Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[ugly_bassplayer]

luckily i was doing mostly direct recording of bands on a lot of them.

I always came in alone to track bass once everything was done or tracked with entire bands.

 

[lordradish]

I had one of those 1000 dollar DAT walkmans.

I've only been around 2-inch tape on one session, analog was def. on its way out by the time I was good enough to record anything. ADATS!!!!!

Had a Tascam Portastudio 424. I don't miss it, in the least, although I suspect I could get some $ for it now.

I'll have that tutorial video up, later today. What an ordeal.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I had one of those 1000 dollar DAT walkmans.

I've only been around 2-inch tape on one session, analog was def. on its way out by the time I was good enough to record anything. ADATS!!!!!

Had a Tascam Portastudio 424. I don't miss it, in the least, although I suspect I could get some $ for it now.

I'll have that tutorial video up, later today. What an ordeal.

Tascam casette 4 track prices.
Hipster lo-fi ftw!!!!!
Trends suck.

Cool for the tutorial.

 

[steubig]

arguably, everything’s a trend.

some of us (waves hand) just base our lives one a couple.

 

[monsterthompson]

PSA - In three weeks, on January 28, Danzig will be 66.6 years old. Be prepared.

 

[steubig]

strange but entertaining (?).

 

[steubig]

PSA - In three weeks, on January 28, Danzig will be 66.6 years old. Be prepared.

tmi

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

arguably, everything’s a trend.

some of us (waves hand) just base our lives one a couple.

Agreed. Nothing is truly "unique"

Struggling atm with hours of Lyra tracks trying to avoid said " trends".
I don't want to sound like everything else.....
Paradox/conundrum/inevitability????

 

[lordradish]

Hipster lo-fi ftw!!!!!

Try to get anything not hipster-lo-fi out of it for the lose! Ugh. I don't miss the old days. Spoiled, now.

 

[JES]

I so don't miss punching in. Making composite takes in DAWs or just nudging a note is so much easier and usually sounds better. For recording vocals it's great.

Stop me if I've told this one before.

A few years back the dad rock band was recording at a local studio that recorded to 1" tape. At one point he told us we were "running out of tape." I actually had to explain to the guy who ran the studio that you change the band to rent tape (or sell it to them) which means the studio always has enough tape. Now he charges bands for tape.

In other news, I had dental surgery yesterday (yes, resulting from more ******* side effects) and look like a gopher. Last night I took some of the codeine they prescribed, then had some cannabis oil because that's helped me before with dental pain (YMMV) and WOW I haven't been that high in years. We watched a couple episode of The Silent Sea and I was like OMG THE MOON! I think it's a good show? I guess I wouldn't really know.

Been trying to work today but it's been impossible to focus. I give up and am going to go pick up a package with my new MIDI interface in it. I hate taking opiates.

 

[lordradish]

I so don't miss punching in. Making composite takes in DAWs or just nudging a note is so much easier and usually sounds better. For recording vocals it's great.

Stop me if I've told this one before.

A few years back the dad rock band was recording at a local studio that recorded to 1" tape. At one point he told us we were "running out of tape." I actually had to explain to the guy who ran the studio that you change the band to rent tape (or sell it to them) which means the studio always has enough tape. Now he charges bands for tape.

In other news, I had dental surgery yesterday (yes, resulting from more ******* side effects) and look like a gopher. Last night I took some of the codeine they prescribed, then had some cannabis oil because that's helped me before with dental pain (YMMV) and WOW I haven't been that high in years. We watched a couple episode of The Silent Sea and I was like OMG THE MOON! I think it's a good show? I guess I wouldn't really know.

Been trying to work today but it's been impossible to focus. I give up and am going to go pick up a package with my new MIDI interface in it. I hate taking opiates.

Gotta love that oil! I make a lot of it in various strengths. But my teeth don't hurt.

 

[dukeorock]

strange but entertaining (?).

