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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

^^^this. fwiw that's the point that to my mind separates the brilliant serialists of the 20th Century from the 12-tone hacks, dabblers, and second-rate composers. Folks like Milton Babbitt, Roger Sessions, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Luciano Berio, and (late-period) Igor Stravinsky understood that the row was a tool towards an end, not the end itself...something that a vast number of post-Schoenberg disciples and academics failed to recognize.

Regardless of whatever mechanism, device, process, idea, blah-blah-blah serves as the kernel of your musical idea, that kernel is not the music. And if the auditory experience of your music doesn't sound "of a part" no amount of pointing to its origins will overcome that failure to communicate.
I feel an exact correlation with beat makers and DJ/turntabalism.
They all chop samples off records or played instruments and all have a secret sauce or methodology. Samplers being the main "instruments". (A commonality)

But there is a huge difference between the genius of the Bomb Squad , Dilla, DJ Premier and all the pathetic soundcloud lo fi "beat makers".

The genius creates something new by piecing together an infinite complex puzzle.
You can hear the pure emotion and self expression.

The hacks just chop copy and paste.

(The what...feel, mood authentique expression of ones self.)

@Bob_Ross free to edit this as you want to make this babbling make sense.
:)
 
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Haven’t checked this thread for a while and just followed the last few pages...
I’m not into most of the jazz / pretty much everything mentioned :) but a bit of noise and a lot of prog / metal / some times extreme metal...

I have to concur on there are some bands that do minor things that draw you in and make you repeatedly want to listen to analyse... few I love and can think of are slipknots “big band” sound of combining rock (bass, guitars drums, singer) with extra percussion, turn tables and samples... that just have some moments where your hearing so many things you want to go back and re analyses again...
spiral architect... the band not the song. These guys are just insane with making every song “power metal chaos”... it’s like everything has a wishy washy structure that just never plays the same riff / sung vocal more than a few times.

and of course Dillinger escape plan... to some it’s just noise... but to me it’s trying to find patterns on patterns... they are so tight and chaotic and use silence and abrasive sounding chords and time signature changes and just everything... it’s intentional chaos that makes you re listen and find the patterns... (and are the most insane band I have ever seen and I’ve seen a few... playing this song very tight live whilst crowd surfing on an upside down table into the crowd is just a sight to behold)






 
Haven’t checked this thread for a while and just followed the last few pages...
I’m not into most of the jazz / pretty much everything mentioned :) but a bit of noise and a lot of prog / metal / some times extreme metal...

I have to concur on there are some bands that do minor things that draw you in and make you repeatedly want to listen to analyse... few I love and can think of are slipknots “big band” sound of combining rock (bass, guitars drums, singer) with extra percussion, turn tables and samples... that just have some moments where your hearing so many things you want to go back and re analyses again...
spiral architect... the band not the song. These guys are just insane with making every song “power metal chaos”... it’s like everything has a wishy washy structure that just never plays the same riff / sung vocal more than a few times.

and of course Dillinger escape plan... to some it’s just noise... but to me it’s trying to find patterns on patterns... they are so tight and chaotic and use silence and abrasive sounding chords and time signature changes and just everything... it’s intentional chaos that makes you re listen and find the patterns... (and are the most insane band I have ever seen and I’ve seen a few... playing this song very tight live whilst crowd surfing on an upside down table into the crowd is just a sight to behold)







Saw The Dillinger Escape Plan live (I’m a huge fan).
Truly insane, you have to experience it cuz words will fall short.
I basically went ape shizz crazy the entire show in the pit. The caveman brain took over, I was instantly 16 yo.
Even cracked a rib. 100% worth it.The pure energy was almost palpable in the air.
I had to « live » that show, not just « hear » it.

Ok, you can call me nuts now.
 
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Saw The Dillinger Escape Plan live (I’m a huge fan).
Truly insane, you have to experience it cuz words will fall short.
I basically went ape shizz crazy the entire show in the pit. The caveman brain took over, I was instantly 16 yo.
Even cracked a rib. 100% worth it.The pure energy was almost palpable in the air.
I had to « live » that show, not just « hear » it.

