

As a former Rumble combo amp owner, my first suggestion is anything other than a Fender Rumble. I really don't understand why people here think they're the best thing since sliced bread (probably just because they're light and say "Fender" on them). Between the one I owned and bigger ones I used at a rehearsal space in town, I found them to be underwhelming to say the least. Honky, muddy...just garbage.

I haven't tried many combo amps, but I like my Peavey Max 208 a whole lot. That's probably too small for your needs (or is it?), and I haven't tried any of the other combos in that line, so this is likely pretty unhelpful.

Just don't get a Rumble...I beseech thee.

Edit: I just remembered I tried one of those Ampeg Rocket combos in a Guitar Center not too long ago and was thoroughly underwhelmed, so there's that.

I wonder sometimes if people that think the Fender Rumble series sound good are people that just really hate being bass players. Like, if you want an amp so you cant really hear yourself, they work great. Or more conspiratorial, I wonder if they are overbearing guitar players on alt accounts.

I with people suggesting a mini head and the idea of picking up a cab once you've flown in. I am personally hopelessly biased in favor of GK, but I give a respectful nod towards MarkBass and Eden.

 

[scott sinner]

I'm curious about the Hartke HD500. Never tried one, but on paper (and from reviews) it seems promising. Maybe worth considering.

My friend has one. I used it when jamming a few times. I had no complaints with it except maybe a little nit picky comment amount the versatility of the eq.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

If I'm a "synthfluencer" (god it hurts to even type that out) then I really suck at it, given my low subscriber and view counts, plus the fact that I don't monetize the channel.

wasn’t aimed at you, it was the first word that popped into my mind when thinking about getting gear to get views of gear reviews getting viewed mor often.

 

[scott sinner]

Welcome @Cristo . If you want our comments on specific gear, you will find those with a search of the thread. (most of the 1100 pages is us talking to one another.)

@monsterthompson really covered it. But for your specific use case--"here and there in original music" where you're otherwise (presumably?) fulfilling some kind of bass role, you need a way to get in and get out, and to do so gracefully. So it's not just adding pedals to your board, but a way to turn them on and off with a single stroke, if we're talking about eg the breakdown in a song. You want your delays and reverbs to have spillover so you can go back to playing bass while your textures ring out, etc. You also don't need all that stuff.

For instance, you want to enter a song from a wash of sound. You need:

a way to sustain your sound:

could just be a reverb or delay. Or it could be a Superego pedal in front of the reverb. Or it could be a fuzz or a distortion, maybe also into the delay or verb.

a way to shape the sound:

could be subtractive EQ or a tone control in the delay or reverb; could be tone controls on a distortion or fuzz; could be an EQ pedal; could be a filter

a way to get in and get out:

if you're using a multifx pedal, it could be a "scene"
if you're using a single pedal, that's really easy
if you're using a bunch of pedals, you need a loop switcher or some other graceful way to to. Or tap dancing.

Don't under estimate utilities like routing and volume pedals.

And don't forget that what sounds good at home may not sound great with your bandmates. I find gnarlier fuzz works better in a band setting than by myself; delays work more often than reverbs when I'm playing lows, and cleaner delays are more effective than the cool sounding vintagey ones.

At home by myself, anything goes.

Great wisdom here.

I’ll add another example of how to “get in and get out, and to do so gracefully,” because that’s been my exact way of approaching this as well in a use case of “here and there in original music.”

As the sad parts of my bank account history would show, I went through a few failed approaches to solving this issue until I finally settled on how useful presets and MIDI could be on a pedalboard. The heavy lifting, ambient and texture-wise, on my pedalboard are the Boss ms3 (multi effects and midi controller), Boss sy200 (synths), and empress Zoia (box of wonders.) With a dash of the MXR PolyBlue Octave.

What is potentially overwhelming with this is that, with that combo, I can do just about anything effects related. But how to make it simple enough for practical use? Again, presets and midi.

The boss ms3 is the midi controller and it has a little two button aux switch. The ms3 sends midi program changes to the Zoia and sy200. In practice, switching to a song thus is merely a matter of scrolling to the song with the aux and all three pedals have the patch for the song pulled up. Then the ambient/textural stuff (or any other effects I want) can be engaged in various ways by midi control changes or via the ms3 loops (e.g. the expression pedal, the ms3 footswitches acting as momentary or toggle ccs, tap tempo)

Takes a bit to program, but once it is set up, it is set. Anything I ever have to do in a song is on the front row. In between songs, again, only the scrolling and an occasional switch between the Moog and the Darkglass.

 

[JES]

Great point @scott sinner — I use a RJM controller for presets. Same idea. If it’s original music that’s mostly closed for (eg the same every time) it works very well.

tonight at dad band practice my right hand was so sensitive that I couldn’t get through a single song finger style. So I played everything with a pick and did surprisingly ok on songs I’d always played with fingers. That’s never happened before but I suspect it will happen again. @uglybassplayer youve got some pick exercise you do, right? I should improve my pick game, just so I’m ready.

 

[dukeorock]

Anyone taken a peek at that new Pittsburgh semi modular? 3 is oscillators each with their own wave folder…looks seriously cool for sound design

 

[monsterthompson]

Anyone taken a peek at that new Pittsburgh semi modular? 3 is oscillators each with their own wave folder…looks seriously cool for sound design

I saw a brief IG video on it. The fundamental idea is interesting.

