Double Bass The Bergonzifying Transmogrifier for Bass

[Intenzity]

Basso Ridiculoso and the factory of underpaid software monkeys is proud to annouce a handy little web thing for creating combinations of any four notes you want.

The Bergonzifying Transmogrifier is a free web application that generates all the possible combinations of any four musical notes that you choose and then notates and creates an MP3 file of the combinations.

It "Transmogrifies" the set of four notes you choose, similar to a method outlined by the saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi in his "Inside Improvisation" series of method books.

Check it out here:

Invalid Link Removed​

You can read all the details on ways to use it here as well at the ol' bass blog:

Basso Ridiculoso: Announcing "The Bergonzifying Transmogrifier" - A Basso Web App​

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[Stick_Player]

But I can already do this in my head, while playing.

 

[Intenzity]

So how many musicians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?





You are a punchline, dude, you just don't know it.

 

[Stick_Player]

So how many musicians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?





You are a punchline, dude, you just don't know it.

Ah, have I offended you, dude?

These 'programs' are as old as dice. And, that's why they are useless.

Might as well play '[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]' for your next 'solo'.

Next, joke?

 

[Intenzity]

Take it up with Krantz, Bergonzi, Campbell, Berlin, Gertz, Slonimsky, and all the others who have written books on that exact subject. The fact that you are not able to separate exercises and conceptual approaches from actual performances is a little odd, but whatever.

Maybe you don't know the joke -

q: How many musicians does it take to screw in a light bulb?
a: all of them - 1 to do it and the rest to say "I can do that".

Thank you for the real time performance art rendering of that for all us, starring yourself as the punchline.

 

[Stick_Player]

Take it up with Krantz, Bergonzi, Campbell, Berlin, Gertz, Slonimsky, and all the others who have written books on that exact subject. The fact that you are not able to separate exercises and conceptual approaches from actual performances is a little odd, but whatever.

Separated all that in my first post.

Maybe you don't know the joke -

q: How many musicians does it take to screw in a light bulb?
a: all of them - 1 to do it and the rest to say "I can do that".

Thank you for the real time performance art rendering of that for all us, starring yourself as the punchline.

My man... it was YOU that answered the punchline... I guess YOUR joke went over YOUR head.

On a musical point... if you want to sound like your 'program', go for it! And feel special, while doing it.

 

[Intenzity]

Isn't there a thread over in "General Instruction" talking about major scales that you have to drop your one-sentence "I can play all those" post into or something?

Welcome to the ignore list, Stickman. How special for you. Dude.

We won't be speaking again, I am afraid. Wait, no I'm not.

 

[Stick_Player]

Isn't there a thread over in "General Instruction" talking about major scales that you have to drop your one-sentence "I can play all those" post into or something?

Welcome to the ignore list, Stickman. How special for you. Dude.

We won't be speaking again, I am afraid. Wait, no I'm not.

Don't be afraid.

However, be prepared for dissent.

You could defend your "General Instruction" method, yet you get all emotional, instead.

 

[Eric Swanson]

I enjoyed your website. I find the blog and exercises interesting.

For me, many of these conceptual things are helpful even if I don't ever use them verbatim, in a playing context. They help me keep my mind open.

For example, the old idea that we hear/see Bach and Mozart (among others) doing; playing things backwards or inverted, remains very useful to me, when practicing.

I always play things that I am having difficulty with backwards and forwards, in various keys, to work the bugs out of the fingering and overcome my internal resistance to certain patterns.

I may never use that idea in a solo, in this lifetime, but it surely helps me every day.

Thanks for sharing an interesting idea. I have really liked looking through your website, bassoriduloso.blogspot.com.

Your enthusiasm is infectious; you are an inspiration to me.

 

[Intenzity]

Thanks for saying that. Really.

You get it

I certainly have been exposed to a million different approaches and techniques, and as you say, some are good for just expanding your mind and may never appear verbatim in a solo or anything. But it always better to have more options and ways to think about things.

 

[TroyK]

Exercises are exercises. Whatever helps helps. What doesn't help me, might some other time, when I need new ideas or when I'm practicing sight reading or transposing in my head or whatever. Tools, nothing to get excited about.

