Ever since my injury in 2008, I've bought a million gimmicks (and six surgeries!!) trying to ease the pain in my back. Even debated giving up music altogether, that's how bad it hurts to play bass sometimes.
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I've always embraced technology, so when I discovered the growing number of apps available for music creation on my iPhone, I jumped in with both feet.
My first experience came with the Irig from IK Multimedia, and their Amplitube iOS app. This was early 2012, and I was less than impressed. But I was hooked. As new apps became available, I tried them all. It took me quite some time (and more money than I'll ever admit), bu I've finally settled on a pretty cool group of apps that cover just about any job I'd need a specialized machine to do if I did things outside of my iPhone. I get a lot of questions about what apps I use for what, so I'll try not to miss anything. Amp Sims and Effects:
Jamup XT (Positive Grid) with the Bass Expansion Pack. This is my main rig, and the only amp sim I use live. I use several other apps for amps and effects, depending on my mood, but Jamup is always my live rig. Here's my other amp sim and effect apps: AmpKit (ok, just not for me. More guitar oriented than bass) Pocket GK (just ok. The GK in Jamup is miles ahead of this one) Amplitube iOS (this app is the bane of my existence, the cause of hours of frustration until I found Jamup. It's ok sounding but not much for bass players, and IK liked to keep everything in their court, so Amplitube doesn't play well with others. I rarely open this app these days.) Tuner:
Polytune - great tuner app, but doesn't work with my current interface (Apogee Jam) Drums and Loops:
Loopy - great looping app for live use, up to 12 loops at once!! DM1 - Every classic drum machine you can possibly think of, all in one app. Audiobus support seals the deal. Synths and Keyboards:
Sunrizer XS - AMAZING synth. Quality reminds me of my old guitarist's Korg keyboard. Yeah, it's that good. I use it for textures and such when recording. Recording:
Multitrack DAW - awesome iOS recorder, capable of up to 24 tracks(!!!). Very easy to navigate, just a great app. Amplitube iOS- AT has its own built in recorder (not really built in, you gotta pay for it in-app), 8 tracks with simple mastering effects. It's ok, but don't use it anymore since getting MTDAW. Other:
Audiobus- can't live without this one. It's like a patchbay for iOS, allowing different apps to work together in ways not possible before. Nodebeat- fun little Audiobus compatible synth/beat creation app Soundcloud- where I keep all my recordings. Guitarism- just got this one a few days ago. Really cool guitar simulator. Great for inspiring new ideas. Talkbass- not really a music creation app, but a great forum full of awesome info and some great people. All of these apps are cool on their own, but what really ties it all together is Audiobus. The apps that support Audiobus are the ones that get the most use on my iPhone (4S, by the way. Anything earlier just isn't fast enough for Audiobus).
Imagined running one app for synth, another for effects, and a third for recording. Audiobus allows the three apps to work together, so my signal can go from a keyboard synth app into Jamup for effects, into Multitrack DAW for recording. Amazing. Thanks to these iOS apps (and whatever I've forgotten), I rarely even use my "real" bass amp these days. Why bother, when the tone I get from Jamup XT is better than ANY amp I've ever used. And my back is happier, now that I don't have to carry my 70 pound amp to shows!! I show up with my iPhone, cables and a direct box. That's it. I have a small mixer for shows where I run IEM, but for my acoustic rock band, my bass running direct through the PA is more than enough, and with all these great apps, I sound better than I ever have!! Feel free to email me if you'd like to discuss iOS music apps, or if you have any questions about the apps listed. Sitting up late after the latest back surgery. There's snow coming down, and my van isn't home yet. Needless to say, I can't sleep.
So I figured I'd share a few pics. This is my latest incarnation of my stage "bubble". The surgery has forced me to sit down since I can't wear a strap across my back yet. Note the iPhone running Jamup XT.
Here's a closer view of the iPhone screen. I started using iOS amp sims a few months (over a year ago actually) back, and I've now settled on a really cool setup that allows me to leave the amp at home.
