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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#3,141
lordradish said:
I wish someone would invent a dang pedal that would just give me the sound of a nice, dense poly pad. I think that's what I'm really trying to accomplish. It can likely be done with the tools I have, I just feel like I need another blob of paint on the palette.
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I hear ya, the missing color crayon in the box.
Look at the Korg Volca FM, not a bass pedal but plenty of incredible sounds in that little machine that fit what you are describing.
 
#3,144
ugly_bassplayer said:
I hear ya, the missing color crayon in the box.
Look at the Korg Volca FM, not a bass pedal but plenty of incredible sounds in that little machine that fit what you are describing.
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Yeah, I thought of that, but I'm trying to keep the pedalboard/hardware synths separate. One thing I think I am going to do, though, is make a bunch of rich dense pads, and put them in the Aeros Looper. But I'd love to be able to create them initially from the board.
 
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#3,147
lordradish said:
I found this one, [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. Looks pretty simple.

As far as the strange genre we're all into on this thread, did you have any luck finding others, or is it all pretty conventional stuff?
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In my experience you run into a 50/50 mix of people who can just play with whatever is happening and make it sound good and the other half is too loud (but you can lower them in your mix), seems like they are listening to a different jam, or they will come in and say hello, what songs do you know.

More than a few times, I've left a room that I opened. The cool thing about jamkazam is that you can set your room however you want...meaning you can have anyone can join/listen or by invite/acceptance only. That's cool cause I've found that often it is the same handful of musicians on line when I log on. You can also boot someone from your room. It isn't the best interface for seeing who is on line, you kinda gotta look and see if someone has a jam you can join or create your own for others to join...this makes it feel like no one is online. I found that if I open a room and start jamming alone, usually someone will jump in within a reasonable amount of time. I've always also just gone in and made noise music and no one usually has a problem with that.
 
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#3,149
ugly_bassplayer said:
Maybe I played too much jazz but I need being in the same room with other musicians. The human feel, eye contact is very important imo.....
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I definitely get that POV, and agree that absent those cues the music will be ...well, different than were you all in the same room.
But I've spent almost as much time improvising as part of aleatoric post-classical [sic] music as I have improvising in traditional jazz ensembles, and so I've seen how those differences can be quite compelling and lead to engaging listening experiences for musicians and audiences alike.

"The Recording Studio As Compositional Tool" is a fairly well-known trope in a lot of contemporary genres; less well known is "The Recording Studio As Improvisational Tool" but there are plenty of examples in the canon that point to its validity. And one of the things you can (and often) do in a recording studio -- or in an internet collaboration application running on your web browser -- is isolate the musicians from one another so they can't make eye contact...or, in some cases, even hear one another.

And sometimes you do that intentionally.

(That being said, I've never actually participated in one of these online jamming apps, so I'm not endorsing any particular execution, just the concept.)
 
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#3,152
ugly_bassplayer said:
I was checking this out. What an awesome idea. I'd be outside like a lunatic with that thing.
Description / Ether V2 – SOMA LABORATORY
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Wild.
Some of my friends have magnetic implants in their hands. One of them works in IT and can "sense" various magnetic events, like motors turning. He was impressed when he helped me carry my Barefaced cabs, since he could feel the pull from the magnets in the drivers :)
I'm not one for body modifications, but if I was, magnet implants would be on the list.

Some friends of mine have also "chipped" themselves. Pop a grain-of-rice sized chip under the skin, and then use your hand to swipe your bus pass on the daily commute. Like a Jedi.

If you really want to go big, get the Stelarc mod, and grow an ear on your forearm, then implant a microphone and broadcast what your arm ear hears over the Internet.
7C912C14-2673-4747-AABF-4C332FC38A53.jpeg
 
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#3,154
Alfonso Alba said:
I feel pretty much the same way when I see large pedalboards with 5 different delays and 8 different distortion/fuzz boxes, but I'm pretty sure the same principles apply. I think that the key is building it little by little, so you get to know each module and how it interacts with others, make a few recordings/jams, etc. Then you get a couple more modules and repeat the process, with each module bringing in something new.

