Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[monsterthompson]

I'm really happy with this one I did, last night. One of my practice goals (on synths, you know, those big things that keep me from practicing that bass thing) is to just get better at coherent improv. A lot of the ambient stuff I like walks that line of sounding deliberate yet improvised. Talking to some of its creators, it seems like the creation is often a bit of both. That's what I mean by 'coherent' improv. I don't take a 'throw it at the wall and see what sticks approach', here. I'm a bit more conscious of my sound choices and what comes in and out than I'd traditionally be when improvising.

This one's two Iridium patches, the Wavestate, and the Moog Sub 37 comes in, too. Sorta drony, textural ambient.
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Nice! I'd listen to that.
... In fact, I just did.

 

[lordradish]

Back when the juxtaposition of cheese and bran was genuine, not done out of an artistic sense of irony.

Yeah, they kind of ruined cheese and bran for me. I used to love bran pizza until that song came out.

Jeezus, are we all hitting the bong this afternoon, or is it just me?

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Hey, man, I ain't gonna make it on my looks, so nerdly wit is all I got.

I think we all are pretty much in the same boat here.
Unless one of you guys is secretly a male model?!?!
BLUE STEEL!!!!

 

[lordradish]

100% bran free, but perfect for today.

 

[lordradish]

I love how I completely derailed everything right after I posted some music did last night. My planning sucks. Now it's lost in the ether.

 

[monsterthompson]

Yeah, they kind of ruined cheese and bran for me. I used to love bran pizza until that song came out.

Jeezus, are we all hitting the bong this afternoon, or is it just me?

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

View attachment 4075663

Master station?!?!?



@lordradish
On the playlist already for tonight.

 

[lordradish]

View attachment 4075663

Hey, no politics. Keep the Trump sons out of here.

 

[steubig]

I understood about 3 lines.

apparently i need to practice my english skills mo betta

 

[steubig]

I'm really happy with this one I did, last night. One of my practice goals (on synths, you know, those big things that keep me from practicing that bass thing) is to just get better at coherent improv. A lot of the ambient stuff I like walks that line of sounding deliberate yet improvised. Talking to some of its creators, it seems like the creation is often a bit of both. That's what I mean by 'coherent' improv. I don't take a 'throw it at the wall and see what sticks approach', here. I'm a bit more conscious of my sound choices and what comes in and out than I'd traditionally be when improvising.

This one's two Iridium patches, the Wavestate, and the Moog Sub 37 comes in, too. Sorta drony, textural ambient.
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first, nice track.

second, the "coherent vs. throw stuff at the wall" thing kinda hit me sideways (admittedly, i'm feeling a little raw these days), as i think that shows a misunderstanding of what improvisers are often going for.

i think most improvisors are trying to be "coherent" . . . many consider it as "composition in real time" . . . really, i don't think anyone just "throws stuff at the wall to see if it sticks" live; most of that throwing at walls (or punching walls a la @ugly_bassplayer ) stuff is done in the woodshed.

now . . . whether you like it or understand it is a whole thing altogether. and, to be sure, there are different schools improv—some i love and some i hate.

and if folks are "failing" at being "coherent" (that is, not particularly adept a the improv game), i'll just say that are a lot of crap blues, rock and jazz groups out there.

last, some "coherent improv" (maybe jam bands) strikes me as being banal . . .

as always, imo, ymmv, beauty is in the ear of the behearer, etc.

 

[lordradish]

Y

first, nice track.

second, the "coherent vs. throw stuff at the wall" thing kinda hit me sideways (admittedly, i'm feeling a little raw these days), as i think that shows a misunderstanding of what improvisers are often going for.

i think most improvisors are trying to be "coherent" . . . many consider it as "composition in real time" . . . really, i don't think anyone just "throws stuff at the wall to see if it sticks" live; most of that throwing at walls (or punching walls a la @ugly_bassplayer ) stuff is done in the woodshed.

now . . . whether you like it or understand it is a whole thing altogether. and, to be sure, there are different schools improv—some i love and some i hate.

and if folks are "failing" at being "coherent" (that is, not particularly adept a the improv game), i'll just say that are a lot of crap blues, rock and jazz groups out there.

last, some "coherent improv" (maybe jam bands) strikes me as being banal . . .

as always, imo, ymmv, beauty is in the ear of the behearer, etc.

