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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#901
I just watched this, and my world changed.


Yesterday, I went home to edit my arrangement/composition for the performance I've got coming up this weekend. I had a rehearsal last weekend, and I had some notes I wanted to incorporate. Well, after watching the Throbbing Gristle vid (and a few other videos of theirs) I ended up doing some significant edits. I'm really pleased with where things went with the piece I'm working on.

I think this really goy in my head.


The only problem with my current piece, is that it is running at such a slow tempo, it takes forerever to work through and listen back to edits I make.
 
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#902
Oddly enough, I’m actually playing this like an instrument in my next performance. I use the compression and attack to control how the synth sounds after it goes through my delay pedal. Usually, compression is a fairly transparent effect. However, in this application I can actually tell what it’s doing to the attack. I also turn the blend to control how obvious the compression effect is. It’s interesting to hear how different the effect is with something like a synth, with a long sustain, versus a very quick, plucky instrument like a bass guitar.

FA297B04-5F8C-4818-931E-245E0D83A665.jpeg
 
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#903
monsterthompson said:
Oddly enough, I’m actually playing this like an instrument in my next performance. I use the compression and attack to control how the synth sounds after it goes through my delay pedal. Usually, compression is a fairly transparent effect. However, in this application I can actually tell what it’s doing to the attack. I also turn the blend to control how obvious the compression effect is. It’s interesting to hear how different the effect is with something like a synth, with a long sustain, versus a very quick, plucky instrument like a bass guitar.

View attachment 3093040
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Looking forward to hearing it! I got turned on to Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV in highschool by a buddy. Gen has such a great and unique outlook on pretty much everything :)
 
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#904
dukeorock said:
Looking forward to hearing it!
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I didn't plan on recording, but I probably should do a bit of that.
It is wild. When the Pigtronix Echolution starts getting loud and self oscillating, I can turn up the compression and dial back the dry blend, and the sound will still be useful and controllable. I can fade the dry back in when I want more of a harmonic attack from the 0 Coast. For those who are unfamiliar, the 0 Coast gives you a pure, simple dry wave form, then you add in harmonic content with the controls and blend it has, in order to get the final sound. If I get an attack sound I like, but it clips a bit harshly, then I crank the compression and it smooths things out. I don't hear this as clearly with the pluck of a dry bass guitar. I didn't think this compressor had a terribly wide range of effect, but now I'm much more aware of how it works.
 
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#905
monsterthompson said:
I haven't seem much discussion about the band/ensemble/project structure in this thread. What is the setting you find yourselves playing in? Solo? Drums and guitar? Bassoon and timpani?
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I’m a couple of pages behind on this but I do most of my ambient stuff with Bass VI/Baritone Guitar and layer in bass synth and pads as necessary
 
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#908
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#913
@monsterthompson I respectfully submit an idea to you. I am a big fan of this thread. I think all of you are doing pioneering things on bass and other instruments and some of it's very technical. I faithfully follow this thread and study every post.

HOWEVER, I AM a novice. I'm a GOF and I've played bass straight into my amp, no effects. The sexiest I ever got was when I used a built in chorus on my Peavey combo. I've toyed with distortion but never found one I like.

So here's my proposal. I wish there was another ambient-post-rock-textural-bass-playing thread for Poor Dummies. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it would be nice to know some basics. How do I start learning this stuff? What is the bare minimum I could start with that's economical and easy to learn? What is the minimal amount of effects needed? I think you get my drift.

The music world of now and the future is electronic in some form, and I think all of you are on the right track. I wish I knew where to start. This is truly a great and inspirational thread for me.
 
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#914
alaskaleftybass said:
@monsterthompson I respectfully submit an idea to you. I am a big fan of this thread. I think all of you are doing pioneering things on bass and other instruments and some of it's very technical. I faithfully follow this thread and study every post.

HOWEVER, I AM a novice. I'm a GOF and I've played bass straight into my amp, no effects. The sexiest I ever got was when I used a built in chorus on my Peavey combo. I've toyed with distortion but never found one I like.

So here's my proposal. I wish there was another ambient-post-rock-textural-bass-playing thread for Poor Dummies. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it would be nice to know some basics. How do I start learning this stuff? What is the bare minimum I could start with that's economical and easy to learn? What is the minimal amount of effects needed? I think you get my drift.

The music world of now and the future is electronic in some form, and I think all of you are on the right track. I wish I knew where to start. This is truly a great and inspirational thread for me.
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Monsters setup is quite complex for most of, but I have a feeling he would be open to questions. Pretty approachable fella :)

I started down this most recent obsession thinking I was going to buy some effects and a looper and that was it...just more or less stack sounds until I thought it was cool. There’s a couple bits I kinda like, but getting a sampler so I could sequence my bass and mangle it became a more attractive option. Sometimes looping is part of that too. The short answer is, a sound or conceptvgets lodged in your head and you begin thinking of ways to express it somehow. The cheapest way to get started to me is iPad apps and a basic interface. But that assumes you have an iPad :/
 
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#915
alaskaleftybass said:
@monsterthompson I respectfully submit an idea to you. I am a big fan of this thread. I think all of you are doing pioneering things on bass and other instruments and some of it's very technical. I faithfully follow this thread and study every post.