I use an Apogee Jam interface to get my bass signal into my iPhone 4S. The Jam uses the 30-pin digital input, so the sound quality is second to none. The amp sim is Jamup XT, with their Bass Expansion Pack added as an in-app purchase. After trying every iOS amp sim I could get my hands on, I've decided that Jamup XT is the rig for me. I can go from an old school tone to a super clean modern tone with the touch of a finger (soon to be a foot switch), and any effect I need is there as well. Here's my basses (and my six string, and my son's bass). Left to right is my Dillion 5204, my MIA 60th Anniversary P, my acoustic, and Aiden's SX P.
Here's my boy, Aiden. He's rocking Iron Man when this was taken. That's my boy!!
We'll end this pointless post with a puppy pic, cuz I've got the iPhone so we're doing what I want to do!!
Have a great evening, and keep practicing. I've always been a fan of funk music. One technique used often in funk is slap and pop. We've all heard it, most of us find it annoying and self-indulgent rather quickly, but it can be lots of fun amd really add to a song if applied tastefully.
Of course, as a bassist I've frequently heard the question, "What is the best bass/setup for funk/slap playing?" I've found that any bass, and any string, can be slapped. Each bass will have a different way of telling you how to play it, and slap is no different. My MIA Fender P with D'Addario rounds is a funk monster, hands down. The slap sound is the classic Precision funk soumd we have heard on millions of records. But my $500 Dillion SCPB knockoff, with year old Chromes, has a GREAT tone when slapped. It's a different kind of slap sound, and takes a different style to make it work, but I've gotten some great recordings of slap style funk with that bass. It requires a different approach, but ANY bass, even 2 of the same model will tell you how it wants to be played. It's up to you to listen. After all these freakin' back surgeries, carrying a 75 pound bass amp just isn't in the cards anymore. So I started looking around for alternatives to the boring old DI box.
Over the last year, I've tried every iOS amp sim that's available. I use an iPhone 4S, which we all know is a very powerful machine. I started out with Irig. Amplitube iOS is a cool little toy. If you listen to IK Multimedia, it's the best thing since sliced bread, but that isn't really true. While it IS a good headphone practice amp, primarily aimed at the teenage bedroom guitarist, it falls short pretty quickly in terms of tone for bassists. I'm part of a growing group of bass players on Talkbass that are using iOS based amp sims in real world live situations. Most of us started on Amplitube, but quickly got frustrated by their lack of support for bass players. We've sent them messages asking for more bass gear in Amplitube iOS (at present there are only two bass amps in Amplitube, and they aren't that great), posted on their forum (and been promptly deleted for violating their usage terms by criticizing their app), but they continue to be more interested in sucking more money out of us instead of actually listening to our needs. Oh well. As any bass player knows, when we play live most times we are handed the cheapest, most beat up DI box in the soundguy's bag. It sucks but it's a reality. Guitar players use their amps and rarely play direct into the soundboard. So doesn't it make sense that a company should listen and relate to us bassists, and create a solution for the crappy old way of doing things? Well, one company has. That company is Positive Grid. Their iOS app, Jamup XT (and XT Pro) has become THE bass amp sim for iPhone/iPad. When the game first started, Jamup was a cool app, but the tone was seriously lacking. Then out of the blue, they released what they called a "minor bug fix" update. Suddenly the tone was unbelievably good!! Not only did the tone of the app improve dramatically, they released a Bass Expansion Pack. Really?? Finally a company that cares about the rhythm section?? Yup. It's true. The pack included four bass amps, a Sansamp BDDI model, and a few pedals. Downright amazing bass tones!! And we've just recently been asked for requests to be included in an upcoming second Bass Expansion!! Yeah, you read that right, they asked for suggestions from their customers instead of trying to convince us that what they give us is actually what we need. Inconceivable!! I have found my replacement for my heavy bass amp!! Using Jamup XT with the Bass Expansion, for the first time in my life I'm actually happy with my bass tone. Not only is it an awesome practice amp, but it actually sounds BETTER than any amp I've ever owned. Back to Talkbass. Our group has invited IK and Positive Grid to join our conversation, and they both did. IK came first, and their posts were arguementative from the start. Instead of taking our suggestions to heart and trying to improve their customer relations, they became defensive when we offered constructive criticism. After over a year, still no new bass offerings from Amplitube iOS. Positive Grid on the other hand, joined our conversation and really listened. They (Calvin) continue to participate in