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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#24,881
Thank goodness I'm not interested in samplers! I'm much more into drones. In addition to the Taj Mahal Travellers I was gushing about earlier, I also got turned on to this:



The backstory is interesting - she is a woman playing an instrument that in recent centuries has been off-limits to women. I enjoy listening to this kind of Indian music (classical? Northern? I'm an enthusiast but no expert) where an instrumentalist plays to a drone, exploring the raga. What I want to know is - how is the drone instrument (tambura?) being played? Is someone playing it live? That would be my expectation, but in the couple of videos I saw online, the camera is just on her. I realized that she is on social media (IG) so I followed and asked - hope I wasn't too forward and that she isn't big enough that my message would get caught up in the deluge...

Plus - I just realized - I need to experiment more with my 4ms Triwave Picogenerator. It seems like every time I try and use it, I can't get it to do what I want. And what is that? Provide a consistent drone that I can play against. But I have learned a lot in the past few months playing with the koto player, maybe I should give it another shot. I'm not doing anything else musical!
 
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#24,882
ugly_bassplayer said:
There’s way better for the $ on the market for a hardware sampler.
Click to expand...

I don't see 64mb as a limitation that will bother me, for occasional samples to use alongside my synth stuff. The lack of loop points on samples is a bigger one, but could be worked around. But cheap, small and portable and fun and straightforward are what appeals to me.

I have to admit this isn't an area I have researched much. What else would you recommend in this range? Sp404 is a bit more, Digitakt a lot more. Circuit Rhythm or Tracks maybe? Volca Sample? Liven LoFi 12?
 
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#24,883
Starthief said:
I don't see 64mb as a limitation that will bother me, for occasional samples to use alongside my synth stuff. The lack of loop points on samples is a bigger one, but could be worked around. But cheap, small and portable and fun and straightforward are what appeals to me.

I have to admit this isn't an area I have researched much. What else would you recommend in this range? Sp404 is a bit more, Digitakt a lot more. Circuit Rhythm or Tracks maybe? Volca Sample? Liven LoFi 12?
Click to expand...
Do you need to have a screen to see the wave and set loop points?
Volca cant do live sampling, it can only play pre loaded samples.
I know nothing about the lofi 12 or the Circuit rhythm/tracks.
Digitakt is mono in, stereo out. It has huge following, some swear by it. Powerhouse for sequencing.
SP404a is what ive been using for many years, so if you have any questions about that one, ask away. (YT and plenty of info can be found easily).
Havent tried the SP404 mkII, I have no intention of getting one.

Didnt watch the Teenage Eng video for the new sampler cuz, reasons.
I hate TE, off lawn now......
 
#24,884
I find TE mostly completely ridiculous myself. OP-1 seemed neat, until they jacked the price way up. The original Pocket Operators were flimsy, sketchy toys (which sounded OK for what they were). Most of their stuff is bull, but this one seems like a winner.

My use case for something like this is probably 80% screwing around making beats on the sofa to entertain myself, 20% using it for simple loops and screwy drones along with the modular and DAW. If I want to resample I can bounce to the DAW and back. But I don't really need complex (hi Elektron) sequencing, pattern chains, enough memory to play a whole set, etc. A bit of live tweaking would be fun though.
 
#24,885
Starthief said:
I find TE mostly completely ridiculous myself. OP-1 seemed neat, until they jacked the price way up. The original Pocket Operators were flimsy, sketchy toys (which sounded OK for what they were). Most of their stuff is bull, but this one seems like a winner.

My use case for something like this is probably 80% screwing around making beats on the sofa to entertain myself, 20% using it for simple loops and screwy drones along with the modular and DAW. If I want to resample I can bounce to the DAW and back. But I don't really need complex (hi Elektron) sequencing, pattern chains, enough memory to play a whole set, etc. A bit of live tweaking would be fun though.
Click to expand...
Koala on Ipad?
it checks all the boxes you mentioned
(also available on Android btw)
 
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#24,888
Starthief said:
Eh, not sure a phone app will scratch the itch. The more demos of the EP-133 I watched the more convinced I got, so I went ahead and ordered one. What the hell, it's my birthday (in a couple of days). :D
Click to expand...

