Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[steubig]

a bit more about alt bass . . . (if you'll forgive me on this)

to me it's about creating a "sound world" that i can manipulate and explore. because of this i've chosen to do almost all of the bands i do without guitar or keys, as it gives me more latitude to do this.

following is more to illustrate possibilities (not saying it's of high quality).


so i'll do things like play slide bass in a band with chromatic harmonica/alto saxophone/drums/me. not earthshaking, but trying to create a vibe:




or tap an ostinato using alligator clips on the strings to become the percussionist in a band of flutes/clarinets/bassoon/me




or do a solo-ish project with a lot of extended techniques plus some ipad synth/sampler stuff and computer manipulations (first tune is all bass/manipulations)





oh yeah, you can hit the bass and make it be a drum too.

 

[dukeorock]

Next step (lame pun intended) is to get a real Amiga and an Akai S1000.
Go get that street cred from those Chip Tune Nerds!!!
Respect from strangers on the interwebs is primordial.

Did that tune sound chippy? I certainly wasn’t going for that! I have no desire to try to impress that crowd

a bit more about alt bass . . . (if you'll forgive me on this)

to me it's about creating a "sound world" that i can manipulate and explore. because of this i've chosen to do almost all of the bands i do without guitar or keys, as it gives me more latitude to do this.

following is more to illustrate possibilities (not saying it's of high quality).


so i'll do things like play slide bass in a band with chromatic harmonica/alto saxophone/drums/me. not earthshaking, but trying to create a vibe:




or tap an ostinato using alligator clips on the strings to become the percussionist in a band of flutes/clarinets/bassoon/me




or do a solo-ish project with a lot of extended techniques plus some ipad synth/sampler stuff and computer manipulations (first tune is all bass/manipulations)



Man, I loved all of that! Especially the first one (Locustland?). Loved everything about that. I could hear snatches of Beefheart, Material (love Bill Laswell) and slide bass with sax makes me think of Morphene, which ain’t a bad thing. What a great lineup you put together for that. So good!



oh yeah, you can hit the bass and make it be a drum too.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Did that tune sound chippy? I certainly wasn’t going for that! I have no desire to try to impress that crowd

Bad joke lost in text translation
My bad

 

[scott sinner]

These last few posts kind of sum up the challenge I'm looking at. (Challenge as in, something to face and be excited about rather than "oh no, not another learning experience")

I'm a synthesist at heart and in reality, and I want to gradually bring the bass into that same world. Why? I don't know, it's a whim. it's an instrument that speaks to me and I feel like it has potential for less conventional roles.

The trick is:

- finding my own path to making it work
- not something I could have done more easily or better by sticking to synths
- (maybe) still kind of distinctively bass, rather than fading completely into synth territory. This is the one I'm least sure about. The very little bit I've done with heavily processed kalimba doesn't sound like a kalimba; the little bit so far I've done with heavily processed U-bass doesn't sound quite like U-bass.

I'm also finding that learning and exploring bass is having its influence on my synth music. I'm thinking more about the usual role of bass, and of fretless sounds, and of jazz. While I'm not changing things consciously, those thoughts are buzzing through the patch cables and adding their own modulation.

I feel like I am on a similar path. I have my Eurorack and Moogs and I love them for what they are, but the intimacy and nuance I can get with bass is deeper than anything I can get even with the advances in MPE. In part, I recognize that is just a skill thing, I've been playing bass long enough my fluency on every little nuance of string attack, release, etc. is superior. But it is what it is.

So one gear thing that has been helpful is the Boss SY series in that regard. Because it is using a FFT approach rather than MIDI, it can carry through more of the nuance of the playing.

 

[dukeorock]

Bad joke lost in text translation
My bad

Ha! I wouldn’t mind an early Akai sampler if they weren’t so crazy expensive now

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Ha! I wouldn’t mind an early Akai sampler if they weren’t so crazy expensive now

Don’t forget an Amiga tracker!!

 

[monsterthompson]

a bit more about alt bass . . . (if you'll forgive me on this)

to me it's about creating a "sound world" that i can manipulate and explore. because of this i've chosen to do almost all of the bands i do without guitar or keys, as it gives me more latitude to do this.

following is more to illustrate possibilities (not saying it's of high quality).


so i'll do things like play slide bass in a band with chromatic harmonica/alto saxophone/drums/me. not earthshaking, but trying to create a vibe:




or tap an ostinato using alligator clips on the strings to become the percussionist in a band of flutes/clarinets/bassoon/me




or do a solo-ish project with a lot of extended techniques plus some ipad synth/sampler stuff and computer manipulations (first tune is all bass/manipulations)





oh yeah, you can hit the bass and make it be a drum too.

These are fun!

 

[dukeorock]

Don’t forget an Amiga tracker!!

That might be a bridge too far
If I were to get another tracker, it would be the NerdSeq. I wasn’t sure I’d take to the tracker thing after failing miserably with ReNoise. I got the M8 for traveling, but now it also stays on a side table in the living room. Something about that machine clicks with me

 

[Bassiclees]

In an effort to keep my pedalboard simple and sane yet ambient capable, if there was ONE pedal to add to a standard stack (compressor, chorus, octave, reverb, dirt [Aftershock], pre) what would you suggest? Maybe delay maybe a mod.. but just one. Thinking Afterneath but not sure. Trying to fiddle with knobs less.

