Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[Spectrum]

@steubig
I’ll see your stuff and raise you my « nonsense ».
Teaser before I drop the official album. (this track will not be on the release.)
$$ hear we come. Radio edit will follow.

Cool. That sounds like my shortwave radio when I'm trying to find a distant station.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Cool. That sounds like my shortwave radio when I'm trying to find a distant station.

Already tried sampling radio “noise” as a sound source for some songs.
Seems easy, but it’s REALLY EFFIN hard to get bits and pieces that poke out of the “static”.
Like CRAZY difficult....IME, IMO....YMMV.....etc..... I never made anything “good” with that as a source sample or material. Someone might be totally killer at doing that, but I’m not one of them.

Then chopping the micro bits and pieces with cool sounds and slice out the random blah blah of talk radio or top 40 crap takes a loooooong time. Then finding the right freq of “static.......” thats another problem.....its very monotone. (Yeah....you can tweak an EQ ad vitam aeternam but its boing as crap.)

So after micro chopping 30-45 mins of radio tweaking, you end up with MAX!!!.....30 secs worth of tiny bits and pieces. Again IMO, IME....YMMV

Add to that depending on where you are and what’s around you changes everything. (Neon lights, dimmers, furnace, wall material, TV, computers.....etc...) Even your own skin touching surfaces can make radical changes.

But thank you for the kind compliment and taking the time to listen, very much appreciated.

 

[Spectrum]

Already tried sampling radio “noise” as a sound source for some songs.
Seems easy, but it’s REALLY EFFIN hard to get bits and pieces that poke out of the “static”.
Like CRAZY difficult....IME, IMO....YMMV.....etc..... I never made anything “good” with that as a source sample or material. Someone might be totally killer at doing that, but I’m not one of them.

Then chopping the micro bits and pieces with cool sounds and slice out the random blah blah of talk radio or top 40 crap takes a loooooong time. Then finding the right freq of “static.......” thats another problem.....its very monotone. (Yeah....you can tweak an EQ ad vitam aeternam but its boing as crap.)

So after micro chopping 30-45 mins of radio tweaking, you end up with MAX!!!.....30 secs worth of tiny bits and pieces. Again IMO, IME....YMMV

Add to that depending on where you are and what’s around you changes everything. (Neon lights, dimmers, furnace, wall material, TV, computers.....etc...) Even your own skin touching surfaces can make radical changes.

But thank you for the kind compliment and taking the time to listen, very much appreciated.

I may be wrong but I think back in the day there used to be cooler noises on shortwave radio. There used to be some kind of machine/digital/satcom sounds when you traversed the dial that were really machine-like and often creepy. If I knew what that was I would probably be able to search for an example on youtube or something.

Shortwave radio isn't as cool as it used to be; like everything the Internet is killing it off I guess, along with terrestrial undersea fiber optics killing satellite communications. Now SW radio is mostly preachers and stuff, but it used to have a variety of foreign language stuff from around the world, along with creepy conspiracy radio shows for the X-Files type fans.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I may be wrong but I think back in the day there used to be cooler noises on shortwave radio. There used to be some kind of machine/digital/satcom sounds when you traversed the dial that were really machine-like and often creepy. If I knew what that was I would probably be able to search for an example on youtube or something.

Shortwave radio isn't as cool as it used to be; like everything the Internet is killing it off I guess, along with terrestrial undersea fiber optics killing satellite communications. Now SW radio is mostly preachers and stuff, but it used to have a variety of foreign language stuff from around the world, along with creepy conspiracy radio shows for the X-Files type fans.

Wow, that old school stuff sounds awesome to sample. I bet it sounds nothing like now.....bland and boring.
X-files in foreign languages....yes please!!!

 

[Bob_Ross]

Already tried sampling radio “noise” as a sound source for some songs.
Seems easy, but it’s REALLY EFFIN hard to get bits and pieces that poke out of the “static”.

This is where the value of a real working vocoder comes in handy. Make those shortwave radio/static signals your carrier, and then select ...well, nearly anything as your modulator, but preferably something that has an envelope profile that yields the "poking out" that you desire. E.g., drums/percussion, or sample&hold synth patterns, or uncompressed rhythmic bass parts, etc.

 

[steubig]

pretty sure some of you are gonna be all over this:

New Tangerine Dream Box Set, Pilots of Purple Twilight – The Virgin Recordings 1980 -1983

 

[lordradish]

pretty sure some of you are gonna be all over this:

New Tangerine Dream Box Set, Pilots of Purple Twilight – The Virgin Recordings 1980 -1983

I saw that yesterday... like most bands from that particular era, that's where the cheese factor starts to play a heavy hand. I haven't really been able to enjoy much TD past the Berlin School era. Of course, IMO.

 

[steubig]

I saw that yesterday... like most bands from that particular era, that's where the cheese factor starts to play a heavy hand. I haven't really been able to enjoy much TD past the Berlin School era. Of course, IMO.

i never listened to them a whole lot. maybe some soundtracks?

 

[lordradish]

i never listened to them a whole lot. maybe some soundtracks?

THat era is when they started getting into soundtracks, some of which, to my ears, remind me of 80's porno music.

