Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[Spectrum]

I used to go to a local jazz jam and there was this older cat who killed on trombone. Super cool when you can pull it off.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I actually did, for a bit. I could play "Well You Needn't", "Blue Monk" and "Dialogue Parts 1 and 2" (by Chicago). Had fun with it and then just figured I'd rather be getting better at bass. It does take a great ear, though.

How about Joy Spring on trombone??

 

[lordradish]

No, but I did play that melody on bass a long time ago, as hard as it is for me to believe.

 

[Spectrum]

So I recorded this. The long pads in the intro and outro are from the Volca FM with my own homemade patch. The initial alarm sound is bass through an Ephemeron, the faster alarm sounds are from Moog Mother 32, and the crazy sequence in the middle is the Microbrute. The spacy sounds over the sequence are bass > Matryoshka > Leviathan filter pedal > DD7 Delay with an expression pedal to control the filter.

Reading that it sounds complicated but it's not, really. I can play this live but for the recording I did some multitracking so I could handle each track separately and waste less time manipulating controls.

 

[lordradish]

So I recorded this. The long pads in the intro and outro are from the Volca FM with my own homemade patch. The initial alarm sound is bass through an Ephemeron, the faster alarm sounds are from Moog Mother 32, and the crazy sequence in the middle is the Microbrute. The spacy sounds over the sequence are bass > Matryoshka > Leviathan filter pedal > DD7 Delay with an expression pedal to control the filter.

Reading that it sounds complicated but it's not, really. I can play this live but for the recording I did some multitracking so I could handle each track separately and waste less time manipulating controls.

I like the spacy, mellow ending.

 

[cosmicevan]

they are discontinued. i think they were under three different manufacturers?

anywho, probably not cheap at this point.

i think david torn uses two(?). there’s a guy in l.a. named andre lafosse who is a real master at using it.

You'd be surprised. I had a pair of repeaters that I eventually sold and I had a really hard time selling them for what they should have been worth. It's a real niche market at this point I think, I wouldn't be surprised if you could get one at a steal...not as cheap as a Ditto but def cheaper than what they once were.

 

[JES]

Working title is Nov 4th. It was during the day so had to do it in the computer (we live in a loft). I may do more or just leave it.

Dropbox - 4November.mp3 - Simplify your life

 

[steubig]

You'd be surprised. I had a pair of repeaters that I eventually sold and I had a really hard time selling them for what they should have been worth. It's a real niche market at this point I think, I wouldn't be surprised if you could get one at a steal...not as cheap as a Ditto but def cheaper than what they once were.

i believe that about the repeaters. i was always interested in those, though they had an odd form factor.

fwiw, i just checked out prices on the edp: $600–800.

not og ehx 16sec prices, but still up there.

 

[Spectrum]

I like the spacy, mellow ending.

That's the patch I made on the Volca FM. I now know how to program it in terms of the procedure, but I am a long way from intuitively knowing how to choose parameters to get the exact sound I want. An analog monosynth, by comparison, is so easy once you learn it, but an FM DX7 style synth has lots of parameters that are interdependent. So for now I kind of experiment until I get a cool sound, mark it down, and find another. That mellow pad patch is my favorite so far. The Volca FM is the only polyphonic (just barely so) synth I have so it needs to fill that role as a chord and pad machine.

A friend of mine got his hands on an actual Yamaha DX7 a couple of years ago and it's a beautiful machine. Unlike the Volca which is only 3-note polyphonic, the Yamaha is real polyphonic. Would love to try programming one someday with the patches I'm building on the Volca.

 

[steubig]

imo, the dx and tx stuff was a bear to program due to the tinyass window and the extensive menu diving.

if you have an ipad (or even an iphone), there are some decent fm synths to be had.

 

[steubig]

this shiz is old (2003), but the cd is out of print and it’s finally on bandcamp—so i’m bothering you!

little facts: a lot of the dj-ish sounds are me or the guitarist (not the guy doing beat plates and recordings) hard panning will get one or the other, the vocalist is doing electronics as well and is middle-ish; it says we recorded it at newzone studios, but i’m pretty sure we recorded it as live improv at the hollywood knitting factory against their rules (they wanted you to pay for the privilege—ha!).

 

[lordradish]

That's the patch I made on the Volca FM. I now know how to program it in terms of the procedure, but I am a long way from intuitively knowing how to choose parameters to get the exact sound I want. An analog monosynth, by comparison, is so easy once you learn it, but an FM DX7 style synth has lots of parameters that are interdependent. So for now I kind of experiment until I get a cool sound, mark it down, and find another. That mellow pad patch is my favorite so far. The Volca FM is the only polyphonic (just barely so) synth I have so it needs to fill that role as a chord and pad machine.

