• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

microtonal/quartertonal bass

trb6pJM2

trb6pJM2

Jun 22, 2007
679
10
Minneapolis Minnesota
#1
I was wondering If anybody had any ideas on who would build a microtonal bass, or anybody who would modify a neck to become micro/quartertonal?

I am absolutely fascinated by this whole concept and I really want to talk to someone about it and learn about how it works n such.
 
#3
I don't mean to be facetious, but any fretless instrument will play all the microtones that you want; and when I play fretless I get them all, whether I want them or not:)!

If what your interested in is a fretted instrument so that you can play chords or tone clusters which would be difficult to micro-tonally intonate on a fretless instrument, that could certainly be done by any competent luthier. However, a longer scale instrument might be what you want due to the narrowness of spacing between frets. To get quater tones you would need to have three additional frets between each two that you have now!

Dennis
 
  • Like
Reactions: Watchootognbout
#4
trb6pJM2 said:
I was wondering If anybody had any ideas on who would build a microtonal bass, or anybody who would modify a neck to become micro/quartertonal?

I am absolutely fascinated by this whole concept and I really want to talk to someone about it and learn about how it works n such.
Click to expand...
It just so happens there's a guy on here who could expand on this quite a bit. His username is Conical Johnson.

Here's a thread on a quartertone bass he was having built:

Click
 
#5
Yep, just get a 6-string unlined fretless and close your eyes every few seconds - it'll sound microtonal allright. :smug:

In all seriousness, I haven't seen a bass with such fretting. I used to hang out with this Arabic guitar player with a modified Les Paul for microtonal scale, and yes, it was pretty amazing.

His fretboard looked something like this:

ji_mugshot_big.jpg
 
#9
ji_mugshot_big.jpg


Perhaps I just don't get it, but why not just double the fret number the number of frets in a traditional fashion? Instead of 12 semitones [frets] to the first octave, why not just double it to 24?

The 12th fret would then be known as the 24th, and the 24th would be the 48th.
 
#10
biobass said:
IHowever, a longer scale instrument might be what you want due to the narrowness of spacing between frets. To get quater tones you would need to have three additional frets between each two that you have now!

Dennis
Click to expand...

Quarter steps would be just one fret between the existing frets. 24 frets per octave instead of 12. The longer scale might help a little, but you'd have to adding more than just one inch (35") to really have an impact.

Due to the low pitch of bass, I'm wondering in quarter tones would really have much of a musical impact.. they might. But for all the effort this kind of project would be, I think some kind of 'Baritone Bass' might be a better subject for this experimentation. String the bass up DGCF or something of that ilk.

Good food for thought here.
 
#12
It's a matter of being able to facilitate the scales, modes and patterns of a lot of Arabic music. For most Arabic music, certain flatted notes are key to getting the sound. There is one particular descending scale I have heard in Arabic music that features one of those flatted, almost out of tune notes. As soon as you hear it, it is instantly recognizeable. Micro tones are not as crazy and impractical as they might seem.
You could do this on a fretless, but fretted with a microtonal fret arrangement just makes it easy to play fast patterns.
 
#14
bassrique said:
Perhaps I just don't get it, but why not just double the fret number the number of frets in a traditional fashion? Instead of 12 semitones [frets] to the first octave, why not just double it to 24?

The 12th fret would then be known as the 24th, and the 24th would be the 48th.
Click to expand...

It has to do with temperament I believe. At those microtonal intervals, the tuning becomes very important. I'm not an expert on temperament by any means but do a google search and I'm guessing you'll come to the same conclusion.
 
#15
mjolnir said:
It just so happens there's a guy on here who could expand on this quite a bit. His username is Conical Johnson.

Here's a thread on a quartertone bass he was having built:

Click
Click to expand...

Probably should have said the reason I was wonder was that I just read conicals post lol.

Mark Wilson said:
microtone.jpg
Click to expand...
That's not YOURS is it mark?! I was oggling that earlier today.

mjolnir said:
Here's a couple of basses with... strange... fretting:

Conical Johnson

Bas-Extraveganza Schizo
Click to expand...
that atlansia looks tasty.
 
#17
I'd use a fretless.

I'd also suggest (fairly strongly) that rather than focusing on the instrument, take some time to study a system of microtonal music (Arab or Turkish are my preferences - quite different).
A fretless will handle it all, and these musics are traditionally played on fretless instruments, or occasionally on instruments with crude, movable frets (like the baglama saz).
 
  • Like
Reactions: shojii
#18
bassrique said:
Perhaps I just don't get it, but why not just double the fret number the number of frets in a traditional fashion? Instead of 12 semitones [frets] to the first octave, why not just double it to 24?

The 12th fret would then be known as the 24th, and the 24th would be the 48th.
Click to expand...
Nigel: ...the numbers all go to eleven. Look...right across the board.
Marty: Ahh...oh, I see....
Nigel: Eleven...eleven...eleven....
Marty: ...and most of these amps go up to ten....
Nigel: Exactly.
Marty: Does that mean it's...louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most...most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here...all the way up...all the way up....
Marty: Yeah....
Nigel: ...all the way up. You're on ten on your guitar...where can you go from there? Where?
Marty: I don't know....
Nigel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is if we need that extra push over the cliff...you know what we do?
Marty: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number...and make that a little louder?
Nigel: ...these go to eleven.
 
#20
I can and have done this kind of stuff. In fact, I'm supposed to fix/finish Conical Johnson's bass.

I have an ambient microtonal ambient project, Burnt Infant, which just released an entire album of music done on a Hello Kitty stratocaster that I modified for quarter tones.

I'm going to both agree and disagree with the above posters. Fretless will not give you the kind of precision that a microtonal bass with frets will, if you are attempting chords. I'm sure it may be possible to play all those intervals on a fretless, but as our western ear isn't used to hearing them you're going have a very hard time. I will also say that playing microtonal instruments lose a lot of their intrinsic coolness if you aren't playing chords - bass is primarily a one note at a time affair, and I can't imagine playing microtonal intervals one note at a time to be terribly exciting - it will just sound like you're out of tune. Also, it is more difficult to determine the subtleties of pitch the lower you go in the scale, so a microtonal bass won't sound nearly as exotic as a guitar would.

If you're going to do something like that, experiment with something cheap first.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back