For those interested, I've added a few more pedals to the demos 
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out
- Thread starter Korladis
- Start date
Pretty excited I’m getting a few pedals in today and tomorrow. Will have a Pink Drive, EHX Worm, and Grind Fuzz.
In another front, I had some intermittent pops and Signal cutting out when I ran my GK amps at home. Went through everything to trouble shoot and found my power conditioner was conditioning the power too well lol. So I plugged straight into the outlet and had no issues at all. That’s the first time I’ve ever had that happen. At least the first I can remember. Makes me a little uneasy since I’ve been getting a lot of older gear here lately with the original 400RBIII and the MKiii one as well. Hopefully it’s just a fluke thing and I can get another power conditioner and be fine. Anyone else had this happen?
In another front, I had some intermittent pops and Signal cutting out when I ran my GK amps at home. Went through everything to trouble shoot and found my power conditioner was conditioning the power too well lol. So I plugged straight into the outlet and had no issues at all. That’s the first time I’ve ever had that happen. At least the first I can remember. Makes me a little uneasy since I’ve been getting a lot of older gear here lately with the original 400RBIII and the MKiii one as well. Hopefully it’s just a fluke thing and I can get another power conditioner and be fine. Anyone else had this happen?
"conditioning to well" does not compute to me
most 'power conditioners' are glorified power strips in a more convenient (for music) rackmount box
I'm not knocking them, as i have several. makes plugging in at a show easy: one power cord instead of several
most 'power conditioners' are glorified power strips in a more convenient (for music) rackmount box
I'm not knocking them, as i have several. makes plugging in at a show easy: one power cord instead of several
You are exactly right in most ways. The thing about a good power conditioner is that it will smooth out the AC waveform and filter the power to prevent transients and such. That’s where my issue is/was coming from. I was not getting the electricity to the head in a clean and consistent manner.
Count me in this club.
At the moment I am working on getting more songs down for a progressive psychedelic stoner and doom rock/metal kind of bass solo project, named "all I nil".
I use my 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro bass, tuned E to C, with the 2 stock J pickups wired in series directly to the output jack socket of the bass, and split my signal up in 2 seperate parallel effect chains, one carrying my bass signal, and one running though an octaver pedal, pitching the bass signal 1 octave up, but with the bass side of the signal still being a bit more dominant than the 1 octave up signal, sort of giving me the effect of playing a 10 string octave bass (like an 8 string bass, just with 5 bass and 5 octave strings instead), but with the possibility of using different effects on respectively the bass and octave up signal.
Currently I have 2 songs done on bass, and then the plan is to record them to a click track, program drums to them using EZdrummer 2, or actually rather than program the drums play each separate drum on a midi keyboard, adding more exotic percussion using Kontakt 5, and then finally lay down some vocals on the tracks as well.
This would allow me to run a drum backing track, or find a drummer to back me up, and then play the bass and sing live, eventual using a looper in case of extra bass layers, should I eventually chose to gig with the project, which I am not sure of yet.
At it's core it's stoner and doom rock/metal, in some aspects similar to for example OM, but with a bit more emphasis on the psychedelic aspect, making more use of different effects, like chorus, flanger, phaser, delay and reverb, beside of course the mandatory heavy fuzzy distortion, and utilizing a lot of odd meters and unusual rhythm structures, hence why I called it progressive psychedelic stoner and doom rock/metal.
At the moment I am working on getting more songs down for a progressive psychedelic stoner and doom rock/metal kind of bass solo project, named "all I nil".
I use my 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro bass, tuned E to C, with the 2 stock J pickups wired in series directly to the output jack socket of the bass, and split my signal up in 2 seperate parallel effect chains, one carrying my bass signal, and one running though an octaver pedal, pitching the bass signal 1 octave up, but with the bass side of the signal still being a bit more dominant than the 1 octave up signal, sort of giving me the effect of playing a 10 string octave bass (like an 8 string bass, just with 5 bass and 5 octave strings instead), but with the possibility of using different effects on respectively the bass and octave up signal.
Currently I have 2 songs done on bass, and then the plan is to record them to a click track, program drums to them using EZdrummer 2, or actually rather than program the drums play each separate drum on a midi keyboard, adding more exotic percussion using Kontakt 5, and then finally lay down some vocals on the tracks as well.
This would allow me to run a drum backing track, or find a drummer to back me up, and then play the bass and sing live, eventual using a looper in case of extra bass layers, should I eventually chose to gig with the project, which I am not sure of yet.
At it's core it's stoner and doom rock/metal, in some aspects similar to for example OM, but with a bit more emphasis on the psychedelic aspect, making more use of different effects, like chorus, flanger, phaser, delay and reverb, beside of course the mandatory heavy fuzzy distortion, and utilizing a lot of odd meters and unusual rhythm structures, hence why I called it progressive psychedelic stoner and doom rock/metal.
