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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#11,941
Okay.

So, heard back from the luthier that the Miezo 18" 6 string is gonna be later... Malaysia is indeed on 2 week shutdown and he can't even go to his shop. No biggie.

I mentioned my plans for this thing... got the PJB Double Four now for the amp, going to power with a laptop charger battery, and going to also build a small ambient board that will also be battery powered.

I'm trying to think of how many pedals I want, and how small I want it to be. It doesn't need to be stereo.I'd rather not have large pedals. It does need to be able to give me some decent sounds that are in the style of what I usually do, lotsa pads, textures and ebow.

Need some advice, here. First off, how many of you have mini pedals? And how many of them are good? Any to definitely avoid?

Here's what I'm thinking, in no particular order... a pristine digital delay, a dirty analog/tape style delay, a verb that can do ambient well, some sort of mods... I often use chorus to thicken, I like rotary, and sometimes a filter. I don't really need flange, bit crushers or any mangle/chaos pedals, but if they were in something that also does what I need, that's fine. Some sort of dirt that's good with ebow. It'd also be nice to have something synthy... I currently use the Enzo and Mel 9 for bases to tweak the hell out of, so something sustainy.

Anyone know of small things that do these well? I don't want the 25 dollar ebay clones-of-Mooers things.
 
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#11,942
HotelX said:
Epidemiologist looks to the past to predict second post-pandemic 'roaring 20s'

But the vision he lays out for 2024 and beyond is one filled with experiences pined for in isolation: packed stadiums, crowded nightclubs and flourishing arts.

“In 2024, all of those [pandemic trends] will be reversed,” he said. “People will relentlessly seek out social interactions.” That could include “sexual licentiousness”, liberal spending, and a “reverse of religiosity”.​
Click to expand...
Wow, yet another thing to feel hopeful about, this week! Checks all three of my boxes.
 
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#11,943
lordradish said:
Funny thing about all of this as I read it, remembering saying, in my early 20's, how I couldn't wait to just live in a van and live on Chef Boyardi and just go on tour. I turn 50 in April, and my godless, that sounds like hell to me now. But I still wouldn't go back and tell 21 year old me to not do it. I would like to show 21 year old me my current gear, now, as he most certainly would think it was just the acid.
Click to expand...

not into the chef, but i’ll do the van or driving tour in heartbeat if the music is right or the places are cool. i’ll be 65 in july, so i’m in yolosymawfiu mode a bit.
 
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#11,944
lordradish said:
At this point, with my weird synth stuff, I almost feel like I'll have to go to Europe if I expect to play in front of anyone.
Click to expand...

I imagine the Philadelphia scene will come back. At least I hope so; my usual habit is to travel to Philly a few times a year to see a good electronic show and I'm missing that big time. Even here in the DC scene I know many of us are anticipating a comeback.
 
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#11,945
steubig said:
pre-pandemic, i think there were all sorts of small venues/series and little festivals that you could probably have done. east coast is a little easier than the west coast due to the driving distance between towns. san diego to l.a. to san francisco to sacramento is easy, but then portland to seattle is a bit more difficult. at least from what i can tell.

afaik, europe used to be easier, but money is tighter now . . . and of course pandemic action is probably making things harder.

low budget travel is gonna make any of it easier.

a semi-tangential thought: lots of venues closing down out here (and i think out east as well) . . . but i do think that when things get safe, there will be a sort of flowering. hoping for the best . . .
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I'm also hoping for a flowering my friend...for all of us.
 
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#11,946
HotelX said:
Epidemiologist looks to the past to predict second post-pandemic 'roaring 20s'

But the vision he lays out for 2024 and beyond is one filled with experiences pined for in isolation: packed stadiums, crowded nightclubs and flourishing arts.

“In 2024, all of those [pandemic trends] will be reversed,” he said. “People will relentlessly seek out social interactions.” That could include “sexual licentiousness”, liberal spending, and a “reverse of religiosity”.​
Click to expand...

Hoping for all of this....and being single ain't gonna be bad for it all either...lol.
 
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#11,949
I'm sitting here with my Erica system patched with the pink noise module going to an LFO-modulated filter and VCA, into a ping pong delay. I'm passing that through my Adam A7X monitors. I've spent the price of a used BMW so I can play static in the highest fidelity. Either I'm becoming an artist, or I've outlived my usefulness.
 
