Revelation whilst learning songs

[neepheid]

Last night I was learning some songs for a practise/jam today and I had something of an epiphany. The song in question was rather rumbly and I was having some difficulty picking out the notes. Slowing it down didn't help (got even rumblier because of how tempo changing works). I don't know how I came up with this but I did the following:

Pulled the song into Audacity
Did this a couple of times - Amplify -5dB, Bassboost 200Hz +5dB.
Raised pitch one octave (tempo remains the same)

I found that I could pick out the notes so much better (once you stop laughing at the chipmunk vocals ) and then just move them back down on the bass. I dunno if it'll work in all cases, but you could try it if there's a song you're having difficulty picking the bass out of.

Maybe it's just my cloth ears.

[SteveK]

In the olden days (before dinosaurs), increasing the speed from 45 to 78 rpm or 33 to 45rpm was the established way of picking out an otherwise inaudible bass line.

[neepheid]

Oh well, here's to carrying on the tradition into the new age then

[cheddatom]

weird, I kind of do the opposite. I listen to the song as normal, but play the bass an octave higher until I've worked out the bassline.

[Prunesquallor]

I use Transcribe in the same way. There's also a graphic in it so you can bring out the bass in that way AND slow songs down. Brilliant!

[SteveK]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1351683804' post='1854070']
Oh well, here's to carrying on the tradition into the new age then
[/quote]
Absolutely! Of course, with the likes of Audacity you don't have to learn the song at twice the speed.

[TommyK]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1351684103' post='1854078']
weird, I kind of do the opposite. I listen to the song as normal, but play the bass an octave higher until I've worked out the bassline.
[/quote]

+1

Works for me too when they are a bit more tricky

[arthurhenry]

Wow. Can you youngsters even imagine learning thousands of songs by constantly lifting and replacing a stylus on a record?
Not to mention taking each record out of its sleeve and placing it on the turntable, or carrying armfuls of albums downstairs every day, to use your parents' decent record player (mine played a semitone fast!)

[damian]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1351704133' post='1854426']
Wow. Can you youngsters even imagine learning thousands of songs by constantly lifting and replacing a stylus on a record?
Not to mention taking each record out of its sleeve and placing it on the turntable, or carrying armfuls of albums downstairs every day, to use your parents' decent record player (mine played a semitone fast!)
[/quote]

Yeah I remember the hassle of trying to replace the stylus at the start of a riff over and over again.
Another trick I used to use is put a twin cassette deck (remember those?) into 'high speed dubbing' mode, would raise everything an octave making basslines easier to pick out!

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1351704133' post='1854426']
Wow. Can you youngsters even imagine learning thousands of songs by constantly lifting and replacing a stylus on a record?
Not to mention taking each record out of its sleeve and placing it on the turntable, or carrying armfuls of albums downstairs every day, to use your parents' decent record player (mine played a semitone fast!)
[/quote]
Aw, c'mon! The compact cassette was widely available by the early/mid 70's. Just rip a few LPs and burn them to a compilation tape. write down the tape counter start points, and BINGO! you can play/replay tracks without the hassle of the stylus rigmarole!

[SteveK]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1351706075' post='1854451']
Aw, c'mon! The compact cassette was widely available by the early/mid 70's. Just rip a few LPs and burn them to a compilation tape. write down the tape counter start points, and BINGO! you can play/replay tracks without the hassle of the stylus rigmarole!
[/quote]Bloody youngsters, think they know it all!!

[TimR]

That'll be those damn Fletcher-Munson curves.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 16, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[thumperbob 2002]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1351706075' post='1854451']
Aw, c'mon! The compact cassette was widely available by the early/mid 70's. Just rip a few LPs and burn them to a compilation tape. write down the tape counter start points, and BINGO! you can play/replay tracks without the hassle of the stylus rigmarole!
[/quote]

They were too dear for me- Could hardly afford records- let alone a tape deck. Everything is cheaper nowadays.

[Blademan_98]

This is why I play my own lines.
I only had a wireless

[TimR]

You should hear me playing the pips!