Skol303

To cut a long story slightly shorter... we've had the builders in at home and as a consequence my desktop 'puter and other gadgets have been boxed away out of reach. In the meantime, I've been tinkering with some of the music apps on my iPhone and ended up producing this little ditty. It basically started with a simple (and repetitive!) riff that I'd been playing with one evening. I recorded several minutes worth of this using the Amplitube app, playing to a click, and then set about adding some percussion, samples and vocals over the top - all brought together using an app called Nanostudio. I did admittedly have to splice and adjust the pitch/tempo of the vocals and other samples manually using Audacity on my laptop, and then faff around loading them back onto my phone...but other than that it's a bona fide iPhone production! The vox themselves are - ahem - 'borrowed' from Biggie Smalls and Mos Def: not my favourite rappers if I'm honest, but they seemed to fit the swing of the track. The project took roughly 3-4 hours from start to finish. Overall, the quality ain't great, there are plenty of bum notes in my playing and the tune itself is kinda one-dimensional... but I'm quite pleased with it nonetheless - for something made on a mobile phone!! Anyway, enough waffle. Have a listen if you're interested. [CAUTION: the vocals come with a 'parental advisory' sticker, in case you were thinking of sitting down and listening to this with your nearest and dearest over a nice cup of cocoa] [url="http://soundcloud.com/skollob/hypnomatics"]http://soundcloud.com/skollob/hypnomatics[/url] All feedback welcome: like it or loathe it - let me know. PS: for anyone interested, the shonky bassline is played on a self-defretted Hohner Rockwood LX90B... that's pure quality right there! Trades for Alembics or similar may be considered

[quote name='ZMech' post='1244551' date='May 25 2011, 05:43 PM']The tone on this into is what first turned me on to double bass: [/quote] Love it; great bassline that! Cheers for the link.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1242683' date='May 24 2011, 10:16 AM']You've obviously not been hanging out in the "jazz" threads then! It was all the mentions on BC that put me onto Phronesis in the first place.[/quote] Me too... they're probably my favourite outfit at the moment; certainly the most played on my iPod. Amazing stuff. Jasper Hoiby is a superb player.

Bilbo/Hector... cheers for the clarification

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1242732' date='May 24 2011, 11:06 AM']Hmmm. Seems I should take another look at Reaper. I had a play with it a year or two ago, but it just didn't seem very "finished" on OS X. Most plugins didn't have their proper GUIs, it seemed to need a few little workarounds to get the I/O going... all the sorts of little things that put me off. I'll cast aside my memories of last time and try again. [/quote] ^ I'm running Reaper on my old laptop (OSX 10.4.11) and it does suffer from occasional crashes and other glitches - but then so do most DAWs that rely on 3rd party VSTs. It also has a habit of spitting out random, ear-shattering noise from time to time whenever the processor gets busy - seriously, very loud and possibly dangerous when wearing cans! - but I could be mistaking this problem for my own music?! Generally speaking I'd say it's very reliable and well worth a look - it's still free to trial for 30 days anyway (and free afterwards, depending on your ethics), so no reason not to revisit it. I still prefer Reason/Record on my desktop but Reaper does have some great plus points, as 51m0n has mentioned (nice list of VSTs too, btw!).

... just quickly popping back in here to ask: is there any reason why I should avoid a 3/4 size DB for my first upright? Or should I be starting with a 3/4 (or 5/8) to 'get the hang of it'? Thanks again folks - and cheers for further encouragement to take the plunge! This forum is going to cost me a fortune in the long-run, I'm sure...

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='1240466' date='May 22 2011, 04:27 PM']Ace of Spades - Motorhead a bit cheesey but still great [/quote] ^ You beat me to it! Incredibly simple but a truly legendary bassline by Lemmy on that one. I'd also add (in a similar vain) 'The Day Everything Became Nothing' by NoMeansNo: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJi0_WcJHkg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJi0_WcJHkg[/url] ...and maybe throw in - on a totally different note! - 'Brown Paper Bag' by Roni Size: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEBoVhx_hDk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEBoVhx_hDk[/url] From those on the OP's video, I'd certainly highlight Dazed & Confused, For Whom the Bell Tolls, 'Bites the Dust and N.I.B. Classics!

