Working Songs Out

[BassMan94]

Hey guys quick question ...

How do you guys work things out ? What I find is that if I play through my amplug headphone amp and insert the correct media i.e. ipod, ipad I can work it out quite easily, meaning less time. When I listen to songs through normal speakers it's 'harder' for me, for example a lick that i want to learn, through headphones I can work out mostly in one go, presuming I find the right root note. Whereas through normal speakers I'm a bit iffy

Is this just personal preference or should I start working things out through normal speakers due to the 'real world' not providing headphones

How do you guys go about working things out ?

Cheers
ML

[BILL POSTERS]

I'm the same, but even then I'm crap at it.

God bless youtube.

[seashell]

Always through headphones for me. Then when I've worked it out I 'll play along in the 'real world'. Unless the neighbours are in..then it's back to the headphones!:-)

[ikay]

A combination of real world speakers and Transcribe (http://www.seventhstring.com/) for the tricky bits. Headphones are much better for hearing the detail of what's going on though, maybe my playing would improve if I used them more

[BassMan94]

Thank God Im not the only one that prefers headphones LOL !

[Blademan_98]

I have an aux input on my amp. It helps define the bass line.

[bobbass4k]

Always on headphones, I have a really crap ear for pitch so for some tricky stuff I eq it to isolate the bassline, then put my bass through the pc and play along what i think it is, if it beats horribly, it's wrong, try the next idea, and so on.

[Cameronj279]

Plug bass into laptop (using a £1.50 cable I got off amazon years ago) and then listen to song and just play along and hope I get it right. If that fails, YouTube will usually have someone doing a good cover of it which I'll generally study a little.

[noelk27]

Seems no one plays 33.33 at 45 any more. Must be getting old.

[Blademan_98]

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1344705978' post='1768226']
Seems no one plays 33.33 at 45 any more. Must be getting old.
[/quote]

Ah brings back memories

[BassMan94]

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1344705665' post='1768219']
Plug bass into laptop (using a £1.50 cable I got off amazon years ago) and then listen to song and just play along and hope I get it right. If that fails, YouTube will usually have someone doing a good cover of it which I'll generally study a little.
[/quote]

Wouldn't the bass sound sh*te if the sound card isn't a good one ? I was thinking of doing that but I have a 'standard' sound card, i think ...

[Chris2112]

I just use the speakers plugged into my laptop (they are pretty good). I'll find a key lick or a sequence and get that down and I find the rest of the song usually works itself out after that.

[BottomE]

[quote name='BassMan94' timestamp='1344706517' post='1768236']
Wouldn't the bass sound sh*te if the sound card isn't a good one ? I was thinking of doing that but I have a 'standard' sound card, i think ...
[/quote]
Depends on lots of things. I have a usb soundcard which is fantastic. Best £150 i have ever spent.

I live in headphones having two kids that i don't want to wake once they are asleep

[wal4string]

I use a program called Amazing Slow Downer. Would be lost without it. If I need to boost the bass Audacity.

Edited August 11, 2012 by wal4string

[xgsjx]

I very rarely play through headphones (main reason is lack of).
It depends on the song for my learning. I usually start off just by ear. If that fails YouTube/songster is the next port of call.

[BassTractor]

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1344705978' post='1768226']
Seems no one plays 33.33 at 45 any more. Must be getting old.
[/quote]

I hate my sister. Really hate her with a vengeance. She threw away my vinyl player that did 16.67. Imagine! Never ever seen another one that did that.
Now of course we got computers, but still. 16.67!


Oh, headphones by a huge margin. That or some heavy duty electrostatic speakers.


best,
bert

Edited August 11, 2012 by BassTractor

[merlin]

It used to be record player,then a tape player, with a trip to the music shop to look up the lost cord in the sheet music ,now its mp3 and head phones,and a trip to you tube

[spinynorman]

Just found Guitar Music Analyzer for Android phones. You can either load an mp3 off the sd card, or use the microphone, and it tells you the chords. Just emailed the developer to see if they could develop a version that picks out the bassline.

I've got Digital Music Mentor on my laptop. It was very expensive, does pick out bass reasonably reliably, but has all sorts of bugs and doesn't seem to be supported any more. Which rather puts me off spending any more money on Transcribe.

[Bassdriver]

Headphones for me too. Much easier to hear the detail of what you're trying to learn. Once it's learned I'll crank up the bass amp and hi-fi speakers to practice but only cos I like sound of them.

[musophilr]

I've still got my Fostex X30 4-track cassette machines (the [i]Fostices[/i] ) which have a pitch control so I can slow things down if I have to.

[noelk27]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1344719570' post='1768469']I hate my sister. Really hate her with a vengeance. She threw away my vinyl player that did 16.67. Imagine! Never ever seen another one that did that.[/quote]
My old Ferguson Garrard LS Mk I plays 78, 45, 33.33 and 16.67. You slowed your LPs down? I sped mine up!

[BassTractor]

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1344785468' post='1769083']
My old Ferguson Garrard LS Mk I plays 78, 45, 33.33 and 16.67. You slowed your LPs down? I sped mine up!
[/quote]

Of course you did, but you write notes a lot faster than I do. I'm so slow that even 16.67 does not always free me from having to play the track once more before I've written down all the parts, especially in orchestral music.

best,
bert

[Cameronj279]

[quote name='BassMan94' timestamp='1344706517' post='1768236']
Wouldn't the bass sound sh*te if the sound card isn't a good one ? I was thinking of doing that but I have a 'standard' sound card, i think ...
[/quote]

Yes, it does sound sh*te but it's better than playing unplugged and in the unemployed state I'm in, I can't afford good gear.

It does the job!

[BILL POSTERS]

low tech but cheap, I used to use an old kids Kareoke machine with my Bass plugged in the mic socket. Did the job and sounded better than a cheapo sound card.

[Fredde]

Amplug + headphones. It's a lot easier to pick out separate instruments using headphones for some reason.

Sometimes I do it while at work, using my VirtualBass web app: [url="http://subsite.tilaa.eu/virtualbass/"]http://subsite.tilaa.eu/virtualbass/[/url] and have the song ready for band rehersal in the evening.