Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[ugly_bassplayer]

Yeah, while I found it engaging and inspiring, it too left me wanting to hear how the Loupé handles longer loops...and especially, it made me realize that without knowing what the original seed material was, everything it's doing is a bit out-of-context.

A couple years ago I saw a demo video for one of the Chase Bliss loopers, I forget whether it was MOOD or Blooper, where the demonstrator took an almost remedial approach: "Here's a very simple easily-identifiable chunk of audio (dry) being fed into the looper...now I've sampled it. Now I've [insert litany of manipulations/modifications] ...etc. etc." It made it ridiculously easy to understand what the pedal was doing, what it was capable of, and how it was processing the audio. I found that incredibly handy; would like to see something more along those lines for this Loupé.

Full disclosure: I only listened to the first ~5-10 minutes of that demo video, perhaps it got more analytical and less glitchy later in the demo?

I’m still waiting for you to post clips of the MOOD\Blooper combo!!!!!

(Have fun in the woods while it lasts btw.)

 

[steubig]

Yeah, while I found it engaging and inspiring, it too left me wanting to hear how the Loupé handles longer loops...and especially, it made me realize that without knowing what the original seed material was, everything it's doing is a bit out-of-context.

A couple years ago I saw a demo video for one of the Chase Bliss loopers, I forget whether it was MOOD or Blooper, where the demonstrator took an almost remedial approach: "Here's a very simple easily-identifiable chunk of audio (dry) being fed into the looper...now I've sampled it. Now I've [insert litany of manipulations/modifications] ...etc. etc." It made it ridiculously easy to understand what the pedal was doing, what it was capable of, and how it was processing the audio. I found that incredibly handy; would like to see something more along those lines for this Loupé.

Full disclosure: I only listened to the first ~5-10 minutes of that demo video, perhaps it got more analytical and less glitchy later in the demo?

totally. my guess is that he’s trying to hit the more extreme edp user (or want to have edp-er) in this first go-around.
the announcement vid has more standard loop-manipulation stuff going on. the linger vid is live capture and manipulation of a steady audio stream, which i found interesting.

i’m interested to see what andre’s demo of it will be.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

totally. my guess is that he’s trying to hit the more extreme edp user (or want to have edp-er) in this first go-around.
the announcement vid has more standard loop-manipulation stuff going on. the linger vid is live capture and manipulation of a steady audio stream, which i found interesting.

i’m interested to see what andre’s demo of it will be.

Yep, that manipulation of Miles Davis tune running in the back clocked with the midi of a volca was.....ok.....
Sort of a modern twist of what a turntablist does??
Could be cool with a live band with a member dedicated to sound manipulation, samples, loops.....etc.....
Definitely sparks some ideas on my end.
(A band recently approached me to do exactly that btw....)

 

[steubig]

Yep, that manipulation of Miles Davis tune running in the back clocked with the midi of a volca was.....ok.....
Sort of a modern twist of what a turntablist does??
Could be cool with a live band with a member dedicated to sound manipulation, samples, loops.....etc.....
Definitely sparks some ideas on my end.
(A band recently approached me to do exactly that btw....)

if you’re interested in people doing live manipulation of live acoustic instruments (in this case, improv), i highly recommend evan parker’s electroacoustic ensemble (assuming you don’t already know them).

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

if you’re interested in people doing live manipulation of live acoustic instruments (in this case, improv), i highly recommend evan parker’s electroacoustic ensemble (assuming you don’t already know them).

Yep, I think the one I liked the most was 11th hour. Definitely some crazy stuff on those.
It’s on ECM I believe?
Also really like Matthew Shipp stuff with electronics. His collab with Anti Pop Consortium is awesome, really blew me away when I first heard that, also DJ Spooky’s old stuff.

 

[monsterthompson]

Andrew Huang goes to space... or does he?

Fact check: Did Canadian musician and YouTuber Andrew Huang go to space?

 

[JES]

Well, I’m glad we cleared that up. The real question on my mind: if he was going to space, is that why he bought my Synth Tech E560 Deflector Shield last month?

 

[monsterthompson]

Updating my FX send. I added the Germ for some EQ shaping and grit before the delay and reverb pedals that follow if.

 

[Feral Feline]

Hmmm...


Define "space" — are we talking about the gaps between my teeth, or the gap between my butt-cheeks?

One has more space than the other.

