BassTractor

... and also on BC. 
Earlier today, we had spam in new members' Status Updates (surprisingly their ONLY activity on BC 😄)  -  -  one of them using the name of a defunkt real company.

IOW spam in a BC Status Update may well link to a scam site.

Mall Girl, a Norse indie-pop band with young members.
Nice bass work on this one, courtesy Eskild Myrvoll.
 

Oh, yes, "The Planets" is a luvverly piece.
You might also wish to listen to recordings of the  "P I A N E T".   😁

(Guessing that was altoconnect doing its ugly work)

Having listened through better speakers, I now believe it's probably a Pianet, and only a Pianet, and that the attack phase possibly is hidden by the other instruments or the SV-2 or the studio processing or whatever, or that my ears are too slow.
Either that or it's a Pianet model I don't know - one that has a mellower attack.
I don't hear the Wurly anymore, and think that idea probably was an invention in my head, as the sound originally bewildered me.

If you check out the Pianet, be aware the different models sound differently. Start with N and T, and you'll probably already have found the right one, as IMS those were the volume sellers, and in case would be the first ones to put into an SV.
I don't remember the Pianet story other than that they mellowed it down when the Rhodes became hugely popular.


BTW, you made me fondly remember how I said "no" to buying a Pianet because it lacked stops, and I would then need yet another keyboard to get different sounds. See, there's only so many keyboards you can pile on top of your parent's "bee you tea full" organ in the living room without your mum throwing you out of the house.
So I bought an electronic one (Elka?), which was covered in black Tolex instead of veneer like the Pianet.
Huge mistake.
Mum accepted my veneer-equipped synth, but this Tolex ruined her living room and "what will my friends say; it's a circus here!"
For reasons unknown to mankind, she also wanted me to remove an extra electronic organ to the side of the official one, the extra one standing in front of two cupboards so you couldn't open those anymore.
Yeah, I don't get it either. It had veneer, fer cryin' out loud! 😁


 

1 minute ago, Mykesbass said:

I hoped you might contribute, thanks. Yes, I was thinking it was a blend, but know very little about what keyboards can do.  There's a 'sweeter' tone in there that the Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes don't have on their own.

You're quite welcome; my cell likes attempting to solve stuff.

From that first listen, for the moment I think the Rhodes is not a component, but then again: maybe I suffer from foot-in-mouth disease, who knows.
I was also thinking of one I haven't played myself, and I need time to remember its name, but there was an electronic piano that I think could make sound not dissimilar to this. When I've remembered its name, I'll check on YT before making more claims.

Do you happen to know whether it's easy to distinguish an SV-1 from an SV-2 from looking at them? See, I thought there probably are preset lists online, which might help, as I'm guessing the SV editing capacity is limited, and that we're probably listening to something that is relatively close to one or more of the factory presets. 

 

Is it possible that this could be some sort of mix? I don't know the SV-2, and don't know its capacities for mixing or for editing sounds.

See, on first listen I feel I hear some Hohner Pianet components and some Wurlitzer ones. The attack seems quite undefined though, which makes me wonder.
Maybe some closer listening tomorrow might either reveal more or tell that my initial feeling is off the mark.

Yeah, a nice sound indeed.

Ingrid Michaelson (with Sara Bareilles) : Winter Song
To my ears:  simple, very musical, emotional, beautiful.
 

14 minutes ago, lowdown said:

 

  Ah, okay, thanks for that info. I thought it was a mistake on my above screenshot, and should have read Korg PS-3200, and not Korg SP-3200.

😀
What went wrong? That's exactly what I meant; just worded as if it wasn't a mistake. I thought the Left-Handed Traffic made that clear.
See, I was just kidding with all the mistakes, also as if some persons were not playing solos but ARP Soloists.

Oh, I see now: I'd forgotten to use a winky there.
Sorry about that.

 

2 hours ago, lowdown said:

I remember this album and there are some decent tracks on it.

 

You are both wrong regarding the Clavinet, though. . It was a 'Clabinet'...It says so on the below attachment, along with an an amazing list of top named musicians on this track. **

 

 

 

I do remember reading somewhere that it was defiantly a Clavinet, and it certainly sounds like it is (under the FX/processing).

