Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[steubig]

Not that I want to sit naked and knob-twiddle per se...

uh…

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

uh…

Beat me to it.

 

[dukeorock]

From the Way-Wayback Machine, a 4 track cassette recording mostly recorded with Radio Shack plate mics. The violin was dubbed later but most of the rest is live guitar synth and drums with some post-processing. Lo-fi, yeah...

Hey, that was fun!

 

[dukeorock]

Got it (Soundcraft 22 MTK) wired up and there are some real positives to having it. There’s also some questions for me to answer through some testing.

THE POSITIVES-
Instead of using a eurorack mixer, routing everything through the Octatrack, then recording each part in separately, I can now take the output of every sound and give it its own channel.

It’s USB, so I can record everything in one pass now.

For such an affordable mixer, the eq is pretty darn nice.

Two built in fx sends with Lexicon verbs and delays that sound nice. Certainly useful.

THE QUESTIONS-
I already own a Lynx Aurora (n) 16 AD/DA, which is a seriously high end converter and I’ll need to test the audio quality differences.

There are a bunch of strategies I can try, I think. Record all my electronics through the board, but stuff like acoustic drums, vocals...critical stuff, can be recorded through the Lynx.

I’m really interested in summing. Once everything is recorded, send analog outs via the Lynx, into the Soundcraft, then master output back to Logic via the Lynx. Would be nice to use analog eq and compression during the final mix, I’m hoping. Or I just bought myself a new headache

 

[monsterthompson]

Got it (Soundcraft 22 MTK) wired up and there are some real positives to having it. There’s also some questions for me to answer through some testing.

THE POSITIVES-
Instead of using a eurorack mixer, routing everything through the Octatrack, then recording each part in separately, I can now take the output of every sound and give it its own channel.

It’s USB, so I can record everything in one pass now.

For such an affordable mixer, the eq is pretty darn nice.

Two built in fx sends with Lexicon verbs and delays that sound nice. Certainly useful.

THE QUESTIONS-
I already own a Lynx Aurora (n) 16 AD/DA, which is a seriously high end converter and I’ll need to test the audio quality differences.

There are a bunch of strategies I can try, I think. Record all my electronics through the board, but stuff like acoustic drums, vocals...critical stuff, can be recorded through the Lynx.

I’m really interested in summing. Once everything is recorded, send analog outs via the Lynx, into the Soundcraft, then master output back to Logic via the Lynx. Would be nice to use analog eq and compression during the final mix, I’m hoping. Or I just bought myself a new headache

Dang

 

[steubig]

yeah, dang.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Got it (Soundcraft 22 MTK) wired up and there are some real positives to having it. There’s also some questions for me to answer through some testing.

THE POSITIVES-
Instead of using a eurorack mixer, routing everything through the Octatrack, then recording each part in separately, I can now take the output of every sound and give it its own channel.

It’s USB, so I can record everything in one pass now.

For such an affordable mixer, the eq is pretty darn nice.

Two built in fx sends with Lexicon verbs and delays that sound nice. Certainly useful.

THE QUESTIONS-
I already own a Lynx Aurora (n) 16 AD/DA, which is a seriously high end converter and I’ll need to test the audio quality differences.

There are a bunch of strategies I can try, I think. Record all my electronics through the board, but stuff like acoustic drums, vocals...critical stuff, can be recorded through the Lynx.

I’m really interested in summing. Once everything is recorded, send analog outs via the Lynx, into the Soundcraft, then master output back to Logic via the Lynx. Would be nice to use analog eq and compression during the final mix, I’m hoping. Or I just bought myself a new headache

IMO, converters are one of the most important things.
Use the Lynx on as many things as possible.

Yep, you got yourself a brand new headache.

DAng!!!!!

 

[dukeorock]

IMO, converters are one of the most important things.
Use the Lynx on as many things as possible.

Yep, you got yourself a brand new headache.

DAng!!!!!

