Fredde Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Hi, Web programming is my main business, but I sometimes like to do nerdy stuff in my free time as well. So, for the benefit of all my fellow bassists, I made a web based virtual bass application. You can use it to try out bass lines while sitting at work, or make simple tab transcriptions. Here it is: [url="http://subsite.tilaa.eu/virtualbass/"]VirtualBass[/url] [url="http://subsite.tilaa.eu/virtualbass/"][/url] The original idea was to experiment with the new audio features of HTML5. Since this is a new technique, it won't work in all browsers. But with Chrome 10, Firefox 4 or Safari 5, you should be fine. I've even had reports that it works in IE 9(!). It's free to use of course. (If you like it however, you could recommend it to someone!) Comments, bug reports and feature requests are welcome! /Fredde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboyslimfast Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Love it! What a cool little tool. Cheers Freddie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Good stuff! Mine's out of tune though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredde Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 Thanks guys! [quote name='toneknob' post='1236680' date='May 19 2011, 11:45 AM']Good stuff! Mine's out of tune though [/quote] Thanks for the feedback! This is weird, could you be a bit more specific? Does it concern both the Fender and the Ibanez? Is it a specific note, or out of tune in general? How much out of tune is it? Which browser do you use (brand and version)? The samples should be in tune (at least the Fender was both tuned and had its intonation adjusted with a digital tuner before recording), and I've not had other complaints. So it could be it doesn't play the right samples for the notes in your browser, and I will of course fix it if I can! Of course these are real samples from a real bass, and even with good intonation adjustment so a "perfect pitch" on every note is impossible to achieve (at least on my bass, and with my fretting technique). Does anyone else experience this problem? /Fredde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire5 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Neat! Really Neat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Looks good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Hughes Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Cool one - just put in the intro to 'The Peter Gunn Theme'!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 I'm joking What would be good is to drag around the notes once you've played them - I just played the Smoke On The Water intro. The tab was right but the playback was lumpy and the timing different to what I played. I'm using Google Chrome on Windows XP, sp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredde Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 [quote name='toneknob' post='1236719' date='May 19 2011, 12:28 PM']I'm joking [/quote] That's pure evil [quote name='toneknob' post='1236719' date='May 19 2011, 12:28 PM']What would be good is to drag around the notes once you've played them - I just played the Smoke On The Water intro. The tab was right but the playback was lumpy and the timing different to what I played. I'm using Google Chrome on Windows XP, sp3[/quote] The playback is pretty primitive as the tab doesn't support different time values for the notes. This would be a very complicated feature to implement, so it's not currently on the roadmap. Sorry. Smoke on the water is a sh*tload of 1/8ths on the same note right? As weird as it sounds, playing the same note repeatedly is very memory-intense. If the playback is uneven, it usually means the browser's buffering can't keep up. You could also try to playback with a lower BPM. (Or choose a tune with a walking bass line ) Tip: When I transcribe a classic rock song with the typical 1/8 machine-gunning going on, I just play 1/4ths or halves and then change the tab after copy-pasting into a text editor afterwards. /Fredde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 [quote name='Fredde' post='1236748' date='May 19 2011, 10:53 AM']Smoke on the water is a sh*tload of 1/8ths on the same note right? As weird as it sounds, playing the same note repeatedly is very memory-intense. If the playback is uneven, it usually means the browser's buffering can't keep up. You could also try to playback with a lower BPM. (Or choose a tune with a walking bass line ) Tip: When I transcribe a classic rock song with the typical 1/8 machine-gunning going on, I just play 1/4ths or halves and then change the tab after copy-pasting into a text editor afterwards.[/quote] I was playing the intro riff: G Bb C, G Bb C# C etc - so yes the app gives me the accurate tab but it's tough to get the timing right. Might next effort was Enter Sandman: ||: E E E E E E E F :|| which gets a bit bumpy probably due to the buffering problem you mention. Any tips on how to increase buffer size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Fredde! That's absolutely brilliant and will be a very helpful tool to tab out songs really quickly. I'd love to see a six string version in the future - but I think this version already on its own is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredde Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 [quote name='dood' post='1236884' date='May 19 2011, 03:18 PM']Fredde! That's absolutely brilliant and will be a very helpful tool to tab out songs really quickly. I'd love to see a six string version in the future - but I think this version already on its own is great![/quote] On user has actually volunteered to send me samples of his 6-stringer, so we may have this feature soon! To the knowledge of all: If you want to play your own bass virtually, you can send me the samples and I'll upload them to the application! Contact me, and I'll give you further instructions. It would be real nice to have more basses there to choose from! /Fredde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredde Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 [quote name='toneknob' post='1236815' date='May 19 2011, 02:11 PM']Might next effort was Enter Sandman: ||: E E E E E E E F :|| which gets a bit bumpy probably due to the buffering problem you mention. Any tips on how to increase buffer size?