You know, I wasn't sure about my use of that word, because it's very subjective, and I didn't want to imply some sort of judgment of worth or superiority or snobbery or anything.
I think what I really just meant was music that sounds like, to the unknowing listener, that it could have been composed. It's certainly not a value judgement, more the aesthetic that I shoot for in my electronic music. I'm improvising, but I'm not improvising as impulsively as I would in a jazz or a noise jam. It's a bit more calculated. But then again, I may be full of crap, because music that doesn't adhere to my aesthetic may be just as deliberate in approach as mine.

Others take a different approach, which we can clearly see in the variety of styles and sounds that we all put up here. One isn't better than the other, and when I'm playing jazz or Grateful Dead tunes, I'm a lot looser in my improv. And I love to sometimes make some sweet beautiful noisy chaos, as well, although it's not my main thing.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

first, nice track.

second, the "coherent vs. throw stuff at the wall" thing kinda hit me sideways (admittedly, i'm feeling a little raw these days), as i think that shows a misunderstanding of what improvisers are often going for.

i think most improvisors are trying to be "coherent" . . . many consider it as "composition in real time" . . . really, i don't think anyone just "throws stuff at the wall to see if it sticks" live; most of that throwing at walls (or punching walls a la @ugly_bassplayer ) stuff is done in the woodshed.

now . . . whether you like it or understand it is a whole thing altogether. and, to be sure, there are different schools improv—some i love and some i hate.

and if folks are "failing" at being "coherent" (that is, not particularly adept a the improv game), i'll just say that are a lot of crap blues, rock and jazz groups out there.

last, some "coherent improv" (maybe jam bands) strikes me as being banal . . .

as always, imo, ymmv, beauty is in the ear of the behearer, etc.

Haven't had a wall punching episode in a while.
Maybe the concious effort of steering myself clear of triggers when I create has worked out.

Or this just means I bottled everything up and I'll go postal next time.

 

[lordradish]

Y

You know, I wasn't sure about my use of that word, because it's very subjective, and I didn't want to imply some sort of judgment of worth or superiority or snobbery or anything.
I think what I really just meant was music that sounds like, to the unknowing listener, that it could have been composed. It's certainly not a value judgement, more the aesthetic that I shoot for in my electronic music. I'm improvising, but I'm not improvising as impulsively as I would in a jazz or a noise jam. It's a bit more calculated. But then again, I may be full of crap, because music that doesn't adhere to my aesthetic may be just as deliberate in approach as mine.

Others take a different approach, which we can clearly see in the variety of styles and sounds that we all put up here. One isn't better than the other, and when I'm playing jazz or Grateful Dead tunes, I'm a lot looser in my improv. And I love to sometimes make some sweet beautiful noisy chaos, as well, although it's not my main thing.

I also just remembered... a lot of what you said here mirrors what Steve Coleman said in a clinic I went to, called 'spontaneous composition'.

I do think the 'coherent' thing was a poor choice of words, I apologize if that hit you sideways. Really, any improv that meets the intention of the creator is coherent, even if it may not seem that way to the listener. Perhaps 'ordered' or something of that nature (in relation to my ambient stuff) would have been a better choice of words, because, again, I didn't mean for it to sound like a value judgment about quality or ability, and I could see how it may have come across that way.

A lot of times, I struggle with the right words, as, what makes sense to me comes across as bull****, arrogance or nonsense to someone else.

 

[lordradish]

Haven't had a wall punching episode in a while.
Maybe the concious effort of steering myself clear of triggers when I create has worked out.