Last edited:
I love you.
But seriously, a lot of what you're doing is what I hope to be able to do someday. I've also got a GSRM25 currently strung E to C, with the pickups wired directly to the output jack (though I have mine in "stereo" with one pickup going to tip and the other to ring for a TRS jack). I then split each pickup to its own effect chain. And I also want to do something similar to Om...but I've got a while before my skills are up to the task. Every aspect of what you're describing about your project gives me the fizz...Om, psychedelic, doom, etc...you're checking all my boxes.
Please keep us posted about this project. I for one really look forward to hearing it.
Thank you.
Yeah, the drums might become a bit of challenge for me to get down right, since I am not a drummer, but I do have quite some experience with programming drums, even if for this particular project I count on actually playing them, one drum at a time, using a midi keyboard, then eventual fine polish the drum tracks by editing the midi tracks I've recorded.
I at least have good faith in succeeding with getting the tracks down properly, and the bass and vocal parts should be relatively easy for me to get right without much of a struggle.
I am also actually really satisfied with the 2 songs that I have the bass parts all arranged and finished for this far, just needing to be recorded and have the drums, vocals, and of course lyrics done for.
Lots of experience with writing lyrics too, so that shouldn't be too much of a challenge either, it's really only getting down the drums properly I am bit nervous about.
Good luck with your similar project, I am sure you will get up to speed with it sooner or later, as long as you keep practicing composing riffs and songs, and aren't afraid to suck and fail a lot to start with.
Rock on!
I'll promise to keep you updated with any progress made with this solo project, "all I nil".
Last edited:
E to C? I was actually thinking about putting a high C 5 string set on one of my basses, probably my Yamaha. So it would be ADGC because I've been playing around with Indian scales a lot lately but they get a little muddy on the lower strings. I had originally thought about getting some piccolo strings but I think this is a better way to go for what I want to do.
I'm also thinking about buying a conga drum or an udu or ibo drum too and I've been trying to finish my wooden didgeridoo. Drilling a hole through a 6 foot long log isn't as easy as you think.
I'm also thinking about buying a conga drum or an udu or ibo drum too and I've been trying to finish my wooden didgeridoo. Drilling a hole through a 6 foot long log isn't as easy as you think.
So I decided to do a rough recording of the 2 songs I got this far for my bass solo project "all I nil", to give you a chance of getting an idea of what I am working on.
These aren't recorded in the songs exact actual form though, just covering all the riffs in them, and they are also just direct recordings without any editing done or additional effects, compression or eq added, so this won't sound like the finished tracks, once I get down to recording and mixing them properly, beside the fact that these rough demo samples obviously also are missing drums and vocals, but as said, just to give you a rough idea of what it is that I am working on.
The tittles are also just working tittles and might very well be changed once I get to write the lyrics for them.
Here they are (links are to Dropbox, and if you aren't logged into Dropbox their might come a pop up frame when clicking the links blocking for the audio player, encouraging you to make a Dropbox account, but in that case you will just have to left click with your mouse somewhere in the window beside that frame, making it disappear and making the audio player visible and possible to start):
"3rd Eye of Hypnos"
"In Orbit"
Last edited:
It's not that I don't like the tittles, in fact I actually think they are really good tittles that also fit the songs and the genre, it's just that I am not going to write lyrics based on titles, cause in my experience, in most cases that'll result in half ass crap lyrics, that's how it tend to work for me at least, and keeping the titles even if the lyrics turns out not to fit them wouldn't really work all that well either.
I do think that they are great working tittles though, and am going to refer to these tracks by those tittles until I have done the lyrics for them and found some tittles that actually fits the lyrics.
I am curious though of what you think of the compositions, even if I realize it is hard to judge the quality of the songs based on these fairly crappy recordings of unfinished sketches that miss both vocals and drums, and isn't even played in the correct form.
Thank you.
Nice to know other people like it as well.
They were both originally composed on my 4 string Mikro, and "In Orbit" is actually based on something I made a couple of years back, whereas "3rd Eye of Hypnos" is a newer composition, the intro and outro of it even only a few weeks old, and the only part of these songs I came up with while actually playing my 5 string Mikro.
As such non of these two songs really make use of the extra high C string of the 5 string, though I am sure it will come in handy for future compositions.
Both are recorded on my 5 string Mikro though, through my pedal setup and using the line out of my amp into my sound interface.
Not really the best tone, and I still need to do some adjustment to get that just right, as well as I will have to invest in some other dirt pedals, but otherwise my 5 string where I wired the 2 stock J pickups in series, actually sound great, and even better than my 4 string P/J Mikro, despite it having some quality pickups installed.
Right now I am using a Behringer GDI21 on the California setting for the bass distortion, mixed with some cleans via my Boss LS-2, and a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone on the octave up signal, but doesn't sound quite like I would like it to.