I’ll do some testing and see where it all lands. Worse case, I’ll return this mixer and hold out for an analog board w/ direct outs like a Midas Venice or something

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I’ll do some testing and see where it all lands. Worse case, I’ll return this mixer and hold out for an analog board w/ direct outs like a Midas Venice or something

I wouldnt even blink and get the Midas.
WAY better preamps........ Not the mention the EQ isnt even in the same league!!!!!
One of my major pet peeves with mixers is bad EQ.
Hated seing a piece of $%?& yamaha 01v when I got to a gig, good mixers, horrbible EQ. You coould twist those endless knobs for hours and it would never sound good.

Add to that you already have a top notch converter........the midas preamps and EQ will sound DOPE!!!!!!

Plus the midas will hold its value wayyyyyyyyy better. Wait till they stop updating the firware on the one you got now.......youll punch a wall when that happens.

 

[Passinwind]

I’ll do some testing and see where it all lands. Worse case, I’ll return this mixer and hold out for an analog board w/ direct outs like a Midas Venice or something

I have a Crest XR-20 in perfect condition, I’ve barely ever used it. It has a dozen direct outs that can be on the faders if desired, great sounding preamps, and tons of internal config options. Back when I bought it it was kind of the slightly more budget friendly (2K-ish) choice to the Venice for lots of club mixing jobbers when they didn’t want or need to haul a big desk with an outboard power supply. I think they’re hard to even give away these days, and AFAIK Peavey has kept supporting them to this day. Mine is a pre-Peavey piece, built in NJ, and if you were closer I’d happily lend it to you to see if the shoe fits.

 

[lordradish]

and i don't think it necessarily has to be something that shows a tangible *result*. just doing *something* is often just as important: practicing, noodling, daw-ing, programming synths, exploring pedals. at some point we're making building blocks that will hopefully lead to something else.

This is exactly what I'm shooting for.

 

[cosmicevan]

Nothing makes you lazy like talent.

so much this

 

[Spectrum]

Well, I'm both untalented and lazy, so the correlation doesn't figure with me...

 

[dukeorock]

I wouldnt even blink and get the Midas.
WAY better preamps........ Not the mention the EQ isnt even in the same league!!!!!
One of my major pet peeves with mixers is bad EQ.
Hated seing a piece of $%?& yamaha 01v when I got to a gig, good mixers, horrbible EQ. You coould twist those endless knobs for hours and it would never sound good.

Add to that you already have a top notch converter........the midas preamps and EQ will sound DOPE!!!!!!

Plus the midas will hold its value wayyyyyyyyy better. Wait till they stop updating the firware on the one you got now.......youll punch a wall when that happens.

You really know how to make a fella feel good about his recent purchase! I would’ve gladly got a Midas if I could have, but there’s several issues.
The only ones for sale online were ‘local pickup only’ and nowhere near me. The one I was able to get shipped was over $500 for the shipping.
Since these were mostly used as live consoles, many of em are badly beat up. So it’s not like these didn’t cross my mind in a very serious way.

Another couple points about the Soundcraft...the pres are pretty darn nice, as are the eq’s. When I was just playing my electronic stuff through it, everything sounded terrific. Recording each channel into Logic via its USB was flawless and it sounded good. As good as going straight into the Lynx? Not sure, but don’t think so. Tomorrow I’ll test one more thing to be sure, but I’m not optimistic. Outside of Burl converters the Lynx is really tough to beat

 

[dukeorock]

I have a Crest XR-20 in perfect condition, I’ve barely ever used it. It has a dozen direct outs that can be on the faders if desired, great sounding preamps, and tons of internal config options. Back when I bought it it was kind of the slightly more budget friendly (2K-ish) choice to the Venice for lots of club mixing jobbers when they didn’t want or need to haul a big desk with an outboard power supply. I think they’re hard to even give away these days, and AFAIK Peavey has kept supporting them to this day. Mine is a pre-Peavey piece, built in NJ, and if you were closer I’d happily lend it to you to see if the shoe fits.

