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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#4,444
lordradish said:
I often wonder how much the rest of you get to play, everyday, or most days, at least. It seems like a lot of us on here do. I generally get anywhere from 3-5 nights a week in my music cave, 2-4 hours each time, sometimes bass, sometimes synth. Or both.
Click to expand...

For me, I am a corporate middle/upper middle manager by day and at night, dad to 6 and 8 yr old. When my kids were born I quit my band and essentially traded bass for alcoholism/craft beer maniac and a few yrs ago I realized that drinking was becoming a little too habitual and too high on my priority list and kids were getting old enough that I had a tiny bit of time to take back for myself that bass became a viable option again so I refocussed myself.

My kids are still young so I dont have tons of time but I have a room in my house that I turned into a music room. I am very into making weird sounds and diving deep into complex gear so my time is divided between learning, programming, wood shedding, and just jamming. I mostly end up just jamming, but its tons of fun and I really enjoy the music I make. At times I play JUST pedals and have been getting more into synths. To me, the release of making music is universal as long as I am creating, but I love playing just a bass on its own as well. Time is divided...and I do hate when to much is dedicated to the admin side of things but it is needed to move the other parts forward.

To borrow and amend frank zappas words...I am a musician...who just happens to also be a bass player.
 
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#4,447
Listening to NIN - year zero again recently and always my favourite noise album... sure you have the normal distorted or electronic drums / bass / guitar but the extra bleeps and bloops and walls of sound and other samples just extend the atmosphere behind it all... great compositions but of course he does have a bazillion synths and peices of equipment to mess with hah!
 
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#4,450
cosmicevan said:
For me, I am a corporate middle/upper middle manager by day and at night, dad to 6 and 8 yr old. When my kids were born I quit my band and essentially traded bass for alcoholism/craft beer maniac and a few yrs ago I realized that drinking was becoming a little too habitual and too high on my priority list and kids were getting old enough that I had a tiny bit of time to take back for myself that bass became a viable option again so I refocussed myself.

My kids are still young so I dont have tons of time but I have a room in my house that I turned into a music room. I am very into making weird sounds and diving deep into complex gear so my time is divided between learning, programming, wood shedding, and just jamming. I mostly end up just jamming, but its tons of fun and I really enjoy the music I make. At times I play JUST pedals and have been getting more into synths. To me, the release of making music is universal as long as I am creating, but I love playing just a bass on its own as well. Time is divided...and I do hate when to much is dedicated to the admin side of things but it is needed to move the other parts forward.

To borrow and amend frank zappas words...I am a musician...who just happens to also be a bass player.
Click to expand...
A whole room to yourself and music stuff.
All I got is a corner in the basement.......

:banghead:
 
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#4,451
steubig said:
yes. written.

a friend was playing another piece by feldman and told me how they're constructed. wow.

basically (as i recall) shifting bar lines that line up occasionally. but it's all in time.
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Maybe it's something along the lines of Steve Reich??? (I'm just thinking out loud here)
I played one of his small ensemble works years ago, he used « rhythmic » cells and patterns that shifted along as the piece was played. The ensemble ends up playing like 8 polyrhythms with complimentary melodic lines. It was a blast to play but very challenging at first.
 
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#4,452
ugly_bassplayer said:
Maybe it's something along the lines of Steve Reich??? (I'm just thinking out loud here)
I played one of his small ensemble works years ago, he used « rhythmic » cells and patterns that shifted along as the piece was played. The ensemble ends up playing like 8 polyrhythms with complimentary melodic lines. It was a blast to play but very challenging at first.
Click to expand...
I've watched this so many times...the focus these musicians have...sweating like crazy
 
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#4,453
dukeorock said:
I've watched this so many times...the focus these musicians have...sweating like crazy
Click to expand...

It's my favorite Reich composition by far. I've listen to this so many times since the late 90's when I discovered him.
Thé Xylophone, vibraphone and Marimba players are INSANE!!!!!! Can you imaginer the focus needed to pull that off FOR THE ENTIRE PIECE!!!!!! it boggles the human mind.

I should sample some Reich and butcher it .

