Skol303

Great photos guys! I don't do selfie's myself... my top secret double-life means that if I did, I'd have to track you all down and kill you. And frankly, I don't have the time

^ Nah... if it's foam then most of the time it's pointless. You want a dense Rockwool-like material and lots of it! But ultimately, most domestic spaces - like my own - are [i]never[/i] going to be ideal in terms of acoustics. They just tend to be too small and/or too regular. Doesn't mean you can't make the most of it, however. I've recently started using [url="http://sonarworks.com/?gclid=CP6sw6Oewc8CFRS3GwodPYIESA"]Sonarworks[/url] (took the plunge after trying out the demo) and for me it's very useful; certainly worth the investment. I use 8" monitors in a smallish room - mainly because I want the low end sub-50Hz for a lot of the electronic stuff I produce - and with that set up I'm always going to have problems with bass nodes. Sonarworks has tackled many of the problems I was having and I'm finding that my mixes translate much better now that I've started using it (less time faffing around playing mixes on various sound systems and scribbling notes). Could be a good solution for you if, like me, worthwhile acoustic treatment isn't a viable option.

Looks great Paul and you're following all the right advice Bass traps are always what's needed in home studios to help improve the 'neutrality' of your monitoring. These guys are a small, friendly firm that makes excellent products and are full of good advice (I used them myself): http://www.bluefrogaudio.co.uk A pair of movable 'gobo' traps might be just what you need. Alternatively you can make your own with sufficient planning and patience. Avoid the cheap foam panels get sold as part of 'home acoustic' kits. They do next to nothing when it comes to taming bass frequencies and will most likely just make your room sound boxy. Good luck and keep us updated!

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1475421776' post='3145766']Apart from bagpipes...[/quote] The one and only taboo that must NEVER be crossed. As supported in law by the Geneva Conventions: article 178 section 3.3A, paragraph 42. I'm serious. Don't **** with that ****! Ever.

[color=#800080][b]VOTING HAS STARTED![/b][/color] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/292783-noodle-bar-voting-time/"][size=6]Get out of here...[/size][/url]

[size=6][color=#800080][b]September’s noodles are in... let battle commence![/b][/color][/size] [size=5]Have a listen, pick your favourite [b]THREE[/b] and vote:[/size] [url="http://soundcloud.com/user-531446910/the-madness-of-vietnam"]Twincam[/url] [url="http://soundcloud.com/mr-funky-7/bass-noodle-1/s-t0zZH"]funkgod[/url] [url="http://soundcloud.com/leonard-smalls/really-free-man"]Leonard Smalls[/url] [url="http://soundcloud.com/agwin/equinoodle"]Agwin[/url] [url="http://soundcloud.com/timothy-terrence-higgins-iv/alt-ohm"]timhiggins[/url] [url="http://soundcloud.com/cherrywhitemusic/funky-appendage/s-RxpFB"]EliasMooseblaster[/url] [url="http://soundcloud.com/julian-moss-511168525/sept-noodle"]MoonBassAlpha[/url] [color=#800080][size=5][b]Voting ends midnight on Saturday 8th October.[/b][/size][/color]

[b][color=#800000]VOTING ENDS TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT![/color][/b] If you haven't already done so... now is the time to pull your finger out [size=2][i](for god's sake don't sniff it)[/i][/size], choose your top three favourites and clickety-click.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/292384-september-composition-challenge-voting/page__pid__3139943#entry3139943"][size=8][b]VOTING HAS STARTED![/b][/size][/url]