It is also important to realize you don't have to use it all. Most of my patches consist of relatively simple sounds, with relatively few modules. I usually start from a "what if?".... for example, "what if I take a couple of LFOs in quadrature and use them to sequence two voices?" or "what if I run random noise bursts through a vocoder with a pad as a carrier?".... then build from there, adding more elements. Having a large system (although I never expected it to be this large) allows me to run 5 or 6 simultaneous voices. The problem is to control everything and give it enough variation and structure to avoid boredom.



My pleasure. I have several recordings; some are aimless noodlings and others are more structured. But these are some of my favorites:

This is the first proper track I recorded using the modular. Back then, it was only one cabinet (the one that is currently in the top-right). All sounds, percussions included, are made with the modular, but some effects were added afterwards in a DAW. I patched each sound and then recorded each track individually. I call this the Wendy Carlos approach.

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This one is based on a simple 16-step sequence programmed on a FutureRetro Mobius sequencer. There are multiple voices playing the same sequence, then some background cricket noises and a synth pad, which I believe comes from an Ensoniq ESQ-1, played live. All recorded in one go.

http://www.facproductions.net/music/livewire1/0602.mp3

This one was made with a bigger system. It started as a jam... this is the answer to "what if two LFOs in quadrature are used for sequencing?". Multiple elements were added, including drums from an Elektron Machinedrum. Then it was recorded in multiple tracks and edited. Then some other elements, like the pads and extra effects, were added. It became one of my favorite tracks.

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And this is one of the most droney tracks I've recorded (also a bit long at nearly 12 minutes). It was recorded on an iPad 2 with the app Multitrack DAW. This is one of several jams I recorded with the iPad, so it was all done in one take, but I'll be damn if I can remember any patch details.

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Thank you for listening. Regarding the currently on-going discussion, I've always made music for myself, but that doesn't mean I don't want other people to listen to it and give me feedback about it. That is why I've tried to record everything I do and put it out there (online) for people to listen. I've done a few live sets, but they're always improvised as I don't really have time to prepare and rehearse, and I don't really like the idea of relying on pre-recorded stuff in a live setting.
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Really enjoyed listening to your music. Thanks for sharing it!


monsterthompson said:
Wild.
Some of my friends have magnetic implants in their hands. One of them works in IT and can "sense" various magnetic events, like motors turning. He was impressed when he helped me carry my Barefaced cabs, since he could feel the pull from the magnets in the drivers :)
I'm not one for body modifications, but if I was, magnet implants would be on the list.

Some friends of mine have also "chipped" themselves. Pop a grain-of-rice sized chip under the skin, and then use your hand to swipe your bus pass on the daily commute. Like a Jedi.

If you really want to go big, get the Stelarc mod, and grow an ear on your forearm, then implant a microphone and broadcast what your arm ear hears over the Internet.
View attachment 3636231
Click to expand...
I don't think I really want to go big :)
 
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#3,157
ugly_bassplayer said:
I'm in. Maybe a little scared of about just every little bug and creature over there can freakn kill you.

:dead:
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It's not that bad... more chance of heatwave / bushfire / car accident than bugs or creatures injuring you these days! Although we do seem to create an export of lots of metalcore bands from random coastal towns... and random synth pop if you listen to the right radio stations
 
#3,159
theunknowndude said:
It's not that bad... more chance of heatwave / bushfire / car accident than bugs or creatures injuring you these days! Although we do seem to create an export of lots of metalcore bands from random coastal towns... and random synth pop if you listen to the right radio stations
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I really don't mind, I was kinda joking. Went to Mexico a few times and walked bare feet in the sand with tiny scorpions that could send you to the hospital and put you flat on your back.

Locals told me, if it happens...it happens....if you worry you won't leave the doorstep.

Not to mention that you guys have Ben Frost coming from over there. Awesome
 
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#3,160
Ruh-roh...chit just got real:

pedalboard-s-12-18-19.jpg



First "official" session with the double pedalboards last night. When I start complaining about what a pain in the arse it is to haul around two roadcases remind me how much fun it is to go wallowing in this sandbox.

Apologies in advance for the squeaky stool...although I suppose it does add a certain charm to the recording. Maybe.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
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