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Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 1:34 am
by sub guy
Here is one more. Sorry they are so long its just how we do it. This one is with the Model D the one before is with the sub 37.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/zl3vqgnp2fpcw ... 9.mp3?dl=0

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:35 am
by stiiiiiiive
The second one does not work, and I liked the first one!! Thanks for sharing :)

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:39 am
by sub guy
Well one out of two aint bad. :D

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:10 pm
by Stevie Ray
sub guy wrote:Thanks for the support from everyone. I dont have access to the music files we have on hard drive so I cannot put it on soundcloud. Here is a link though that should give you direct access.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/x38ndgbl8rjom ... P.mp3?dl=0


It takes a minute to get going. Our approach is totally improvisational so.......
Thanks for sharing that Sub Guy.

What are your band's musical influences? I hear shades of the Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs" - though that could be entirely down to my imagination. Also the beginning reminded me of a very early Talking Heads rehearsal tape I once heard.

It doesn't sound "bass heavy" at all to me. In fact, I could hardly hear any real bass on that apart from the low drums. It's all middle. This could be down to the recording process and MP3 of course. I know it's different when you're jamming live to when you record. The bass notes can seem to dominate everything when live, but once it's broken down in the overall recorded mix, it becomes less dominant and controllable. This piece could do with more bass if anything.

The drums are too forward in the mix for my liking and need a little subtle reverb maybe. The violin(?) should be more up front.

What's the line up? I hear percussion, an electric guitar or two, and a violin?. Presumably a Model D but I couldn't say I really heard it.

The piece sounds like the backdrop for some solemn and mournful vocals which never materialized.

Well done! Keep at it :D

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 6:44 pm
by sub guy
^^^^^^

Thank you for the feedback. Our long term goals are to be a folk band that goes into very extended jams. Ultimately we would play one or two songs on any given night and the rest of the evening would be improvisational and experimental music. As far as musical influences goes I am not sure what you mean by that but The Grateful Dead are the reason I started a band and their mentality about music and approach is mine also. We make no attempt at all to sound like them though...

The lineup is me on bass, a violinist, a guitarist, and two drummers we just added a really skilled pianist but she is going to play organ in our band.

Your right, that track is not all that bass heavy. Its actually really hard to describe what we are doing and any attempt fails in the end. This is because we dont know where it is headed. We are just really taking our time and allowing it to unfold and become something over time. We all feel like there is a power that can be tapped and made room for, that will bring us all somewhere if we let it--somewhere new and surprising to everyone.

Our approach right now is focused on getting good at entering altered states (no use of chemicals) and creating music from within those places. The better we get at entering those states the better our music sounds. We are all members of a meditation center and with the help of the Grateful Dead it occurred to us that this approach is possible and best for us. Our music sounds way better when it is listened to in an altered state... In fact we dont even like it if we listen to it while not altered... :lol: If we get good at it then the music will also draw people into those same states... that is the goal.

I have written a bunch of songs also. They all sound really old-- like old traditional american songs-- folk songs sort of, kind of simple also. Eventually we will incorporate those into the music. Right now we just sometimes jam in the keys of the songs Ive written or sometimes roughly in the melody of them. There has been a progression and I am guessing in about 4 more years we will stat playing regularly for others. For now we just want total freedom to not sound good and not do it right so that we can take risks and be totally involved in the creative process of it.

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 7:48 pm
by Stevie Ray
I'm a huge fan of the 'Dead' myself and they are a very rhythm and harmony-driven band. A classic and truly brilliant West-Coast folk-rock band. I can't see much of them in the music you shared with us.

Maybe you should focus on your 'old traditional American' songs (with your new pianist), which would seem to be closer to your heart, rather than trying to be all experimental and making music that can only be enjoyed in 'altered states'.

Pick up a six-string and leave the Moogs alone for a while, maybe.

If you are getting a talented pianist in the band then PLEASE don't limit her to the organ. A good pianist can really lift a band and she will teach your lazy percussionists to actually keep strict time, maybe.

Anyway, whatever path you choose, good luck to you, and I wish you success.