 

[SquareWaveSymph]

Updating my FX send. I added the Germ for some EQ shaping and grit before the delay and reverb pedals that follow if.
View attachment 4216583

Germ Warfare's so f-ing good. I prefer the Rad Sickness, though. It's just a little more aggressive and gives me more 'clank'.

 

[lordradish]

Some updates. Just what you need, right?

Some of you mighta remembered a possible brain tumor incident a few months ago and the hearing loss. To quote Schwarzenegger, IT'S NOT A TUMOR. So y'all are stuck with me and my non-noisy ambient ramblings. Yay? Right? Anyone?

Also, the hearing loss (the painful frequencies) is likely misophonia, but it's not constant, it seems to come and go. When I'd originally mentioned it, it had been going on for 3 weeks. It then subsided for a month, still comes back every now and then. Definitely have some frequency loss, no doubt, but I think this is manageable, and I'm working on retraining my ears, too.

The Miezo is just waiting on the pickup... he's done one coat of finish. The contrast between the darker and lighter wood is actually more pronounced than this, but you can't see it, because of the angle.

Also, have the new board all nice and tidy, as opposed to the two boards with a cluster-f of a billion cables between them, although I still have a few to replace, with less bulkiness:

But there's clearly a problem, as there are two more mono slots on the bypass looper, as well as room for more pedals on the board. Just added the C4. I initially wasn't super impressed, it certainly handles all the bass synth sounds quite well, but it's not like I really use those in my soundscapes. However, after a few nights of using some pads and sequences and then processing the hell out of them, I've been able to get some pretty amazing textures out of it. I initially thought I wouldn't need to keep the Enzo out of redundancy, but last night I went back and forth between the two and really noticed the different character, even when heavily processed. So between those two and the Mel 9, I have some pretty amazing tone generators, now. In the last three days, I've probably put in close to 10 hours of playing, something I haven't done in quite some time, as I'm just really inspired by both the neater layout and the new options.

ADVISE ME, WISE PEEPS.

So, what to fill those spaces with? Gonna put an expression pedal next to the volume pedal, and send that to the H9. All of the delays are on one stereo channel on the looper. The Merc 7 is on the last slot. I'm finding that even if I'm using the verbs on the H9 (with Blackhole on there, how can I not?), I still put the Merc 7 on, on an almost dry patch because I swear, that pedal is just as useful as a stereo widener. When I put it on, it just sounds so much clearer and spacious. I'm open to adding another stereo verb if I can find one that gets me excited - I can do quite a bit with the Merc 7.

I'm getting second thoughts about the MD-500, in terms of how often I use it, and the real estate it takes up. I think there's so much tapping to get through presets that I don't use it nearly as much as I could. But what I'm really thinking is, 99 percent of the time I use it, I'm using one of the Dimension choruses as a thickener, or I use the rotary for my jazzish tone for the soloing on the 6-er, kinda have that Charlie Hunter/Scofield/Abercrombie vibe going. I'm not super into the phasers on this thing, I never use flange. Ever. So I'm wondering if there's a better mod pedal with stereo but less choices and menu diving (ideally, NO menu diving). Anyone used this?


But I really want to fill those two mono slots with more tone generation. It's frustrating, I see a lot of ridiculously expensive noise/glitch stuff out there (sorry, not spending 500 bucks on a pedal that essentially farts), but stuff that's more timbrally different seems to be harder to find. I'm really interested in this one, but I can't seem to find much out about it...


Finding a Cooper FX Outward V2 is more elusive than finding a cure for COVID, at this point. I'm just not gonna rush it, I guess.

 

[monsterthompson]

Germ Warfare's so f-ing good. I prefer the Rad Sickness, though. It's just a little more aggressive and gives me more 'clank'.

The Germ in the FX Send seems to be good for adding a bit more presence and grit for the delay and reverb to latch onto. I'm not going for distortion here. A bit of gain and treble with mid boost and even the bass cut. It's a tad hissy. I'm going after the comp so I could push it harder if I wanted to.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Some updates. Just what you need, right?

Some of you mighta remembered a possible brain tumor incident a few months ago and the hearing loss. To quote Schwarzenegger, IT'S NOT A TUMOR. So y'all are stuck with me and my non-noisy ambient ramblings. Yay? Right? Anyone?