 

[Spectrum]

In an effort to keep my pedalboard simple and sane yet ambient capable, if there was ONE pedal to add to a standard stack (compressor, chorus, octave, reverb, dirt [Aftershock], pre) what would you suggest? Maybe delay maybe a mod.. but just one. Thinking Afterneath but not sure. Trying to fiddle with knobs less.

Just one pedal? I'd go for a full featured delay.

But I'm kind of obsessed with delays.

 

[Spectrum]

That might be a bridge too far
If I were to get another tracker, it would be the NerdSeq. I wasn’t sure I’d take to the tracker thing after failing miserably with ReNoise. I got the M8 for traveling, but now it also stays on a side table in the living room. Something about that machine clicks with me

Fortunately for my bank account, I have no idea what a "tracker" is, along with a bunch of other stuff you guys discuss here a lot. Sampling and sampling devices are another bunch I know next to nothing about. And then there are things I should know more about but don't feel like taking the time to learn, such as DAWs and how to get the most out of MIDI...

One of the things about doing ambient bass/electronic music is that I am basically stuck inside my house learning all this stuff by myself. There is no instructor or class to help me, none of my musician friends has the slightest interest in what we do here, and plus we've been isolated for two years now. It's tough to motivate myself to read manuals and watch instructional videos, tough to even seek them out sometimes.

I'd like to put together a 2 or 3-member group someday to ease the workload for live stuff (if I EVER play a live show again, will this never end?) as well as to bounce ideas around and just encourage each other to learn new stuff. I just don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

[steubig]

I feel like I am on a similar path. I have my Eurorack and Moogs and I love them for what they are, but the intimacy and nuance I can get with bass is deeper than anything I can get even with the advances in MPE. In part, I recognize that is just a skill thing, I've been playing bass long enough my fluency on every little nuance of string attack, release, etc. is superior. But it is what it is.

totally. the physics of a real string are pretty deep.

i do have some things to help tactile playing on the modular. and then there’s live knob-twiddling. so it helps, but it’s not as advanced: both my approach and the tech.

my next challenge is to figure out integrating the modular and bass.

 

[monsterthompson]

In an effort to keep my pedalboard simple and sane yet ambient capable, if there was ONE pedal to add to a standard stack (compressor, chorus, octave, reverb, dirt [Aftershock], pre) what would you suggest? Maybe delay maybe a mod.. but just one. Thinking Afterneath but not sure. Trying to fiddle with knobs less.

A reverb or delay is going to be the way to go. The questions are budget and space available.

Something like the Empress Reverb is going to be great, with multiple engines, including a few delay + reverb settings. It’s also got the ability to be a modulation pedal and looper. But that comes with some costs.

When The Sun Explodes would be an interesting dirty reverb to consider. Collision Devices makes a delay/reverb/fuzz box that’s nice.

Meris and Strymon have some interesting offerings, but those seem on the complicated side.

 

[steubig]

One of the things about doing ambient bass/electronic music is that I am basically stuck inside my house learning all this stuff by myself. There is no instructor or class to help me,

good thing about the ebass: tabula rasa

bad thing about the ebass: very little tradition (in comparison to centuries for other instruments; we can discuss double vs. ebass, but they’re pretty different).

I'd like to put together a 2 or 3-member group someday to ease the workload for live stuff (if I EVER play a live show again, will this never end?) as well as to bounce ideas around and just encourage each other to learn new stuff. I just don't see that happening anytime soon.

there is no doubt that this helps immensely i’m lucky to live in a larger extended metro area where i can find people.

playing shows? some people are. i’m not quite there for anything indoors yet.

 

[monsterthompson]

In the name of convenience, I ordered a 3D Waves stabs for my OTO effects. It was a tad pricy for “a stand” at $40 (tax and ship incl.) but not wild. I have to say, that I’m probably going to grab one or two more of these for my three-pedal collection.

The material is light. The assembly is simple and smooth. The fit is accurate. It came with rubber feet and an extra screw, and a wonderful drawing on the receipt and colorful packing material. Nice touches.

 

[steubig]

In the name of convenience, I ordered a 3D Waves stabs for my OTO effects. It was a tad pricy for “a stand” at $40 (tax and ship incl.) but not wild. I have to say, that I’m probably going to grab one or two more of these for my three-pedal collection.

The material is light. The assembly is simple and smooth. The fit is accurate. It came with rubber feet and an extra screw, and a wonderful drawing on the receipt and colorful packing material. Nice touches.

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perfect timing, as i’m looking at their three-tier stand for the make noise desktop stuff.

 

[monsterthompson]

perfect timing, as i’m looking at their three-tier stand for the make noise desktop stuff.

It isn't road-ready strength, but it isn't flimsy. If you are looking for a classy way to save some space, then I'd say it is worth a shot.

 

[steubig]

It isn't road-ready strength, but it isn't flimsy. If you are looking for a classy way to save some space, then I'd say it is worth a shot.

saving space is a major concern. and it seems like it would make things a bit easier to see all at once and also make patching into the big system easier.

sold (apparently)

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Since we seem to be on the topic of alternative ways of playing the electric bass.
Here’s one of mine.

 

[monsterthompson]

The front end of tonight’s ambient sound generator. The Miezo is in a Drop-D style tuning (but I’m not sure what the low string is actually tuned to today). The Hilbish preamp pairs nicely with the Miezo and works well with the OTO Machines delay and reverb.