ambient

If you're looking for an interface to go with it, then check out the Apogee Jam 96k. Works seamlessly with iPad or Mac, I just got one for recording while I'm not at home.

With two aims really. (1) Being able to record doing breaks at uni. (2) Being able to record out and about. I've put this together, the case is off Amazon and cost about £8, initially bought for my WD hard drive, the eBow and my new Apogee Jam 96k fit into it perfectly, there's even a little pouch bit for the cable. I used it for the first time yesterday, in the freezing cold down by the Thames by Tate modern. Everyone was too preoccupied with the Christmas fair to bother about me sat on the bench overlooking the river. A great vibe though, and I recorded something quite nice. [attachment=178004:photo-3.JPG]

[quote name='thebassist' timestamp='1417853553' post='2624522'] I find the "When composing and executing such pieces, how does one know when it's over?" question a fascinating one. I'm currently working with another musician and a technologist that will result in a collaborative piece of music indeterminate in length. It'll always be running, the exact same motifs will never be heard together more than once and you, the listener will choose exactly when you start listening to the piece, for how long, and when you stop listening. I find the philosophy and the basic technological challenges behind such projects fascinating. When complete, the results will be published on a dedicated web site. This link will take you to a piece I recorded when these ideas started to form in my head a few years back. While it is indeterminate in a way, it does require manual intervention from the listener. You can decide which loop to play, when, where in the loop you'd like to start it and where in the loop you'd like to stop it. [url="http://eatsleeprepeat.com/minuspilots_menu_edit.html"]http://eatsleeprepea..._menu_edit.html[/url] [/quote] What a seriously brilliant idea.

[quote name='zero9' timestamp='1417873675' post='2624741'] Have you thought about recording to an iPad? This is also a viable option, especially with cubasis. Very portable and no disk / fan noise to worry about. Plenty of iOS compatible interfaces and cheap software. I'm planning to go this route in favour of PC or Mac. [/quote] Don't iPads come with garageband ?

I have some that are going to be longer, and are going to be different. I'm planning on recording ambient sounds, and playing over them. I want to go to a cathedral and other places, maybe an old castle or a museum, just sit and record then go home and loop it, and record whatever comes to mind. The ambient sound of wherever will be on one track, you may not be able to discern what's there, but it will be there. Maybe like an EVP thing ? [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon"]https://en.wikipedia...oice_phenomenon[/url] Thought that's possibly a little scary, I have a very over active imagination, I may be a little worried in case I do record some ghostly voice 😊. I'm also gonna get a tape to tape multitrack and do some analog recording.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1417828781' post='2624493'] A genuine question, if I may. When composing and executing such pieces, how does one know when it's over..? Is there something in the composer's mind that indicates 'It's time...', or is there some 'signal', or form, that brings, to the initiated, a conclusion..? Could, indeed, one envisage a work extending much longer still, or even looping, or evolving in an infinite number of ways so as to never 'end'..? I can imagine the sound of the wind through trees, lasting a whole season. Is that a valid comparison..? Just wondering; I'm not taking a pot-shot at you. Respect, and all that. To me, it's a bit like a work of modern art that, once hung on a wall, one can't tell if it's the right way up or not (or does that not matter..? ). [/quote] That's a great question. I don't think they ever do end, certainly for some of them. I was talking to one of my tutors today, we were talking about revisiting stuff, and how when you listen back to something that you recorded, that's just a snapshot of that particular time. It's captured what you were thinking, what you were feeling and what you knew at that time. A month later you may be feeling different and thinking differently, and when you listen to it, you may want to change elements of it. I've done that with a few of them, some though you just know are done, it's kind of funny. There are a few that I recorded over the summer, that I haven't touched, I listen to them now and think "where did that come from ?". They just sound 'complete', and they're there but I genuinely don't know where they came from. This sort of music is a journey, when you write it, I get very deeply into it.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1417827145' post='2624481'] Well, if it's any consolation, I listened for even less long to Basinski. No, it's not you; I'm an old fuddy-duddy, schooled in old-school 'beginning, middle, end' folks such as Schubert and Bruckner. To make things worse, I'm not really a bassist, either; I'm a drummer. It's me that's the usurper, here. [/quote] We had to write songs the first year I was at university, I couldn't do it, not 'normal' songs anyway. A normal song was too constraining, I didn't want an 8 bar intro, I wanted maybe a 24 bar intro that merged into a 54 bar verse that seemlessly developed into a 32 bar chorus, that then turned back into the verse without the listener knowing anything about it 😊. Mine always ended up as 5 plus minute long soundscapes, I was using keyboards then, but disguising everything, the drums hardly sounded like drums, and the pianos hardly sounded like pianos. Luckily my tutor was quite open minded, he used to joke that I'd invented my own genre. This is about the only thing I have left, I deleted a lot of the stuff I recorded, there's bass on here pretending to be a guitar [url="https://soundcloud.com/an-ending-ascend/sad-deep-south"]https://soundcloud.c.../sad-deep-south[/url]