Plus, no steppin' to my Seattle homies, yo.

 

[engedi1]

This is a really neat tool, thanks! It is eye opening to find out just how many variations there are in such few notes. Good practice to help avoid repetition of favorite patterns and cliches over certain chords. Can one do this in their head? Well, Bach could play the inverse retrograde of a fugue (two or three parts sometimes) in his head and during a real time performance so this should be possible-and you may not need Bach-level talent to do it! But this would be a skill and like any skill, it would improve with practicing this way.

 

[buddyro57]

Is it just me or does anyone else marvel at how quickly we make a mountain out of a molehill. Start with an innocent email, someone offers a cranky comment, offense is taken and a rejoinder is issued and we're off to the races.

This program simply projects the possible number of permutations of the set....what's the problem? It is useful for some, but not for all (its kind of cool for composers too).

I happen to like it.
JS

 

[Stick_Player]

Is it just me or does anyone else marvel at how quickly we make a mountain out of a molehill. Start with an innocent email, someone offers a cranky comment, offense is taken and a rejoinder is issued and we're off to the races.

This program simply projects the possible number of permutations of the set....what's the problem? It is useful for some, but not for all (its kind of cool for composers too).

I happen to like it.
JS

What's cranky about this response?

"But I can already do this in my head, while playing."

I learned what the result of 4! would be when I was in 2nd grade - that's all.

No crankiness there.

 

[Stan Haskins]

Hey, that's a pretty cool program. Nice that it's adapted for the bass register, as the Bergonzi books are a bit of a stretch (at least they were for me!)

This engine could work well for making Zimmerman-like bowing exercises, too . . . not that I would want to code it!

 

[Intenzity]

Plus, no steppin' to my Seattle homies, yo.

206 in the hiz-owse! Thanks, bro.

Not sure about the bowing thing, even though this is a DB forum, I am on electric so the bowing thing is a mystery to me for the most part.

Thanks for all the feedback and helping to explain it and put it in perspective, you guys get it, it is just a tool, like the times table chart inside of PeeChee's, remember those? Its like that. Eventually, you don't have to look at it anymore and you just have it all memorized and you get how the recipe works.

 

[damonsmith]

But I can already do this in my head, while playing.

The fact is, you probably cannot. If it was as simple as you make it sound Berklee-type professors wouldn't have written books on it, and the OP would not likely have made a program to do it.

I may not gravitate toward the software or books, but with only 12 notes to choose from we better hope there are tons of combinations of just 4!

 

[Stick_Player]

The fact is, you probably cannot. If it was as simple as you make it sound Berklee-type professors wouldn't have written books on it, and the OP would not likely have made a program to do it.

I may not gravitate toward the software or books, but with only 12 notes to choose from we better hope there are tons of combinations of just 4!

No, just 4! (4 factorial: 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24). As they say, "do the math".

One could displace a note by an octave(s), but that's NOT what this program does.

You could also perform rhythmic variations, but that's NOT what this program does.

But really, there are just 24 combinations... and I can do that in my head, while I play. I do NOT believe I could do a sequence of ALL 24 combinations without repeating some of them in the process - I'm not that good.

As far as "Berklee-type professors", they have other agendas and can usually blather on in volumes.

* * * *

I'll let you figure out the number of 12-note combinations - with constraints (such as the above program of the OP's).

 

[damonsmith]

Doing the math and figuring out in your head and being able to play any and all variations of four notes in context that make sense are two different things, not mention knowing/hearing what they sound like BEFORE you play them.
On some level we can all do that, but having it laid out sytematically and isolated to just these variations is a different situation.

Because, Hopefully, what we work out in our head while playing is more complex and musical than four note variations

 

[Stick_Player]

Doing the math and figuring out in your head and being able to play any and all variations of four notes in context that make sense are two different things, not mention knowing/hearing what they sound like BEFORE you play them.
On some level we can all do that, but having it laid out sytematically and isolated to just these variations is a different situation.

Because, Hopefully, what we work out in our head while playing is more complex and musical than four note variations

I agree with everything you say.

My INITIAL post, albeit sarcastic, was intended as such - but also truthful.