Also, the hearing loss (the painful frequencies) is likely misophonia, but it's not constant, it seems to come and go. When I'd originally mentioned it, it had been going on for 3 weeks. It then subsided for a month, still comes back every now and then. Definitely have some frequency loss, no doubt, but I think this is manageable, and I'm working on retraining my ears, too.

The Miezo is just waiting on the pickup... he's done one coat of finish. The contrast between the darker and lighter wood is actually more pronounced than this, but you can't see it, because of the angle.
View attachment 4216812

Also, have the new board all nice and tidy, as opposed to the two boards with a cluster-f of a billion cables between them, although I still have a few to replace, with less bulkiness:
View attachment 4216816

But there's clearly a problem, as there are two more mono slots on the bypass looper, as well as room for more pedals on the board. Just added the C4. I initially wasn't super impressed, it certainly handles all the bass synth sounds quite well, but it's not like I really use those in my soundscapes. However, after a few nights of using some pads and sequences and then processing the hell out of them, I've been able to get some pretty amazing textures out of it. I initially thought I wouldn't need to keep the Enzo out of redundancy, but last night I went back and forth between the two and really noticed the different character, even when heavily processed. So between those two and the Mel 9, I have some pretty amazing tone generators, now. In the last three days, I've probably put in close to 10 hours of playing, something I haven't done in quite some time, as I'm just really inspired by both the neater layout and the new options.

ADVISE ME, WISE PEEPS.

So, what to fill those spaces with? Gonna put an expression pedal next to the volume pedal, and send that to the H9. All of the delays are on one stereo channel on the looper. The Merc 7 is on the last slot. I'm finding that even if I'm using the verbs on the H9 (with Blackhole on there, how can I not?), I still put the Merc 7 on, on an almost dry patch because I swear, that pedal is just as useful as a stereo widener. When I put it on, it just sounds so much clearer and spacious. I'm open to adding another stereo verb if I can find one that gets me excited - I can do quite a bit with the Merc 7.

I'm getting second thoughts about the MD-500, in terms of how often I use it, and the real estate it takes up. I think there's so much tapping to get through presets that I don't use it nearly as much as I could. But what I'm really thinking is, 99 percent of the time I use it, I'm using one of the Dimension choruses as a thickener, or I use the rotary for my jazzish tone for the soloing on the 6-er, kinda have that Charlie Hunter/Scofield/Abercrombie vibe going. I'm not super into the phasers on this thing, I never use flange. Ever. So I'm wondering if there's a better mod pedal with stereo but less choices and menu diving (ideally, NO menu diving). Anyone used this?


But I really want to fill those two mono slots with more tone generation. It's frustrating, I see a lot of ridiculously expensive noise/glitch stuff out there (sorry, not spending 500 bucks on a pedal that essentially farts), but stuff that's more timbrally different seems to be harder to find. I'm really interested in this one, but I can't seem to find much out about it...


Finding a Cooper FX Outward V2 is more elusive than finding a cure for COVID, at this point. I'm just not gonna rush it, I guess.

Not a tumor!!!!!!!
Yaaaaaaa.
(Arnold accent)

 

[monsterthompson]

@lordradish - that's so much awesome!
my bass is not far behind yours in the build

 

[lordradish]

Not a tumor!!!!!!!
Yaaaaaaa.
(Arnold accent)

Ya know, being a marginally old person, I seriously wondered how many people would get that.

 

[lordradish]

@lordradish - that's so much awesome!
my bass is not far behind yours in the build

Thanks, mine's gonna hopefully be here by the end of April. Still working on building the mini-board for it. So far, I have:
Ditto Looper
Nux Konsequent Digi Delay
EBS Bass Octave (whatever the newest one is)
Some cheap mini fuzz pedal
Got a Mooer A7 ambient verb pedal coming.

Still need to get a mini volume pedal, an analog/strange delay (maybe the Mooer D7), and some sort of mod pedal. I had a Mooer Soul Shiver, which sounded like absolute crap and got sent back. Supposedly the latest Mooers are much better than their initial line, so I'll see when that A7 gets here, this weekend. Wanna get a mini tone generator, too, but options are severely limited, in that realm.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Ya know, being a marginally old person, I seriously wondered how many people would get that.

You're not old.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Some updates. Just what you need, right?

