BassTractor

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1455439359' post='2979016'] Many thanks, I think we'll be sticking with Roland. She's a big Roland fan. [/quote] Aye, but to me this reads as she wanting a Roland keyboard - not a Roland iPad app - whereas I thought I was talking about the iPad apps to use with that Roland controller keyboard. I went to the Piano World forums to check what pianists say about them, and they came up with these. BTW I still haven't remembered a great new piano app I know exists, and can't find it either. The iTunes app store really stinks big time. All of that said, is 4 octaves the size she wants to go for, or could this be stretched? I mean: stage pianos exist that are shorter than 88 keys.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1455437577' post='2979006'] 88 weighted or 61 semi weighted keys if I don't get the rubber thing? I play a mix of everything. [/quote] Get both. </THREAD> As I assume you're much aware, it's about prioritizing and about your own technique and in what direction you wish to develop it. It's very hard to exactly and [b]dynamically[/b] control the dynamics of plucking and hammering sounds like pianos with a semi-weighted. For people without good technique, it's also hard to do dense pads with quick chord changes on a weighted keyboard if it's a rather heavy one. Wait! I have great technique, and me too, I find it hard to do this. However, one solution might be in one of the weighted ones that need very little pressure. IMS Fatar do one or a few. Problem with Fatar is they do so many different keybeds, that it's hard to get an overview of which models use exactly those keybeds. I remember having been much charmed by the action of an Orla stage piano with such a Fatar keybed, but as this is several years ago, they may use different keybeds these days - even if they're supplied by Fatar. Also Yamaha do or have done one that was very light on the touch, and which resembled the light Fatar one very much. I'd believe it was a Fatar one, but reportedly, Yamaha almost always do their own keybeds. This may have been the exception, Idunno. Another solution might be in tracing a shorter, and thus cheaper, weighted one and add a synth bed or a short semi-weighted later. Short fully weighted keybeds are almost as rare as hens' teeth though. Roland did a 64-key one, but it may be unfindable these days. Just trying to hand you some thoughts. Sorry that I can't provide a shortlist of keybeds to go and try. One last remark though: if you're on a tight budget, you can do worse than with a semi-weighted M-Audio KeyStation or KeyStation ES. They come in all lenghts.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1455309425' post='2978151'] Thanks BT. I'm thinking that maybe a Future Impact is more what I'm after [/quote] Noooooo! Think of the lag! You need the Instantaneous Impact! But yeah, that sounds like a more natural choice to me too.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1455317560' post='2978231'] Do you have any suggestions of software to use to produce the sounds of a piano? [/quote] If you decide to go the iPad route, then you may wish to check out: - CMP Piano - iGrand - SampleTank These are old. I don't know whether they've been updated recently. I know there's another, newer one, but i can't remember it right now. CMP needs a newer iPad than iPad2; I don't know what the others need. At any rate, these are far better than a GarageBand piano. Remember that the resulting sound of a piano app also is very much dependant on the MIDI keyboard having a decent Velocity range, and thus also is dependant on a good keyboard. I've tested the same software with different keybeds, and there's a huge difference in what one perceives. Better control = better sound.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1455300812' post='2978040'] When you say that the K Pad is an effects unit with an input, could it be used just like a bass guitar effects pedal to play synthy sounding basslines? [/quote] Yup. Depending on the model, you can expect effects ranging from your everyday regular effects like reverb and delay, to more synthy ones - some of which self-oscillate and can be played melodically on the X-Y pad. If the goal is to only have a bass synth effect unit, then my guess is it's quite limited, in that only a few of the effects are in that general area. As I haven't got the most interesting ones yet (Kaossilator Pro and Kaoss Pad 3 in any of their versions), I don't know how to use the sampling or what it does. Initially I'd assume you can loop the samples. Think of a DJ in electronic dance music as the original target market for these units, and I guess you're in the right area. Edit: looked it up, and the samples can not only be looped, but also one-shotted. This is Korg's own explanation of the first versions of the big ones: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxEdOSusYzs[/media]

