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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#21
Yes! My type of jam!

I play with a trio that is about to record an ambient/atmospheric/ethereal album. We are the core bass/drums/keys of the worship team at our church, and the 3 of us play improvised ambient jams at the end of almost every service to set a nice atmosphere for any prayer etc, people have asked us a few times to record an album of it for their personal devotions or just for some good quality background/mood music. I'm 99% a live player, so I'd love any ideas or tips on what really jams on record. I currently lean real heavy on my fav pedals when playing this style:
MIJ Boss OC-2
tc electronic flashback delay
tc electronic corona chorus
vintage EH Holy Grail
I have many others that make appearances when I'm playing other styles (od, fuzz, etc) and I'm lookin to add a tc Ditto, a Boss PM-2 and a DOD Meatbox this week so I can get acquainted with em and def use em on the record as I def see a place for em in this context. But for anyone who's recorded extensively in this way:
What works?
What doesn't work?
What sounds good live that doesn't work on record?
Like I said, I play live 3x a week every week, but only record like once a year and have never recorded this style before. Wouldn't have even thought of it had people not asked for it, and it'll be completely improvised so we're not sure exactly what to expect. Any tips that could help me not have to think too much about tech so I can really just stay in the music would be super helpful...
 
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#29
necropain said:
so quikc question. what are some synth pedal examples in this type of music. alot of people seem to either suggest them or have them but i don't hear alot of synth. so help???
Click to expand...

Honestly, I can't see a synth pedal used on its own for this style. It's too in your face, IMO. Maybe buried beneath reverb and delays. I like to think that musicians go outta their way to conceal some of their instruments. Not in all cases, though.
 
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#34
metaball said:
thanks!
if you're interested here's a soundtrack i did for a glass sculpture documentary short.
http://vimeo.com/61756230
Click to expand...
Sounds great! I like the way the piece evolved over time, though I felt like the beat drowns out the audio--I wanted to hear more sizzles, clinks, speech, and background noises. The music really supports the video, which brings out the beauty & grace of the collaborative creative process involved in glassblowing.
 
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#35
Awesome thread. My setup for ambient stuff isn't interesting enough to warrant a picture, I mostly just use a Boss DD-7, EHX Holy Grail, MXR M-80 DI/distortion, and an Ernie Ball Jr. volume pedal. You can hear some of my playing for my NC based post-rock band (young) American Landscape here:

http://youngamericanlandscape.bandcamp.com/

My playing is fairly straightforward in this project, I like sticking to the deeper, finger-plucked tones and using reverb/delay for textural volume swells which you'll hear a lot of on the single, so nothing too experimental or crazy. I also do some stuff here, although it's not entirely bass-focused. I use different instruments will my Holllows project because I'm having trouble tracking a lot of ambient bass without it sounding like mud with my cheap USB mic:

https://soundcloud.com/hollowssc
 
#37
winston said:
Sounds great! I like the way the piece evolved over time, though I felt like the beat drowns out the audio--I wanted to hear more sizzles, clinks, speech, and background noises. The music really supports the video, which brings out the beauty & grace of the collaborative creative process involved in glassblowing.
Click to expand...

thanks!
the video guy wanted to build a soundtrack around the sounds of the shop. i was provided 2 hours of audio that i pilfered to get the bulk of the sounds i used in the track, some were the same shots from different angles. unfortunately they had a radio on in the background blasting old school 50's pop tunes thru the bulk of the shoot, so much of the audio was unusable. i'm glad the collaborative element comes thru.
 
#39
necropain said:
just thought i was asked since one of the people who posted their pedalboard on this thread has a synth pedal on there
Click to expand...

I'm sure you could use one if you wanted too. It would depend on what you are after. I would probably put a LPF after it to tone it down but sweep the cutoff or resonance to create movement. Add some reverb or crystal style delay and it would cool.
 
#40
necropain said:
so quikc question. what are some synth pedal examples in this type of music. alot of people seem to either suggest them or have them but i don't hear alot of synth. so help???
Click to expand...

there are lots of synths in "ambient" music. with a synth pedal you can make a bass sound synthy.

while this is not a good example of that, it is one of my favorite examples of bass playing on an "ambient" record & kinda what i've been aiming for over the past couple years.

Brian Eno and Jah Wobble - Spinner
 

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