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.
Double Bass Using electric drones.
- Thread starter CQuillen
- Start date
I use Cello Drones, a CD I bought online. One nice feature is that it sounds musical and doesn't annoy the way a sustained sine tone will.
Another option is "The Tuning CD". I've had it for several years, and although I don't use it daily, I will pull it out when I need to really lock in a tough section in a piece or just to lock in my ear on scales.
It sounds rather artificial when you first use it (like an electronic organ chord), but you will quickly realize that it helps to get your intonation in sync much faster than trying to watch a tuner and adjust. You can actually _feel_ whether you're in tune or not.
I believe the cello drone CD is a similar concept. Best to keep it loud enough so it really supports your sound, but doesn't overpower you.
And I wouldn't recommend using it longer than 5-10 minutes at a time . . .it can give you ear fatigue!
-Jeremy
It sounds rather artificial when you first use it (like an electronic organ chord), but you will quickly realize that it helps to get your intonation in sync much faster than trying to watch a tuner and adjust. You can actually _feel_ whether you're in tune or not.
I believe the cello drone CD is a similar concept. Best to keep it loud enough so it really supports your sound, but doesn't overpower you.
And I wouldn't recommend using it longer than 5-10 minutes at a time . . .it can give you ear fatigue!
-Jeremy
I guess we're talking about intonation & upright basses? Only because I have studied North Indian classical music, I happen to have an electronic tambura, essentially an electronic drone. It does help me with intonation, & you can tune it to any note. It also can be set to play a four-note arpeggiated chord.
+1 on the recorded Cello Drones. 12 chromatic pitches, each about six minutes in length.
Amazon.com: cello drones
Amazon.com: cello drones
As an Amazon Associate, TalkBass may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via links on this site.
I actually made a variety of drones using garage band....some with fifths, thirds and 7ths of different qualities. I used some sort offing sound but the beauty is that you have hundreds of sound samples to try!
Joe
Joe
- Jan 24, 2002
- 2,117
- 950
- Disclosures
- NS Design / AER Endorsing Artist
Wow. My ears and speakers exploded all at the same.
I love indian classical music and the modern offshoots. Infact, I'm passionate about it and I've sat onstage basking in the joy that comes when John Mclaughlin and Zakir Hussain get it going. BUT, that is the most annoying drone I've ever heard.
Roy Vogt
Supporting Member
- Sep 20, 2000
- 4,433
- 537
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Kiesel Basses, Ampeg Amplification, Hotone Ampero II effects
I've actually had students record their own drones and then play along with them on both URB and Fretless Electric Basses. Most phones (Iphone and Droid) have some sort of Recording App or you can get one for a nominal fee. Then, it doesn't matter if you're in a practice room or anywhere else you've got your phone, you can record any pitch and use it to check your scales,arpeggios, etc.
This works better if you have some sort of external speakers, an Iphone dock, etc. of course.
This works better if you have some sort of external speakers, an Iphone dock, etc. of course.
I use an Iphone/IPod Touch metronome app that includes the ability to turn beats on/off as well as a configurable drone that can play any pitch you want for tuning purposes.
Mentioned above- garage band.
Drones are nice, but a full sequence trumps all. Even with a triad as the drone, it is very possible to hear intervals that are horribly out of tune as resonant in relation to the drone. Dig- you're still relying on your ears, so the drone will only truly allow you to tune the pitch or pitches on the drone!!!! The rest will always be up for debate...
You can use any sort of simple recorder and track the piece on a keyboard, or buy a cheap midi keyboard and play it in yourself. Bounce the file onto your iPod and take it with you to the shed. I personally use my phone when the laptop is too cumbersome.
Drones are nice, but a full sequence trumps all. Even with a triad as the drone, it is very possible to hear intervals that are horribly out of tune as resonant in relation to the drone. Dig- you're still relying on your ears, so the drone will only truly allow you to tune the pitch or pitches on the drone!!!! The rest will always be up for debate...
You can use any sort of simple recorder and track the piece on a keyboard, or buy a cheap midi keyboard and play it in yourself. Bounce the file onto your iPod and take it with you to the shed. I personally use my phone when the laptop is too cumbersome.
One more.