A friend of mine got his hands on an actual Yamaha DX7 a couple of years ago and it's a beautiful machine. Unlike the Volca which is only 3-note polyphonic, the Yamaha is real polyphonic. Would love to try programming one someday with the patches I'm building on the Volca.

You likely know this, but it was said at the time that only 3 or 4 people actually knew how to program a DX7, and one of 'em was Eno.

I have a hard time wrapping my brain around FM. Even in the Iridium, where the visual interface has helped me in leaps and bounds with sound design, I still find it difficult.

 

[Spectrum]

imo, the dx and tx stuff was a bear to program due to the tinyass window and the extensive menu diving.

if you have an ipad (or even an iphone), there are some decent fm synths to be had.

You likely know this, but it was said at the time that only 3 or 4 people actually knew how to program a DX7, and one of 'em was Eno.

I have a hard time wrapping my brain around FM. Even in the Iridium, where the visual interface has helped me in leaps and bounds with sound design, I still find it difficult.

I have a MIDI interface with my computer's USB port and some dude was kind enough to make a web-based console so you can adjust all the parameters on one page without scrolling through the tiny window.

But you're right: even with all the parameters right in front of you it's hard to figure. Each parameter does something specific for each oscillator (or operator or whatever they're called n FM), attack or decay for example, which is easy enough to understand, but when you combine them all together with the different algorithms it's difficult to visualize how they're going to interact. If Eno can actually do this, hat's off to him. He must've had lots of spare time. Somebody knows, though, because all those preset patches didn't write themselves and while many of them aren't useful to me they do exactly what their writer wanted them to do.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I have a MIDI interface with my computer's USB port and some dude was kind enough to make a web-based console so you can adjust all the parameters on one page without scrolling through the tiny window.

But you're right: even with all the parameters right in front of you it's hard to figure. Each parameter does something specific for each oscillator (or operator or whatever they're called n FM), attack or decay for example, which is easy enough to understand, but when you combine them all together with the different algorithms it's difficult to visualize how they're going to interact. If Eno can actually do this, hat's off to him. He must've had lots of spare time. Somebody knows, though, because all those preset patches didn't write themselves and while many of them aren't useful to me they do exactly what their writer wanted them to do.

Imo having just one person on the planet able to program your synth isn't a good thing.

Kind of makes me think of classical elitists.
"That 10 year old can bow scales like Heifetz. "
Like only the "chosen few" can express themselves musically.
Ya, cool, don't care.

Major props if Eno had 27 hours a day to learn this method of Synthesis but.....really.....
I don't care at all.

He does dope music, that's more than enough for me.

My 2 grumpy cents.

 

[monsterthompson]

CAUTION - ELECTION THEMED
I hesitate to post this, as I really would like to avoid the pitfalls of political discussion on TB.

That said, the Hipster Modular guy I’ve been collaborating with came up with an interesting data driven Ableton project, based on a

Working title is Nov 4th. It was during the day so had to do it in the computer (we live in a loft). I may do more or just leave it.

Dropbox - 4November.mp3 - Simplify your life

Nice!

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

CAUTION - ELECTION THEMED
I hesitate to post this, as I really would like to avoid the pitfalls of political discussion on TB.

That said, the Hipster Modular guy I’ve been collaborating with came up with an interesting data driven Ableton project, based on a


Nice!

I'm I missing something here??!
Link?
Typo?

 

[monsterthompson]

I'm I missing something here??!
Link?
Typo?

Yikes. I had a post I was going to do but deleted it. It got stored in the browser draft. I can't delete the old text now.

 

[monsterthompson]

I'm I missing something here??!
Link?
Typo?

Okay. Found the old link.
Since I opened the can of worms, I’ll post it, but let’s keep the politics talk out of this.

This is ONLY about the data driven approach to the composition using data from current events. A similar composition was done using COVID data.

My friend did this, based on a suggestion from me. He explains the methodology for sound generation in the video. He’s been doing updates as the votes have been counted, creating new music each time. This is the initial plan for the project. It pans left and right, so have a stereo source.



Here is the YT playlist of updates.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Fail.

Spent 2 hours recording synths with various Eq settings and fx pedals.
Closely listening to textures and variations

Recording out was all pre eq, preamp and fader. I took the wrong output cables from the mixer.

Idiot. The are colored EXACTLY SO THIS SHIZZ DOESN'T HAPPEN.
double fail.

2h hours down the drain. To the garbage the files go.

 

[monsterthompson]

Fail.

Spent 2 hours recording synths with various Eq settings and fx pedals.
Closely listening to textures and variations

Recording out was all pre eq, preamp and fader. I took the wrong output cables from the mixer.

Idiot. The are colored EXACTLY SO THIS SHIZZ DOESN'T HAPPEN.
double fail.

2h hours down the drain. To the garbage the files go.

dang