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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#4,201
remcult said:
Probably Logic Pro, though I'm considering making the switch to Ableton
Click to expand...
Any of the Akai series work really well with ableton. They are instantly detected in the options menu and simply select the divice you connected. Its almsot plug and play.

Some controllers even includ pads and keys.

Pads are for the drum rack for the "mpc" type feel of playing samples.
 
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#4,202
ugly_bassplayer said:
Any of the Akai series work really well with ableton. They are instantly detected in the options menu and simply select the divice you connected. Its almsot plug and play.

Some controllers even includ pads and keys.

Pads are for the drum rack for the "mpc" type feel of playing samples.
Click to expand...

There's also Arturia. They tend to have a nicer feel than the Akai stuff I've played in that price range. The minilab looks to have a nice set of features, and some software. I haven't been a huge fan of their gear, but they are widely used by many.
Arturia - Overview

The Keystep Pro looks beastly.
Arturia - Overview
 
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#4,203
monsterthompson said:
There's also Arturia. They tend to have a nicer feel than the Akai stuff I've played in that price range. The minilab looks to have a nice set of features, and some software. I haven't been a huge fan of their gear, but they are widely used by many.
Arturia - Overview

The Keystep Pro looks beastly.
Arturia - Overview
Click to expand...
I would trust him more than me on this.

;)
 
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#4,204
ugly_bassplayer said:
Trust him more than me on this.

;)
Click to expand...

I'm just spit-balling. Polyphonic synths in his price range are tough to find. Mostly mono or para are available. Most should do double duty as midi controllers.
I'd seriously consider a keyboard and software.
The NI software I've used -
Massive is awesome, even for being as old as it is.
Massive X will eat your CPU.
Absynth is nice for atmospheric sounds, but a little weird to use and get your head around. It's a tad long in the tooth, too.
Rounds is fun, but high on CPU demand, and a little quirky to use.
FM8 is cool if you like FM synth sounds.
Monark is good for getting old Moog styles, though those tend to be monophonic.
Form, Razor, and a few others are high on the CPU demands, and tend to be very modern sounding.
Reaktor is fun, but it takes some time to sound design. The Blocks are cool, and approximate euro rack workflow. It's nice to have that available. There is also a community of Reaktor builders who put their stuff online for sharing patches. The platform is a bit weird to learn, but super powerful.
 
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#4,205
monsterthompson said:
I'm just spit-balling. Polyphonic synths in his price range are tough to find. Mostly mono or para are available. Most should do double duty as midi controllers.
I'd seriously consider a keyboard and software.
The NI software I've used -
Massive is awesome, even for being as old as it is.
Massive X will eat your CPU.
Absynth is nice for atmospheric sounds, but a little weird to use and get your head around. It's a tad long in the tooth, too.
Rounds is fun, but high on CPU demand, and a little quirky to use.
FM8 is cool if you like FM synth sounds.
Monark is good for getting old Moog styles, though those tend to be monophonic.
Form, Razor, and a few others are high on the CPU demands, and tend to be very modern sounding.
Reaktor is fun, but it takes some time to sound design. The Blocks are cool, and approximate euro rack workflow. It's nice to have that available. There is also a community of Reaktor builders who put their stuff online for sharing patches. The platform is a bit weird to learn, but super powerful.
Click to expand...
Even more proof right there
:roflmao:
 
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#4,206
ugly_bassplayer said:
Even more proof right there
:roflmao:
Click to expand...

Just think. If I hadn’t smashed my nerves to a pulp ten years ago, I probably would’ve just kept playing eighth-note rock bass and never learned any of this. Who knew there was a bright side to breaking your neck and crippling your fretting arm.

... I did. I knew it ;)


BTW - I’m already seeing progress from the Bass Fitness book. Boring exercises but effective. I’m going to do a week per chapter, bumping the BPM daily. I’ll see how far I can get before punching a wall, and then start over.
 
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#4,207
https://photos.app.goo.gl/T4xn6rSZenNihQVUA

Saturdays practice and jam sesh. I handed our drummer this little controller, hooked up to the mainstage synth on my Mac and the PA. the guitar player and myself just hit a ton of effects and this is the result. We've been trying to figure out how to get ahold of someone for keys/synth duties or easy to use synth solutions. We're some sort of experimental metal band, haha so this is pretty far from what we normally do.