When I get to the recording process I plan to record the bass signal and the 1 octave up signal on 2 separate tracks, unlike this recording, for more flexibility to manipulate the sound, for instance I'd likely pan the two signals slightly to each side, as well as I will record all clean and exclusively use VST effects to manipulate the those two tracks, including distortion and amps.
Last edited:
Yeah I don’t need to be an ass. I’ll keep my comments to myself. Lol
I prefer 3rd more because of the degree of tension it starts with. Kind of sets the uneasy feeling throughout the track. I like Orbit, and like the wide modulation on it too.
I prefer 3rd more because of the degree of tension it starts with. Kind of sets the uneasy feeling throughout the track. I like Orbit, and like the wide modulation on it too.
Thank you.
The effects that is used throughout "In Orbit" is a fairly moderate and quite mellow flanger effect on the bass signal and a quite prominent phaser effect with the feedback turned up really high and with a fairly wide sweep on the octave up signal, exact same effects used on the intro/outro of "3rd Eye of Hypnos".
To me it makes for a great psychedelic effect that also has kind of an oriental quality to it, somewhat giving off a vibe of mysticism, but maybe that is just me imagining things.
Last edited:
Have you considered trying a "stereo" output from your Mikro, with each pickup going to a discrete channel? Then you can really have a lot of flexibility in manipulating the sound.
Uh, I think more than a few of us are fans of that here. Anyways, I'll have to give it a listen here in a bit.
In other news...
I got asked if I wanted to play in a country band tonight...
I kinda do.
>.>
With my pickups wired in series that is not possible, also I do split my signal, one carrying my bass signal and one running through an octaver pitching it 1 octave up, then going into two separate channels on my amp with independent EQ and volume control, the signals does then get mixed in the poweramp stage of my amp, but that is not really an issue as long as I can adjust the EQ and add effect to the 2 signals separately earlier in the chain.
And as the 1 octave up signal sounds just perfectly fine getting the full signal of my bass there wouldn't really be much point to only having it receive the signal from 1 of my pickups.
I guess ideally though I would have 2 separate amps and cabs handling the 2 signals though, but that is more a matter of adding a sense of space than it really is a tone issue.
When it comes to recording for real though, as said, I will have the two signals going into each it's own input on my sound interface, so I can record them on separate tracks for full control, live though that is not an issue as it is just a matter of setting the balance between the signals right to start with, since all the sound shaping of the 2 signals still happens completely independent of each other in the 2 separate parallel chains, before the 2 signals then eventually get mixed together in the poweramp section of my amp.
Last edited:
@JohnArnson : I like the concept, and you've got a good base to work from. It obviously needs fleshing out, but the basic parts are there. Once you have lyrics and drums, you'll have something. Don't take that as a dis or anything, I'm a bass player who would have written dozens of songs if I could bring myself to write some lyrics I didn't dislike. I'm starting to think that I'm a songwriter that should learn to write lyrics that are "good enough to support a song" and move on (ya know, almost like a message board post). I'd have 50 songs if I could just learn to do that. I've been using Eno's Oblique Strategies to try to get me to defalcate or evacuate the port-a-john, and it's been kind of effective. Here's the Wiki entry explaining what the hell it is: Oblique Strategies - Wikipedia And here is an online version so you don't have to purchase a deck: Oblique Strategies I wouldn't use it for everything, but when you're stuck on an art project, it seems to work.
@rutrho : Hmm, it's not the most exciting form of music for a bass player, but it will certainly give you the confidence to know that even the most simple music can be kind of spectacular. Plus, if you're lucky, they'll have some gearshift key changes (modulating the key up a half step), which are kind of fun. On the other hand, saying you've been asked to be in a "country" band is about as ambiguous as saying you're starting a "punk" band. It could be Green Day, or it could be ya know, Einstürzende Neubauten. That's a pretty broad category. Did they narrow it down at all?
From the shameless promotion of my friends department, here's a vid from friends of mine down in Austin. No actual bass, but all detuned sludge, with a stone age bent.
@rutrho : Hmm, it's not the most exciting form of music for a bass player, but it will certainly give you the confidence to know that even the most simple music can be kind of spectacular. Plus, if you're lucky, they'll have some gearshift key changes (modulating the key up a half step), which are kind of fun. On the other hand, saying you've been asked to be in a "country" band is about as ambiguous as saying you're starting a "punk" band. It could be Green Day, or it could be ya know, Einstürzende Neubauten. That's a pretty broad category. Did they narrow it down at all?
From the shameless promotion of my friends department, here's a vid from friends of mine down in Austin. No actual bass, but all detuned sludge, with a stone age bent.
Can I admit that I am not nor ever have been cool enough to 'get' Boris? The concept of what they do appeals greatly, but they are forever blah. Every once in a while I try again. Same result.