[quote name='thebassist' timestamp='1417825515' post='2624472'] I enjoyed it. I also liked the fact that, at times, there was almost no sound at all coming through. Another success in my opinion. [/quote] Thanks I keep a notebook with me, and jot down random thoughts and ideas all the time. This is what I wrote down a few days ago regarding my thoughts on the music I do, (bearing in mind that it's going to form the basis for my degree's final production project). Anyway, my intention with it is to for it to draw the listener in, and to become a part of the music, almost so that for that brief time there's only the listener and the music. Some of the parts are deliberately mixed very low, sometimes they're almost inaudible, but they're there, or maybe they aren't and your mind is inventing them You really need to listen through a good pair of headphones, and it's not something you listen to with any distractions. Maybe all the above is just arty nonsense, I'm not really bothered, that's just what I wrote, intending it for the write up that I'll have to eventually do. This is something else that I'm listening to a lot recently - [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1teSrZ1LE7M"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1teSrZ1LE7M[/url]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1417817026' post='2624381'] Hmm... We'll see. Firstly, though, an apology, as I was unable (or, rather, unwilling...) to listen to the whole piece throughout. I gave it 10 minutes, then 'zapped' forward for the last 10 or so. I must say that, despite having (I think..!) somewhat eclectic tastes, that this is not for me. I found myself unconsciously fumbling for the button that one has to press when enduring a hearing test, indicating the detection of a tone. OK, slightly tongue in cheek, I'll admit, and a tad unfair. I'm all for the notion of experimental music, as long as one accepts that not all experiments are successful. Sorry; I admire the attempt, but wasn't able to appreciate this. Thanks for sharing, though. [/quote] I think I'm maybe on the wrong forum I mostly only listen to contemporary orchestral and ambient/experimental music, this kind of thing [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UBWgeSJlWw"]https://www.youtube....h?v=9UBWgeSJlWw[/url] in fact I can't remember the last time I listened to anything that even had a rhythm section. I don't even play a proper bass

I can see why some people don't bother learning either. They're put off by the tedium of learning. I think though, if you challenge yourself, then you maybe lose that tedium ? I like to get away from shapes, you should learn the notes of the scale, not rely on a shape. One of my tutors encouraged us to play a scale on one string only, any scale, it needn't start on the root either. So you could for instance play an E major scale on the A string starting with the open A, and go all the way along that one string, just playing E major. Then play it descending too. Go through the cycle of 4th and play through every key. That's quite tough, but challenging and pushes you, means you don't rely on shapes, it enables you to see a scale anywhere on the fretboard, and it means you have to learn what notes are where.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1417042734' post='2616633'] I'm struggling to understand why one has to do one or the other thing - scales, notes, etc - first. It sounds a bit mechanical/programmed. Surely learning is a cumulative process and you acquire/learn combinations of pieces of knowledge as you progress. [/quote] To me it's kind of like learning the meaning of French words before attempting a conversation with a French guy. Notes are what you play, you're just learning the names of them. Just like you learn the names of friend, work colleagues, fellow students etc.