You drone a triad, you get 3 out of 12 pitches in tune. Really want those odds? 3 out of 12 of your notes are in tune? That much is up to debate? Think about it, my friends. Those odds don't win auditions. How the frig are you going to drone pitches to tune Strauss?
Disregard the old pedagogy and bat for the bleachers. You're in tune or you're not. Your choice, pals.
Fwiw playing along with actual orchestral tracks is golden. We can fight about temperament all day long, but in tune is IN TUNE. period.
You drone a triad, you get 3 out of 12 pitches in tune. Really want those odds? 3 out of 12 of your notes are in tune? That much is up to debate? Think about it, my friends. Those odds don't win auditions. How the frig are you going to drone pitches to tune Strauss?
Disregard the old pedagogy and bat for the bleachers. You're in tune or you're not. Your choice, pals.
Fwiw playing along with actual orchestral tracks is golden. We can fight about temperament all day long, but in tune is IN TUNE. period.
My last lesson was pretty informative in terms of learning to play in tune without the need to check pitches with open strings, fixed pitch instruments, or drones.
The whole idea was that when your strings are properly in tune, they vibrate greatest sympathetically when you are playing in tune, thus creating the greatest resonance. Certain closed pitches relating to open strings in octaves, p4th, p5ths, and other intervals, cause a high (or higher) level of resonance which is pretty apparent when you pull the bow away and gauge the decay.
I found it interesting that my teacher claimed C (on the g string and in thumb pos.) was one of his hardest notes to play in tune because the bass' open strings don't really "activate" so the instrument resonates very little than say when compared to playing an A.
Of course, different instruments have different levels of response so it's somewhat of a personal thing you develop with your specific instrument. But this is something I'm going to try and start being aware of from now on.
The whole idea was that when your strings are properly in tune, they vibrate greatest sympathetically when you are playing in tune, thus creating the greatest resonance. Certain closed pitches relating to open strings in octaves, p4th, p5ths, and other intervals, cause a high (or higher) level of resonance which is pretty apparent when you pull the bow away and gauge the decay.
I found it interesting that my teacher claimed C (on the g string and in thumb pos.) was one of his hardest notes to play in tune because the bass' open strings don't really "activate" so the instrument resonates very little than say when compared to playing an A.
Of course, different instruments have different levels of response so it's somewhat of a personal thing you develop with your specific instrument. But this is something I'm going to try and start being aware of from now on.
Caleb,
New site I found.... I know you don't like to use a laptop, but:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
it allows you to adjust the number of overtones from the fundamental. I prefer 0-3 notices from pure fundamental. Also, use headphones too, with only one ear to the drone.
Or....the dreaded Korg tuner....
or.... both...
or neither? Really, whatever gets YOU in tune. If a drone makes you feel sharp or flat or unsure, don't use it. Personally, I like to hear reference pitches for a lot of passages (esp arpeggiated ones)—but some of the time, drones get in the way of independent intervallic relationships. I try to do a good amount of every method, to attack the problem from all sides.
New site I found.... I know you don't like to use a laptop, but:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
it allows you to adjust the number of overtones from the fundamental. I prefer 0-3 notices from pure fundamental. Also, use headphones too, with only one ear to the drone.
Or....the dreaded Korg tuner....
or.... both...
or neither? Really, whatever gets YOU in tune. If a drone makes you feel sharp or flat or unsure, don't use it. Personally, I like to hear reference pitches for a lot of passages (esp arpeggiated ones)—but some of the time, drones get in the way of independent intervallic relationships. I try to do a good amount of every method, to attack the problem from all sides.
I know I will probably go down fighting on this issue but why rely on an external mechanical device at all?
I nearly wore out a small tape recorder checking on my intonation, spending more time starting, stopping and listening to it than actually playing. I was still very unconfident about pitch, not trusting my own ears or more importantly my own mind.
It was not until I took an old veteran's advice and studied the underlying structure of scales and arpeggios that I began to pre-hear the notes coming towards me as I played.
Below is a copy of my post in an earlier thread -
"I tend to agree with PaulCannon above in that using a tuner for all notes is mostly for the beginner. A cheap little Chinese watch-sized clip-on electronic tuner will do this well. Even then ASAP go over into aural training and tuning the bass by harmonics.