 

[theunknowndude]

50/50 odds it's a Count to Five.

Thanks for the recs @theunknowndude --I will check them out. Sorry to hear about your bass. At least it's clear in the mix which is not always the case in heavy music. Looking forward to your record.

@hieronymous -- I think the grone drone has a fundamentally good sound. It's just a matter of how to integrate it. Congrats on the commission. That sounds like fun. Ditto for your gig, @monsterthompson

Since tomorrow is typical Tuesday madness: friends of all genders, I present to you the final two instalments of Jamuary (because it's already the 31st on the other side of the international date line).

30 Jam

For this one, I added more filters and more feedback. In addition to the wonderful BB+N out of my Joranalogue, I added a Manhattan Audio SVVCF and a Serge EQ. Those went into my Doepfer A-138M, and routed to a Belton Brick reverb, and Beads. Key parameters controlled with Control, and my poor Vector Sequencer played a 2 note sequence. Oscillators are from the Vermona Perfourmer.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

31 Jam

I’m wrapping up the month with something a little different. A canon of sorts (or is it not very phasey phase music?) with my wife on vocals, based on an unheard (by you) piano part, and into some granulators, and time based effects in Ableton Live. I’m messing with Live’s time-stretch parameters to get different timing despite its compulsion to beat-sync everything.

hah we have a few more songs that are all similar yet different , we like to mix it up… but being a three peice with singer we do go for bass driven songs with ambient intro’s, slap bass occasionally etc.., I tend to use different dirt each song depending what “vibe” plus the odd chorus and wah


I do have instrumentals of each track - maybe I remix them hmmmm food for thought!
and luckily found a local repairer that did my battery pack and a setup at a decent price so I’ll live with that! Need to then try my ambient pedalboard a bit… one day I’ll re setup my laptop interface and record like you guys!

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

27197705[/URL], member: 37282"]Great point @scott sinner — I use a RJM controller for presets. Same idea. If it’s original music that’s mostly closed for (eg the same every time) it works very well.

tonight at dad band practice my right hand was so sensitive that I couldn’t get through a single song finger style. So I played everything with a pick and did surprisingly ok on songs I’d always played with fingers. That’s never happened before but I suspect it will happen again. @uglybassplayer youve got some pick exercise you do, right? I should improve my pick game, just so I’m ready.

pick exercises:
I have absolutely no idea what « level » you are at but here are a few
(i can write these down on sheet music if confusing)

always with metronome (set a slower tempo at , 60 bpm or slower if you are capable , slow is goooood!!!! at first. I do alot of tech exercises at 40 bpm)
Metronome can click on 1,2,3,4 for starters. Then try click on 2 and 4.
(metronome exercises are infinite btw)

- major scale in thirds over 2 octaves, down strokes only then alternating up/down —down/up picking
start with quarter notes, then 16th notes.
-same exercise, but Dorian mode
- Same exercise, but Major 7, Dom7 and Min 7 arpeggios.

pay extra attention when crossing strings

with those three use same fingering going up and down.

then once confortable, use different fingerings/patterns going up and going down.
get to know the fretboard type of stuff (again I have no idea what level you are at)
(I can write this down is confusing….)

Instead of doing all 12 keys, start with F, G, C, D to concentrate to right hand picking.
keep it clean, no tension in right hand fingers holding pick, relax forearm and shoulder.

I think this is a good start, give me some feedback on how this goes

 

[Starthief]

Anyone taken a peek at that new Pittsburgh semi modular? 3 is oscillators each with their own wave folder…looks seriously cool for sound design

I spent way too much time watching videos about it yesterday. My overall impression is:

- great oscillators with some incredible sweet spots
- visually it looks 20x nicer than anything else Pittsburgh has released since the Lifeforms designs.
- it's nice having wavefolders on all the oscillators, but you can't patch other inputs through them.
- OK filter. They're really proud of it but it's just not exciting IMHO. But it's probably improved by having that preamp that can push it hard or be patched in feedback.
- OK LPG. The one I had on the Double Helix sounded nice when CV controlled but pinging it was uselessly clicky -- maybe they have improved that.
- The LFO is super basic and doesn't have CV control or tempo sync.
- Substandard envelopes. No CV control or looping ability, and a couple of reviewers showed it was tricky to dial in snappy envelopes in the length range they wanted most.
- Really dark BBD that sounds good for some material and really poopy for other material.
- Should have had at least one utility VCA. There's no way to use velocity to control level, there's no way to CV the FM depth or other modulation depths, to do AM or RM, to have separate envelope control over different oscillators etc.
- But those oscillators, damn. There were moments in the demos where they were so good it startled me.

To me, it competes for space with the Minibrute 2S. MB2S' oscillator is good but not super exciting, but the filter is great and I think the overall design is smarter. I am not getting as much use out of it as other things though, and I could replace it if I found the right gizmo. I don't think Taiga is that gizmo, but I'd like to play one in person to see what I think of it.

 

[JES]

I am really trying to avoid crowded instruments and panels right now. And I am concerned that the Taiga is crowded enough that I might brush a pitch knob while moving something else, so I will wait and see one in person.

I love the idea so much I own an Implexus

Thanks @ugly for the exercise. That's just what I need. My hands are somehow worse today so I'll have to wait until they're more cooperative.