Skol303

[quote name='Evil Undead' post='1256053' date='Jun 3 2011, 11:03 PM']I wanna listen to your track but soundcloud appears to be having issues at the moment! Anyhoo. As you seem to have a technical brain, if I wanted to use this at band practice, would I run it through my amp head first like a pedal board, or straight in to my cab (leaving the head completely out of the equation)?[/quote] Yep, the first one... think of it like a pedal board - or more like a Line 6 pod, that sort of thing. It's essentially a pedal and amp/cab simulator. Not a great one; but a damn good one if you bear in mind it's running on a mobile phone! I think it comes with about a 8 or so pedals pre-installed: fuzz, distortion, wah, limiter, octave, chorus and so on. You can select up to 3 of these at once and run them into a simulated amplifier/cab (there are a few of these to choose from). There's also a fairly basic tuner, metronome, 4-track recorder; plus the ability to import songs from your iTunes library and even adjust their tempo if you wish. There's also a range of add-ons that cost extra (more pedals; a basic mixing desk). The interface itself is very user-friendly and tactile. The main downsides are the cost: the app itself is around £12 (I think?) and you need a special iRig connector to run your bass into it (a further £20!); also it's not the best sound quality - not bad, but not great. My advice would be think of it as a "toy" rather than a serious piece of music gear - i.e. I would invest in it myself as something to use at band practice or a gig, but then I've never tried! ;-) It's certainly a very fun toy - and a great way to record new ideas very quickly - just don't expect it to be as good as the real deal.

Yep, I'm quite fond of Amplitube/iRig myself! I find it a very useful little app for jotting down ideas and generally playing around. The tone can be a bit muddy and I find it's best to switch to 'airplane mode' on the iPhone, otherwise it throws up all sorts of unwanted noise. But heh, for something that runs on a mobile phone it's pretty damn good IMO! Here's a little number I put together using Amplitube and other iPhone apps [blatant bump my own thread alert]: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=137845&pid=1245068&st=0&#entry1245068"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...p;#entry1245068[/url]

[quote name='davey_one_visits' post='1245478' date='May 26 2011, 12:37 PM']If anyone knows a good source for stuff like this that I can use then I would be most grateful.[/quote] These websites are also quite useful... though you often have to do some 'digging' to find exactly what you're looking for: [url="http://www.8notes.com/classical/"]http://www.8notes.com/classical/[/url] [url="http://www.free-scores.com/"]http://www.free-scores.com/[/url]

There's an app on iOS that does this, called 'Bass Clef', but it requires you to 'play' the notes by tapping a virtual string on your phone, rather than just giving you random notes to play on a real bass - if that makes any sense? I came across it after being recommended by someone on Basschat (but I can't remember who!). Very useful and strangely addictive, in my opinion... [url="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bass-clef/id317094014?mt=8"]http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bass-clef/id317094014?mt=8[/url] There's also this FREE online 'game' which is similar: [url="http://www.studybass.com/tools/bass-clef-notes/"]http://www.studybass.com/tools/bass-clef-notes/[/url]

Again, I'm really liking this. Love the sound you have there Mike, as others have mentioned. The melody definitely reminds me of something/someone but I can't put my finger on what... something French perhaps, like Air??... particularly the intro (I'll post again if I manage to get it off the tip of my tongue). Just noticed someone has already made the French Connection with Hadrien Feraud above, so there might be something in that afterall! Nice beat too: esp. the hi hats on the slower tempo, very catchy. I might 'borrow' them for a project of my own Chops-wise you're leagues ahead of me so I can't really comment on your playing other than saying wow! All round good job, sir.

^ Thanks, Mike! That's praise indeed coming from someone with your skills. The bassline is a bi-product of me listening to a lot of jazz recently, inspired by the thread on Basschat no less! I'm going to re-record the track once I get my desktop 'puter set up again. I'll post an updated copy here when I get round to it.

Slap bass is: The sound of a tiny penis seeking attention. I mean, have you seen the size of Victor Wooten's tiny ickle hands? I rest my case. [ Disclaimer: sorry to all you slappers! I'm just jealous really as I'm hopeless at it myself ]

[quote name='Basszilla' post='1251451' date='May 31 2011, 01:32 PM']I will likely be using adobe audition purely on recommendation by my brother.[/quote] ... I'd also recommend checking out a piece of software called 'Record', made by a Swedish company Propellerhead. You can download a demo from their website (the demo allows you to save but not re-open projects): [url="http://www.propellerheads.se/products/record/"]http://www.propellerheads.se/products/record/[/url] IMHO, it's one of the best-value DAWs out there for recording purposes. Very easy to use; has a superb mixing desk built in and includes a bunch of FX courtesy of the people at Line 6. I'm constantly recommending it but I don't work for Propellerhead... honest! Interface-wise, I use a trusty Tascam (old yet reliable): [url="http://www.dawsons.co.uk/acatalog/tascam-us144-mk2-usb--audio-interface.html"]http://www.dawsons.co.uk/acatalog/tascam-u...-interface.html[/url] ...but I'd also recommend anything made by Focusrite, based on personal experience: [url="http://www.focusrite.com/products/audio_interfaces"]http://www.focusrite.com/products/audio_interfaces[/url] Hope that helps and happy shopping!

Cheers fella! Nope, I cheated with the vocals and used acapellas from my collection. You can probably find them on YouTube if you're interested in doing something similar. Another very useful resource I've found for acapellas is this website: [url="http://www.acapellas4u.co.uk/"]http://www.acapellas4u.co.uk/[/url] (obviously for non-commercial purposes only!) I have made some DIY acapellas in the past but it's not easy, as I'm sure you're aware... I found that it helps to have some fairly hefty EQ software, or alternatively, an instrumental copy of the track which you can then use to 'chop out' the instruments using a process called phase cancellation (which is very fiddly but by far the best method). Anyway, glad you like the track. I'm still tinkering with a few other iPhone efforts which I might post here once they're finished.

