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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#15,101
ugly_bassplayer said:
But I've been on Live for the past 15 years.
Way too lazy to learn another one and too cheap to get the latest version, I still run Live 8.
Click to expand...

We can hang :::beer:::

I've been using Digital Performer since ...uh (starts counting on fingers) the early/mid 1990s at least; I started on their MIDI-only Performer in 1988. And not only am I too lazy to learn another one (well, almost: I've had to learn my way around ProTools, Logic, and Cubase for work, but I am the furthest thing from a "Power User" on those platforms as one can possibly be)

...but I also got off the Chasing The Latest Version train some time in the early part of this century. Since somewhere around DP5 or 6 -- which I think might've been circa 2006? -- the hardware requirements exceeded my Mac's abilities, so I made a deal with myself: As soon as I was losing work because of a limitation of my DAW, I would buy a new computer and upgrade to the latest version of DP.

Hasn't happened yet. DP is up to version 10 (I think?) and I'm still running version 4.5 on a ~20-year-old G4.
 
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#15,102
Bob_Ross said:
We can hang :::beer:::

I've been using Digital Performer since ...uh (starts counting on fingers) the early/mid 1990s at least; I started on their MIDI-only Performer in 1988. And not only am I too lazy to learn another one (well, almost: I've had to learn my way around ProTools, Logic, and Cubase for work, but I am the furthest thing from a "Power User" on those platforms as one can possibly be)

...but I also got off the Chasing The Latest Version train some time in the early part of this century. Since somewhere around DP5 or 6 -- which I think might've been circa 2006? -- the hardware requirements exceeded my Mac's abilities, so I made a deal with myself: As soon as I was losing work because of a limitation of my DAW, I would buy a new computer and upgrade to the latest version of DP.

Hasn't happened yet. DP is up to version 10 (I think?) and I'm still running version 4.5 on a ~20-year-old G4.
Click to expand...
Still have an old MacBook pro from about 2008 for running my 8 mic input firewire soundcard.

We can hang (fist bump)

I'm competent on Live at best, definitely not a "power user".

@dukeorock
Hate, well ya.....I'm a Québec guy not a Canadian. ;)

All daws have something that peeves me off. Plus I hate chopping samples on something else than my sampler.
In the rare case I do, it's for long samples or ones I need complexe editing.

But, I know my way around one. But ,like you, I don't use it to create.
I feels like using word but with wavs instead.
 
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#15,104
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#15,107
emjazz said:
I'm really wanting that one, but I use modulation so little. He missed the mark on the Siren/Sirens v1 (volume drop/low end loss), but with the changes this should be an amazing sounding pedal. Gonna take a huge hit on my V1 Siren when I sell it for sure!
Click to expand...

I agree on the perceived volume drop with Sirens V. 1 on bass due to the loss in low end. But that's not true for Siren. I've had Siren on my board, since the moment I got it and it's been one of my favourite releases of last year. I talked with Jordan about Sirens V.2 and apparently the circuit's a bit closer to Siren than V. 1. I'm really excited for it.
 
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#15,110
Bob_Ross said:
We can hang :::beer:::

I've been using Digital Performer since ...uh (starts counting on fingers) the early/mid 1990s at least; I started on their MIDI-only Performer in 1988. And not only am I too lazy to learn another one (well, almost: I've had to learn my way around ProTools, Logic, and Cubase for work, but I am the furthest thing from a "Power User" on those platforms as one can possibly be)

...but I also got off the Chasing The Latest Version train some time in the early part of this century. Since somewhere around DP5 or 6 -- which I think might've been circa 2006? -- the hardware requirements exceeded my Mac's abilities, so I made a deal with myself: As soon as I was losing work because of a limitation of my DAW, I would buy a new computer and upgrade to the latest version of DP.

Hasn't happened yet. DP is up to version 10 (I think?) and I'm still running version 4.5 on a ~20-year-old G4.
Click to expand...

yep. i used performer before it became dp as well. probably close to the same time.

i was using it for midi playback of string quartets and symphonic music i was trying to write. (oy)

i was a step up from when i was step entering that kind of stuff into a roland mc-500 sequencer. (double oy)

using live these days, but more as a fancy tape recorder with possibilities to manipulate audio files than anything else.
 
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#15,111
steubig said:
any idea of what the hell is happening there?
Click to expand...

My guess is that the light shining through the fan is related to the pitch, with on/off switch in the unit in his right hand and fan speed switches with the left hand? Is the right hand unit converting the frequency of the light being blocked by the fan blades?

Takehisa Kosugi did stuff with drones using "photocell synthesizers" and fans on Catch Wave - I wrote a little bit about it in this blog post.
 
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#15,112
steubig said:
any idea of what the hell is happening there?
Click to expand...