Memory Lane! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/236837-anyone-plugged-their-bass-into-a-kaossilator/"]http://basschat.co.u...-a-kaossilator/[/url] That thread has a lot of info. Again: A Kaoss Pad is an effects unit. It always allows the input of an audio signal. A Kaossilator is a synth with a looper. Advanced versions of it allow the input of an audio signal. Either thrives with your fingers on its X-Y control surface, which may not always be handy for bassists. These units come/came in four different sizes, of which the largest ones are the most advanced. (Actually more models existed, but here I'm referring to the usual ones: the mini, regular, Quad and Pro lines.) Up to now, I only own the two sizes in the middle, and there's nothing fiddly about them IMO and they're very well built and seem to last forever, but the larger the control matrix, the easier it is to hit the right spot. Personally, I will buy both the Kaossilator Pro Plus and the Kaoss Pad 3 (Pro?) (Plus?) in addition to the ones I already have - not as an exchange.

[quote name='6v6' timestamp='1455182310' post='2976671'] (what could possibly go wrong! ) [/quote] Nothing! I wondered about the same thing. Saw a rope type rig many decades ago, with some special type of chain instead of the rope, but I guess that those are extremely very rather obsolete now. The total investment in H&S on that exact rig was a bar that went around it in belly height.

[quote name='Daz39' timestamp='1455105995' post='2975879'] I suppose it wouldn't help to track down the QC inspector of the time who wrote the final tick on it the instant you were brought wailing into the world (even allowing for time difference.) [/quote] Aye. That bass is an SOB.

[quote name='Stu-khag' timestamp='1455021483' post='2975044'] to see what everyone here would be interested in seeing being mentioned in a tv programme. [/quote] "The Amazing Adventures of Simon Simon" by John Surman may be a concept album, Idunno. At any rate it's not the usual prog suspects. Possibly maybe perhaps worth mentioning the (IMO bad) concept that Ekseption had for their "Beggar Julia's time trip", where medieval Julia travels in a spaceship-like time machine and picks up classical music pieces during the trip, in roughly historical order. Thus, the album starts with medieval/Renaissance-like music, before picking up Bach and Beethoven and the like, and megalomaniacally finishing with Ekseption. (Ekseption tended to use known classical themes for their mainly instrumental pop/jazz.)

My stuck-up ex-sister-in-law: "The guests would never leave! Even after I'd said "Please stay longer! No need to go yet!" several times, they still just kept sitting! " Sometimes, a divorce is just a lucky escape.

[quote name='phil.c60' timestamp='1454953572' post='2974571'] I've seen that photo of you in your pants. [/quote] Demm! I'd almost forgotten that, but you just had to bring it back! I'll have to go in retail therapy now.

[quote name='12stringbassist' timestamp='1454930567' post='2974208'] [media]https://www.youtube....h?v=SoAYK9tjWMQ[/media] [/quote] For some reason, I didn't get that to work (Win10 / Chrome), but it must be this, yes? Edit: I found out why. Somehow, your link had been truncated in such a way that the part we normally see of a long link text (as in: with "...." in place of a long string) now had become the link text itself. Anyway, here it be: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoAYK9tjWMQ[/media]

That was a luvverly photo though.

Dutch 80s band Mo used bassoon, synth or electric piano for the bass role, depending on song or song segment. Here's their "Nancy" in playback with visible bassoon (not in bass role though). I lurv it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntwRQ9JzN0A

I feel so stupid. Suddenly it dawned upon me: - "Honey, remember the bass I built myself?" - "Yes, dear..." - "Sold it to BassDirect! Got 300 quid for it. They said it was very playable. You want a trip to France?" - "That's lovely, dear. Congrats! You mean the one that looks exactly like a Fodera Monarch and even has a perfect butterfly inlay in the headstock? That one?..." - "... ..."

