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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#25,402
JES said:
oh, I do that too. Just made a deal with someone to sell my Super 6, and the Norand Mono is also out the door. I just meant that with the depth and complexity of music tech—even the good old bass guitar—any given person will only use a small portion of its true capability.m.
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surprised about the super 6 cause you were so high on it.
 
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#25,403
It just wasn’t finding its way into my music. It always sounds good, great even, but modular has ruined me: its approach to modulation is too restrictive for my taste now and I also kept messing up this one thing where I’d go to set up a new modulation and accidentally change the preset. Could not develop muscle memory. Did develop some new curses though. I don’t fault them, but sometime you just can’t get over something with an instrument. I think I have a clearer sense of what I do and don’t do musically at this point. My wife said she noticed that I never use it.

I’m eyeing a Sequential Take 5 as my replacement I spent some time messing with one (and a Hydrasynth) at a friend’s. I’m also fantasizing about more banana gear. I had a deal fall through out a use Loudest Warning panel. We will see.
 
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#25,404
JES said:
It just wasn’t finding its way into my music. It always sounds good, great even, but modular has ruined me: its approach to modulation is too restrictive for my taste now and I also kept messing up this one thing where I’d go to set up a new modulation and accidentally change the preset. Could not develop muscle memory. Did develop some new curses though. I don’t fault them, but sometime you just can’t get over something with an instrument. I think I have a clearer sense of what I do and don’t do musically at this point. My wife said she noticed that I never use it.

I’m eyeing a Sequential Take 5 as my replacement I spent some time messing with one (and a Hydrasynth) at a friend’s. I’m also fantasizing about more banana gear. I had a deal fall through out a use Loudest Warning panel. We will see.
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yeah. i recall that the modulation seemed sparse in comparison to the hydrasynth (which plays nice with the linnstrument and modular, btw) and the iridium.

tbh, a small modulation matrix makes me discount a lot of synths out of hand (fair or unfair).
 
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#25,406
lordradish said:
Speaking of that...how you liking yours? You've had it for a while, right? It's still my main synth, although I am really enjoying the heck out of the Minifreak, lately.
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well, i’ve always liked it—even despite a couple of issues that waldorf/korg took care of. did some programming in early january and really enjoyed the results, but most of my time of late has been involved with a series of projects that involve the modular stuff meeting orchestral instrument plug-ins or a project where i’m writing (on paper. no less) to finish a project that started before covid that has some concerts and a recording comi by up in the summer, so it’s not part of either sound world right now.

that being said, i might be revisiting the toques band space using the real synths (not ipad), but feel that the iridium is a little less hardy in the wild than the hydra…
 
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#25,408
lordradish said:
Speaking of that...how you liking yours? You've had it for a while, right? It's still my main synth, although I am really enjoying the heck out of the Minifreak, lately.
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steubig said:
well, i’ve always liked it—even despite a couple of issues that waldorf/korg took care of. did some programming in early january and really enjoyed the results, but most of my time of late has been involved with a series of projects
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I remember considering it when I got the S6. My sense was it's not as immediate as the Hydrasynth for programming, but perhaps I'm wrong? I have learned my lesson about modulation matrices on fixed architecture synths, though. I don't necessarily need a ton of sources, but I definitely need a ton of routings and some possibility of recursion/feedback. For my Linnstrument, the thing I've been using most is the Micromonsta 2, which is very well thought out, properly implements MPE, and is bitimbral.
 
#25,409
JES said:
I remember considering it when I got the S6. My sense was it's not as immediate as the Hydrasynth for programming, but perhaps I'm wrong? I have learned my lesson about modulation matrices on fixed architecture synths, though. I don't necessarily need a ton of sources, but I definitely need a ton of routings and some possibility of recursion/feedback. For my Linnstrument, the thing I've been using most is the Micromonsta 2, which is very well thought out, properly implements MPE, and is bitimbral.
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the iridium is pretty nice to program. inherently easier to get a sweet sound out of it? not sure what its mpe capabilities are. hydra’s are pretty good, i think. the iridium’s mod matrix is good; it has both primary ans secondary modulation sources for each slot and you can modulate the modulators. i recall that you can’t modulate the effects, which you can do with the hydra.
 