Interesting question this one... bound to garner personal preferences, but mine would be: 1. Propellerhead Reason/Record/ReCycle (yeah, I know that's actually three softwares but heh, sue me!). Revolutionised the way I make music at a time when Cubase was the 'modus operandi' for most bedroom beginners. Allows me to turn those fleeting melodies into workable tracks before they have time to vanish from my mind... plus, being an ex-hardware user, I just love the interface. Lots of lovely wires to play with and knobs to twiddle (stop sniggering at the back, I hear ya...). 2. Reaper. Best bang for your buck by far. 'Nuff said. 3. Audacity. A superb piece of freeware; I still use it today. ...and sneaking in at number 4. would be another Props' software: Rebirth. Kinda dated now, but back in the heady days of acid house it truly ruled. Can't beat those squelchy 303s in my opinion ...and as a cheeky iPhone favourite, I'd have to say Nanostudio. It's literally a portable DAW on your phone. By far the best music app on the iOS.

Thanks folks! Cheers for reassurance about making the jump from guitar to upright in light of my (very) amateurish skills - that's very good to know and put my mind at rest about the only real concern I had about taking the plunge. Cheers also for your feedback on considering an acoustic over an EUB: you've raised some great points that I'd never have thought about (physicality, etc). It's also the acoustic sound that I know I'm really in love with, you may well have changed my mind on that front. On a personal note, the significant other and I have the small matter of impending baby to enjoy in the immediate future (literally any day now in fact!), which is - oddly perhaps - one of the reasons why I'm considering an upright. That is, as something a bit more immediate or more 'pick up and play' than my usual ritual of booting up a computer and plugging in gear, which I know will be taking a back seat once Skol Jnr arrives! Mrs Skol has green-lighted the idea, so I guess it's only a matter of time before we do indeed "throw out a wardrobe" (cheers Bilbo, that made me laugh). I'll be pestering you all as usual for more advice when the time comes...

[quote name='Fredde' post='1238655' date='May 20 2011, 08:03 PM']...if any of you guys is an iPhone SDK wizard, do get in touch, and we'll see what we can come up with! Skol303: 10% sounds a bit steep, how about I buy you a beer if you come to Helsinki? [/quote] I do in fact have a friend who's familiar with developing on iOS. A project like this might be beyond their own time/knowledge, but it can't hurt to ask. I'll let you know if there's any potential for some collaboration. ... if so, I'll certainly take you up on that offer a beer!

Ok, here goes... I've always wanted an upright bass - I absolutely love the sound - and am currently enjoying playing a fretless electric for that reason, i.e. it's the closest I can currently get to the 'warmth' of an upright. I'm toying with the idea of investing in possibly an EUB at some point in future (not right now but within, say, 6 months to a year). I don't have a huge amount of space at home and musically I tend to veer towards electronic, so I figure that an EUB would meet my needs in terms of both size/compactness and sound/versatility. However... I'm still very much a beginner on the electric bass, so I'm conscious that I might be 'jumping the gun' here and delving into the world of uprights when I should be concentrating on improving my skills on a standard electric. For instance: I'm not familiar with notation and a long way off sight-reading, but I am learning (albeit slowly). Essentially, I don't want to invest in something that's beyond my ability to enjoy it. Anyway, a couple of questions for all you upright players here: 1) Given my 'early learner' status, should I really be thinking about an upright at this stage? Or should I concentrate on playing guitar to improve my basic skills first? 2) Is there any reason why, as a newbie, I should be avoiding EUBs and thinking about an acoustic upright instead?

Hi Fredde, This is great, love it! I had a quick play with it last night and I'm very impressed... I'll have a more detailed look over the weekend and get back to you if I can think of any useful feedback, but for the time being you've done a great job here. I've used similar, commercial products in the past and it compares very well against them. Sure, the interface is a little basic - but that's not a criticism; for me it's actually a positive. Just an idea, but something like this would make a fantastic iPhone app... I don't think there's anything similar on the market at the moment. There are a number of apps that simulate a bass or guitar (e.g. PocketGuitar), but none that I know of which allow you to record your noodlings in tab format. If you're commercially-minded that might be worth investigating - provided you give me a 10% royalty for suggesting it!

[quote name='phil.i.stein' post='1237178' date='May 19 2011, 05:56 PM']so it's not about hiding your bass in the loft to give it vintage appeal whilst you get progressively younger.. [/quote] Nice one ... I just watched that this week, oddly enough.