Just guessing:
There are holes in the fan blade, which I'm assuming are spaced to generate scale intervals, based on the known RPM of the fan. The hand with the mic seems to be triggering an on/off switch to act as a gate. The hand on the fan switches looks to be triggering power, which could cause a portamento with acceleration/deceleration of the blades.
 
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#15,113
hieronymous said:
My guess is that the light shining through the fan is related to the pitch,
Click to expand...

I was typing up my response as you posted yours, so I missed the bit about the photo cells. That makes sense. I couldn't figure out the spacing of the blade holes making a pitch that the mic could pickup without bleed over from the other spaces. A photo receptor make sense, particularly with the light source.
 
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#15,114
dukeorock said:
I’m glad and thank you! I’ve made a couple half hearted attempts at transferring upright slap techniques to electric. It’s tough for sure. Part of it (I think) is the curvature of an upright fingerboard, as well as somewhat high action that gives upright the advantage.
Click to expand...

that's why i was saying analog, cause i know you can't really do it. curved fingerboard, angle of the hand/arm to the strings all play into, i imagine.

for me it was thinking more along the lines of bass notes with a short envelope alternating with percussive string "noise" (for lack of a better term) creating a driving and rhythmically varied part. so i'm trying to wrap my head and fingers around that as a starting place.

make sense (or not)?

dukeorock said:
As for deadening the mids on synthetic upright strings, I may revisit that because gut strings are insanely expensive. There are a bunch of players that make synthetic strings work, but my very favorite players (tone-wise) still use raw gut on at least the D&G.
Click to expand...

from my limited time with gut strings on a rented bass when i was 16 or so, i recall that they grab differently on your fingers? is that right? could also be part of the sound?

dukeorock said:
I think the reason slap upright isn’t very fashionable is that it’s seen as a thing used just for rockabilly and psychobilly music, which are typically pretty goofy and dumb genres with a couple great exceptions. Milt Hinton would be a great example of a legit modern (ish) jazz player who used slap upright in a meaningful way. It’s also used a lot in so called Gypsy music. Vlad Viorel from Taraf de Haidouks is really great. I’ve been thinking of trying more slap upright in a non americana/roots way for a long time now. Just gotta get off my butt and do it!
Click to expand...

indeed. i am more interested in the sonic possibilities than i am about how people are applying it generally. (i mean, a lot of those folks you mentioned are mofos, but not my thing. i checked out some live shack shakers stuff and you are a *machine* with that stuff, in the best possible way.)
 
#15,115
SquareWaveSymph said:
I agree on the perceived volume drop with Sirens V. 1 on bass due to the loss in low end. But that's not true for Siren. I've had Siren on my board, since the moment I got it and it's been one of my favourite releases of last year. I talked with Jordan about Sirens V.2 and apparently the circuit's a bit closer to Siren than V. 1. I'm really excited for it.
Click to expand...
That's all good news to me! I preferred the sound of Siren (has a thicker sound), so if he's implemented a bit of that in Sirens then it's a win for sure!
 
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#15,116
steubig said:
that's why i was saying analog, cause i know you can't really do it. curved fingerboard, angle of the hand/arm to the strings all play into, i imagine.

for me it was thinking more along the lines of bass notes with a short envelope alternating with percussive string "noise" (for lack of a better term) creating a driving and rhythmically varied part. so i'm trying to wrap my head and fingers around that as a starting place.

make sense (or not)?



from my limited time with gut strings on a rented bass when i was 16 or so, i recall that they grab differently on your fingers? is that right? could also be part of the sound?



indeed. i am more interested in the sonic possibilities than i am about how people are applying it generally. (i mean, a lot of those folks you mentioned are mofos, but not my thing. i checked out some live shack shakers stuff and you are a *machine* with that stuff, in the best possible way.)
Click to expand...

Your description on an ebass analog makes perfect sense to me.
I suppose you may be right about the ‘grab’ feel of different string materials. Gut feels softer and lower tension which makes for a cleaner, prettier sound on the higher strings to me.
I can’t describe how fun it was to play with the shackshakers in their prime. It was like being a pro athlete trying to keep up the intensity for 90 minutes. We rarely rehearsed and rarely did set lists. Tons of improvising too. Any of the ‘Billy’ variants can get real dopey real fast, but I’d like to think (especially on the recordings) we brought something new and different to the table...maybe. It was a fun ride and I got to see the world. No regrets :)
 
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#15,118
monsterthompson said:
This is fantastic. I might need to lean how to play this now that it’s summer.
Click to expand...


Love it! Another "why can't I ever think of cool sh** like that?" moment!

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#15,120
lordradish said:
I'm so down the DAW rabbit hole that I forget things like this exist.

Although it woulda been way cooler if you'd said 2" tape.
Click to expand...

I actually tried to go down the tape rabbit hole a while back but it's hard to find decent gear anymore. A lot of stuff you see out there is totally rat f'd and broke down and the prices are pretty high for someone just trying to dip his toe and see if it's fun. In any case I think I have enough on my plate as it is.
 
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