I kept watching, hoping for some sort of ‘point’ to all that. Never found one
When I’ve built prototype bass cabs in the past, we’d pour salt on the woofers to determine the cabs resonant frequency

 

[steubig]

Agreed. Nothing is truly "unique"

Struggling atm with hours of Lyra tracks trying to avoid said " trends".
I don't want to sound like everything else.....
Paradox/conundrum/inevitability????

not easy . . . and not easy to not repeat yourself (or is my rut my style/voice?)

We watched a couple episode of The Silent Sea and I was like OMG THE MOON! I think it's a good show? I guess I wouldn't really know.

it's kind of cool, but i have a big crush on bae doona, so i was gonna have to watch the whole thing anyway.

I kept watching, hoping for some sort of ‘point’ to all that. Never found one
When I’ve built prototype bass cabs in the past, we’d pour salt on the woofers to determine the cabs resonant frequency

it's more for the visuals than anything, for you it's "been there, done that" . . . .


btw, retro-hipster report: a friend just forwarded me an article that cd sales increased last year. i've been predicting that some day "the kids" were gonna discover that it's a pretty decent medium (way better than streaming or downloads, imho).

 

[dukeorock]

I’ve noticed a lot of “I prefer CD’s. There, I said it!” type posts on social media recently.

I think vinyl sounds ‘better’ in the sense that there’s a much higher/wider Sonic bandwidth and dynamic range possible on a vinyl record than a 16/44.1 CD, but the conditions, hardware and quality of the record itself is way more fussy and critical to even notice. I have plenty of friends who go on snobbish rants about vinyl, then play their ‘superior’ recordings on inferior systems.
My turntable shares the same speakers/power as the TV in the living room. It sounds…ok. Decent bookshelf speakers and a bit underpowered. In my case, good CD’s through my good studio monitors is a much better listening experience.

 

[steubig]

I’ve noticed a lot of “I prefer CD’s. There, I said it!” type posts on social media recently.

I think vinyl sounds ‘better’ in the sense that there’s a much higher/wider Sonic bandwidth and dynamic range possible on a vinyl record than a 16/44.1 CD, but the conditions, hardware and quality of the record itself is way more fussy and critical to even notice. I have plenty of friends who go on snobbish rants about vinyl, then play their ‘superior’ recordings on inferior systems.
My turntable shares the same speakers/power as the TV in the living room. It sounds…ok. Decent bookshelf speakers and a bit underpowered. In my case, good CD’s through my good studio monitors is a much better listening experience.

vinyl has less bass because they have to master it out, right?

less bass and surface noise that obliterates quiet passages are things that let me out and move me toward the evil digital landscape..

and i'd rather spend money on gear to make noise with than a fancy turntable . . . but that's just me.

 

[dukeorock]

vinyl has less bass because they have to master it out, right?

less bass and surface noise that obliterates quiet passages are things that let me out and move me toward the evil digital landscape..

and i'd rather spend money on gear to make noise with than a fancy turntable . . . but that's just me.

Yeah, same here! You can only master so much low end on vinyl or the stylus will bounce. Of course with a seriously high end system, you’ll still get more than enough quality low end, but I don’t see me investing in such a system any time soon. We’ve been listening (mostly) to digital reproductions of sound for nearly 40 years now and it’s improved like crazy, so I think we’re good

I still have the very first CD I ever bought. XTC English Settlement. Had to get it on vinyl because the CD mastering was comically bad. Things improved quickly after that.

 

[lordradish]

I’ve noticed a lot of “I prefer CD’s. There, I said it!” type posts on social media recently.

I think vinyl sounds ‘better’ in the sense that there’s a much higher/wider Sonic bandwidth and dynamic range possible on a vinyl record than a 16/44.1 CD, but the conditions, hardware and quality of the record itself is way more fussy and critical to even notice. I have plenty of friends who go on snobbish rants about vinyl, then play their ‘superior’ recordings on inferior systems.
My turntable shares the same speakers/power as the TV in the living room. It sounds…ok. Decent bookshelf speakers and a bit underpowered. In my case, good CD’s through my good studio monitors is a much better listening experience.