HOWEVER, I AM a novice. I'm a GOF and I've played bass straight into my amp, no effects. The sexiest I ever got was when I used a built in chorus on my Peavey combo. I've toyed with distortion but never found one I like.

So here's my proposal. I wish there was another ambient-post-rock-textural-bass-playing thread for Poor Dummies. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it would be nice to know some basics. How do I start learning this stuff? What is the bare minimum I could start with that's economical and easy to learn? What is the minimal amount of effects needed? I think you get my drift.

The music world of now and the future is electronic in some form, and I think all of you are on the right track. I wish I knew where to start. This is truly a great and inspirational thread for me.
Click to expand...


I'm happy to discuss discount and dummy approaches. I certainly didn't start off knowing what I'm doing, and I'm still learning. I have the good fortune to have a small fortune, so I can let you know what I've learned cycling through various bits of gear.

I think some of the basics you'd want to have, or things to start with and consider:
Reverb effect - There are tons of reverb pedals out there. Learn the different types (plate, hall, etc). Find ones with "shimmer" effects, which can help make pad-like sounds. Something like an EXH Freeze isn't a reverb device, but it does help create background textures to play over.

Modulation - Chorus and the like are helpful for giving movement to more minimalist, sustained lines.

Multi-effects - Something like a EXH Superego Plus is a pretty useful tool for the $250 price tag. While you won't get digital presets, it gives you several tools for combining effects to build ambient textures. Some digital boxes have presets that are nice, but they can be a bit of a restriction as you can't get into knob turning in real time. I'm a big fan of that. It makes things interesting, and it helps you learn what changing specific parameters sounds like.

Looper - Do you want to play a texture, then play over it? You'll want a device to create loops, so you can play with yourself. Ummm... ;)

Live or recording - Live is very different from the DAW world. Pick your poison. For DAW work, software suites and packages can open up doors for much less than buying hardware. However, DAW stuff can be hard to duplicate live. Latency can be super annoying.

MIDI connectivity - Do you want to have your effects sync to a click or clock? Do you want to be able to change patches live? MIDI is your friend.


I'll start with the above. Anything you'd like to explore or discuss here?



Also, I'm performing Sunday. The composition is inspired by my experience with being paralyzed from the neck down for a part of my life. If you are in LA, hit me for details.
 
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#916
@alaskaleftybass .. this is a great thread. I've asked several questions as a noob, everyone is welcoming and open to helping others.. I've even learned lots just by reading posts..

I'm very much just starting out. I'm taking a different approach though.. I'm sticking with just pedals... for now... one great, simple one I started with and LOVE is the Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master.. it's Verb and delay in one. They can be ran together or independently. That one box can do so much.. I just added a Broughton Terraformer for some gritty fuzziness.. I plan to add a looper, another flavor of delay and verb, and a filter plus an octave/pitch shifter some sort..

With all this said, the Dispatch Master would be a great starter.. if you want to do the pedal thing
 
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#917
Thank you kind Ambients for sharing your well earned knowledge. I'm going to chew on these suggestions. and @monsterthompson your invite is very generous. It's a bit of a leap from Alaska but wife and I might make it to L.A. one of these days to see Ambrosia, who are actively still touring. We've wanted to see them for years.

Space on, Ambients! I am with you in spirit! I look forward to the day I can post my own creation. :)
 
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#919
As a noob / dabbler, I got a zoom h4 and just used that as an mp3 recorder... I’ve slowly collected pedals over the years, and Most of my ideas have mostly been from using long delay / reverb to make drones and go from there... stacking effects just added from there. I don’t have time to fiddle so don’t use apps / electronic stuff, just what ideas I can create with pedals. Another fun thing I got was the road rage feedback looper... feedback loopers are fun cheap noise things that can make pedals or a group of pedals feedback into themselves ...definitely check them out.
 
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#920
theunknowndude said:
As a noob / dabbler, I got a zoom h4 and just used that as an mp3 recorder... I’ve slowly collected pedals over the years, and Most of my ideas have mostly been from using long delay / reverb to make drones and go from there... stacking effects just added from there. I don’t have time to fiddle so don’t use apps / electronic stuff, just what ideas I can create with pedals. Another fun thing I got was the road rage feedback looper... feedback loopers are fun cheap noise things that can make pedals or a group of pedals feedback into themselves ...definitely check them out.
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That Zoom sounds like a good idea. Do you loop with it?
 

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