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1454521052' post='2970489'] Can someone please explain to me why anyone would put up a relatively expensive bass for sale (which would attract a commission in the four figure bracket) without making any effort to advertise it anywhere else (as far I can tell). [/quote] A serious depression? Can't be arsed? No clue, and too rich to be caring about the four figure number? Very busy, presumably making a lot more money? Living abroad? One year sailing trip? Beautiful long/short-haired blonde/brunette demanding the darn thing out of the house before he will be allowed near her again, so he desperately sees no other option than a quick handing it in to a shop? Other good or bad reasons that may or may not be rational or may be driven by emotion or the lack thereof?

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1454512852' post='2970383'] ...and does your mother smell of elderberries? [/quote] You solved it! It's Hamster's dad!

Hm. DIsappointed with this thread. I seriously thought it was about something more serious than music. [url="http://s1170.photobucket.com/user/basstractor1/media/Isis_zps33ewclck.jpg.html"][/url] BTW, reportedly this Danish brand recently decided to change their name. My guess thus is Daesh. "[b][i]Daesh - - DA Eshcream[/i][/b]!" But anyway, Isis were very nice indeed. Thanks for posting this! Shamefully I must admit I'd almost forgotten them, and I do tend to like Ipecac-related music.

Yeah, I've tried to check out some newer alternatives, and it seems that most of them either still lock you to one place, or are very gadgety. The Kadabra (if being able to be used as a pure MIDI controller) to me seems like to most viable non-keytar solution at the moment, but personally, I'd still go keytar. Here's a guy on a keytar, playbacking to a guitar solo. The comments are hilarious, for once. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGa5smz23WY

Aye. Me, I prefer spelling mistakes (my own ones) far above what a poxy spellchecker comes up with, and I valiantly try to turn off everything that even resembles it. So far so God. Sorry I can't help with the SPD-SX. Didn't know it even existed. Does it respond to how hard you hit the pads - as in with different samples or rather with interpolation of different samples (as one can't be expected to sample 127 or even 1023 different levels of rimshots) ? That would be cool.

[quote name='JoeEvans' timestamp='1454173813' post='2967259'] It's not cool to have to try too hard, or to need complex and expensive kit to get a good sound, so a simple, classic bass is cool. However, it's also not cool to be the same as everyone else, and it's cool to be an early adopter of new things or a connoisseur of the rare and exotic, so a simple, classic bass is uncool, and a unique and unusual bass is cool. I hope that helps. [/quote] Classic! I like you're thinking. I also like your thinking.

[quote name='AlpherMako5' timestamp='1454162212' post='2967081'] Is it not gonna be the same in the music world? I'm just thinking out loud. [/quote] Thinking out loud here too, I'd think it would depend on exactly which far east factory where talking about, and exactly what contracts and what follow-up you have. In my world for example (sea kayaks), we can trust the Japanese to build stellar quality at a high price, and to be totally dependable. When dealing with China, we're probably in for many control/follow-up visits there each year, and still risk they vanish and/or copy the moulds and/or move production to a place we can't find... really too much to detail here. Dunno about MarkBass and Indonesia, but there has been a lot of talk on BC about the MarkBass changes these last years.

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1454171408' post='2967232'] Low tension, like me! And my mum says I'm cool [/quote] Now [b]that[/b] was a philosophically deep point. Low tension people are [b]the[/b] cool people, so maybe I've been wrong all these decades, and low tension strings are in fact [b]the[/b] cool strings. If that then is true, then probably well-designed basses are cool anyway (yay!), and the regular sunburst P is not (yay!). Ped, you's bin shooked my world!

This is the first time I see someone referring to the 112EXT as colouring the sound. Reportedly it's even more neutral and detailed than a 112MNT (but with lower wattage), which already is a very neutral, detailed cab. The CN212 too is reported to be quite neutral and detailed though, so maybe there is something to this notion - though my knees are jerks and say this must be due to the amp/cab combination more than the cabs alone. Though: as far as I remember, the 112EXT is an effective cab, and the Shuttle is a class D with low damping factor. AFAIK there's no reason to expect these to be a bad combination, so I'm slightly bewildered. If you can't try them, then I'd go for the one that fits your price bracket and carrying needs. Reportedly, they're both stellar, whatever else may be true about them.

Christopher, dear, low tension strings are not cool. Use your eyes!