The Jam Room Blog Thread.

[giantchris]

Hey bass players:


Your guitar player is doing a heavy 2 note power chord riff on the lowest strings like this-

5  7  6  8  10  9  11  13
3  5  6  6   8   9   9   11

What do you play over-

6
6

?

You're a note short to go low. To me low string fret 6 doesn't sound right and the next higher string on 6 although correct takes away the heaviness of the guitar. An octave up sounds weird. Not playing sounds like a hole. 6 & 6 chord sounds too muddy on bass in B.

Over the 9 & 9 I go down to 2 which sounds great.

Tracking bass and stumped.

Another low string would be great but it's not happening.

I would play the root note which looks like it's probably 3 or G in standard tuning (depending on the rest of the song).  The reason why is this looks like a riff that isn't using any specific scale but the chromatic as it has a ii, iii, vi, vii, VII so if you get too cute with your playing it's going to sound bad.  You could also try a second string 5h6 which might sound cool.  Depending on the speed I might throw both in hit the root on the strong beat and then do the hammer into a second hammer on the second string up to the 8 in the next part of the riff.  so something like what I put below under the 66 and 68 diads.  

a  ----5h6h8-------
e  --3--------6-----

When in doubt root.  

[jibberish]

get a "really bigsby" whammy for your bass.

[agent of change]

I would try hitting that higher string 6 (not because it's correct but because it breaks up the pattern of playing the low string root note) but accentuate it with a wah-wah burst, just for that note, or some other effect or volume boost that makes it stand out a little bit more.

/playedbassonceinaband

[Corey Y]

Hey bass players:


Your guitar player is doing a heavy 2 note power chord riff on the lowest strings like this-

5  7  6  8  10  9  11  13
3  5  6  6   8   9   9   11

What do you play over-

6
6

?

You're a note short to go low. To me low string fret 6 doesn't sound right and the next higher string on 6 although correct takes away the heaviness of the guitar. An octave up sounds weird. Not playing sounds like a hole. 6 & 6 chord sounds too muddy on bass in B.

Over the 9 & 9 I go down to 2 which sounds great.

Tracking bass and stumped.

Another low string would be great but it's not happening.

Obviously there's room for harmony, but the simplest answer for that situation is the root not, which would be the higher note on the sixth fret in that case. That's an inverted power chord. A perfect fifth, but the root note is the higher note and the fifth the lower. The rhythm guitarist in Cold Mourning used them a lot.

[liquidsmoke]

The root(fret 6) would seem to make sense but it's not doing it for me in this case because of the way the riff progresses. As I was drifting off to sleep last night the solution hit me- simply tune down half a step so I can hit the low A(which sounds more like the true root) and record this section separately so it can be inserted into the song when we get everything loaded into Protools. When we get to finding another bass player and playing out live again they can figure something else out. I just want that 6/6 chord to really explode on guitar with doom power and a low A on bass will help a lot. Hitting the low root on the 9/9 strum involves a quick slide down to the third fret and it sounds excellent. I've been badly neglecting my bass in recent years and am really enjoying the writing and tracking process for our ep.

[Danny G]

Nice! Problem solved \m/,

[mortlock]

this should put a smile on a few faces around here. hades mining co. [my crappy noisecore band]  short fast + loud #28 summer 2014.

[Danny G]

Wow. That's such a bad review it somehow becomes kind of awesome #win

[mortlock]

I set out to release the worlds worst record. hence the title. looks like I achieved my goal. haha
the reviewer went out of their way to insult us.. you know you struck a nerve when that happens. #win

[liquidsmoke]

 

You should write a song called Dante's Exploratory Drilling.

[mortlock]

I assume the reviewer was referring to the legendary eric wood of man is the bastard. im not sure who 'eric woods' is. hahahah fuckin dumbass..

[RAGER]

I had kind of a weird/shitty experience at my local synth store yesterday where I have purchased many things including my new Moog Sub 37.  These guys know that I'm a beginner at this stuff and I don't always know the technical jargon or even some of the fundamentals.  So I went in because I had a couple questions on the new synth.  I'm currently waiting on a hard copy manual and yes I can download the manual too but manuals are sometimes full of the jargon I don't quite understand.  I'm a hands on guy. The owner seemed put out and got really frustrated and just basically rushed away when he thought he'd answered me enough.  So needless to say i'm a bit fucking pissed at the lack of attention.  Especially being someone in sales.  I don;t expect everybody than comes into my work to be an expert on RV's and know the jargon.  They don;t work there, I do.  I'm the expert and it's my job to patiently educate them.

There are other places where I can spend my money I guess.

[The Shocker]

I feel the same way when I go in music stores.  Must attract a certain type of employee.

[Lumpy]

There's a lot of 'cooler than thou' bullshit in the synth world. Probably because that's the only situation in life where they can have a pecking order where they're not at rock bottom. What good is knowing all that esoteric electronic shit if you can't use it to denigrate somebody? It's a universe of socially inept misfits. Etc etc.

[Lumpy]

I feel the same way when I go in music stores.  Must attract a certain type of employee.

Record stores too. God forbid you go inside wearing the wrong t-shirt.

[RAGER]

So many of these people know the gear in and out and all the programming tech shit but all they can do is bleep bloop.  Nothing musical.  His sales guy that works for him seems to be alright but he's an ex GC employee so I'm always a bit guarded.  And he's a total wheeler dealer.  Does know his shit and can play.  We text sometimes.  He's been trying to get me into modular, probably just to sell me his cast offs. Next time he does I will let him know why he hasn't seen me in the shop.

Let's break out some guitars or drums mother fucker.   Oh can't play? Like I thought.

I don't collect vinyl.  I'd prolly punch somebody.

[mortlock]

thats obviously your first mistake. you dont collect vinyl. whats a matter for you..

[RAGER]

Like I need another goddamm hobby.  Thinkn about selling some cars and some gear.  Fuck, I still have my golf clubs.  Haven't played in like 4 years.  Fuck is wrong with me?  Ain't gettin rid o my fishin gear though.  Still do that 2 or 3 times a year.

[mortlock]

dump the golf clubs..buy vinyl. ill trade you vinyl for home cooked meals..

[RAGER]

You should see what I have in store for tonight. Then it's back to oatmeal and Cheerios tomorrow.

[eyeprod]

sounds shitty rager. I would not want to go back there.

The thing about synth stuff is it's really skewed towards what and how much gear you have. The playing music part sometimes seems secondary, at best, when you step into that world.

I like to make weird sounds just as much as the next guy, so it's hard to fault someone for not having much skill and just being happy making blips and bleeps. just getting the things to make any sound can be difficult for a beginner if you don't have someone to show you around. even experienced people can get lost. The manual usually shows you cool tricks and has good basic knowledge on how that particular synth works. I like to have a hard copy too. even if I only use it a few times.

[liquidsmoke]

Don't use cheap SDHC cards in digital recorders. Spend a little more money and get a 'fast' one.



I'm going to challenge my roommate to make a song using only his Microbrute one track at a time by hand. Dialing in each sound for each track Kraftwerk pre-midi style.

[RAGER]

Microbrute can make just about any sound. Should be easy.

[liquidsmoke]

There is some neat stuff on youtube.

I'd like to see a live band of 4 or 5 people each with one.

[eyeprod]

I do that with a loop pedal and my minibrute. You don't need midi or cv. It's easy once you get used to it, but challenging when performing live. I like my sampler for having some good sounds ready at the press of a button.