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#25,410
IMG_9407.jpeg
 
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#25,412
JES said:
I remember considering it when I got the S6. My sense was it's not as immediate as the Hydrasynth for programming, but perhaps I'm wrong? I have learned my lesson about modulation matrices on fixed architecture synths, though. I don't necessarily need a ton of sources, but I definitely need a ton of routings and some possibility of recursion/feedback. For my Linnstrument, the thing I've been using most is the Micromonsta 2, which is very well thought out, properly implements MPE, and is bitimbral.
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I'd agree with everything @steubig wrote. I'm not a modular guy so there are certainly a few things we might be looking at differently. I did not really start to understand sound design until I got the Iridium. There's something about the tactile/visual interface that just clicked with my head, and there are countless modulation routes, as well. I also have a HS, I don't seem to use it nearly as much, as good as it is (and that's really good). I wouldn't call it a vanilla synth by any metric, but I just always seem to be more productive and more impressed when I'm with the Iridium.
 
#25,414
For those of you who go to synth meetups (there's finally a scene in Vermont, at least in Burlington, about 50 miles away and everyone there seems young enough to be my kid), does it almost always tend to be like 95 percent modular? I feel like a dinosaur with all of my hardware synths and keys, it's a lot of setup/weight, and musically, I couldn't be further from most of what people do on em. Y'all who know me know where my vibe is. I want to connect/collab with more people, but I feel like some people think I'm gonna whip out some Jean-Michel Jarre or Tomita or something.

Most of you are heavy into the modular... anyone show up with the other stuff, and how does it go when they're the odd person out?

To make matters worse, it seems like more of the digital/hard synth people I come across seem to be into the cringey new-age stuff.
 
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#25,418
The "scene" for synth/electronic here in the DC area was mostly noise art type stuff. I was part of a local collective that was probably 80% noise people with some homemade electronic project boxes, some abstract atonal stuff on actual instruments, and a bit of modular. I have never been to an actual swap meet but there used to be semi-regular shows where, as you might expect, you mostly play for the other musicians. That was all in the Before Times. Since 2020 I have had almost no contact with any other electronic musicians around here. My rock band also imploded as a result of the 2020 Unpleasantness, so I am mostly a bedroom guy now, except for an occasional electronic show at a local venue where the owner likes us, "us" being me and my ex-girlfriend on the theremin. (Okay, so really they like the woman with the theremin.)

I wouldn't worry about what younger people are doing. I play what I like, which is Berlin School-inspired stuff, using mostly hardware synths, and that's good enough for me. This is my hobby for my enjoyment. Fads have never been my thing and I don't fit in with any crowd anywhere anyway.
 
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#25,419
Spectrum said:
The "scene" for synth/electronic here in the DC area was mostly noise art type stuff. I was part of a local collective that was probably 80% noise people with some homemade electronic project boxes, some abstract atonal stuff on actual instruments, and a bit of modular. I have never been to an actual swap meet but there used to be semi-regular shows where, as you might expect, you mostly play for the other musicians. That was all in the Before Times. Since 2020 I have had almost no contact with any other electronic musicians around here. My rock band also imploded as a result of the 2020 Unpleasantness, so I am mostly a bedroom guy now, except for an occasional electronic show at a local venue where the owner likes us, "us" being me and my ex-girlfriend on the theremin. (Okay, so really they like the woman with the theremin.)

I wouldn't worry about what younger people are doing. I play what I like, which is Berlin School-inspired stuff, using mostly hardware synths, and that's good enough for me. This is my hobby for my enjoyment. Fads have never been my thing and I don't fit in with any crowd anywhere anyway.
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It seems that it's mostly other synth players are the people who go to synth shows.

Yeah, most of it is the noise/art stuff. I'm not gonna slag it but I have no interest in hearing/playing that stuff - I don't connect with it and my damaged ear just can't handle it, even if I was into it. I just would like to be out playing a bit, but I think I have really limited options, given my gear and my tastes.
 
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#25,420
here, no scene at all for any synth or experimental stuff.
its all small “snobish” closed collectives in every “genre”
mostly indie artsy crap and heavy shizzle. Id name two collectives in this city that have an influence but im already black balled in one of them for calling out my ex manager and two band mates for being piece of $h1t human beings.
They actually fraudulently stole band money from me and the drummer. (drummer is one of the nicest human beings tou could ever meet)
(he was the manager/booker my old band, hes now the director and owner of the label and such.)
it’s basically the big fish in a small pond type of thing in Quebec city.
I cant fake the nice guy PR thing and its cost me along my career im fully aware of that, but I regret nothing.
I will never sell any micro parcel of my integrity/soul at any price for anyone.

ok, back to happy sunday mood and spin bike time
 
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