Missed the documentary myself; sounded good. Queen get a lot of flak for being a little "uncool" these days, but I think it's undeserving to be honest (and probably has a lot to do with Ben Elton...). I used to listen to them all the time as a kid. Tracks like Radio Ga Ga; Another One Bites; Fat Bottom Girls; and of course Bohemian Rhapsody were particular favourites of mine at the time. All quite cheesy, but I'm sure they still have some influence on me today... I still find myself humming 'I Want to Break Free' on the rare occasions that Mrs Skol entrusts me with the hoover ;-)

Nice melody, works for me! Some impressive playing when you let rip at the tempo change / double-time, roughly half way thru. I like the tone and FX you're using there as well. Great stuff Keep us posted if you work on it more...

Absolutely epic, mate! I mean really... fantastic song; great video and production. You should be rightly chuffed about it Let me know next time you're playing locally around Manchester - I'd certainly like to see you guys live.

"Lucy in the Sky, with Diamonds..." Seriously though, very interesting... Holographic Interferometry... that's a new one on me. "At low frequencies, the guitar plate moves back and forth not unlike the piston of a loudspeaker" - I wonder if this goes some way to explaining the percussive nature of bass tones? Whatever. Sure looks fun!

Undoubtedly 'old news' to many of you here, but as a newbie to jazz I'm really liking this guy - Milt Hinton: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFTqVHEJZ0A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFTqVHEJZ0A[/url] ...he has a nice way of describing the role played by bass at the start of this clip. I'd certainly aspire to be so full of beans at that age! (though he's sadly no longer with us, as I'm sure you all know).

Thanks Derren! Yep, I'm definitely going to be there for the 'Main Event', so to speak... Enjoy your gig mate.

Superb; great work Bilbo. And a very nice recording too. Sun just breaking through the clouds over Manchester; coffee on the stove; this on the stereo... and all's good

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1247562' date='May 27 2011, 08:40 PM']The amount of hours needed to become an amazing musician or sportsman is 10,000.[/quote] ^ I've heard that figure applies to just about anything. I'm currently close to that for making cups of tea as it happens (not that anyone at work appreciates my mastery of the art). Seriously though, I'm sure some people do have a natural aptitude for things - and this may well give them an edge to begin with. But 10,000 hours practice at anything - roughly 3 hours per day for 10 years - is surely going to pay off. I guess the moral of this story is to be blessed with aptitude and practice your a$$ off!

Brilliant... I get it now. Many thanks! This was particularly useful: [quote name='Bilbo' post='1247521' date='May 27 2011, 08:05 PM']As a guide (not an absolute), think in terms of the series of letters ABCDEFG. If you have an A, you need a B be that a Bb or B natural and so on through the alphabet. So in the key of F, you get FGABbCDE not FGAA#CDE. In the key of D you get DEF#GABC# not DEGbGABDbD- is this making sense?[/quote] ...in fact, the replies get progressively easier for me to understand the further down the page! I'm not even going to attempt this one - it makes my head hurt: [quote name='markstuk' post='1247334' date='May 27 2011, 05:00 PM']OF course this opens the debate as to whether A Sharp and B flat are the same note :-)[/quote] Thanks again all.

This may well be a dumb question (so bear with me!)... but I can't for the life of me find the answer on Google, so I thought I'd rely on your folks here instead. My question is: when writing music, when do you use the sharp or flat notation to describe the same note? For example: when is C-sharp written as C-sharp and not D-flat? I appreciate there might not be a simple answer here for my simple mind... but if anyone can help briefly clarify then please do. Cheers as always.

... if it wasn't for the small matter of Mrs Skol about to go into labour at any moment, I'd be there! (Darwen ain't far from my home patch in Manchester). Looks like a great gig; best of luck with it

Just to quickly pitch in and say that I support the idea of a 'Newbie Beginner' sticky here on Basschat. This site is always my first port of call for bass-related stuff - as I'm sure it is for many other people - so I reckon a newbie sticky in the DB forum would get a lot of support. That said, I've always found the folks here to be very helpful indeed! So this certainly isn't a criticism of existing advice given; just that it might be nice to have some of our local expertise in one handy thread for newbies like me. (not that I even have a DB... I can't justify the expense for a while yet, but it's firmly on my wishlist!)

Can't help you with cab impulses per se... but this site has some great (and free!) sims that are compatible with Mac OSX, if that's any use? [url="http://lepouplugins.blogspot.com/"]http://lepouplugins.blogspot.com/[/url]

Washburn for me, sometime in the late '80s. Can't remember which particular model. Bought it for cheap off a friend who'd decided to hand-paint the body with household black gloss! It looked a real mess but sounded nice; had active pickups and looked a bit like an Aria Pro II. I also had a Hohner Rockwood (Fender copy), which was recently returned to me by my brother - I've since de-fretted it.

I don't hold any religious beliefs personally (I'm firmly in the Church of Richard Dawkins and evolutionary biology!)... but I fully respect those who do and must admit I enjoy a good sing-song in church when the occasion arises. Don't mind a bit of gospel either. You folks have enlightened me on a new genre here - Hillsong - which I'd never heard of before. "You learn something every day", as the saying goes...

[quote name='crez5150' post='1245258' date='May 26 2011, 09:48 AM']How on earth do we bassists have fewer notes???[/quote] ... because we tend to get paid the least (ba-da-boom-tish!) Seriously though, props to the OP for developing this little tool. Sure, people can say "what's the point?" - and that's a fair comment. But I'm generally supportive of anyone who makes the effort with things like this, and especially when they share them for free.