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 9:47 pm
by sub guy
Stevie Ray wrote:I'm a huge fan of the 'Dead' myself and they are a very rhythm and harmony-driven band. A classic and truly brilliant West-Coast folk-rock band. I can't see much of them in the music you shared with us. Ike I said we are not trying to sound anything like them-- that would be the opposite of what I learned from the Dead. What we are emulating is the shamanic intent of that band-- to lose ourselves in the music and TRY to become ego-less if even for a moment and hopefully that can change lives in the way the Dead did for so many people, myself included.

Maybe you should focus on your 'old traditional American' songs (with your new pianist), which would seem to be closer to your heart, rather than trying to be all experimental and making music that can only be enjoyed in 'altered states'. It is a strange approach that is for sure and we will start in a couple more years..... but what we are doing now is closest to my heart and the heart of the band, its primary intent, songs are secondary for us. We only want to be in a band that has this approach. Some people will and do love it-- but more dont and wont. :lol: Many people have said that our music has drawn them into altered states- we hope to get good at that....

Pick up a six-string and leave the Moogs alone for a while, maybe. The Moog was a conscious decision-- the only decision really that made sense after trying many different instruments including a custom made Rhodes Bass piano. The Moog is a meditation machine-- it seems to just knock everyone out who hears it, just the sound of two oscillator is enough for most of the people I know.

If you are getting a talented pianist in the band then PLEASE don't limit her to the organ. A good pianist can really lift a band and she will teach your lazy percussionists to actually keep strict time, maybe. Like I said we are not trying to keep strict anything YET. I actually think our drummers have discovered a shamanic way of inducing altered states, for me it is the most trance inducing aspect of our band. Our drummers can keep time, but for now it is more important to be loose, open and intuitive. We are focused more on playing in those states I talked about as it is our primary purpose for being in a band.

Anyway, whatever path you choose, good luck to you, and I wish you success.
Thanks very much man, I really appreciate you taking the time and listening to it and giving feedback. We KNOW we have a long ways to go on every level but have a deep trust in the process and unfolding of it all. Our only real goal is to play for the meditation center we are all a part of every Friday night for a couple of hours. We want to sort of form a sacred family friendly community evening experience and be a part of a living creative process with art and dance and chant and kids running around being annoying :lol: and whatever else naturally becomes a part of it. The audience wont even be an audience-- they all want to chant and sing and dance. We recognize that it will definitely be a target audience we can reach but for us that is a BIG part of the fun-- not having to appeal to a wide audience gives us way more room for creative freedom and experimentation.

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:24 pm
by Stevie Ray
You clearly have good intentions and I wish you well. Yes you have a long way to go, but carry on. Good art is always an uphill struggle.

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 5:46 pm
by Stevie Ray
Are you still around Sub Guy?

I'm interested to hear how your band and music progresses.

Steve

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 2:04 am
by sub guy
What are you looking for? I've got a lot more recordings I can post. There are just a lot of layers going on philosophically, spiritually and musically in our music. Those dimensions have to be a part of the hearing of it or it wont work.

One of the members in our band was sitting in a park one day next to a pond. There were many ducks in the water washing themselves and playing chaotically as they will often do. At the same time there was a flock of seagulls flying in circular patterns around the pond. There was a lot of noise and chaos going on. Suddenly his consciousness expanded and he was high above the whole event seeing it in 360 degrees and hearing it in a new way. He said that in that state of mind every sound the seagulls were making, every sound the ducks were making and all of the movements just became perfectly synchronistic. In that state all of the chaos was seen in a higher light and it was all one, all perfect, and all harmonious in a way not usually discernible.

As a band what we do is enter as best as we can for that day into a similar kind of awareness and then play the music from there. There is a feeling of power in the room of different flavors and our consciousness is expanded in various ways. Some of the band members are playing shamanically and journeying as they play. As I said we are not yet working on songs (the easy part I think) because we just want to get really good at entering into those states and expressing those states musically in a number of different ways, ranging from total seeming chaos and in gradations towards tight form (songs). We are seeking to turn that power into sound. One band member said "we have only discovered two or three ways of playing in that place but I think there are ten more. We strongly believe and have some evidence to support the idea that our music will draw others into similar states of being and provide healing emotionally and psychologically.

