Erica System is starting to come together. I’ve gotten a few interesting sounds. I might have something shareable soon.
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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread
- Thread starter ttasselm
- Start date
I’m plenty aware of that. I was a weird kid that watched the news and read time magazine at age 9.
running back over a few things:
i need to revisit dillinger escape plan. when i first heard them (mostly live clips), i got nothing from them.
the fourth option besides having money, marrying into money or writing grants is just being a poor nomad. pretty sure i know of some pretty famous jazz guys who made no money, but lived on the road or at the their gf's place when they were in town (or in "a town"). of course, some folks are really good *and* get incredibly lucky.
imo, for most of history, musicians have never made a lot of dough unless they had a patron, either rich folks/"nobility" or the church. (it's instructive to think about people who were really famous in their day who died penniless.) if you were a traveling troubadour, you'd probably travel from town to town, play some pub, hopefully get some food and shelter out of the bargain, maybe some money. maybe some company to keep you warm at night.
i need to revisit dillinger escape plan. when i first heard them (mostly live clips), i got nothing from them.
the fourth option besides having money, marrying into money or writing grants is just being a poor nomad. pretty sure i know of some pretty famous jazz guys who made no money, but lived on the road or at the their gf's place when they were in town (or in "a town"). of course, some folks are really good *and* get incredibly lucky.
imo, for most of history, musicians have never made a lot of dough unless they had a patron, either rich folks/"nobility" or the church. (it's instructive to think about people who were really famous in their day who died penniless.) if you were a traveling troubadour, you'd probably travel from town to town, play some pub, hopefully get some food and shelter out of the bargain, maybe some money. maybe some company to keep you warm at night.
DEP can be a lot... I suggest if you don’t like them much start with one of us is the killer album... there’s such a variety of songs in there that something should let it be the gateway to further exploring them if you don’t like their mostly noise style.
Agreed (with you and Bob) and I am a few pages behind so might have been hit on. I was mostly talking about the analysis and writing off. Ya know the type “pshhh....my 4 year old can do that, this isn’t worthy of my time” - that kind of analysis.
art evokes emotion and curiosity, that’s what makes it art imo.
I am very interested in the how and repeatability, for sure...but I love the happenstance of improvisation too. I guess I struggle w the deliberateness of what’s happening...mostly from a repeatability standpoint for performance, but I know that some of the best music I have written and/or performed came from just putting my fingers down and letting it flow through me.
cool discussion (as usual)
FMeron I was unable to bond with. I felt the expression pedal wasn’t all that expressive and traded a bunch of emails w Taylor before ultimately selling it. I sell very few pedals, that was one. Maybe someday I’ll try it again but probably not.
Life has definitely been harder than usual...not harder than ever, I went through some real rough times in my 20s trying to come to terms w what life choices I wanted to make (ie, chase the music dream or put my talents towards a Corp gig so that I could enjoy music as an escape and passion and earn a living to support a family in a nice area)...but when it comes to the < what’s the point > thinking, as a father of 2 kids...THATs the point. For me, as soon as my oldest was born my life was not for me anymore...it is for them. This will pass, the end is actually even in sight (although far from soon enough) and I consider myself super blessed to have a job w growth during this pandemic and kids who are still able to be a kid. Just keep going, its gonna get easier (but might get a bit harder first).
Emotionally, it has been challenging though. I sold my car in May and largely haven’t left the house in 9 months aside from critical errands. As a very social person who used to see multiple concerts every month this has been a BIG change for me. I haven’t fully cowered into a corner, but I have traded much human contact for grown up toys (pedals and gear) to keep me busy and allow for creative release.
at the end of the day, in my home...we take one day at a time and the mission is to keep everyone in a solid mood.
Got the Zoia sequencing the Erica. Tomorrow I’ll patch up some cables so I can run the Erica into the Zoia effects and then we’ll be in business. Man, I already see another big rack of modular stuff in my future. This might be as expensive as having a girlfriend, but at least it’ll keep me from having both.
New picking exercise - Took a copy of Stick Control (for the snare drummer) and started working the L/R hand exercises as up/down strokes for the picking hand. Trying to build some consistency in my up/down pick sound, and string crossing. Those paradiddles aren’t ambient, but they sure help with coordination.
paradiddles. cool idea. i remember trying to do that with drum strokes a long time ago.
you're doing down-up-down-down | up-down-up-up?
string crossing is a daily challenge for me!
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Indeed it is for me also.
Keeping a consistent dynamic range is also right up there.
Someone please go kick my 18 yo self for being an idiot snob that didn't want to play with a pick.
Stupid kid......
I think it all comes down to what you need. In the 36 years I've been playing, I've just never seen a need/desire to play with a pick, even though I have, numerous times. Even though some of my favorite bassists are pickers (Squire, Lesh), I don't like the way it sounds when I play with a pick (not meaning I have bad pick technique - I just like the sound of fingers better). Stylistically, most of the kinds of music I play on bass sounds better with fingers, too. I can see how it would be great for hard/heavy rock, which I never really have the occasion to play.
Since I got that free MIM J bass that I never play, I've thought about doing the foam and flats thing to get an old Motown sound - I'd use a pick then.
My point isn't to bash picking, rather to assess whether or not you need it before feeling bad about it.
true. if you don’t like it, don’t use it.
i always abhorred pick playing as a youngster, but i made myself a decent pick player.
imo, there are sounds that only a pick can do (along with a myriad of other singular sounds). sometimes it’s the sound that people want when you play with them; sometimes it’s the sound that i need/hear in my head.
at one point i did a lot of experimenting with different pick widths (i even hot-glued picks together to get more meat in the sound). it’s weird, but not all picks sound the same.
fwiw, the pick with muted flats is probably more carol kaye (joe osborne too?) than james jamerson and the rest of the motown crew.
I often play with a pick because it's fun, not because I really need to. Most picked songs can be played with fingers, I've found. There are a few, like Sober by Tool, that you really need a pick for. At least I do.
I played fingers only for over 25 years.
The pick opened up a whole new way of playing for me. Many techniques I would have never thought possible.
Me playing pick vs fingers is REALLY different. I basically use whatever sounds best. Still need lots of woodshed on pick, I'm basically 25 years behind compared to finger style.
I only regret not starting earlier.
Best 0.75$ ever.
Re motown sound:
Foam with pick....carole kaye
Foam with fingers ....Jameson.
Always with a bit of tube overdrive, key secret sauce.
I've played through the shadows of motown book....twice.
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