Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[steubig]

Thanks. This basically eliminates the Iridium for me. I want something reliable. So that’s down to two options. I read that Hydra has a couple bugs if you put it in mono mode and MPE at the same time. But I could just not do that...

i hate to do that, cause it’s a brilliant synth.

it’s been pretty damned reliable in my studio environment. and it’s also plug and play via usb with the linnstrument, whereas the hydra had to use a midi din cable.

@lordradish might have used it live, so he may have a different experience.

dunno if the mono/mpe thing has been addressed in any firmware updates or not.

 

[lordradish]

Thanks for the Iridium updates @steubig and @lordradish . Are both of you happy with the hardware quality and reliability? Is it fun to program? There is lots of complaining about bugs on the Gearspace thread but that could just a few people and the general negative vibe of that place.

I have had zero problems with mine. I always wonder how prevalent the QC really is, because there are complaints on GS and FB but one doesn't really know how many that is out of all of em.

I have a blast doing sound design on this thing. I kinda suck at sound design, because I like really complex sounds and don't really have the know-how. I mentioned this before, but my previous synth was a Virus TI2, and I hardly designed anything worthwhile on that. For some reason, the touchscreen really clicked with me in visualising sd, and I've made some amazing stuff on this, so far. It's definitely my favorite synth, one that I'll keep a long time.

 

[lordradish]

@lordradish might have used it live, so he may have a different experience.

I have, many times. No problems.

 

[lordradish]

Thanks. This basically eliminates the Iridium for me.

I wouldn't count it out! I have heard they've addressed the screen issue, and I have put in well over 20 or so hours jamming live with my du, and this thing has held up without a problem. Obviously want to put it in a good case when transporting, as you would with anything with knobs and a screen, but this is a pretty amazing synth.

 

[steubig]

it’s a dicey situation.

i really like the iridium. there have been issues with some users. i was aware of those when i bought a refurbished unit, which i had to get fixed out of the box. but it’s great. the hydra is also good and cheaper.

or you could get both at some point.

or an argon or cobalt or peak…

 

[Bob_Ross]

Gearspace ... the general negative vibe of that place.

Ah-ha, so it's not just me.

 

[lordradish]

Ah-ha, so it's not just me.

Aw, man, you shoulda seen the unhinged whining when they changed the name. I drank the salty tears of dudebros.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Aw, man, you shoulda seen the unhinged whining when they changed the name. I drank the salty tears of dudebros.

Yeah, I saw a lot of that. In some ways that was just a symptom of a shift I'd been noticing for years: I've been a member of GearSlutz since '05 (I think?) and when I joined the number of amateurs and hobbyists seemed fairly low; it was a pretty cool place to hang and share info and ideas with other working professional engineers. But it seems like in the last 5 or 6 years the proportion of inexperienced folks exploded exponentially, and a lot of the pros got tired of answering the same questions over and over again, so their contributions dwindled, which just created a vacuum for more inexperienced folks to show up... and then the bickering really started.

I gotta say, I'm fairly impressed with how TalkBass manages to remain -- eh, maybe not necessarily civil, but at least mostly-not-completely-puerile -- when confronted by that same propensity (a propensity which seems to plague every internet forum eventually).

I now only go to GearSlutz (I hate the new name) for the lulz, it stopped being a source of information over a decade ago. At least here I learn some cool stuff occasionally.

 

[lordradish]

Yeah, I saw a lot of that. In some ways that was just a symptom of a shift I'd been noticing for years: I've been a member of GearSlutz since '05 (I think?) and when I joined the number of amateurs and hobbyists seemed fairly low; it was a pretty cool place to hang and share info and ideas with other working professional engineers. But it seems like in the last 5 or 6 years the proportion of inexperienced folks exploded exponentially, and a lot of the pros got tired of answering the same questions over and over again, so their contributions dwindled, which just created a vacuum for more inexperienced folks to show up... and then the bickering really started.

I gotta say, I'm fairly impressed with how TalkBass manages to remain -- eh, maybe not necessarily civil, but at least mostly-not-completely-puerile -- when confronted by that same propensity (a propensity which seems to plague every internet forum eventually).

I now only go to GearSlutz (I hate the new name) for the lulz, it stopped being a source of information over a decade ago. At least here I learn some cool stuff occasionally.

To me, that BS over the name change mirrors what you see in a lot of online communities... a lot of straight white dudes who have been running the show forever, and really resent the rise of 'other' in their communities, whether it be POC, LGBTQ+ or women. It's easy to say "I don't see what's offensive about... " when your entire identity is contingent on 'not seeing.'
Women musicians have it rough. Just look at the comments section of any female performance video and half of them are about their looks.

There's generally still some good info in gear-specific threads, but the whiny tit-for-tat is cumbersome.

 

[JES]

It's easy to say "I don't see what's offensive about... " when your entire identity is contingent on 'not seeing.'
Women musicians have it rough. Just look at the comments section of any female performance video and half of them are about their looks.

This x1000. Not that I like the new name but I'll take it. Modwiggler I actually like as a mashup of the history of the name and the thing it's about.

 

[JES]

revisiting this

Forgot to mention: I had and sold a Morphagene. it's really cool, but I found the pitch knob more or less unusable if you wanted to, say, return to original pitch after messing around. Way too finicky for me.