[quote name='skej21' post='1237115' date='May 19 2011, 05:08 PM']Here's a better bass player (based purely on fact, and not outlandish opinion)...Sir Paul McCartney[/quote] ^ Good example of another legend. As already mentioned, Cliff contributed to what are regarded as three of the best (if not [i]the[/i] best) metal albums of all time: Kill 'Em All, Ride... and 'Puppets. They're certainly the best selling metal albums of all time. And that's also a fact, not outlandish opinion. So I think Cliff is undoubtedly due some credit for what he contributed to music during his short life. Albeit not on the same scale as McCartney... 'Frog Chorus' nonwithstanding! Again, in terms of contribution to bass playing, it goes without saying that McCartney's basslines are classics and in places very technical indeed. But we know this because we are bassists. If I talk with friends about the Beatles they don't talk about McCartney's bass playing, but they do talk about Cliff Burton's if the conversation is on Metallica. I totally appreciate that Cliff Burton is open to much criticism in terms of his actual playing. But like it or not, he had a huge impact on the world of bass playing - specifically in the metal genre, sure - but that's one helluva big and popular genre. So I'd say those of us singing his praises are basing it on more than just opinion. Anyway, let's not make this a Celebrity Deathmatch! The OP asked what all the "fuss" is about over Cliff Burton, and I think it's fair to say it's because he 'broke the mold' - at least during his prime in the early-mid 80s - and has inspired a bucketload of bass players since his death. All the rest is definitely "horses for courses"...

[quote name='burno70' post='1236956' date='May 19 2011, 02:44 PM']...it was much more fun than the Bach Cello pieces (imho), and is just as difficult.[/quote] ^ Oddly enough, I got switched on to Bach (and the cello suites) through Cliff Burton! He was apparently a huge fan of the composer and so I decided to find out for myself. That said, I can only really play Cello Suite No. 1 with any level of competence; and only because it's the easiest one of the lot. If anyone's interested, I highly recommend the book on Cliff written by the British journalist Joel McIver (himself a bass player, I think?) - it's chock full of fanboy material, but more interestingly gives an (albeit fairly basic) opinion on some of the theory behind his most iconic basslines. Well worth a read IMO. [url="http://www.amazon.com/Live-Die-Death-Metallicas-Burton/dp/190600224X"]http://www.amazon.com/Live-Die-Death-Metal...n/dp/190600224X[/url]

I can't really add much more to what's already been said - and the folks above certainly know their onions better than I do!... All I'll say is that the current mix sounds a wee bit bunched up in the middle - i.e. some of the sounds appear to be fighting for space in the middle of the mix. There might be scope here to create a bit more space by either EQ'ing some of the instruments (filtering out the unwanted upper/lower frequencies of each, so they don't blur) or perhaps panning some of them further off-centre (L/R). But don't take this as gospel... I'm just some guy who tinkers around at home and there's a very good chance I don't know what I'm doing! Other than that, they sound fine to me and certainly fit for the purpose you need them for. Good luck with it.

[quote name='Rich' post='1236585' date='May 19 2011, 07:54 AM']Oh please. Like I said, yes it's horses for course. You say tomayto, and so on. But I do apologise for voicing a negative opinion.[/quote] ^ No need to apologise; you're obviously entitled to criticise Cliff Burton all you like (though it's probably safer to do it here than on YouTube, as you say!). My point was simply that you mentioned you're surprised at what "all the fuss is/was about him" based on his playing skills; when my point is that the "fuss" is perhaps more due to the fact that he brought bass playing to the forefront of the biggest metal band in history. Or to put it another way, he brought lead bass playing to the masses and caused millions of sweaty teenagers to pick up a bass rather than guitar (I was certainly one of them!). The only other bassist I can think of that might have the same sort of influence is Steve Harris, or possibly Geezer Butler - but I think it's fair to say that neither of those bassists 'broke the mold' in the way that Cliff did. But that's another "horses for courses" debate... Sure there are plenty of great lead bassists in the metal genre - and many of them technically better players than Cliff ever was - but I've still yet to hear anything quite so original and 'ear-catching' as Anesthesia; or seen a bassist with such an individual style (e.g. bell-bottom flares when everyone else was still wearing spandex!). But then I'm clearly biased. As for his playing, I'd be delighted if my 'chops' were anywhere near the standard of Cliff's. But then I'm no pro, so I'm not really in a position to judge.

