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A big thunderous amp that you can feel in your chest is cool and all but not many people get to use things past 80 dBA let alone 100, so playing through headphones when practicing is a lot nicer for your neighbors and your hearing health as you can get to the point where stuff is perceptable without causing lasting damage or an eviction notice.
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Mar 11, 2021 16:09
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Playing with a real amp is cool, but with headphones I don't find the laptop to be soulless or whatever. It's just more of a pain to set up. I can't really keep my focusrite set up full time, I need to move and arrange things each time. If I had a different office set up where I could keep the interface plugged in I'd probably go with the laptop.
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Mar 11, 2021 16:17
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If you know electronics you can also build yourself something for apartment playing. I built myself a little 1 watt tube amp for bedroom volumes because I live in an apartment, so I can still enjoy some tubey goodness while respecting my neighbors. That's wicked hard to do with bass because you need more power for low end amplification, but that's where solid state will be your friend. A lot of SS amps and practice amps have headphone jack for you to use headphones. The point being your choices arent "180 Watt full stack or laptop". There's plenty of stuff in between.
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Mar 11, 2021 16:26
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Honestly as long as you're enjoying yourself and not annoying the neighbors, you're "doing it right" IMO.
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Mar 11, 2021 17:28
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Kvlt! posted:I'm a tube amp tech by trade so granted I am one of those people who bitches about surface mount boards and throws my paycheck at Analogman, but to me there really is some magic in having a physical amplifier, be it tube or solid state, that just completely dies in the digital realm. This might be a total "personal preference" thing, but something magical just completely dies when I play an instrument through a laptop. If it doesn't bother you, then more power to you and go for it, but I figured to the person asking for advice I'd toss out my experience. It's definitely more difficult to get that "magic" when going direct like that, but it can certainly be done. It requires a good understanding of EQ, compression, etc. to get that feeling back. That's why sometimes you'll see engineers record both the direct signal AND mic a cab. Definitely too much trouble for the purposes of practicing, unless you're looking for an excuse to learn about sound engineering... but then you'll need a DAW, plug-ins, interface, etc. Scarf fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Mar 11, 2021 |
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Mar 11, 2021 19:05
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Welp im gonna do it. Gonna spend more than 400 bucks on the Future Impact pedal. Hope its worth it!
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Mar 11, 2021 21:31
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Shageletic posted:Welp im gonna do it. Gonna spend more than 400 bucks on the Future Impact pedal. Hope its worth it!  Welcome aboard! I'm still enjoying the poo poo out of mine... Just remember, you'll have the most success/fun by altering your playing to suit the individual patches; you can't just maintain your typical playing style and expect it to trigger/track flawlessly.
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Mar 11, 2021 22:01
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Hellblazer187 posted:Honestly as long as you're enjoying yourself and not annoying the neighbors, you're "doing it right" IMO.  but with the caveat that it's okay to annoy the neighbours every now and then.
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Mar 12, 2021 01:47
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Bill Posters posted:
A few weeks ago I had the day off so I borrowed an SLM from work and wanted to see how loud was "loud" 120dBA later I thought "yeah this is starting to be where my earplugs can't help, this rules"
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Mar 12, 2021 01:56
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My friend has been kicking around the idea of learning the intro to "Heart of the Sunrise" for a while, and he's taking the plunge. He's a guitarist, so his hands'll be full, and he's invited me along for the ride. Just to be ornery, I'm learning it on my new P-bass, because I don't have a Rick, and I won't miss all the treble. It'd be a thousand times easier on my Jazz bass, but whatever. That one bar of 5/8 is a real bitch.
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Mar 13, 2021 06:53
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Double post because I have a question: tremolo pedals. That's my question. In the beforetimes, I was thinking about adding a pedal to my board that was a multi-tasker. One thing that could do a few things OK enough for the rare times when I want them. Currently, I have a lot of stuff I do use, or did use when gigs were a thing: a tuner, an envelope filter, a Pitch Fork, a compressor, a Deluxe Bass Muff, an MXR Bass Overdrive, a Bass Clone chorus, and an EQ. Of those, I use the envelope filter occasionally, but I love it so it stays. The tuner, compressor, Pitch Fork, Muff, Clone, and EQ all get tons of use (the compressor is almost always on). I like the overdrive, and occasionally I just want that boosted, mildly dirty sound, but I find myself barely ever using it. However, I occasionally would like to have a tremolo, or a phaser, or maybe even a flanger. Well, probably not a flanger, since more than a tiny amount of that would bury me in any live or recorded mix. But, some classic songs have some tremolo on the bass, and phasers are fun if you ever get to solo. On the Amazons, I see this Coolmusic A-ME01 modulator, and it does all this stuff. I don't need something that provides the ultimate experience in these effects, and for $46 or so, I know I'm not getting that. But has anyone messed around with this thing? I know Zoom makes or made a stomp box that's basically their B1 pedal's software in a stomp box (and thus less great as a multi-effect), and I have the B1Xon so I know how those effects sound on there. And they're OK. The multi-phase is particularly crazy. But, I don't want that thing sitting next to my main pedal board, taking up all that room and begging to get smashed because it's plastic.