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1417030007' post='2616430'] I didn't challenge everything they said, but a lot. I found I learned more from discussing why that just following blindly. Play this cos i said so etc! It served me well. I have a degree in music, understand theory. get some goods gigs. Also after a while when you get an understanding of music teachers don't necessarily know more than you just because they are teachers. Whilst doing my degree there were at least two lecturers who a number of us knew more than. [/quote] I think I possibly misunderstood what you meant, sorry. Asking questions of the tutor shows, to me anyway, that you're learning and involved in what's going on.

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1417019923' post='2616230'] I always challenged my teachers! I think it's necessary. They is no point doing things blindly. You gain better understanding by asking why and then getting an explanation. [/quote] Hmm, but you go to your tutor because they know more than you, and you want to improve. I give my students aims and objectives, based around what they want to learn. I explain at the start of each lesson what we're going to do, and ask at the end if they're ok with what we've done.

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1417013580' post='2616090'] I found learning the notes and scales, arpeggio`s hard work. On changing tutors, i found the the Chromatic scale is the best way to learn scales and arpeggios. You don`t need to know all the notes, and it is all transferable down the neck. The notes come together over time. No idea if it is the right way to go, but i find it easier. I found myself questioning my tutor and myself, because some of it seemed so pointless. It is only when you can execute the stuff, and move forward that you realise how important it is. You need to trust the tutor. Do whatever you are asked, and practice until you get it. You will find it all starts coming together over time. [/quote] That's how I teach people the notes, most know the notes on the open strings, it's pretty easy if you know the next note from E is F, then F# etc. Having a good tutor is invaluable.

Playing the scales will teach you the notes, especially if you properly learn the scale rather than just a pattern.

How you look is vital, I spend ages getting dresses even if I'm just staying home

You know I find much of modern day life to be pretty rubbish. Non-mainstream music being able to find its audience is probably one of the better things.

I think woodwind instruments have such a beautiful timbre. I wrote a piece earlier in the year for a bass and oboe, I used a sample for the composing part, then sent a chart to an oboist to record, what I got back was so beautiful. What's the instrumentation for your gigs ? I'm definitely going to come along.

Do we really need a film about Jaco ?

[quote name='Paul Galbraith' timestamp='1416857254' post='2614398'] I've been thinking about getting a Dual Mono case for a while... as I've found it's worth taking a back up bass for some rehearsals / gigs... am not a gear junky in live situations, in fact I hate lugging about more gear than necessary One thing I am curious about that you current Mono users could tell me about is : when the case is strapped on your back, does the bass neck stick up about 2-3ft about head head (assuming your somewhere between 5ft 7" - 6ft tall)... so if you don't pay enough attention when walking under a door you risk the neck hitting the top of the door frame ? It's so annoying to have to take your bass off / or duck when you need to go through a door way, but then again I can see why cases are designed like this for distributing the weight across your body. Was considering a GruvGear Gig Blade which solves this problem : [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO_35s1wjRc"]https://www.youtube....h?v=IO_35s1wjRc[/url] , this is how most low end saxophone players carry their horn. PS : Some Mono discussion here comparing Mono & Gig Blade : [url="http://www.talkbass.com/threads/gig-blade-v-s-mono-vertigo-v-s-m80.1113658/"]http://www.talkbass....-s-m80.1113658/[/url] [/quote] You get used to ducking down slightly, strangely I'm so used to having a bass with me in certain places, I do it automatically even when I don't

This is the longest piece that I've recorded so far, it's actually just an edit from a full length piece that I'm still working on, this is the ending (I'm working backwards ) Not everyone's cup of tea I know, this piece is quite sort of 'out there', and there's no real bass playing in sight, though it is all bass I promise [url="https://soundcloud.com/an-ending-ascend/for-one-brief-moment"]https://soundcloud.com/an-ending-ascend/for-one-brief-moment[/url]

Cool, I really liked the bit at about 1.50 onwards where you have the 2 registers playing. It's a cool idea having the triggered percussion, like on the other track of yours I was listening to a few weeks ago. Just using the vibrations of the instruments to play the snare. I really hope to come see you when you eventually play live somewhere.

Try this [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H02C9TG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H02C9TG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00[/url] I just got one for recording in Logic while I'm not at home, save carrying my main interface around. It's designed for Apple devices, and comes with various cables for different devices. Sounds really nice too, or should I say it doesn't actually sound like anything ?