bass practice tool - pandora, or something else

[Jari Kurri]

i've moved into a small 2-bedroom apartment after being in a house for several years, so i can't rock out with my svt these days (sniff, sniff). i have a 100w bass combo, but i was wondering what are some practice tools/toys that are out there?

i guess i'm looking for something with a headphone jack, a metronome, song selection playback (a slowdown feature would be nice). i would mostly use it for practice and for learning songs from mp3 files.

i haven't been paying much attention to the latest and greatest toys out there - last i remember hearing, the korg pandora was good for this kind of thing. is it still, or does anyone have any other recommendations?

 

[tmw]

I use the Pandora when I try to work out an original arrangement. The only downside is it is way too dependable. Drummers sometimes lose their place, meter, or volume. This is a set it, forget it type thing, so I try not to get to use to it. But it is very amenable to a good session. Also, by linking various fills, with the different rythms you can essentially build your own song.

I also use a TASCAM CD BTmkII for learning new material (cover tunes) when noise has to be kept at a minimum. I would not say it's as easy to use, as advertised, but the primary functions I use are loop, for difficult passages, and I like to slow CDs down, when I need to really determine what was played and not just wing it.

I tried the pitch function on it about a week ago and that didn't seem to come off the way it was intended. But I must say, if you need to loop through one particular passage a few times, this thing helps immensely.

Alas, the Pandora is a good investment, especially, if you are looking for some different rythms to try pieces out on.

BTW, both have headphone jacks, metronomes, effects and tuners. The Pandora's effect bank has significantly more effects than the CD BTmkII, some are rather nice, the LA Studio one is clean and some of the Cabinet sounds are close if not spot on. The Pandora has a 1/4 inch jack and the CD BTmkII uses the smaller ipod style jack. Alos, both can be patched into your amp for playing and can have auxilary (iPod, Mp3 players) patched into them. They also both have switches for Active and Passive Basses, which helps eliminate the hiss problem when you plug in a Active to some electrical equipment. Only the CD BTmkII has a slowdown feature, it works too, even in Loop mode.

Tony

 

[fenderhutz]

I have so much fun with my Guitarport going through my pc speakers.

 

[manbass]

If you have a PC (what am I saying...youre here right?)...Band-in-a-box for PC. Write some changes using chord symbol menu, adjust the BPM for comfort and dig in. I love it. http://www.pgmusic.com/store.htm
Otherwise the tascam CDBT for sure.

 

[WillPlay4Food]

I also use a TASCAM CD BTmkII for learning new material (cover tunes) when noise has to be kept at a minimum. I would not say it's as easy to use, as advertised, but the primary functions I use are loop, for difficult passages, and I like to slow CDs down, when I need to really determine what was played and not just wing it.

I tried the pitch function on it about a week ago and that didn't seem to come off the way it was intended. But I must say, if you need to loop through one particular passage a few times, this thing helps immensely.

Alas, the Pandora is a good investment, especially, if you are looking for some different rythms to try pieces out on.

BTW, both have headphone jacks, metronomes, effects and tuners. The Pandora's effect bank has significantly more effects than the CD BTmkII, some are rather nice, the LA Studio one is clean and some of the Cabinet sounds are close if not spot on. The Pandora has a 1/4 inch jack and the CD BTmkII uses the smaller ipod style jack. Alos, both can be patched into your amp for playing and can have auxilary (iPod, Mp3 players) patched into them. They also both have switches for Active and Passive Basses, which helps eliminate the hiss problem when you plug in a Active to some electrical equipment. Only the CD BTmkII has a slowdown feature, it works too, even in Loop mode.

Tony

I use the Tascam trainer as well. Mostly I use it for the headphone amp, tuner and metronome functions as it's part of my 'portable practice station' I put together so I can practice at work without bothering anyone.

The speed up / slow down & looping functions are helpful to learn tricky songs & song passages. I've also used the pitch shifter as this will transpose the entire song into different keys or tune the song to your bass.

I guess tuners weren't prevalent in the 60s & early 70s because there are many songs that I have to tweak since they're a bit out of tune and my choices would be to tune my bass to the song, or use the pitch shift to tune the song to my bass. This helps on some of those recordings where everyone is tuned a 1/2 note sharp or flat. The pitch shifting is also a great help if your band transposes the song into a key your singer can sing.

Another suggestion is to check out the Boss MicroBR. You can load the MicroBR directly with MP3 files so you don't have to go through the hassle of burning your stuff to CD in order to use the Tascam trainer. You also get the tuner, metronome, plus added drum beats. You can go with stock drum beats, or piece together your own if you like. Plus it's a recorder, so you could record your practice sessions to listen to later and see if it was as good as you thought it was.

 

[BassChuck]

I have a Pandora and have been very happy with it. Many good features, one that sold me was the auxilary input, so I can play an iPod or anything with a 1/8" jack, into the Pandora.

 

[lowb1970]

I had the Pandora PX3 and took it all over the world with me. The 1/4" inch output doubles as a stereo headphone jack. The 1/8" input is great for external CD players, mini disc, or I-Pods. I use a laptop and can even send that audio into it so I can listen to mp3's right from the computer. That little box comes in so handy in so many ways. I would never use it for live performance, but I liked it so well I upgraded to the PX4 when it came out. This one allows you to record the drums along with your bass in JAM mode. For the money this thing has good sounding effects, a great tuner, good variety of drum patterns, and is reliable as heck.

I also owned the Tascam model and I didn't care for it at all. Just a personal preference I guess, but I can do everything it did on the Pandora for a cheaper price and a lot more ease of use.

 

[lamarjones]

pandora as well, saw michael manring using it all the freakin time while at some 2 day clinic, then heard him do a couple of jams with it, but was floored when I got it and it turned out to be much more.