Or this just means I bottled everything up and I'll go postal next time.

Your next album is gonna cause a tsunami on the east coast. Call it 'Wallbreaker".

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

first, nice track.

second, the "coherent vs. throw stuff at the wall" thing kinda hit me sideways (admittedly, i'm feeling a little raw these days), as i think that shows a misunderstanding of what improvisers are often going for.

i think most improvisors are trying to be "coherent" . . . many consider it as "composition in real time" . . . really, i don't think anyone just "throws stuff at the wall to see if it sticks" live; most of that throwing at walls (or punching walls a la @ugly_bassplayer ) stuff is done in the woodshed.

now . . . whether you like it or understand it is a whole thing altogether. and, to be sure, there are different schools improv—some i love and some i hate.

and if folks are "failing" at being "coherent" (that is, not particularly adept a the improv game), i'll just say that are a lot of crap blues, rock and jazz groups out there.

last, some "coherent improv" (maybe jam bands) strikes me as being banal . . .

as always, imo, ymmv, beauty is in the ear of the behearer, etc.

Care to inquire about your favorite and least favorite schools of improv?
Or musicians?

For example, I for one can't stand Cecil Taylor.
But can't get enough David S Ware.

Re: intent, improv...etc...
I think we could discuss this ad vitam aeternam.

Sure beats the j vs p TB thread topics though.

 

[lordradish]

Care to inquire about your favorite and least favorite schools of improv?
Or musicians?

For example, I for one can't stand Cecil Taylor.
But can't get enough David S Ware.

Re: intent, improv...etc...
I think we could discuss this ad vitam aeternam.

Sure beats the j vs p TB thread topics though.

I can't think of too many I don't like, as, when I don't, I tend not to listen again or remember. I'd probably put some jazzers in there that I think play absolute garbage, like David Sanborn.

There's a lot that are good, but just don't really speak to me, it's more aesthetics or style that just doesn't resonate with me. Most blues guitarists, even the good ones, at this point, bore the hell out of me, but they're certainly good at what they do, but I simply can't play in a 10 minute blues jam, anymore, no matter how good. A lot of the classic rock guitarists are good improvisers, of course, but again, I'm sorry, I'm just not going to give a rat's patoot about Clapton in 2020, if I ever did, at all.

Jeez, as far as who I like... it's all over the map... David Torn, Coltrane, Zawinul, Hancock, Jerry Garcia, Sonny Rollins, Steve Roach, Steve Coleman, Greg Osby, Bela Fleck, Maceo Parker, Belew, Zappa, Fripp, it's almost pointless for me to try. I think the key thing in all of them is that most of them have something rule-breaking or ground-breaking in their approach.

 

[lordradish]

Care to inquire about your favorite and least favorite schools of improv?
Or musicians?

For example, I for one can't stand Cecil Taylor.
But can't get enough David S Ware.

Re: intent, improv...etc...
I think we could discuss this ad vitam aeternam.

Sure beats the j vs p TB thread topics though.

Aw crap, just after I spent time replying, I realized you were responding to @steubig

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Aw crap, just after I spent time replying, I realized you were responding to @steubig

Hey.
All good with me.
The more the marier.

 

[steubig]

@lordradish

funny thing about sanborn, for the most part i agree, but he studied with julius hemphill, and was instrumental in getting a julius album done (diminutive mysteries) and played on it.

he also hosted night music in the 80s, which was pretty eclectic and forward looking.

his solo starts at around 3:00 (and this is a killer band):

 

[emjazz]

@lordradish

funny think about sanborn, for the most part i agree, but he studied with julius hemphill, and was instrumental in getting a julius album done (diminutive mysteries) and played on it.

he also hosted night music in the 80s, which was pretty eclectic and forward looking.

his solo starts at around 3:00 (and this is a killer band):

Night music is the greatest television show ever made!!!! (..and Twin Peaks...)