:roflmao:

This is my favorite recording of this piece:

Screenshot_20200221-102129_Spotify.jpg
 
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#4,456
ugly_bassplayer said:
@steubig

Thanks for the heads up on Morton Feldman.
I've been really enjoying « Triadic Memories » work for piano this AM.
Click to expand...

of course! glad you like it. he's really interesting to me. definitely puts me in a different head space.

as @Bob_Ross mentioned, he does long stuff. as i recall he was interested in *scale*, not length, per se. not sure exactly what that means to him. (read it somewhere)
 
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#4,457
steubig said:
of course! glad you like it. he's really interesting to me. definitely puts me in a different head space.

as @Bob_Ross mentioned, he does long stuff. as i recall he was interested in *scale*, not length, per se. not sure exactly what that means to him. (read it somewhere)
Click to expand...
The piece I was listening to was very long indeed. It sort of explored textures of long ringing notes on the piano. How they vibrate and harmonics and sympathetic vibrations.....well it gave me that impression.....who knows what his compositional intention was...??!!
I absolutely loved it.
 
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#4,458
cosmicevan said:
For me, I am a corporate middle/upper middle manager by day and at night, dad to 6 and 8 yr old. When my kids were born I quit my band and essentially traded bass for alcoholism/craft beer maniac and a few yrs ago I realized that drinking was becoming a little too habitual and too high on my priority list and kids were getting old enough that I had a tiny bit of time to take back for myself that bass became a viable option again so I refocussed myself.

My kids are still young so I dont have tons of time but I have a room in my house that I turned into a music room. I am very into making weird sounds and diving deep into complex gear so my time is divided between learning, programming, wood shedding, and just jamming. I mostly end up just jamming, but its tons of fun and I really enjoy the music I make. At times I play JUST pedals and have been getting more into synths. To me, the release of making music is universal as long as I am creating, but I love playing just a bass on its own as well. Time is divided...and I do hate when to much is dedicated to the admin side of things but it is needed to move the other parts forward.

To borrow and amend frank zappas words...I am a musician...who just happens to also be a bass player.
Click to expand...

hi.

thanks for that.

to my mind this is an important subject. (and the following is more geared to folks who may be younger and considering the kid track.)

i think it all comes down to time management: you have to figure out the overall balance between work, family and music. it's really f*cking hard; sometimes you favor one over the other; sometimes you fail . . .

when my wife and i decided to have a kid (we ended up with twins), i realized that i was going to have to redouble my efforts or i would be *lost*. in certain ways, i ended up doing more in their first ten years than i did before they were born. i was lucky that my wife got it.
 
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#4,459
steubig said:
hi.

thanks for that.

to my mind this is an important subject. (and the following is more geared to folks who may be younger and considering the kid track.)

i think it all comes down to time management: you have to figure out the overall balance between work, family and music. it's really f*cking hard; sometimes you favor one over the other; sometimes you fail . . .

when my wife and i decided to have a kid (we ended up with twins), i realized that i was going to have to redouble my efforts or i would be *lost*. in certain ways, i ended up doing more in their first ten years than i did before they were born. i was lucky that my wife got it.
Click to expand...
Got kids. I would never go back. Absolutely no regrets.
Too awesome.

Time....the one thing that is not for sale.

:sorry:

Agreed , the whole thing is a complex balancing that goes beyond my pea sized brain.
Sometimes you try, sometimes you nail it and jeez sometimes you fail. Just keep going forward. You fall ,get back up

But one thing I learned for the music side. Don't force it. Sometimes I had plans to work on stuff and by the time I get there I'm too tired and end up listening to records.
 
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#4,460
lordradish said:
I often wonder how much the rest of you get to play, everyday, or most days, at least. It seems like a lot of us on here do. I generally get anywhere from 3-5 nights a week in my music cave, 2-4 hours each time, sometimes bass, sometimes synth. Or both.
Click to expand...

About the same for me I guess. Ambient electronica or whatever you want to call it has become my main hobby in the past year.

My teenagers are much more self sufficient now and I have a lot more available time lately. Getting into synths has really invigorated my interest in playing. One great thing about electronic instruments is that it is entirely possible to have a fun jam by yourself.

Playing solo bass is not so fun for me personally. I've done way more playing in groups than by myself.
 
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