[/quote] There's not really much you can do to improve this, the problem lies within the limitations of html5 audio. It doesn't like playing the same sample many times at the same time. I already buffer all samples twice to help with this, but buffering more samples also makes the page slower to load. But you're right, this is a bit of a problem, and I'll have to see what I can do. Maybe a set of really short samples, or optional triple buffering. /Fredde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 (edited) You gotta love that!.. thanks man.. not complaining at all but it would great with notation Edited May 19, 2011 by bubinga5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalMan Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Looks good (no sound at work so that'll have to wait til later) How do you want samples recorded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Smashing little too - spent the last five mins doodling some ideas. Now keen to go home and try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Fredde' post='1236603' date='May 19 2011, 08:31 AM']It's free to use of course. (If you like it however, you could recommend it to someone!) Comments, bug reports and feature requests are welcome! /Fredde[/quote] Great, and you can do loads with it depending how many rests you use to make the timing As you ask .. Would be good to have a button to turn off the Tabbing, so you could find a note before it writes it whilst working something out (EDIT it does, my bad, great program matey !) Can you print ? Where is the Tab police ? Edited May 19, 2011 by lojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredde Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 [quote name='WalMan' post='1236941' date='May 19 2011, 04:26 PM']Looks good (no sound at work so that'll have to wait til later) How do you want samples recorded?[/quote] You have a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredde Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 [quote name='lojo' post='1237234' date='May 19 2011, 08:35 PM']Can you print ?[/quote] Currently your best option is to copy-paste the tab into a text editor and print from there. [quote name='lojo' post='1237234' date='May 19 2011, 08:35 PM']Where is the Tab police ?[/quote] Shh, not so loud, he might hear... /Fredde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Hi Fredde, This is great, love it! I had a quick play with it last night and I'm very impressed... I'll have a more detailed look over the weekend and get back to you if I can think of any useful feedback, but for the time being you've done a great job here. I've used similar, commercial products in the past and it compares very well against them. Sure, the interface is a little basic - but that's not a criticism; for me it's actually a positive. Just an idea, but something like this would make a fantastic iPhone app... I don't think there's anything similar on the market at the moment. There are a number of apps that simulate a bass or guitar (e.g. PocketGuitar), but none that I know of which allow you to record your noodlings in tab format. If you're commercially-minded that might be worth investigating - provided you give me a 10% royalty for suggesting it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboyslimfast Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 +1 - iphone app that can then send the tab as an email would be spot-on... I'd pay 59p for that one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredde Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 [quote name='Skol303' post='1238021' date='May 20 2011, 01:58 PM']Just an idea, but something like this would make a fantastic iPhone app... I don't think there's anything similar on the market at the moment. There are a number of apps that simulate a bass or guitar (e.g. PocketGuitar), but none that I know of which allow you to record your noodlings in tab format. If you're commercially-minded that might be worth investigating - provided you give me a 10% royalty for suggesting it! [/quote] This has crossed my mind also. The problem is, I don't know the first thing about making apps for iPhone, so I would have to learn this first, and developing the web version takes too much time already. The iPhone is also a completely different platform, so I would pretty much have to rewrite the code from scratch. But if any of you guys is an iPhone SDK wizard, do get in touch, and we'll see what we can come up with! Skol303: 10% sounds a bit steep, how about I buy you a beer if you come to Helsinki? /Fredde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 [quote name='Fredde' post='1238655' date='May 20 2011, 08:03 PM']...if any of you guys is an iPhone SDK wizard, do get in touch, and we'll see what we can come up with! Skol303: 10% sounds a bit steep, how about I buy you a beer if you come to Helsinki? [/quote] I do in fact have a friend who's familiar with developing on iOS. A project like this might be beyond their own time/knowledge, but it can't hurt to ask. I'll let you know if there's any potential for some collaboration. ... if so, I'll certainly take you up on that offer a beer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Hi Fredde, it's fantastic. If you like, I can submit samples from a Warwick Corvette $$ (currently 4 string but the low B will be here soon), or an Epiphone Thunderbird - I would love to help you out on a project like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredde Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 [quote name='dc2009' post='1238802' date='May 21 2011, 12:45 AM']Hi Fredde, it's fantastic. If you like, I can submit samples from a Warwick Corvette $$ (currently 4 string but the low B will be here soon), or an Epiphone Thunderbird - I would love to help you out on a project like this.[/quote] Great! PM sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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