Looking forward to your thoughts. If the workflow is right I might consider one at that price. The Novation Circuit would be on my list too but I have an older one I don’t love.
 
#24,891
Was considering expanding the modular rig. New case. New Erica delay and reverb modules.

Instead I worked on running my euro rig to my Empress Reverb pedal (been on the shelf) and I might be okay with that.

I also worked on running Ableton midi through my Black sequencer. I was going to record the midi but it wasn’t as clean as I hoped. I also realized a short song of midi is way too long to have in the sequencer so passing the midi made more sense. Now I’m arranging for bass and synth. Hope to record something tonight.
 
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#24,894
JES said:
You could always sequence your sequencer.
Click to expand...

That’s kinda what I’m doing. I was trying to record the Ableton midi into the Erica, but that was wonky. Now I’m just passing midi from Ableton through the Erica on one channel. The other 3 channels are available :)

I’ve sequenced my Bloom with itself. I used Ch1 as a melody and Ch2 to modulate the root of Ch1 to create chord changes. I just had to divide the clock rate on Ch2 and boom.
 
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#24,896
ugly_bassplayer said:
give us a review after trying it out
Click to expand...

We just arrived home from an 11 hour drive so this is a quick one:

- not flimsy but not super tough either. In a sort of middle ground. It seems to be Lego-compatible in some ways and kind of has that feel, if that makes sense. Not premium feeling pads and knobs but good enough. The fader works (I've been seeing a few reports of nonfunctional ones).

- if you try to start it with dead batteries, a C++ exception about invalid sample file length scrolls across the screen. Oops. Works fine on USB power, and remembered what I programmed even after unplugging and replugging with no batteries installed.

- Doesn't sound like much through the tiny built-in speaker, much better with headphones.

- I've just been jamming with it based on watching a video two days ago and glancing over the guide quickly. I'm gonna have to go through the tutorial in the guide to grasp some things about the workflow.

- My stupid little jam with some default presets immediately sounds pretty great if I use the punch-in pitch down effect -- dubby and wonky.

- The punch-in LPF and HPF work nicely together -- rocking back and forth to affect both cutoff frequencies just feels nice. Combining them some of the other effects is nice too.

- Assigning the fader to pitch does quantized pitch shifts, only when the note begins -- which makes a nice little performance control if you want to transpose a drone / repeated chord.

I like it a lot so far overall.
 
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#24,897
Somebody just got the new Erica Stereo Delay and Stereo Reverb Modules :)

Been jamming along with my bass into my euro rig today. Im trying to get the routing and everything sorted out. I think I’m back to wanting the Zoia out of my rack. I just don’t use it and I want something “hands on” without menu diving or memorizing patch structures. I thought about getting a small case to house just the Zoia in its own ecosystem, which might be the way to go.
 
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#24,898
Quick test of the new Erica Stereo Delay and Reverb modules this morning says they’re gonna be pretty nice. I need to RTFM to figure out the modes but my random switch flipping and knob turning says these are really solid performers with lots of sonic range. The only beef I have is that they’re deeper than expected and I had to rearrange my Modular Grid layout to get them to fit which meant taking apart the whole rack. Lots of screw turning today.
 
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#24,899
monsterthompson said:
Somebody just got the new Erica Stereo Delay and Stereo Reverb Modules :)

Been jamming along with my bass into my euro rig today. Im trying to get the routing and everything sorted out. I think I’m back to wanting the Zoia out of my rack. I just don’t use it and I want something “hands on” without menu diving or memorizing patch structures. I thought about getting a small case to house just the Zoia in its own ecosystem, which might be the way to go.
Click to expand...

you’re looking for another multi efx or some standalone stuff?
 

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