 

[kynoch]

I have used a pandora for a couple of years now. I run it through a zoom 4 track and then have my lap top plugged into the 4 track that way I have good tone, recording possiblities and mp3 playback....all through my head set.....its simple but I have happy neighbours!!!!

 

[Hawaii Islander]

I use Line6 Guitarport with Rifftracker and Gearbox Gold through my PC with a Tapco Blend6 mixer and a pair of powered KRK Rokit8 studio monitors.

 

[Dr_Funkdamental]

Another Pandora guy. I LOVE this thing! Ive practiced in the airport, desert, everywhere with this. The drum loops are great, as well as the jam feature that can record and play back what you've played. If this went down, I'd have to definitely get another one.

 

[K-Frog]

Pandora here, love it for all the reasons already mentioned.

I had it and the Tascam CDBT-1 at the same time. I sold the Tascam and kept the Korg. No regrets.

 

[Infernal Affair]

I'm pretty torn between the Pandora and the Micro BR for myself. Both seem like exceptional units. The former is great as an actual trainer and practice tool + FX unit, while the latter can also double as a multi-track recorder plus it has a mic. I think either is a great option for you since they both have the features you want in a small package. It's just a matter of reading up on the specs and deciding what aspects you like best about either.

 

[mambo4]

Just posted this to a different thread...no Pandora/MicroBR bells and whistles but I love it:

These days I practice with a Cafe Walter headphone amp (available thru Bass NW) and some Semi-decent headphones. The amp is excellent for helping you hear those minor flaws in your technique that an amp (and a band) will usually cover up. It also helps you hear the sound of your bass uncolored by any amp/speaker considerations. Walter's motto is "this is how you *really* sound"

It also has an aux out and aux in, for tuners and iPods etc. Since I started practicing through it, I have become more conscious of when I make finger squeaks and of plucking too hard...

Can't recommend the thing highly enough. I keep mine strapped to my music stand.

 

[Belgand]

Has anyone tried the Tascam MP-BT1 i.e. the MP3 version? Not sure how long it's been out, but I was flipping through the Musician's Friend catalog the other day and they had one listed with a big "New!" tag. Looks a lot like the old model, but, well, it now works from MP3s instead of CDs. Looks smaller too.

 

[Gintaras]

I love my Pandora but also looking at a Jamman Looper. I take a 1gb compact flash to my lessons. My instructor will put it in his Jamman and record at different times what we are working on. I come home and download it to my pc and ipod. But I miss the foot controls in which he can constantly replay a part. Hope to have one in a week and see how it works out for practicing.

 

[Belgand]

I'm pretty torn between the Pandora and the Micro BR for myself. Both seem like exceptional units. The former is great as an actual trainer and practice tool + FX unit, while the latter can also double as a multi-track recorder plus it has a mic. I think either is a great option for you since they both have the features you want in a small package. It's just a matter of reading up on the specs and deciding what aspects you like best about either.

Looking at the two of them it seems to me that there isn't a lot that the Pandora offers that the Micro BR doesn't. At the same time the BR has four-track recording and stores a lot more than 30 seconds for phrase training. The downside would be that the Pandora is specifically a dual guitar/bass device unlike the BR and it seems to offer more in the way of effects and amp/cab modeling. Likewise the Micro BR doesn't offer the bass cancellation function of the Pandora, but I'm always suspicious about how well those work.

I'd probably have to fiddle with each before making a full decision (it looks like the Pandora might be a bit more flexible in it's rhythms), but honestly are effects and amp modeling really that important in a practice device? I mean, I doubt you're going to be using them when you perform or record so, IMHO, it just seems a bit like masturbatory tone fiddling to me. Of course, unless you're doing direct recording I've never really understood the appeal of amp modeling myself. Sure, maybe if it's on-amp and they can tune it so that it really sounds great, but unless you're doing it direct I'd think your own amp/cab would color it enough to make it kind of pointless.

Then again, I've never used either so what do I know? They both definitely look like great devices if you want a headphone amp with a built-in drum machine with various degrees of phrase training. Finally, I definitely can't really see anything that the Tascam units offer (phrase looping maybe?) that the Micro BR doesn't.

 

[Andrew.Glose]

So, tell me if I'm right:

With the pandora, you can record yourself playing a phrase, then set it to repeat? As in, it has a loop-station type of funtion to it?

Because if that's the case, I'll probably pick one up. I'm in the market for a loop station/headphone amp/practice tool.

 

[ZonGuy]

Don't know anything about Pandora but have used my BT1MKII extensively for transcription and getting the music exactly as played on a CD. The looping function and pitch shift are very handy.

I do a lot of gigs where they send the CD of totally new songs in advance without sheet music. There is only one 2 hr rehearsal for 5 songs before we play before a large audience with orchestra, so I need to be prepared. The MKII has been really useful, especially when they want to switch keys from the recorded verson.

Also use it a lot when on the road. Tony/TMW's earlier comments about the pros/cons are dead-on.

I used band in a box a lot when I was developing my jazz chops and learning music theory. Another excellent tool.

My Matrix metronome, a Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-770, and music notation software (Finale - do not recommend it) complete the tools that I feel I need to be a working musician.

 

[WillPlay4Food]

Has anyone tried the Tascam MP-BT1 i.e. the MP3 version? Not sure how long it's been out, but I was flipping through the Musician's Friend catalog the other day and they had one listed with a big "New!" tag. Looks a lot like the old model, but, well, it now works from MP3s instead of CDs. Looks smaller too.

I want more info on this too. I was thinking about picking one up to replace my Tascam CD trainer, but I've read a few reviews of the guitar version of the mp3 trainer which give it low marks due to freezing / software instability issues.