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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 4
- Thread starter smperry
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Thanks for posting those.
I'd really like to walk through those charts.
Unfortunately, I don't read standard notation.
If you ever tab those, please post again.
As I understand it, there are more than one tablature system. I cannot read them as music myself, but I have some undestanding of the principles.
Could you please give me a link to a site explaining your preferred system?
I work in Finale and maybe it has a way to handle this. Anyway tablature will take a tough proofing effort.
Klaus
Bad news fellas. I took the ubass to a rehearsal this afternoon and used it on 2 songs. Fantastic tone with the new strings, but they are kids sticky. Hard to slide and play faster. But ultra high output and very balanced tone. That out of tune chorus harmonic phenomenon was not really transmitted through the amp like it is acoustically. It was a very high volume environment and the guitar solo actually put it on the edge of feedback a few times. It was interesting playing that loud. I would have to think about the gain and setup if I were ever to double the ubass on that kind of gig.
At home I opened it up to try it out with some coconut oil or something to reduce stickiness. I wanted to do something without playing around with white powder. Well, the G string was hanging loose and the little brass grommet was clanking around in my bass. It had apparently slipped out. I didn't have time to fix it.
So I couldn't use it on the gig tonight. Upright and fretless stingray it was. I forgot how great the upright sounds in that room.
Always carry a backup that can be implemented immediately in case of a malfunction. The stock strings have the perfect texture for me. They are totally non-stick. It would be nice to combine that with the stability and tension on these Silver Rumblers. I hope to fix the string this week and use it on next week's gig.
At home I opened it up to try it out with some coconut oil or something to reduce stickiness. I wanted to do something without playing around with white powder. Well, the G string was hanging loose and the little brass grommet was clanking around in my bass. It had apparently slipped out. I didn't have time to fix it.
So I couldn't use it on the gig tonight. Upright and fretless stingray it was. I forgot how great the upright sounds in that room.
Always carry a backup that can be implemented immediately in case of a malfunction. The stock strings have the perfect texture for me. They are totally non-stick. It would be nice to combine that with the stability and tension on these Silver Rumblers. I hope to fix the string this week and use it on next week's gig.
Unfortunately, I don't read standard notation.
Weak sauce, but I can relate.
I can't sight-read to save my life, but i will slowly and painfully hack through standard notation if it's something I really want to play.
I use Guitar Pro to make ukulele and bass tabs.
It translates standard notation to tabs and vice versa in real time as you enter each note.
It's a good learning tool for me to see them in parallel as I work on a piece.
Klaus, thanks for sharing your ideas on u-bass chord potential.
I took a stab at the hymn I remember from childhood.
I never think of playing intervals greater than an octave, but as I tabbed your work I like the 8xx9 and 3xx4 voicings, plucking them with thumb and index finger.
With your kind permission, I present my attempt at tab from the first measures of your arrangement.
I like this tablature for its integration of rhythm and pitch indications.
However, after 21 years working with Finale I am not too motivated to spread myself too thin by trying to keep up abilities in one more application.
I will reply to Dave also and discuss his way of two-stave tablature.
Klaus
Weak sauce, but I can relate.
I can't sight-read to save my life, but i will slowly and painfully hack through standard notation if it's something I really want to play.
I use Guitar Pro to make ukulele and bass tabs.
It translates standard notation to tabs and vice versa in real time as you enter each note.
It's a good learning tool for me to see them in parallel as I work on a piece.
Klaus, thanks for sharing your ideas on u-bass chord potential.
I took a stab at the hymn I remember from childhood.
I never think of playing intervals greater than an octave, but as I tabbed your work I like the 8xx9 and 3xx4 voicings, plucking them with thumb and index finger.
With your kind permission, I present my attempt at tab from the first measures of your arrangement.
View attachment 285790
Never tried tablature in Finale beyond giving up on making custom set-ups for ukuleles in various tunings. The re-entrant tuning confuses the application. Maybe a MIDI-ukulele could solve the problem. I heard of MIDI guitars almost 30 years ago, but not too much since then. Are there MIDI basses?
Anyway Finales approach to tablature is the same as you use: standard notation on top and fingering indication below. Takes the ability to read the rhythm from the standard notation. I dont know whether this form of tablature is readable also by players using the form of tab, where the rhythm is integrated with the fingerings.