[color=#800000][b][size=5]Voting has now started on September’s Composition Challenge.[/size][/b][/color] [size=5]Here's the inspiration for this month's music, chosen by our previous winners [b]Leonard Smalls[/b] and [b]Lowdown[/b]…[/size] [size=5]…and here are the compositions. Please vote for your top [u]THREE[/u] favourites:[/size] christofloffer [url="http://soundcloud.com/christofloffer/chemical-imbalance"]‘Chemical Imbalance’[/url] Dad3353 [url="http://soundcloud.com/dad3353/insoutenable"]‘Insoutenable’[/url] Mornats [url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/that-place"]‘That Place’[/url] Leonard Smalls [url="http://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/pollocks"]‘Pollock’s’[/url] Rikki1984 [url="http://soundcloud.com/rikki-boyes/reality"]‘Reality’[/url] lurksalot [url="http://soundcloud.com/lurksalot/black-and-blue"]‘Black And Blue’[/url] Indy [url="http://soundcloud.com/thevelvetknock/all-seeing-i"]‘ALL SEEING I’[/url] bassinvader36 [url="http://soundcloud.com/thebudebassist/abstract-schizo-killer"]‘Abstract Schizo Pollox’[/url] [color=#800000][size=5][b]Voting ends at midnight on Friday 30th September [/b][/size][/color]

Well done all! I won't be entering this month - first time EVER. Just back from overseas (literally in cab home as I type...) and won't have time to write/record anything at this late hour. I have however been busy elsewhere and can hopefully share the results of some of that soon Good work everyone who did enter. I'll post up the voting thread sometime tomorrow...

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1473422965' post='3130086'] Is it all over? Do I get to wear a tiara an blub a bit? [/quote] You most certainly do! Well done on a nice noodle. [color=#800080][size=5][b]September's Noodle Bar is now open.[/b][/size][/color] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/291538-basschat-noodle-bar-september/"]Pull up a stool and get to work...[/url]

[color=#800080][size=5][b]Welcome to the Basschat Noodle Bar™! [/b][/size][/color] The rules are simple: [list] [*][b]Record yourself playing bass for up to 60 seconds.[/b] You can record whatever the heck you like: an original riff or lick; something from your band’s own repertoire; or a well-known piece you’re currently practicing. Doesn’t matter what. Just record something. [/list][list] [*][b]Make sure it’s bass only: no other instruments.[/b] FX and pedals are allowed, as are simple click tracks and metronomes. [/list][list] [*][b]Upload your recording to SoundCloud, YouTube or another music-sharing platform of your choice.[/b] Once you’re finished, post the link to your recording in this thread. Job done! [/list] Or in short: PRESS RECORD > PLAY BASS > PRESS STOP! [size=5][color=#800080][b]The deadline for entries is midnight on Friday 30th September.[/b][/color][/size]

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1473111255' post='3127094'] Normally 7 days , so as it went up on the 1st , Wednesday midnight would be the deadline [/quote] Spot on. I've yet to vote... will do so shortly

Punch: notes with plenty of 'attack', so that the sound wave starts with a big, beefy peak that punches through clearly. Typical of players who use a pick or a harder finger style. Heft: a tone that has plenty of junk in the trunk; one that's not shy about its low end and has lots going on sub 200Hz (giving it plenty of size and 'weight'). The sound wave looks like a ski jump. Growl: this comes from having plenty going on in the mid-range, typically between 400Hz - 1kHz. Kinda like the opposite of a 'scooped' smiley face EQ - the growl tone looks like an angry, downturned mouth with a peak in the mids and trailing off towards the lows and highs. Grrr!

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1472116522' post='3118590'] It won't let me choose more than one? [/quote] Should now be working

[color=#800000][b]VOTING THREAD IS UP[/b][/color] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/290587-august-composition-challenge-voting/"][size=8][b]Skedaddle![/b][/size][/url]

[color=#800000][b][size=5]Voting has now started on this month’s Composition Challenge.[/size][/b][/color] [size=5]Here's the inspiration for this month's music, chosen by yours truly…[/size] [size=5]…and here are the compositions. Please vote for your top THREE favourites:[/size] Dad3353 [url="http://soundcloud.com/dad3353/bach-to-the-future"]‘Bach To The Future’[/url] lurksalot [url="http://soundcloud.com/lurksalot/bricklayers-lament"]‘Bricklayers Lament’[/url] Mornats [url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/brooklyn-two-one"]‘Brooklyn Two One’[/url] christofloffer [url="http://soundcloud.com/christofloffer/organised-chaos"]‘Organised Chaos’[/url] fingers211 [url="http://soundcloud.com/nigel-jewell/brooklyne-stinker"]‘Brook, Lyne & Stinker’[/url] Leonard Smalls [url="http://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/throb"]‘Throb’[/url] BassBus [url="http://soundcloud.com/bassbus/salute-the-death-star-5-minute-edit"]‘Salute The Death Star’[/url] Skol303 [url="http://soundcloud.com/skollob/microphone-check-its-only-me-feat-donnie-ozone"]‘Microphone Check’[/url] MoonBassAlpha [url="http://www.dropbox.com/s/pmrmxrdmf8b6ytu/Urban%20Sprawl%20cowbell%20edit.mp3?dl=0"]‘Urban Sprawl’[/url] xgsjx [url="http://soundcloud.com/gxmix/mass-emptiness"]‘Mass Emptiness’[/url] lowdown [url="http://soundcloud.com/garrycribb/brooklyn-heights"]‘Brooklyn Heights’[/url] [color=#800000][size=5][b]Voting ends at midnight on Wednesday 31st August [/b][/size][/color]