Just quickly revisiting this thread to say that I'm certainly starting to get the hang of chords since reading the advice here; so thanks again folks! The theory has just about sunk in; I'm now starting to get comfortable with my choice of notes (great advice on that above); and I'm also building up a small mental library of chord shapes/positions. All good :-) The only thing I'm struggling with is some of the actual fingerings, which can be very tricky it seems and require some kind of 'finger contortion' (or torture?!) at times. But I'm sure that'll improve with practice. Now I just have to work this new knowledge into some of my music...!

Some brilliant (and free!) new tutorials just been released on the Propellerhead website as part of their 'Making Music Month'. Relevant to just about all forms of music-making, not just Reason/Record software. Some very useful stuff on there about mixing, synthesis, percussion, recording, lyric writing, marketing, etc. Check it out: [url="http://www.propellerheads.se/mmm/index.cfm?fuseaction=get_article&article=eventschedule"]http://www.propellerheads.se/mmm/index.cfm...e=eventschedule[/url]

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='1233271' date='May 16 2011, 04:54 PM']Might I also recommend the truly amazing, and probably my favourite group of all time: Nik Bartsch's Ronin...[/quote] [quote name='urb' post='1234162' date='May 17 2011, 12:19 PM']Another very fine band that also features Jasper H is called Kairos 4tet - led by a young sax player called Adam Waldmann...[/quote] ... Must. Stop. Reading. This. Thread. My. Wallet. Hurts...! ^ In seriousness, thanks again for the excellent recommendations, folks. You've really helped to open my ears to some brilliant new music; well new to me at least. Much appreciated.

[quote name='BottomE' post='1234290' date='May 17 2011, 01:51 PM']Thanks chaps. What about massage chairs and orthopaedic stuff? Have you tried them? The doc did mention Pilates and Yoga - anyone do this?[/quote] I (used to!) practice a lot of martial arts. Can't speak for massage chairs and the like as I've never used them. But pilates and yoga are certainly good for strengthening and improving overall posture (which itself can make a huge difference). A friend who I used to train with had a bad back from his rugby-playing days and he swore by a combination of yoga and gym work to help deal with it. He specifically used exercises which strengthened his back muscles, in order to help keep his spine 'in place' and in the right posture. Worked better than any medication for him, and he tried just about everything. Best of luck with it.

Really nice... the singer is superb and I like your accompaniment: subtle, skillful and not too 'showy'. Just right in my opinion! (this coming from a rookie, btw). I'd maybe have the bass slightly higher in the mix, but that's generally my default response to any form of music, even bass solos In all, great work.

Hmmm... this seems like a blatant 'Cliff baiting' thread to me. But what the heck, I'll bite! "Horses for courses" says it all really. I'm sure some people would say the same about Jaco, for instance (they often do in fact). That's the nature of such iconic bassists; if you stand on a pedestal then expect to have things thrown at you, as the saying goes. But the fact remains that Cliff Burton [i]is[/i] an icon. Otherwise threads like this one wouldn't keep cropping up so often. Why? Not just for his playing, but for his character... the way he took to the stage like a tornado; the fact that during his time he dominated what become the biggest metal band ever; that he brought bass playing to the fore in a way that even his heroes like Geezer Butler never really did. That's why people still rave about Cliff. I mean sure, most bassist can play their way through Anesthesia in their bedrooms or to impress in a music store (as I used to as a teenager!). But try playing it on stage, while banging your head the way he did... it's not as easy as it looks ;-) And that's what special about Cliff Burton. When he played, he looks as though as was going to break his bass any second. He literally attacked the instrument. And personally, I always found that more inspiring than watching the more technical yet static noodlings of other lead bassists in the metal genre. In short: as a teenager, Burton made me want to bang my head like no other bass player ever did. That's what the fuss is about for many people. But as you say, it's all "horses for courses".

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1229556' date='May 13 2011, 02:07 AM']Helicopter Girl.. a wonderful soul track from the girl... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc0oWjPHEqw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc0oWjPHEqw[/url][/quote] Some nice tracks in there... not all to my tastes, sure, but I liked that one a lot ^ Quirky idea for the video too, but that's just me being a graphics geek

[quote name='purpleblob' post='1232941' date='May 16 2011, 12:38 PM']It's totally pointless..... Because his fav. colour is/should obviously be purple ![/quote] ^ Haha! You beat me to it... reminded me of banter in the bass solos thread. And it's definitely orange, by the way