Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[gfen]

The only software synths I've ever used was the Bristol collection for Linux (et al), and for that mostly played around with the ARP2600. There's probably 30ish different models rolled in. It's free, but you're stuck with using Linux (et al), which is generally a miserable experience.

I also bought a VCS3 sim for my ipad which is fun but completely baffling.

 

[br1qbat]

Ableton is the worst DAW I’ve ever used. I’m sure it’s great for some, but the friggin interface is crap and the difficulty in recording live makes it a no go for me. It kept crashing my computer even though I was way over minimum requirements.

Ableton is largely geared towards the EDM workflow

 

[br1qbat]

As to something like a VCS3, I have a small eurorack system I built from various kits. Modular synths def take some getting used to. Its less plug and play and more plug plug plug plug and stand back and see what comes out of the thing. Fun to mess with.

 

[JBOWLES]

Ableton is largely geared towards the EDM workflow

Indeed! It’s a p.i.t.a for anything else. The only thing I’ve bought aside from Reason is EZ Drummer and a few expansions. Reason has everything else I could want to record decent tracks, or at least rough tracking, at home.

 

[oZZma]

The only software synths I've ever used was the Bristol collection for Linux (et al), and for that mostly played around with the ARP2600. There's probably 30ish different models rolled in. It's free, but you're stuck with using Linux (et al), which is generally a miserable experience.

I also bought a VCS3 sim for my ipad which is fun but completely baffling.

I could give it a try. I use linux, no problems with that

 

[Kriegs]

I run Reaper some, but prefer Reason 10 to any DAW I’ve ever worked with. I feel like it’s more user friendly and easier to understand than Reaper or the PreSonus Studio series I had before it. Plus, you get a ton of plugins that are super useable right out of the box.

My main setup is an Audient iD14 into Reason 10 and EZ Drummer 2 since I record everything on my own. I use an Avalon U5 or my Darkglass B7K Ultra2 for bass. I was hesitant to buy Reason until I really started working with it and watching YouTube videos. Love it now. Both Reaper and Reason are great DAWs, but I’d steer clear of The PreSonus if you are wanting to do a lot of outboard stuff.

+1 for Reason
Reason 11 is about to release in a few weeks. too, so you can get Reason 10 for $100 off.
I'm looking into a new extension for drums, Virtual Drummer Rack Extension. They have 3 different flavors, the one that we'd be interested, in the context of this thread, would be the Heavy Rack Extension flavor.

 

[rutrho]

The only software synths I've ever used was the Bristol collection for Linux (et al), and for that mostly played around with the ARP2600. There's probably 30ish different models rolled in. It's free, but you're stuck with using Linux (et al), which is generally a miserable experience.

I also bought a VCS3 sim for my ipad which is fun but completely baffling.

I could give it a try. I use linux, no problems with that

I don't like playing with the software stuff a ton but my desktop is linux and uh, yeah. I usually just do music stuff on my macbook but I've found myself wanting to move on from audicity on it for a whole lotta reasons. Reaper is on the list to check out as well.

 

[thombo]

My amps have a lot of hum whether I run them mono and stereo. The hum is present without anything plugged into the amp. I'm currently using a decent surge protect, but it does not "condition" the power. I suspect my basement has shoddy wiring. Any experience/recommendations on power conditioners to "clean" the electricity?

***Cheaper is better, I prefer a power strip instead of a rack mount.

 

[oZZma]

I don't like playing with the software stuff a ton. .

Me neither, but I realize that some parts in the songs would be a lot more interesting and dynamic if there was some interaction with another instrument... As a duo, we don't have many options. I have a loop station, but I have never used it until now. I'd like to try to prepare some samples to create some creepy "harmonies" along with the bass line

 

[lucas303]

Seeing Sunn O))) tomorrow. Buying a new set of ear plugs tonight. May get diapers while I'm at it...

How was the show?

 

[Jolagh]

My amps have a lot of hum whether I run them mono and stereo. The hum is present without anything plugged into the amp. I'm currently using a decent surge protect, but it does not "condition" the power. I suspect my basement has shoddy wiring. Any experience/recommendations on power conditioners to "clean" the electricity?

***Cheaper is better, I prefer a power strip instead of a rack mount.

What amps do you have? Do you have anything else on the circuit ie airxo ditioners fridges etc

 

[lizardking837]

How was the show?

+1

 

[callofcthulhu]

I don't like playing with the software stuff a ton but my desktop is linux and uh, yeah. I usually just do music stuff on my macbook but I've found myself wanting to move on from audicity on it for a whole lotta reasons. Reaper is on the list to check out as well.

If you're on mac just use garageband. It's ridiculously well featured for bundleware, and it's basically training wheels for Logic.