As for the octave+ two-part chords: they actually are more discernible for the human ear than closer voicings in the bass range. Research has shown that in the range below the F on the 10th fret on the G string the human ear has problems determining chord intervals smaller than a fourth. This is not specific for basses, but goes for all instruments and for vocals.
The tightest low range chord on the 4-stringed bass is a G major: 3200. It is very muddy. The slightly more open E major is better: 0221.
Anyway there are a lot of interference frequencies coming up, so that notes not played become audible. With the above G major fingering the 4th B natural on the G string sings on my UBass despite the G string being open.
While writing this post a shorthand tablature comes to my mind, which I will try to implement for your evaluation.
I am NOT a bassplayer, but a generalist focusing on the bass right now because the UBass is much kinder on my arthritic hands than my other bass guitars. Much of what I say will be redundant old news to you, but I dont say it to offend anybody. I am here to learn, which also happens by your responses to my postings.
Klaus
Everyone should note that during testing, I don't think the double bonding method used for production strings was used.
For production, I believe there is a glue/epoxy of some sort Plus the crimping of the pin. I don't believe that was employed for this limited test run, and I believe we can expect it to be employed when the strings are for sale. Perhaps Kala will see this and comment.
I have asked Aquila to comment on the use of Finger Ease with the Silver Rumbler formulation:
Invalid Link Removed
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/fingerease-guitar-string-lubricant
SBassman said:
My stingray case that I had with me at rehearsal yesterday has a can of finger ease in it. Been there 12 years. I gave it to the guitar player.
For those that don't know standard notation, please attempt to learn. Trust me, the effort will be worth it. I went from being a drummer that didn't know what a clef was, to self-educating myself on music theory and learning how to read sheet music so I could have access to more fiddle and whistle tunes. Knowing about scales and chords, and understanding treble and bass clef is a Good Thing(tm).
I agree it's a good thing. For a young person pursuing music professionally, it should be a given.
But, for a guy like me, getting older, a weekend warrior just trying to sneak as much musical fun into my life before I have to check out, I can't put the time/energy into having standard notation reading yield for me.
I can read it slow, but there's a big gap between that and being able to quickly read and translate it to the fretboard.
To close that gap, for me, it would take Way too much time away from - playing.
I'm half a century. 
I could do it, but it's a question of finite time allocation.
[There's also - laziness - I admit it.]
I could do it, but it's a question of finite time allocation.
[There's also - laziness - I admit it.]
My idea on a tab shorthand had one error: too much work to enter in the score.
Found out how to set up a bass tab in Finale. There still is problem about the time signature going ugly, but the main question, which I cannot really answer myself, is about the readability of the tab. Anyway, here it is in a low resolution. The high res pdf version is here:
Link Removed
Klaus
Found out how to set up a bass tab in Finale. There still is problem about the time signature going ugly, but the main question, which I cannot really answer myself, is about the readability of the tab. Anyway, here it is in a low resolution. The high res pdf version is here:
Link Removed
Klaus
Attachments
I'm half a century.
I could do it, but it's a question of finite time allocation.
[There's also - laziness - I admit it.]
Dude! How can you get up in the morning at that age?!
The creaking bones and popping joints must wake up the neighborhood.
The creaking bones and popping joints must wake up the neighborhood.
This is my world right now... 49th birthday tomorrow, and I threw my back out pretty hard at a Jam on Thursday (not even really doing anything but turning to cue the drummer during a tune!)
Yesterday I had two back-to-back gigs in a small town here in wine country (Carlton, Oregon for the locals)... One group played from 4 - 7 while the other played from 7 -10 about a block away... Had my amp on my trusty pseudo Rock-n-Roll cart, cables all attached, U-Bass and stand in hand and made the transition to the second gig in about 5 minutes. Really nice to roll in, plug in the power and go on the second song...
How much do we all love the U-Bass?!?! This thing just keeps on pumping out killer low end that sits so well in the mix. I honestly bought mine a year ago mostly as a lark with an eye towards using it for a few occasional acoustic gigs, and it is now my go-to bass for about 80% of my dates! I love playing my upright and all, but when I'm packing for a gig it makes so much more sense to 'go small' that I rarely pull it out for anything other than a fully acoustic date. Thanks Kala!!
-robert
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