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#11,950
Haven't been following NAMM too much, work has been INSANE and two of my closest buddies are on the verge of divorce...but did just catch wind of Poly Effects (makers of Digit / Beebo) made a eurorack version of Beebo...



AND...they merged Digit & Beebo as just Beebo in a new firmware update...and by the looks of it...we've now got a looper!!!



@lordradish perhaps something like a Beebo or a ZOIA would be right for that travel ambient kit?

...and back to NAMM, the other thing I was looking out for was a new drop from Red Panda and they delivered!!! Bitmap v2, which looks to me to be what will kick the ottobit off my board.
 
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#11,955
lordradish said:
Funny thing about all of this as I read it, remembering saying, in my early 20's, how I couldn't wait to just live in a van and live on Chef Boyardi and just go on tour. I turn 50 in April, and my godless, that sounds like hell to me now. But I still wouldn't go back and tell 21 year old me to not do it. I would like to show 21 year old me my current gear, now, as he most certainly would think it was just the acid.
Click to expand...
I’m definitely going to do the van thing again once my kids are older and more independent.
If the gig and the people are cool, count me in.

The van breaking down and a flat tire on the trailer at 4 am......that I could easily live without.
 
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#11,957
lordradish said:
how many of you have mini pedals? And how many of them are good?
Click to expand...

Well, if 1.5" wide x 3.63" deep (Hammond 1590-size?) enclosures count as "mini" I have three: MXR Phase 95, tc electronic Flashback Mini, and Bananana Matryoshka. I find them all eminently useful...although if I were planning a compact rig for "pads, textures, and ebow" I'd consider strapping the phase shifter and delay to the bottom of the pedalboard and just leaving them always on.

(Note, none of those can be battery-powered, in case that's a concern.)


ugly_bassplayer said:
The van breaking down and a flat tire on the trailer at 4 am......that I could easily live without.
Click to expand...

Heh-heh... I have a vivid memory of the return leg of a 1995 midwest tour where the van ran out of gas at 10:00PM in the middle of the New York State Thruway, somewhere in the boondocks between Rochester and Syracuse. Bless him, our guitarist walked the ~5 miles to the nearest exit, and we were back on the road by 2:30AM! Good times

...not.
 
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#11,958
Bob_Ross said:
Well, if 1.5" wide x 3.63" deep (Hammond 1590-size?) enclosures count as "mini" I have three: MXR Phase 95, tc electronic Flashback Mini, and Bananana Matryoshka. I find them all eminently useful...although if I were planning a compact rig for "pads, textures, and ebow" I'd consider strapping the phase shifter and delay to the bottom of the pedalboard and just leaving them always on.

(Note, none of those can be battery-powered, in case that's a concern.)




Heh-heh... I have a vivid memory of the return leg of a 1995 midwest tour where the van ran out of gas at 10:00PM in the middle of the New York State Thruway, somewhere in the boondocks between Rochester and Syracuse. Bless him, our guitarist walked the ~5 miles to the nearest exit, and we were back on the road by 2:30AM! Good times

...not.
Click to expand...
Us, flat tire on trailer at 4am. Cops made us pull over and drop the trailer full of gear in a parking lot.
We had to walk 5km to the place we crashed since the van had to stay with the trailer.
Rental company forgot to give us a spare tire, so we had to call another guy to replace the tire on a Sunday and then fight to get a refund from the rental idiots.

That one sucked big time.
 
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#11,959
I am definitely past the age of "I like hanging out in bars," but I can't wait to perform and see live music again. One reason my wife and I have formed a duo is we travel a lot for work, so it would be nice to be able to gig while we're in another town for other reasons.

I am hopeful for the Montreal scene, but I think it's going to be a case of some longtime venues folding and then others springing up. I'd rather that not be the case, but that's just my guess from what I hear. Ditto for studios.
 
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#11,960
JES said:
I am definitely past the age of "I like hanging out in bars," but I can't wait to perform and see live music again. One reason my wife and I have formed a duo is we travel a lot for work, so it would be nice to be able to gig while we're in another town for other reasons.

I am hopeful for the Montreal scene, but I think it's going to be a case of some longtime venues folding and then others springing up. I'd rather that not be the case, but that's just my guess from what I hear. Ditto for studios.
Click to expand...
You think MTL is bad, come over here to QC It’s dead as dead can be.
I may.......may.....have a surprise for the end of the February though.
:)
 
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