At this point, my favorite medium would be 24-bit lossless files. Sounds great, and easy to deal with. My days of physical media are behind.

 

[lordradish]

Okay, I doubt this is my entry into being a Youtuber (if it is, I have a lot to learn), but here's the tutorial.

I originally said I had fun doing this last night, even though I redid it. Yeah, well after godless-knows-how-many takes I did into the wee hours of the morning, I wanna take that back. I don't know how many times I'd go through the pedal run through, think I nailed it, only to realize I forgot something.

But it did give me a good idea of what I need to do next (namely, write an f-ing script, or at least have more detail in my notes than a grocery list). I also was able to learn a lot about how to use Davinci, which is an amazing video editor. This will come in handy when I want to make videos for my upcoming album releases.

If I do get any positive response to this, I will likely make some more. Don't make me do that. Constructive criticism welcome.

 

[Spectrum]

Interesting discussion about preferred medium. These discussions, like those about preferred bass brand, often descend into a spiral of insecure posts indicating how proud one person is to completely reject this medium or that, prompting an angry response from those who prefer a different one.

My take on it, as an engineer, is that CDs (which are a form of digital) and the less lossy types of digital files are mathematically superior in sound reproduction quality to vinyl records or tapes, but only if they have been properly recorded, mastered, and so on. It's perfectly possible to make a bad digital recording, mass produce it, and play it back "perfectly" each time, imperfections and all.

Well-made tapes and records, properly cared for, not worn out, and played back in decent equipment, however, sound just fine. They'll always have their weaknesses, but they generally sound great, too.

For me it really comes down to personal preference. Going all digital is certainly the easiest in terms of finding physical storage space, maintaining equipment, portability, etc.

Streaming, even more so.

However, I like to own physical copies of music, I like to look at album covers, and I enjoy listening on vintage equipment. As a result, the vast majority of my music collection is on CDs, and I have a few dozen vinyl records, as well as a cool Garard record changer my dad bought 50 years or so ago which is in good working order. I never get tired of watching the mechanical functions on that machine, it's a marvel of 60s coolness to me.

In addition, while visiting my family over Christmas I wandered into an antique shop and wound up expanding into a further medium: shellac records lol. This old record player is over a century old and in great working order. Made in Camden, NJ, it's very cool. I have about a dozen 78rpm records, with a few recognizable old jazz tunes, and I bought a pack of a few hundred needles, so it's all good. Definitely NOT going all digital over here!

(I think I have a problem lol)

 

[lucas303]

I’ve noticed a lot of “I prefer CD’s. There, I said it!” type posts on social media recently.

I think vinyl sounds ‘better’ in the sense that there’s a much higher/wider Sonic bandwidth and dynamic range possible on a vinyl record than a 16/44.1 CD, but the conditions, hardware and quality of the record itself is way more fussy and critical to even notice. I have plenty of friends who go on snobbish rants about vinyl, then play their ‘superior’ recordings on inferior systems.
My turntable shares the same speakers/power as the TV in the living room. It sounds…ok. Decent bookshelf speakers and a bit underpowered. In my case, good CD’s through my good studio monitors is a much better listening experience.

From a purely objective standpoint, CDs are capable of greater fidelity than vinyl. That is just scientific fact. Of course that does not take into account whether the same mastering is used on one or the other (a great mastering on vinyl may very well sound better than a crap or mediocre mastering on CD), the overall listening and tactile experience, etc. For example, the maximum dynamic range of vinyl is around 70 dB while the maximum dynamic range of 16/44.1 CD is about 96 dB.

Note that I'm not trying to argue one is "better" than the other. Just pointing out that CD has greater capability than vinyl in terms of objective fidelity measurements.