 

 

 

Haha, that's luvverly.
Thanks for setting us straight! 😄

Someone also played a Korg SP-3200 on that track.
I think it must have been the only one in existence: possibly a custom PS-3200, factory-modded for Left-Hand Traffic. 😉

(and BTW, the Soloist was indeed the ARP that predated the ARP Pro Soloist. 😄 )


 

3 hours ago, Chris2112 said:

I definitely think it's a Clavinet and I'm glad you do too because that makes me a little more certain. One of those sounds, a bit like a Rhodes, that is great in a contemporary setting but you couldn't really use it everywhere. 

I'm struggling with the English a bit - both yours and mine, so just for clarity's sake:
I'm 100% certain it sounds exactly like a real Clavinet that went through a stereo phaser or something similar (not that well-versed re that type of equipment), and while its sound lacks some of the overtones, it's still easily recognisable.
What I am not sure about is whether one could emulate this sound on a CMI to this quality. However, that's not really important, as for all practical purposes, it's THE Clavinet sound.

Your mentioning the C model made me think you meant it may sound like a C as opposed to sounding like a D6, but right now I'm starting to feel you more meant: a Clavinet as opposed to other instruments. In the latter case: there's no doubt whatsoever that this either is or sounds exactly like a real Clavinet. None of the other physical instruments of the era come close (but emulations might).

The D6 model had stops of sorts, but I don't remember the specifics. I'm guessing the D6 was a response to other electric and electronic piano and harpsichord type instruments which had those.
(Me, I had an electric Rhodes as well as an electronic Elka (at least I think it was an Elka), and by using the stops on the latter, and an effect pedal, one could emulate the role of the Clavinet though not its exact sound.)


Yeah, they're great instruments, and I love how many people use them today. Just a few days ago I also heard a Wurlitzer electric in a modern track.
Same with the real tonewheel Hammonds. They still sound fantastic, and everyone and their granny use them to this day. Here in Norway, a revised old B3 or the like sets you back ten grand or more. 😱

 

Having "played" a vdg for some time, I too got attached to it.
Love these things.

The D, G, C, E, A, D tuning system and the alto clef are easy enough, IME.
Just give it 15 minutes each day - not hours every once in a while.

Can't advise anyone else, but personally I'd be all over it.
Though, if  "fellivto practice"  means  "fellatio practice", then maybe prioritising the vdg is a bit stupid. 🙂

Now I'm not any sort of Clavinet specialist at all, but my guess is that not even the specialists would be able to hear the difference between say a C and a D6, seeing as the Clavinet sound in this song has been through processing and is mellowed.

FWIW, to me it sounds like the real deal at least - - not a Clavinet emulation on a Fairlight CMI or the like, but I guess you were already sure of that aspect.

2 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

They often think they can do everything. Piano. Organ fine and oif the song needs some brass or woodwind, OK.

Indeed we do, and quite often that is because we're used to having to do everything.
However, the grave mistake of meddling with bass territory is one that should occur only once - out of lack of experience or somesuch. Once pointed out, it should never happen again.

From my days in figured bass accompaniment: the harpsichord player and the bass part player would meet up a bit early, and together decide on how to solve the task ahead. I gather this isn't even needed in many bands as long as keys=/=bass.

Not a bass, I know, but I always take a spare fridge - just in case my main one strikes and the beer's warm.

Only played live twice, but my takes are:
- main bass (possibly one of those 18V thingies from San Luis Obispo)
- cricket bat (Hohner B2B, which is not only tiny and passive, but also very stable and trustworthy).

Peace of mind.

 

As others have already said: ask questions, as jumping to conclusions often is not really helpful.

One of the best bands I ever was in had a couple as a driving force and it worked out luvverly: no ganging up whatsoever.

Also: Gentle Giant famously swapped instruments during every gig - all part of the fun. Though I admit that keyboard player Kerry Minnear did not have a love relationship to drummer John Weathers. Their wives would've been fuming!

Is this the generic "sounds just like ..." as in that it might be about sound in the strict sense but also about chord progressions, melody lines and the rest?