 

[steubig]

THat era is when they started getting into soundtracks, some of which, to my ears, remind me of 80's porno music.

not that you watched any of that, right?

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

not that you watched any of that, right?

 

[lordradish]

not that you watched any of that, right?

Being a teenager in the late 80's, I can say, OF COURSE NOT.

 

[steubig]

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Ok the joke potentiel has now reached ridiculous levels.

 

[cosmicevan]

not that you watched any of that, right?

Does seeing bits and pieces count as watching? I always found I'd be SUPER into the movie and then a few minutes later, couldn't care less and ready to do something else.

 

[monsterthompson]

I took the day off work, but I don’t really have anywhere to go. I figured I’d work on a track, but decided I should tidy up the workspace and dust my gear first. While cleaning up, I realized this group of regulars probably has a ton of gear with all sorts of knobs and buttons and switches, and there must be one or two OCD clean-freaks in the crowd. So, how do you clean your gear?

My current weapon of choice is a toothbrush. It seems to be about the right size to get into most spaces. It takes a while to use such a small implement, but it works. I do have a small shop vac with a brush attachment and a blower setting, but I think it’s going to be too powerful for the job. I find a cloth wipe is usually insufficient for detail work. Ideally I’d like to be able to clean my gear without disturbing the knob positions, but that’s a challenge.

I’ve considered dust covers and various cases, figuring it would be nice to have a flat lid to wipe clean and be done. Maybe a sheet or towel over the gear when it’s not in use would be sufficient, but I do like looking at my toys.

How have y’all approached this?

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I took the day off work, but I don’t really have anywhere to go. I figured I’d work on a track, but decided I should tidy up the workspace and dust my gear first. While cleaning up, I realized this group of regulars probably has a ton of gear with all sorts of knobs and buttons and switches, and there must be one or two OCD clean-freaks in the crowd. So, how do you clean your gear?

My current weapon of choice is a toothbrush. It seems to be about the right size to get into most spaces. It takes a while to use such a small implement, but it works. I do have a small shop vac with a brush attachment and a blower setting, but I think it’s going to be too powerful for the job. I find a cloth wipe is usually insufficient for detail work. Ideally I’d like to be able to clean my gear without disturbing the knob positions, but that’s a challenge.

I’ve considered dust covers and various cases, figuring it would be nice to have a flat lid to wipe clean and be done. Maybe a sheet or towel over the gear when it’s not in use would be sufficient, but I do like looking at my toys.

How have y’all approached this?

No.

 

[Spectrum]

80s TD is pretty cheesy, only a few pieces here and there I can take.

This is probably Tangerine Dream's most famous soundtrack piece, from the film Risky Business. It does the job: good to listen to while watching a film or playing a video game or something, but not my first choice for just plain listening. Funny you mention porn music, the scene in the film this music is played during was borderline porn lol.



The movie Sorcerer had a TD soundtrack as well. This is from 1977 and sounds very John Carpenter-ish, way more like classic Berlin School TD to me. Pretty good movie, too, as I remember.

 

[Spectrum]

I took the day off work, but I don’t really have anywhere to go. I figured I’d work on a track, but decided I should tidy up the workspace and dust my gear first. While cleaning up, I realized this group of regulars probably has a ton of gear with all sorts of knobs and buttons and switches, and there must be one or two OCD clean-freaks in the crowd. So, how do you clean your gear?

My current weapon of choice is a toothbrush. It seems to be about the right size to get into most spaces. It takes a while to use such a small implement, but it works. I do have a small shop vac with a brush attachment and a blower setting, but I think it’s going to be too powerful for the job. I find a cloth wipe is usually insufficient for detail work. Ideally I’d like to be able to clean my gear without disturbing the knob positions, but that’s a challenge.

I’ve considered dust covers and various cases, figuring it would be nice to have a flat lid to wipe clean and be done. Maybe a sheet or towel over the gear when it’s not in use would be sufficient, but I do like looking at my toys.

How have y’all approached this?

I use a soft paintbrush for cleaning dust off around knobs and switches. Lot easier than a toothbrush, I reckon.

Similar to this but narrower.

 

[steubig]

I took the day off work, but I don’t really have anywhere to go. I figured I’d work on a track, but decided I should tidy up the workspace and dust my gear first. While cleaning up, I realized this group of regulars probably has a ton of gear with all sorts of knobs and buttons and switches, and there must be one or two OCD clean-freaks in the crowd. So, how do you clean your gear?

My current weapon of choice is a toothbrush. It seems to be about the right size to get into most spaces. It takes a while to use such a small implement, but it works. I do have a small shop vac with a brush attachment and a blower setting, but I think it’s going to be too powerful for the job. I find a cloth wipe is usually insufficient for detail work. Ideally I’d like to be able to clean my gear without disturbing the knob positions, but that’s a challenge.

I’ve considered dust covers and various cases, figuring it would be nice to have a flat lid to wipe clean and be done. Maybe a sheet or towel over the gear when it’s not in use would be sufficient, but I do like looking at my toys.

How have y’all approached this?

i make sure all my gear has a light patina of dust—except my basses, which all have a fair amount of hand sweat, grime, etc., on them.