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Mar 13, 2021 16:16
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Scarf posted:
Im so used to lagging pedals id be ecstatic if it followed at all. Got a email confirmation from the manufacturer but no email confirming its been sent. 2 days! Wtf England.
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Mar 13, 2021 16:22
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tarlibone posted:My friend has been kicking around the idea of learning the intro to "Heart of the Sunrise" for a while, and he's taking the plunge. He's a guitarist, so his hands'll be full, and he's invited me along for the ride. As a guitarist whose bass player decided we had to learn "YEM" by Phish, I feel your pain my friend. Best of luck!
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Mar 13, 2021 16:34
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Kvlt! posted:As a guitarist whose bass player decided we had to learn "YEM" by Phish, I feel your pain my friend. Best of luck! boy man god poo poo
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Mar 13, 2021 17:05
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tarlibone posted:In the beforetimes, I was thinking about adding a pedal to my board that was a multi-tasker. One thing that could do a few things OK enough for the rare times when I want them. I think many people turn to a Line6 M5. Single effect at a time, rugged, stereo ins and outs, can do tap tempo for tremolo. The cons are that it needs 12 volts, kinda large, and might be a more expensive option compared to the Amazon or zoom options. I really like mine and I'd recommend it.
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Mar 13, 2021 17:20
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RE tremolo, I actually use my Phase 100 as a sort of tremolo and it works great. Crank the speed up and set it to your desired intensity level for a tremolo effect, or use it as a traditional (slower) phaser to sound really mellow and cool. Obviously I can't do anything too fancy with the tremolo (tap tempo, square wave, stuttering effects, etc) but I don't miss that stuff.
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Mar 13, 2021 17:38
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Oh man so, from the "post your next purchase" thread, bringing it back in here: Thinking about easy to play songs for beginners that aren't just "I'm hitting the same note over and over for five minutes" and I think Comfortably Numb and Walking on the Moon are my top pics for "hey i just bought a bass -------- and now I can play a song!!" music. Comfortably Numb gets a little tricky near the end but you can easily dumb it down and still sound plausibly good. Walking on the Moon was just a cakewalk on the moon and was a huge confidence booster. Even now when I feel like I suck after not having picked up the bass for a week because I've been busy at work, I just plug in and crank one of those two out and I feel accomplished  Still working on Talk Talk's It's My Life. The chorus is easy as heck and the refrain isn't too bad but the bridge between the chorus and refrain never fails to twist my fingers. I don't think I've played it correctly yet.
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Mar 16, 2021 13:38
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When I was truly just starting out I would always play Boris the Spider.
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Mar 16, 2021 14:23
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London Calling is pretty simple once you get it down and sounds cool.
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Mar 16, 2021 16:48
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I think the first song I played all the way through was Psycho Killer.
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Mar 16, 2021 16:55
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I usually end up plucking out some Meters tunes if I don't know what else to play.
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Mar 16, 2021 17:27
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Greenday songs for me. Best way to get good imo is soul and funk. This is all you need to know https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHE6hZU72A4
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Mar 16, 2021 17:32
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Here's one I always go back to. Probably just dumb video game nostalgia but I think it sounds pretty good unaccompanied https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSBxP6-Bz40
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Mar 16, 2021 17:57
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Thumposaurus posted:London Calling is pretty simple once you get it down and sounds cool. agreed. rock the casbah and clampdown, too. and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWcQqWW3QCI slow, but very interesting and distinct.
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Mar 16, 2021 18:23
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Don't forget everyone's favourite Seven Nation Army. It's not actually played on bass, but it's fun and fairly simple.