the thread and instead of getting defensive when we ask for improvements, they come back a few days later with screenshots of upcoming updates that include the fixes we've asked for!! Could it be? Is there really an iOS based amp sim that connects with it's users and maintains an amazing working relationship? It's true. Calvin and the gang at Positive Grid have been the most helpful bunch of app developers I've ever seen, and really seem to "get it". iOS based amp sim are the future, plain and simple. The "silent stage" is becoming more and more common, with church's and even bars converting to in ear monitoring instead of loud stage monitors. You can either get on board with it, or you can find yourself scrambling when the soundguy tells you that you can't use your SVT on their stage. I've found my solution, and it's Jamup XT from Positive Grid. It's the best iOS based amp sim out there, hands down. Jamup also now supports Audiobus, which allows it to interact with other audio apps in ways that will just blow your mind. Amplitube does not. IK would rather keep everything inside their own app, so they can soak us for more money with in app purchases and add-ons. I'd like to extend a HUGE thank you to Calvin and the gang at Positive Grid, for not only saving my aching back from having to carry a big bass amp to the gig, but for also giving me the best bass sound that I've had in my entire 31 year musical career. Keep up the great work!! I'd also like to thank Duke21, adambombbrown, PrietoBass, JimmyM, BluesMan845, steve_rolfeca and the rest of the group on Talkbass for their continuing dedication to making iOS based amp sims the way of the future. Things have really slowed down in RT-land. My back issues have evolved, and not gotten better.
I'm presently working on a custom build for a friend, and after that I'll be taking a break while I decide where to head next. The health problems have pretty much stopped me dead. I have no real plans for future builds other than for myself, because I just can't guarantee a timeline anymore. There are full weeks that I am unable to set foot in the shop, so rather than end up with a really bad rep, I'm gonna do the smart thing and close up shop. I'll still do the occasional build, if the timing is right. And of course I'll still be modding my own basses, but I just can't complete a build in a decent timeframe anymore. I may end up goin back to the way I did things at the beginning, and just build what I want and ebay it when it's done. Time will tell. Today the music world lost two true legends, Deep Purple's Jon Lord and Funk Brother Bob Babbitt.
I can't really list Jon as an influence, other than cranking Smoke on the Water or Perfect Strangers (total BADASS riff) when I was in my teens. I wasn't a big Deep Purple fan, but I definitely listened to tons of bands that were influenced by Blackmore and the gang. Bob Babbitt on the other hand, really helped shaped me as a bassist. I can't really decide who was the bigger influence on me, Babbitt or Duck Dunn, who we also lost just a few months ago. The music that I grew up on is slowly disappearing, and there's nothing to replace it. I haven't heard a new band that "did it for me" since Alice in Chains. Rock n roll needs to cycle around like it did in the 70's, so we can get the next Ramones or Iggy Pop. Even Mötley Crüe has become blasé. Music needs some new heroes. I haven't updated in quite some time, but the work hasn't stopped!! I have a hard time with websites. I know I should update often, but I just can't convince myself to put the guitars down long enough to type some bullshit that no one is really gonna read. Anyway, the JD bass is nearing completion, I've got a few other projects on deck. First up is a true bypass strip for my pedalboard. I've seen lots of them online, but my needs are somewhat custom so I'm gonna build it myself. It's gonna be a 5 or 6 loop strip, with master bypass, a tuner mute, and an A/B section so I can plug in two basses and switch between them. Can't wait to wire that one!!! Next is another single coil P-bass. This one will have an excellent flamed maple neck, leftover from the JD bass. I've got just enough of that gorgeous maple for one more neck, and it's mine!! It'll have a reversed headstock like the Fender Dusty Hill signature model. The body of the P will be African Mahogany, with a top made from cigar boxes, patchworked together. Slab body, of course. I've got various other stuff on the back burner, and I'm working on forming another band as well. More on that later. Just lazin' the day away..
Gotta love it when a tool breaks right before it becomes the only tool in the shop that you need.
New drill is on the way. Crap. Today we lost a great.
Duck's playing influenced me very early on in my career. It was my mom who bought me my first Blues Brothers record, Pocketful of Blues. The grooves on that record got to me instantly, and buried themselves in my subconscious. If you play bass and don't study Duck's work, you're missing out on a HUGE body of work that laid the framework for every bass player that followed. You will be missed. Heaven just completed it's rhythm section. |