Some of you mighta remembered a possible brain tumor incident a few months ago and the hearing loss. To quote Schwarzenegger, IT'S NOT A TUMOR. So y'all are stuck with me and my non-noisy ambient ramblings. Yay? Right? Anyone?

Also, the hearing loss (the painful frequencies) is likely misophonia, but it's not constant, it seems to come and go. When I'd originally mentioned it, it had been going on for 3 weeks. It then subsided for a month, still comes back every now and then. Definitely have some frequency loss, no doubt, but I think this is manageable, and I'm working on retraining my ears, too.

The Miezo is just waiting on the pickup... he's done one coat of finish. The contrast between the darker and lighter wood is actually more pronounced than this, but you can't see it, because of the angle.
View attachment 4216812

Also, have the new board all nice and tidy, as opposed to the two boards with a cluster-f of a billion cables between them, although I still have a few to replace, with less bulkiness:
View attachment 4216816

But there's clearly a problem, as there are two more mono slots on the bypass looper, as well as room for more pedals on the board. Just added the C4. I initially wasn't super impressed, it certainly handles all the bass synth sounds quite well, but it's not like I really use those in my soundscapes. However, after a few nights of using some pads and sequences and then processing the hell out of them, I've been able to get some pretty amazing textures out of it. I initially thought I wouldn't need to keep the Enzo out of redundancy, but last night I went back and forth between the two and really noticed the different character, even when heavily processed. So between those two and the Mel 9, I have some pretty amazing tone generators, now. In the last three days, I've probably put in close to 10 hours of playing, something I haven't done in quite some time, as I'm just really inspired by both the neater layout and the new options.

ADVISE ME, WISE PEEPS.

So, what to fill those spaces with? Gonna put an expression pedal next to the volume pedal, and send that to the H9. All of the delays are on one stereo channel on the looper. The Merc 7 is on the last slot. I'm finding that even if I'm using the verbs on the H9 (with Blackhole on there, how can I not?), I still put the Merc 7 on, on an almost dry patch because I swear, that pedal is just as useful as a stereo widener. When I put it on, it just sounds so much clearer and spacious. I'm open to adding another stereo verb if I can find one that gets me excited - I can do quite a bit with the Merc 7.

I'm getting second thoughts about the MD-500, in terms of how often I use it, and the real estate it takes up. I think there's so much tapping to get through presets that I don't use it nearly as much as I could. But what I'm really thinking is, 99 percent of the time I use it, I'm using one of the Dimension choruses as a thickener, or I use the rotary for my jazzish tone for the soloing on the 6-er, kinda have that Charlie Hunter/Scofield/Abercrombie vibe going. I'm not super into the phasers on this thing, I never use flange. Ever. So I'm wondering if there's a better mod pedal with stereo but less choices and menu diving (ideally, NO menu diving). Anyone used this?


But I really want to fill those two mono slots with more tone generation. It's frustrating, I see a lot of ridiculously expensive noise/glitch stuff out there (sorry, not spending 500 bucks on a pedal that essentially farts), but stuff that's more timbrally different seems to be harder to find. I'm really interested in this one, but I can't seem to find much out about it...


Finding a Cooper FX Outward V2 is more elusive than finding a cure for COVID, at this point. I'm just not gonna rush it, I guess.

Ok, to make sure I get this right, you want modulation in a smaller footprint, more tone generators (such has the MEL9, Meris Enzo and C4) and maybe another stereo reverb???
Is this right?

Whatcha want for the mono channels?? Other than the Outward.....

Ohhh, and more farts and glitched out crap righ??

 

[lordradish]

Ok, to make sure I get this right, you want modulation in a smaller footprint, more tone generators (such has the MEL9, Meris Enzo and C4) and maybe another stereo reverb???
Is this right?

Whatcha want for the mono channels?? Other than the Outward.....

Ohhh, and more farts and glitched out crap righ??

Yes, I don't know, and definitely NO.

 

[steubig]

@lordradish

no tumor is excellent news.

now i have to look up the other thing.


re the md-500: one thing i like to do with it is composite patches of trem and chorus, etc. also, using the control or assign functions, you can use the tap switch to bump sounds in for just a moment. you can use the same menus to morph between two sounds using an exp pedal.

that being said, there’s always the md-200 if you like the basic sound and architecture, but need fewer options in a smaller footprint.

i’m not a huge fan of their stuff, but eqd has a stereo flanger that might be useful for some of this.