Most people can clearly hear a 5th, Octave and 10th based on the open D as tonic, either alternating between D and the other note or playing them as double stops.
Many other TB members believe in playing scales to D as a drone. I don't! The electronic drone or tuner, like the strobe tuner, is an external crutch (support) that I react to, rather than being pushed hard enough to pre-hear and aim for the notes that I am about to play.
I would rather carefully hear the scale as two tetrachords, the basic building blocks of a structure (Scale comes from the Italian word Scala, meaning Ladder) that is confidently applied to any chosen tonic note. Each group has the intervals Tone Tone 1/2 Tone with a Tone in the middle between groups. Pause slightly between each group and repeat octaves. This creates more "landings" in the long "flight of stairs" called the Major scale over three octaves and makes it much easier to stay in tune throughout. Set aside a quiet time to examine placing the two middle notes E and F sharp in between D and G, then B and C sharp between A and octave D. Try doing this in the dark to heighten your senses. Then repeat the process for the adjacent E flat scale, then any scale, then both forms of minor scales, then arpeggios. Pre-hear notes coming just as though you are aiming darts to hit a bullseye every time.
The level of intonation you can achieve in your practice alone at home might be called Absolute Pitch. As soon as you play with someone else you need good Relative Pitch, because for any number of reasons you have to be able to adjust your tuning quickly and accurately. The piano can't adjust to you so tune your open strings to the same-name notes piano around the middle of the keyboard. Try to play duets, trios, quartets with other bassists and instruments, and chamber music where you are the only bass. This will boost your confidence in smaller musical settings.
(taken from the thread USING A STROBE TUNER posted by rumblejohn on 03 - 21 - 2011)
Best wishes,
DP
I nearly wore out a small tape recorder checking on my intonation, spending more time starting, stopping and listening to it than actually playing. I was still very unconfident about pitch, not trusting my own ears or more importantly my own mind.
It was not until I took an old veteran's advice and studied the underlying structure of scales and arpeggios that I began to pre-hear the notes coming towards me as I played.
Below is a copy of my post in an earlier thread -
"I tend to agree with PaulCannon above in that using a tuner for all notes is mostly for the beginner. A cheap little Chinese watch-sized clip-on electronic tuner will do this well. Even then ASAP go over into aural training and tuning the bass by harmonics.
Most people can clearly hear a 5th, Octave and 10th based on the open D as tonic, either alternating between D and the other note or playing them as double stops.
Many other TB members believe in playing scales to D as a drone. I don't! The electronic drone or tuner, like the strobe tuner, is an external crutch (support) that I react to, rather than being pushed hard enough to pre-hear and aim for the notes that I am about to play.
I would rather carefully hear the scale as two tetrachords, the basic building blocks of a structure (Scale comes from the Italian word Scala, meaning Ladder) that is confidently applied to any chosen tonic note. Each group has the intervals Tone Tone 1/2 Tone with a Tone in the middle between groups. Pause slightly between each group and repeat octaves. This creates more "landings" in the long "flight of stairs" called the Major scale over three octaves and makes it much easier to stay in tune throughout. Set aside a quiet time to examine placing the two middle notes E and F sharp in between D and G, then B and C sharp between A and octave D. Try doing this in the dark to heighten your senses. Then repeat the process for the adjacent E flat scale, then any scale, then both forms of minor scales, then arpeggios. Pre-hear notes coming just as though you are aiming darts to hit a bullseye every time.
The level of intonation you can achieve in your practice alone at home might be called Absolute Pitch. As soon as you play with someone else you need good Relative Pitch, because for any number of reasons you have to be able to adjust your tuning quickly and accurately. The piano can't adjust to you so tune your open strings to the same-name notes piano around the middle of the keyboard. Try to play duets, trios, quartets with other bassists and instruments, and chamber music where you are the only bass. This will boost your confidence in smaller musical settings.
(taken from the thread USING A STROBE TUNER posted by rumblejohn on 03 - 21 - 2011)
Best wishes,
DP
I just wrote out the scales in sibelius and write them so they repeat a couple of times
I've been using them while working through the Rabbath book
I've been using them while working through the Rabbath book