 

[lizardking837]

If you're on mac just use garageband. It's ridiculously well featured for bundleware.

This is the only reason why I'm saving up for a new mac. It's just so easy to plug in, record scratch-takes and begin arranging around them.

 

[thombo]

What amps do you have? Do you have anything else on the circuit ie airxo ditioners fridges etc

There are other things on the circuit, but there isn't anything I can do about that.

 

[Jolagh]

There are other things on the circuit, but there isn't anything I can do about that.

I guess my question is because from my understanding most "power conditioning" is snake oil up until you get into some seriously expensive boxes with large capacitors to make up for power sags. I guess maybe the an isolated ground could help fix griund hum issues. Do they hum when not at your house?

 

[Grahams Groove]

How was the show?

+1

I thought it was awesome! I totally get that Sunn O))) (like many other bands/genres) are sort of an acquired taste. Having said that, I thought it was a super cool concert experience & stands out as being unlike anything I've ever seen. I wore plugs the whole show because my left ear is pretty banged up from the last 15 years or so. I started in the balcony and it was physically impressive up there. After 15 minutes I moved to the floor to get the full, physical impact of the valve-castle they build on stage. That was well worth it. It's like having your whole body massaged by low frequencies for 90 minutes. Pretty impressive how much energy and power and physicality they manage to transmit to an audience, while still being sort of meditative throughout. I will also say that I've found myself drawn to some more sludgy doom and drone stuff over the last year or so. So this tour was well-timed for me.

I had a couple people ask me about it, who aren't really familiar with Drone/Doom or Sunn in particular. I basically said that if you went to this show expecting to see 'a band play their songs' like you would at most concerts, you would be sorely disappointed. If you came with a mind open to a whole different type of live music experience, you may love it. That sums it up for me - it's more of an experience than a show.

My shortened description - "It's like going to church, but it's cool and everyone is worshiping sound waves instead of fairy-tales."

(Edited to add a better description of my experience.)

 

[DJCalamari]

Shameless self-promotion alert: our debut four-song EP officially just “dropped” as the kids are saying these days. It's maybe more grungy than stonery or doomy but I figured you guys might like it. Check it out on the platform of your choice – and please be gentle with me.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4wdak8SvGM3rGh3Gc3cRb4
Apple Music: ‎Lord of Delusion - EP by Low Octane
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/artists/B07TY7NDBS/low-octane
iTunes: ‎Lord of Delusion - EP by Low Octane on iTunes
Bandcamp:
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Delusion-Explicit-Low-Octane/dp/B07TW1YD8P

 

[gfen]

I could give it a try. I use linux, no problems with that

No one uses Linux, they operate it while wishing for something better.

I don't like playing with the software stuff a ton but my desktop is linux and uh, yeah. I usually just do music stuff on my macbook but I've found myself wanting to move on from audicity on it for a whole lotta reasons. Reaper is on the list to check out as well.

Audacity is straight trash as a DAW, coz it's not. It's pretty awesome as a wave editor, though, and I've used it to do voice work in the past.

If you've got a Mac already, dig into Garageband. Even the old versions are great, but when they switched to the new style interface (v9?) it took on a whole new world (spend $5 on the virtual drummers pack, totally worth it to press a button and get a rhythm track to play with).

It's also basically the stepping stone to Logic X which is beyond my level of comprehension, but if you learn GB correctly you're ready to use Logic, which is the pro version.

 

[scabpicker]

No one uses Linux, they operate it while wishing for something better.

Aww, bite your tongue. I use Linux, and honestly think every other operating system is completely stupid in its own way, including BSD. But, that's because it's what I'm used to. Other than a few years owning and fighting with a Mac, I've used Linux for about 20 years. I'll use something else if my employer says "use this" and supplies the computer. Otherwise, it's the only thing that makes sense to me. In 98, I wished Linux was better. Since 2000 or so: no, everything else was so mind-numbingly stupid to try to troubleshoot, I wouldn't bother with it. But then again, it's what I know. I can tell you what's going wrong with a BSD program in an hour or so, I can probably tell you what's going wrong and how to fix it in about 15 minutes in Linux. But then again, I'm familiar with its tools in a way that I'm not familiar with BSD. If I'd spent enough time with OSX or <shiver and piss myself over it's terminally stupid logging system> Windows, I might not be so disgusted with them that I thought they were garbage that people are fools for paying for. But I didn't, and I think I'm happier for it.


Ok, I'll get out of Unix flame mode now, but Ardor is a fully functional DAW if you want to do it in Linux. Audacity...ain't great.

I saw King Gizzard and The Wizard Lizard for the first time tonight. Pretty impressive in all ways. I doubt I could pull that show off.