Well done everyone! I'll post up the voting thread tomorrow morning. So there's still time for any stragglers...

People like Wooten, Pastorius, Claypool, etc... their playing is always going to be off-putting to some people because it's showy and different. They're not typical of most bass players - and that's EXACTLY why they've gained notoriety and also why they're important. If we were all typical, then bass playing would never move forwards. Any of these virtuoso players could hold down a groove all day long. Of course they could. But they chose to do otherwise. None of which is to say anyone has to like what they play. That's a totally subjective issue and will always boil down to personal preference. We'd get no further trying to debate the best flavour of ice cream (but for the record it's rum and raisin). And besides, Thundercat is way more interesting than any of these guys, but nobody seems to talk about him on here. Now that is rubbish! And there, I said it

[quote name='Duarte' timestamp='1471662623' post='3114868']fonkay![/quote] [quote name='Prosebass' timestamp='1471684860' post='3114973']Like it, thanks for sharing. Grandmaster Flash meets The Stone Roses [/quote] [quote name='JonesTheCat' timestamp='1471689719' post='3115043']Really like that. Sounds like something I'd expect to hear on a Peanut Butter Wolf mix on Stones Throw.[/quote] Thanks guys! Very flattered by the Peanut Butter Wolf and Stone Roses references. I'd been listening to a lot of Roses during the week I recorded the bass part, and I think it [i]definitely[/i] had an influence on me

Done! http://soundcloud.com/skollob/microphone-check-its-only-me-feat-donnie-ozone A collaboration with my comrade Donnie in Brooklyn, who supplied the vocal. I spent more time on this than my usual monthly challenge tracks... that's not to say it shows! ...just that I was more diligent with the playing, arrangement and mixing (with an eye to possibly releasing this as a single at some point in future). The bass is all yours truly. It's an acoustic fretless, strung with tapewound. The sort of 'upright' sound comes from simultaneously recording DI and with a mic, and then EQing/mixing the two tracks together (the DI gives a typical fretless sound with a rich low end; the mic captures the resonance of the acoustic bass' body and gives a nice uprighty edge to the mids). I cheated with the solo part and recorded it a couple of bars at a time and then fudged everything together. The rest was a sort of play along with a few fixes here and there. Guitar parts are my own with some overlays from the Reason sound bank. Horns are all samples. [color=#800000][b]The deadline for entries is midnight on Wednesday.[/b][/color] So there's still time if you're dawdling about having a dabble...

[quote name='timhiggins' timestamp='1471646070' post='3114817'] Is it you on both versions ? [/quote] Thanks Tim! I'm playing on the 'Fender Mix'; the other version uses a sample.

My mate Donnie in Brooklyn has a new single out on the blocSonic net-label - and it's got muggins 'ere playing bass on it Linky dink: http://blocsonic.com/releases/bs450031 Bass is an old Fender P strung with flats. Mix and production is by Donnie Ozone; vocals by Donnie and Pot-C. Was [i]really[/i] fun working on something where I could just focus on playing bass and not tweaking the mix itself. Very liberating. Won't be everyone's cup of tea but comments very welcome!

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1471352663' post='3112379'] i haven't even started yet... oops [/quote] Still time mate! I've cobbled together some of these challenge tracks in a couple of hours. Although they were admittedly at the crappier end of my repertoire