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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#9,661
dukeorock said:
Basically, the Octatrack does a whole lot of different things, but I just tend to focus on 3-5 of those things, so I don’t go insane.
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I think this is absolutely key. I was like you--I tried some things and found they didn't really work. I tried other things and loved what it could do. Elektron really messed up advertising a proper looping functionality. But it does other stuff amazingly well. And it might be my favourite digital filter on a piece of hardware. My only complaint about the box is that if I'm away from it for awhile (like right now) it's not quite well-enough labelled for me to remember how to use it the way I want without consulting the manual.

Still, it's the only piece of hardware I know besides a roomful of tape machines that's set up to do tape music really well.
 
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#9,663
ugly_bassplayer said:
Re: mastering something.

IMO,IME the more you learn about anything, the more you realize how little you actually know.
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I repeat what @ugly says to my students on a weekly basis (there's a reason every reading comes with a bibliography).

But sometimes "mastered" is just hyperbole for competence. As in "I have mastered the spanakopita recipe."
 
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#9,664
Spectrum said:
I have one of those, mine has the alternate super pink paint job.

View attachment 3996745

I find I get the most out of it when using an expression pedal. It's not quite as versatile as I expected it to be, but then again I didn't have any experience with granular stuff so what do I know?

I used it on this track, starting around 1:34.

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Love it. How big does the sample size get?
 
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#9,665
JES said:
I think this is absolutely key. I was like you--I tried some things and found they didn't really work. I tried other things and loved what it could do. Elektron really messed up advertising a proper looping functionality. But it does other stuff amazingly well. And it might be my favourite digital filter on a piece of hardware. My only complaint about the box is that if I'm away from it for awhile (like right now) it's not quite well-enough labelled for me to remember how to use it the way I want without consulting the manual.

Still, it's the only piece of hardware I know besides a roomful of tape machines that's set up to do tape music really well.
Click to expand...
Could you elaborate on the tape music comment?

Might get my old tascam 4track tape deck fixed....
 
#9,666
Reich is the archetype, but in the 60s and 70s, there were all these scores with "take two tape loops of the same thing, slow one down a little, and let it run" so they go in and out of phase. With the octatrack, I can load up to 8 loops of the same thing (honestly, I've never gotten beyond 4), slow them down or speed them up a little, and get something that does from gentle chorusing to total chaos. You're making me think I should try this with my new setup, except that would require reminding myself of how to set sampling again....
 
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#9,668
JES said:
Reich is the archetype, but in the 60s and 70s, there were all these scores with "take two tape loops of the same thing, slow one down a little, and let it run" so they go in and out of phase. With the octatrack, I can load up to 8 loops of the same thing (honestly, I've never gotten beyond 4), slow them down or speed them up a little, and get something that does from gentle chorusing to total chaos. You're making me think I should try this with my new setup, except that would require reminding myself of how to set sampling again....
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How's Reich the Archetype of tape music when the method basically goes back to the mid 40s??
Henry, Schaeffer ,Cage and Stockhausen all did tape music before the 1965 its gonna rain by Reich...??

I'm a huge Reich fan btw....in no ways is his genius in question. Music for 18 musicians is pure awesomeness.
 
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#9,669
I just meant of the particular technique I was taking about, and not tape music per se. I don’t think he even invented the technique, he is just the guy who gets mentioned the most, at least in my world. Didn’t mean archetype as originator.

I’m reluctant to use the word genius with any composer, but I do like some of his music.
 
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#9,671
Mentioned this in another thread, but I’ll drop it here as a PSA for all y’all with devices running on a variety of power supplies. Anything that isn’t 9c C- gets a strip of red paper tape and two colors of electrical tape. The device and the power cable get the same code and they line up when you orient the business end of the cable with the receiving end of the related device. The colors represent voltage and polarity. I have a key that I keep for that.

CF989CAA-C501-4234-9710-3DAA61ECBC81.jpeg
 
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#9,673
steubig said:
tbh, i make a point of *not* using stuff that doesn’t use the C- 9v paradigm at this point. only exception is the boomerang3, which uses a somewhat smaller jack (and which i find incredibly stupid).
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Same. It’s mostly my hardware synths which run at other values. When I was performing live, it was a hassle to identify wall warts and cables, so I got the idea to color code things for convenience and speed of setting up.

I’ve definitely passed on effects units based on the power requirements. It’s probably one of the main reasons I don’t have a Zen Delay yet.
 
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#9,674
Dunno if any of you guys where looking up to get an Akai MPC live, but they are getting smashed in reviews.
Defective Pads, units that wont turn on.....the list goes on.

Way to sink deeper Akai. You guys sucked already bad enough recently......IMO......
 
#9,675
monsterthompson said:
Same. It’s mostly my hardware synths which run at other values. When I was performing live, it was a hassle to identify wall warts and cables, so I got the idea to color code things for convenience and speed of setting up.

I’ve definitely passed on effects units based on the power requirements. It’s probably one of the main reasons I don’t have a Zen Delay yet.
Click to expand...

I use embossing tape to label all my wall warts as soon as I buy one to mark which piece of gear it belongs with, and I (usually) label the ends of the wall wart cables as well, at least for the stuff that goes on my synth rig which becomes a spaghetti nightmare tangle.
 
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#9,680
ugly_bassplayer said:
Dunno if any of you guys where looking up to get an Akai MPC live, but they are getting smashed in reviews.
Defective Pads, units that wont turn on.....the list goes on.

Way to sink deeper Akai. You guys sucked already bad enough recently......IMO......
Click to expand...
Meaning that new and somewhat pointless MkII version? I've had zero problems with my version 1.
 
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