In that case, J-pop band Kanjani 8 have several songs that, whilst sounding nothing like Yes, do have compositional elements that make me go: no way they'd have done that without having listened to Yes.
J-pop.  I kid you not.

BassTractor Seal of Approval. 😁
I love it. Yes, I can see it has a certain "wrongness" to it, but that's about reference frame.
This g..... is cool and funky. The seafoam and tiny tort plate finish it off nicely.

J.S. Bach.
Taught me the essence of a good bass part, and had an immense impact on my musical thinking.

Stanley Clarke (Children of Forever, School Days) and Jaco Pastorius (Jaco, Jaco Pastorius, Hejira).

Rein van den Broek, trumpet player with Ekseption.
Trumpet?
No, but he did use a King Octavoice, an octave divider, and he pulled wonderfully raspy low tones out of it.

Now, I only had a short-scale kid's guitar, but ... think shrewdly with me now:
A second Octavoice doesn't know that the sound has already been through an Octavoice, now does it?  ...
[finger taps nose].


 

On 18/11/2023 at 19:45, Bass Novice said:

One of my main objectives in learning the bass is to join a band, it looks like it would be a ton of fun. I know I am not ready yet, but also I don't know, or how I will know, when I am ready.

 

When did you know when you were ready to join your first band, what's your band story about how did it come about?

Interesting remarkuestion.
Maybe it's about who you play with, first and foremost.

Five complete beginners would struggle, but they'd struggle while learning.  So if that's the deal amongst you and yer mates, that's the deal and you cope with it.
I think you probably don't wanna be the odd one out in a band of professionals.

Personally, as a boy/youngster, I believed I needed to be ready, and I totally overlooked the learning that can be had inside a band. I thought "being ready" meant having finished music college, sight reading near perfectly and improvising like a god.
Bar the "school concerts" that everybody has played at, I joined my first pro band whilst studying music. Too late, I gather in hindsight.

OTOH, when, near the end of my studying, an extremely accomplished musician asked me what my aims in life were, and I answered "to play with people like you ...", he said: "Well ... you're not ready".


So yes, I do indeed gather it's about who you play with.
 

First week:
Not for me.


Second week:
Medulla was already in my CD collection. Whilst it never had the impact on me that her previous albums had, it is highly appreciated each time I listen to it.


This week:
I think above comments by BillyBass (link works not), @nekomatic and @upside downer probably reflect some of my own responses to this Actress offering. I kinda like it, and when it was finished I kinda longed back to it, BUT ...
I honestly hope I'm wrong, but I can't hear aim, drive, coherence or the like. Being a bit mean here, I hear a youngster pressing Record before having come to grips with his new-bought synth. Flippant, but still. (I'm aware he's done this for 19 years already, and I also respect that he does have an audience.)
It also irks me that his scope seems to be firmly based in I-IV-V-I, which then is belied by a seemingly random gathering of noises: "It's avant-garde, you know! So I must be good!", he shouted into my ear - at least in my experience of the music.

BTW, this comment is coming from someone who loves ambient music, loves and studied minimal music and loves and taught electronic music, so this is not about me not liking the style or the sounds. It's about me not finding whatever it is that Actress has to offer.

 

 You can't judge this if you weren't there ...

... in November 2023.
😉

.

9 hours ago, obi 2 kenobi said:

Thank you

Its pretty impressive playing and pitch control 

You're welcome. Just remember that other live tricks exist too; it's just that I forgot. One, with a more modern synth could be negative pitch-bend from aftertouch (or even from velocity), but I gather it'd normally sound a bit different.
Yeah, pretty impressive.

My own problem was deliberately hitting the wrong key. I'm not very good at wrong notes, I tells ya! 😐 😉 😁

1 hour ago, obi 2 kenobi said:

Yes, I know that but how is it played?

From hazy memory, several techniques are available (hardware-dependent), and I can't give you the definitive answer, but one trick that many players were very handy with is using the short pause between phrases to push the wheel all the way up  -  to then release it at the same time as the next note is played.
One doesn't then play the key for the tone one hears, but the one for the tone it has to glide to. A whole tone is fairly standard IIRC.

Without remembering exactly, I gather different synths had different wheel return characteristics, so I'm guessing not every synth would do this well in every tempo.