The problem is that we still are not very good at it but we think it IS already happening and some people have been able to experience it. I think the Grateful Dead were able to do this also, I know many people who have had very intense spiritual awakenings while listening to their music. I have. We want to do what they did but in a totally different, more intentional, and more direct way.....

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:36 pm
by Stevie Ray
All this is probably way off topic for the Moog Forum, but I'm intrigued nevertheless.

To be honest, these days I'm more interested in the psychology of a band rather than the music it creates - although one often tends to follow from the other.

I wonder what makes people come together to make a band in the first place? How they work harmoniously together, and how they conflict. How do they resolve their musical and personality differences? Who dominates (if anyone)? How do they even find each other in the first place?

Your band seems to be in a somewhat 'embryonic' state, and I would find it interesting to see how it develops (or doesn't). All bands start somewhere. Some grow and some fade away. The reasons why are what intrigues me.

Perhaps you'd consider making a diary/blog of your band and how it evolves. I think that would be very interesting.

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 10:14 pm
by sub guy
Is that a thread I could start here do you know? I would not mind sharing all of that because I think our approach is unusual and MIGHT be interesting to some people here.

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:35 pm
by Stevie Ray
sub guy wrote:Is that a thread I could start here do you know? I would not mind sharing all of that because I think our approach is unusual and MIGHT be interesting to some people here.
Why not just start a blog somewhere (blogger.com, wordpress.org etc.) and post a link here?

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:08 pm
by MoogCloud
Hi sub guy,

What a remarkably unique project. I appreciate your sharing that Dropbox file. The music reminded me of shamanic trance accompanying music heard in South America. The entire concept of working from an altered state has, of course, influenced meditators, musicians, and artists of many different mediums. Your journey is one that will attract some interest. If you do create a blog feel free to post a link.

:D

Re: Bass overload in my band

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 9:53 pm
by sub guy
Thanks for the replies to all of you. I lost my password temporarily and haven't been able to log in till now.

Stevie Ray, I will consider doing that blog, its nothing I've done before but sounds interesting. I think earlier in the thread you asked about what our musical influences were and I did not give a very good reply. I think we are a cross between a shamanic drummer, the Grateful Dead, Alice Coltrane (Journey in Saccitananda) and Fela Kuti. Each of these bands and the shamanic approach to using sound to create trance holds a strong influence on our band.

Moog Cloud, thanks for the enthusiastic support. We all feel very supported and deeply inspired by what we are doing. All of the members in my band are very serious about meditation and all but one are involved in some kind of alternative healing as a part of their career so its easy for everyone to get into altered states and think of music as a way of healing people.

I have been doing a shamanic drumming evening once a week for a few years now and have been involved in shamanism for a very long time. My Friday group has evolved in a way that is a big part of what inspired me to start a band. Over time the people coming to the drumming started to journey less and less and just started settling into the sound of the drum and dropping into really deep altered states. Experienced meditators started reporting that the practice was having a deep influence on their lives.

Lots of people reported being able to feel waves of sound that had turned into energy rushing through their body and healing them. (sound healing). Many people report hearing melodies, singing, chanting, and such coming through the drum (we often hear that while playing in our band now). It just sort of occurred to me that it would be possible to do that with music provided you could find a group of people who had spiritual and healing inclinations. I got lucky enough to find a bunch!

We are totally in the exploration stage now and are not trying to gel in any way. We feel like new ways of playing in power are still emerging and re occuring over time and we are just stumbling into them. If we try to play it right or in any certain way it will ruin it. We are committed to staying in this stage for the next few years.

Since there is some interest I would like to post one more link to a music file. I am really grateful to anyone who listens to it. I think this shows us at our best right now and wouldn't mind hearing peoples take on it. The links expire in a few days..

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z90vsp73wjqyi ... P.wav?dl=0