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Mar 16, 2021 21:24
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The Trooper is my go too fun bass riff
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Mar 16, 2021 23:47
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My go-to bass riff is Schism. Anyway, I ended up grabbing a Zoom MS-60B, and it's a neat little pedal. I knew the effects I was interested in sounded good, because they're updated versions of the ones on the B1Xon, which aren't too shabby. (Not studio-grade, but not total poop, either.) I like how this thing works. It's basically 1-4 stomp boxes; it's not made to work like a regular multi-effects unit, though it can kinda do that, but it lets you do something that I really wanted: set an overdrive and a temolo up, and then have just the tremolo switchable with the footswitch. I went with the faux SansAmp and tweaked it to get a little classic Chris Squier Rickenbaker grindy overdrive to my Precision Bass, and the tremolo is the basic Zoom one that's nothing fancy, but does a good job tremoloing. I probably could have done this with my B1Xon, but I think this one sounds a little better. Also, this will fit right on my board, and I can remove the MXR Bass Overdrive. I also really like the phaser and flanger options on this. The double phaser is nice.
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Mar 17, 2021 04:48
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46+2 is the better Tool bassline by a mile damnit
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Mar 17, 2021 06:15
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playing Jerry's guitar lick to China Cat Sunflower on bass is my go to "fun but easy" riff for begginers
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Mar 17, 2021 12:33
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Bottom Liner posted:46+2 is the better Tool bassline by a mile damnit Yeah, but playing enough of Forty-Six & 2 to feel good about (for me anyway) requires tuning the G string up to A so I can play that bar where the phrase uses F as the pedal. I can get through way more of Schism before running into a part where not being in Drop D is an issue.
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Mar 17, 2021 13:08
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Anyone have tips on singing/talking while playing? It's something I've never been good at, but also never had much need for, so I'd never really practice it... The church I play for wants me to start taking on the role of music director on stage, which really just means using our in-ear system to call out changes to the dynamics, vamping, etc., on the fly. I like to counterpoint the melody a lot in my playing, so I'm planning on toning that down a bit and just sticking to the roots when I need to call something out. I'd welcome any other advice though.
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Mar 17, 2021 16:08
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This is the stupidest thing, but I can only sing if I'm playing with a pick.
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Mar 17, 2021 16:20
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Scarf posted:Anyone have tips on singing/talking while playing? It's something I've never been good at, but also never had much need for, so I'd never really practice it... Personally, I either learn the song to the point of muscle memory for bass or the singing then focus on the one that's harder. Also, I find that putting your foot on a cabinet/monitor transfers the vibration of the note you are playing leaving your ear to focus on the singing.
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Mar 17, 2021 16:38
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Find where the vocal melody coincides with 1 and 3 and then you can get an idea of where the vocal should 'land' by the time you're hitting your note on the bass. If you have some sort of weird melody that avoids the 1 and 3 (which should not usually be the case in church music) then you will just need to slow it down and break down the individual parts like drummers do.
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Mar 17, 2021 16:47
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All solid advice, thanks! Honestly though I shouldn't even mention singing, because I'm just going to be talking to the rest of the band... So timing it with the beat and measures might be a bit tricky if I need to convey a lot of direction. The count-ins and whatnot should certainly be easy though.
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Mar 17, 2021 17:53
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It could work: "You!...2...3...4..."quit noodling!"...2...3...4..."
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Mar 17, 2021 17:58
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Not strictly relevant to calling out cues, but I've found that actually singing without playing has helped me go from "nope, can't do it" to "I can play simple stuff and sing at the same time". Before I had my kid, I never sang anything, but having him helped me loosen up and in turn allowed me to slowly approach campfire guitar.
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Mar 17, 2021 20:45
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pumped up for school posted:This is the stupidest thing, but I can only sing if I'm playing with a pick. makes perfect sense, it's much easier to move your whole wrist/arm/hand than individual fingers while also singing.
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Mar 17, 2021 20:56
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As a bassplayer gradually cajoled into singing as well I still find it hard after 30 years because it's always been a cross-rhythm issue for me, so muscle-memory and just lots of practice. You're doing very well if you can sing and play some of the more demanding Police songs, it took me years but I finally cracked Demolition Man but Canary In A Coal Mine is still tricky and there's some horrors like When The World Is Running Down... which is still just impossible for me.
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Mar 17, 2021 22:28
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| # ? Jun 5, 2024 06:41 |
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tarlibone posted:Yeah, but playing enough of Forty-Six & 2 to feel good about (for me anyway) requires tuning the G string up to A so I can play that bar where the phrase uses F as the pedal. I can get through way more of Schism before running into a part where not being in Drop D is an issue. Why don’t you tune to Drop D then? Harmonics on the 7th fret of the low string and 12th fret of A, turn the tuning peg about a quarter turn loose and dial in until the pitches match. Takes about five seconds.
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Mar 17, 2021 23:52
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