 

[monsterthompson]

Forgot to mention: I had a sold a Morphagene. it's really cool, but I found the pitch knob more or less unusable if you wanted to, say, return to original pitch after messing around. Way too finicky for me.

Feedback appreciated.

 

[JES]

Iridium is back in the running but I will mess with it somewhere before buying.

I also realized that since I now cut the thumb off my right glove, I could theoretically use an iPad and adjust things. Will try it out in practice this week or next and see if it's practical. Zeeon for my "mono synth," Spacecraft for granular, and assorted poly sounds and "prepared" electric pianos.

 

[steubig]

I gotta say, I'm fairly impressed with how TalkBass manages to remain -- eh, maybe not necessarily civil, but at least mostly-not-completely-puerile -- when confronted by that same propensity (a propensity which seems to plague every internet forum eventually).

I now only go to GearSlutz (I hate the new name) for the lulz, it stopped being a source of information over a decade ago. At least here I learn some cool stuff occasionally.

you're much kinder about the bulk of tb than i am. i'm consistently astounded how closed-minded people can be. gearspace is an okay (not great) name, probably needed to keep the initials. my fave thing about it is that some pages still have the old name on them (at least on my phone).

imo, the wheat to chaff ratio is about the same for both—about 5%/95%. but i could say much the same about fb and most of what's on the internet at large. i tend to be pretty intentional about my uses of gs and tb.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

you're much kinder about the bulk of tb than i am. i'm consistently astounded how closed-minded people can be. gearspace is an okay (not great) name, probably needed to keep the initials. my fave thing about it is that some pages still have the old name on them (at least on my phone).

imo, the wheat to chaff ratio is about the same for both—about 5%/95%. but i could say much the same about fb and most of what's on the internet at large. i tend to be pretty intentional about my uses of gs and tb.

Closed minded.....
EUPHÉMISME!!!

(Sits back in the gutter with my weirdo buddies)

 

[Bob_Ross]

you're much kinder about the bulk of tb than i am. i'm consistently astounded how closed-minded people can be. ...[snip]...
imo, the wheat to chaff ratio is about the same for both—about 5%/95%.

Seems about right. The difference for me is, I almost never bother wading into a discussion that's already grown to half a dozen pages...which means there's an awful lot of TB that I skip over. GS members seem to have a far slower response time to a new thread, so it's more likely for me to wander into a new thread and see things that are already turning to crap.

The other difference -- bearing in mind the ^^^above, that I rarely read and almost never participate in threads that are up to ~10 pages within half a day of forming -- is that I feel like you're more likely to encounter a "This is how I do it" reply in TB, whereas in GS that same reply will be framed as "This is how you should do it."

 

[JES]

I suspect the ratio is even lower than 5/95. But I don’t expect the majority of this website or social media to be “for” me or people like me. We have our little niche and that’s fine. Which is why you find this quote

I almost never bother wading into a discussion that's already grown to half a dozen pages...

on p833 of this thread.

One other thing: the old old posts on GS are sometimes a fountain of knowledge. And there are still some very smart people both here (I will read anything agedhorse says about amps) and on other boards where you can learn things not available elsewhere. If they disappeared tomorrow we would lose something valuable.

 

[Spectrum]

Yeah, I saw a lot of that. In some ways that was just a symptom of a shift I'd been noticing for years: I've been a member of GearSlutz since '05 (I think?) and when I joined the number of amateurs and hobbyists seemed fairly low; it was a pretty cool place to hang and share info and ideas with other working professional engineers. But it seems like in the last 5 or 6 years the proportion of inexperienced folks exploded exponentially, and a lot of the pros got tired of answering the same questions over and over again, so their contributions dwindled, which just created a vacuum for more inexperienced folks to show up... and then the bickering really started.

I'm firmly in the hobbyist/non-pro camp.

But as for people asking the same questions over and over again, that doesn't bother me. It's not like I expected to read every thread every day anyway, I subscribe to only a small number of threads and will click on something on the front page if it looks interesting once in a while.

I gotta say, I'm fairly impressed with how TalkBass manages to remain -- eh, maybe not necessarily civil, but at least mostly-not-completely-puerile -- when confronted by that same propensity (a propensity which seems to plague every internet forum eventually).

One good way to do that is banning religion and politics. Despite some people's best efforts to get around it it works for the most part to keep the flame wars from starting.

 

[dukeorock]

One good way to do that is banning religion and politics. Despite some people's best efforts to get around it it works for the most part to keep the flame wars from starting.

Discussing politics on this site is (or was) strictly forbidden, thank goodness. Especially on this site where people will fight to the death about tort

Covid made the lines a bit blurrier because it’s been a world wide phenomenon that affects everyone, regardless of political bias. It’s does open the door to taking a political angle on the subject, which makes the mods jobs even tougher and never ends well

 

[Spectrum]

Discussing politics on this site is (or was) strictly forbidden, thank goodness. Especially on this site where people will fight to the death about tort

Covid made the lines a bit blurrier because it’s been a world wide phenomenon that affects everyone, regardless of political bias. It’s does open the door to taking a political angle on the subject, which makes the mods jobs even tougher and never ends well

Some of the other forums I used to hang out at did not get control of things and over the last few years turned really toxic. Sometimes I miss the way the internet was in the cowboy days of the 90s before it became so integrated into everyone's life. Though I miss the sounds of the old phone modems, I don't think I miss the awful data rates lol.