That would be cool and I appreciate the thought! Those do look very cool

 

[Passinwind]

That would be cool and I appreciate the thought! Those do look very cool

It's a decently compact format for home use and if it ever needed work any old school tech should be able to handle it pretty easily. Every once in a while I still see one in use on casual gigs like farmer's markets or the ubiquitous winery gigs out here, and it's always a noticeable step up from the usual "prosumer" stuff. But of course a Midas has a lot more cachet, even a Venice.

 

[monsterthompson]

Tonight’s adventures in Renoise - VST Rendering

So, Renoise has a function that will sample a VST instrument and create a sample-instrument based on the settings. You can tell it how many octaves to cover and if you want a sample every octave or a sample per semitone. You can even tell it to sample multiple velocities for VST instruments with velocity sensitivity. So if you have a CPU heavy VST like some of the Reaktor synths, you can bounce it to a a sample instrument to save CPU. The downside is that you give up the control of native VST effects and modulation, but you can add back what you need from the effects library.

I’m still on the demo version so I can’t test this particular function.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

You really know how to make a fella feel good about his recent purchase! I would’ve gladly got a Midas if I could have, but there’s several issues.
The only ones for sale online were ‘local pickup only’ and nowhere near me. The one I was able to get shipped was over $500 for the shipping.
Since these were mostly used as live consoles, many of em are badly beat up. So it’s not like these didn’t cross my mind in a very serious way.

Another couple points about the Soundcraft...the pres are pretty darn nice, as are the eq’s. When I was just playing my electronic stuff through it, everything sounded terrific. Recording each channel into Logic via its USB was flawless and it sounded good. As good as going straight into the Lynx? Not sure, but don’t think so. Tomorrow I’ll test one more thing to be sure, but I’m not optimistic. Outside of Burl converters the Lynx is really tough to beat

Sorry didn't mean to give you buyers remorse.

That wasn't my intention at all.
I apologize. I'm certain the soundcraft is more than capable of doing an awesome job in your setup.

I should have kept my comments to myself and let YOU decide what is best for YOUR studio. Add to that I haven't even tried your mixer makes my comment all the more pretentious and totally biased. (Although I have worked on both midas and soundcraft mixers in live and in the studio.)

My intentions where good but clearly out of place. This is YOUR choice and YOUR investment. Not mine.

That thing puts to shame anything I have at home.

That's me sometimes, open mouth insert foot.

Again, I'm sorry.

 

[dukeorock]

Sorry didn't mean to give you buyers remorse.

That wasn't my intention at all.
I apologize. I'm certain the soundcraft is more than capable of doing an awesome job in your setup.

I should have kept my comments to myself and let YOU decide what is best for YOUR studio. Add to that I haven't even tried your mixer makes my comment all the more pretentious and totally biased.

My intentions where good but clearly out of place. This is YOUR choice and YOUR investment. Not mine.

Again, I'm sorry.

I wasn’t hurt or offended! No worries there. When I had a commercial studio we had a heavily modded 32 channel Soundcraft TS 12. With a couple of the right mods, it’s one of the most underrated consoles under $50k. I guess I have a place in my heart for that brand, though I had few illusions about a $900 version, especially the conversion part. Sometimes you get lucky

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I wasn’t hurt or offended! No worries there. When I had a commercial studio we had a heavily modded 32 channel Soundcraft TS 12. With a couple of the right mods, it’s one of the most underrated consoles under $50k. I guess I have a place in my heart for that brand, though I had few illusions about a $900 version, especially the conversion part. Sometimes you get lucky

Thanks. Still feel kinda bad. It was a douche move on my end for sure.
The punk in me just jumped of a cliff in shame.

Especially when I fundamentally believe that one can make anything work regardless of price or brand. You should see the crap I work on at my place.........