I really dig how this came out and we might try to write something out like this a bit as its a place we want to go.
 
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#4,208
rutrho said:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/T4xn6rSZenNihQVUA

Saturdays practice and jam sesh. I handed our drummer this little controller, hooked up to the mainstage synth on my Mac and the PA. the guitar player and myself just hit a ton of effects and this is the result. We've been trying to figure out how to get ahold of someone for keys/synth duties or easy to use synth solutions. We're some sort of experimental metal band, haha so this is pretty far from what we normally do.

I really dig how this came out and we might try to write something out like this a bit as its a place we want to go.
Click to expand...

That's pretty nifty.
 
#4,209
monsterthompson said:
Just think. If I hadn’t smashed my nerves to a pulp ten years ago, I probably would’ve just kept playing eighth-note rock bass and never learned any of this. Who knew there was a bright side to breaking your neck and crippling your fretting arm.

... I did. I knew it ;)


BTW - I’m already seeing progress from the Bass Fitness book. Boring exercises but effective. I’m going to do a week per chapter, bumping the BPM daily. I’ll see how far I can get before punching a wall, and then start over.
Click to expand...
Bass fitness is not a race, go slow through the exercices, finishing just one chapter can take a $%^&* long time.
At least it took me a long time. Haha.
 
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#4,212
rutrho said:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/T4xn6rSZenNihQVUA

Saturdays practice and jam sesh. I handed our drummer this little controller, hooked up to the mainstage synth on my Mac and the PA. the guitar player and myself just hit a ton of effects and this is the result. We've been trying to figure out how to get ahold of someone for keys/synth duties or easy to use synth solutions. We're some sort of experimental metal band, haha so this is pretty far from what we normally do.

I really dig how this came out and we might try to write something out like this a bit as its a place we want to go.
Click to expand...
Awesome. What software is it controlling??
 
#4,219
If you want a hardware synth but still has versatility - the novation MiniNova catches my eye... it’s not analogue but being digital has poly and many voices plus effects in built...
I went cheap and got an Alesis vmini 25... has 4 keypads so can use them to make drums but I usually just use drum samples attached to keyboard notes most the time.
Still building my software library but if you want cheap but effective, HELM, flow motion and xpand!2... i have Gibbs decent - my playing is so horrible though I mainly just program and edit direct in midi in reaper so at least it’s in time!
 
#4,220
ugly_bassplayer said:
Awesome. What software is it controlling??
Click to expand...

monsterthompson said:
Right?

"Hey gang, I made this interesting thing, but I'm not giving any details, I just want you to know I made it. KTHXBYE"

TORTURE!!!

:roflmao:
Click to expand...

hahahahahaha, sorry. i just chucked the link out while i was at work and haven't been able to update till now.

AIO is a scarlett 2i2

this is the controller: Trellis M4 Expressive MIDI Controller
Its a pretty cool little device, has a built accelerometer so it uses that as you tilt it for pitch and sustain so its pretty expressive and it sends all that over usb midi, and you can program it in c++ or python as well as change what notes or functions are assigned to the pads. Pretty cool little controller for 80$. Downside is that its hacker-grade and not pro-grade so expectations have to be adjusted for that accordingly.

software is apples mainstage performance thingy that you can get in the app store. Its not a huge name synth package but it does some amp sims and some keyboards and stuff and its more live performance orientated, so for 30$ i thought i'd give it a try to see how it works. It can do midi control and syncing and stuff and its supposed to be able to drive some visual effects as well but i haven't really played with that as i'd rather play bass tbh. The patch (or whatever t-f its called) is the 'space glitters' pad and its out there, lmao. its pretty out there.

so far i'm not disappointed at all and its been a fun little combo to mess around with and make some sounds and stuff.

No idea what my guitar player was messing with, i think he had his strat... but not sure... through a mesa triple rec and a 412. I think has a boss GT-6 board and i made him drag his wah pedal out because i was doing some stupid ish with my delay.

My chain was my GWB35 > a cheap reverb pedal > univibe > delay > wah > chorus > MOAR DELAY > compressor > amp/115

Hope this helps, lmao
 
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