Ok, you can call me nuts now.

yeah the other bands pits seen tame in comparison... Dillinger is just next level anarchy

crazy they are good musician too in that they can write almost pop songs like “one of us is the killer”... and also do like rock band style almost EDM straight dance... and then pure mathcore crazy what the heck is this :)
 
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yeah the other bands pits seen tame in comparison... Dillinger is just next level anarchy
Calculating infinity and Miss Machine completely knocked me out cold to the ground when I heard those records.
What the ^%^&^ is going on!!!!! I want more!!!!!
But I was never into the math core thing, I just listened and enjoyed. DEP made good songs period regardless of complexity.
Thats the main difference between the DEP and all the imitators.
DEP made music, the others applied complexity for sake of being complicated thus making them sooooooo boring.

Side note: if you dig the DEP, check out the band Botch. The Bass player Brian Cook is very cool and now plays in Sumac (very good trio, heavy and very original)
 
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Calculating infinity and Miss Machine completely knocked me out cold to the ground when I heard those records.
What the ^%^&^ is going on!!!!! I want more!!!!!
But I was never into the math core thing, I just listened and enjoyed. DEP made good songs period regardless of complexity.
Thats the main difference between the DEP and all the imitators.
DEP made music, the others applied complexity for sake of being complicated thus making them sooooooo boring.

Side note: if you dig the DEP, check out the band Botch,
Thanks will do... just saw Had Bryan cook in it, anything with him is awesome!

and agreed can listen to it but not a fan of stuff that does complexity for sake of it... probably why I like my current playlist of melodic metal core with synths running behind it etc... they can mix ambient with silence and good riffs / singing and make stuff work not just make it seem like they are using electronic stuff to try and fit in...
 
@steubig
Since you are an iron ether enthousiast, I would like to ask you how do you use/like the Fmeron?

I'm listening to some clips and the tones coming out that thing are simply awesome.
Just wanted some hands on real deal opinions.

Also was considering tuning a bass ADGC, I know you have some instruments with a low A.
How does the low end translate in your rig? Hard to have a tight defined low end?

Thank you
 
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I'm not steubig but I am a huge fan of the FMeron. I think one of the Feedback Friday (or maybe it was in this thread?) pieces I posted earlier this year demonstrates what I like best about that pedal, but in short: it gives me almost everything that I like about ring modulators, with the addition of all the envelope shaping coolness of a synth pedal.
Lemme see if I can dig that example up, stand by...
 
I'm not steubig but I am a huge fan of the FMeron. I think one of the Feedback Friday (or maybe it was in this thread?) pieces I posted earlier this year demonstrates what I like best about that pedal, but in short: it gives me almost everything that I like about ring modulators, with the addition of all the envelope shaping coolness of a synth pedal.
Lemme see if I can dig that example up, stand by...
Dang, you're awesome.
We can hang.
;)
 
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@steubig
Since you are an iron ether enthousiast, I would like to ask you how do you use/like the Fmeron?

I'm listening to some clips and the tones coming out that thing are simply awesome.
Just wanted some hands on real deal opinions.

Thank you

i’ve been using fewer pedals of late (i go through phases like that), so this is sort of from memory and having heard my usage of it on some recordings.

i general, i didn’t find it very good at giving *me* tracking across the whole range of the instrument. in that way, it’s a bit like a ring mod in that it has sweet spots that are really usable (at least for my ear).

with an expression pedal it does some really great things, but probably more noisy than “synthy”(?).

the caveat in all this is that i don’t probably go in as deep on pedals as some of you guys; i tend to gravitate to a sound or sounds that i like and figure how to use them in a project/context.
 
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btw, I think the FMeron figured fairly heavily in these pieces also:

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Sadly, my FMeron -- along with 85% of my other pedals -- has been locked away in my downtown studio since the pandemic lockdown, so I haven't been using it at all lately. :(

Awesome, that second track in particular.
 
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btw, I think the FMeron figured fairly heavily in these pieces also:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Sadly, my FMeron -- along with 85% of my other pedals -- has been locked away in my downtown studio since the pandemic lockdown, so I haven't been using it at all lately. :(

that is seriously a drag. not worth going to get them i suppose.

listening to this makes me want to have have bob ross/steubig playing hanging if there's ever safe travel and gigging in the future.