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hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 698
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 3:21 pm:   Edit Post

Finally, I did a solo piece w/ my Alembic...strung as a tenor. It's just nuts:

http://soundcloud.com/hb3/mysterious-stranger

Cosmic...intergalactic...not exactly bar band material...sort of a theatrical piece, actually.
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10568
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 3:47 pm:   Edit Post

Very nice!
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 699
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 3:54 pm:   Edit Post

It's a great sound, but tenor tuning has some good and bad aspects...I don't know if I'll use it this way all the time, but the good thing is that I didn't really need to make any adjustments. That was really cool. So this is pretty much the first thing I played when I had it strung up and turned the delay on.

I also found a bunch of new sounds w/ the piccolo. After I finished the 'Poseidon' album I was going to put it down for awhile, but then, bam...these were total accidental discoveries that sounded amazing.

Like, check this out:

http://soundcloud.com/hb3/a-fish-in-a-bowl-of-gold

Achieved by accident....
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10570
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 4:36 pm:   Edit Post

That was beautiful!
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 700
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 5:34 pm:   Edit Post

Interesting, right? Almost like a hammered string sound....
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10572
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 6:12 pm:   Edit Post

I just listened to it again. I like the sound a lot, and I like what you do with it.

The first seventeen seconds would make a really nice repeating pattern. As I was thinking about that, it brought to mind the beginning of The Pilgrim by Wishbone Ash on the Pilgrimage album.
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 701
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 6:13 pm:   Edit Post

Yeah, that part you're referring to is actually a recurring motif. It's all part of a big thing.
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10573
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 6:19 pm:   Edit Post

If you're interested, here's a nice recent version of The Pilgrim.
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 702
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 6:30 pm:   Edit Post

This is cool. I like that the guy is playing a flying V.
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10574
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 6:37 pm:   Edit Post

The album was released in 1971.
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 703
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 - 6:41 pm:   Edit Post

That was pretty hot.
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61

Post Number: 433
Registered: 2-2011
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 2:17 am:   Edit Post

Amazing sound Hugh! What kind of effects are you using?
terryc
Senior Member
Username: terryc

Post Number: 1779
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 5:40 am:   Edit Post

At 2.17 it reminds of Phaedra by Tangerine Dream
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 2339
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 7:06 am:   Edit Post

You guys are both AWESOME ! It would be fun to hear you playing an ALEMBIC duet at an Alembic gathering ________IN the moment ; just create it on the spot for the occasion.
jzstephan
Junior
Username: jzstephan

Post Number: 39
Registered: 1-2012
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 7:17 am:   Edit Post

Great sound on the Pilgrim video. Are those Tweed Bandmasters the guy with the Les Paul is playing through?
jzstephan
Junior
Username: jzstephan

Post Number: 40
Registered: 1-2012
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 7:32 am:   Edit Post

Mr HB3,
Really stellar composition, playing, and sound on the Goldfish. Alembics are truly a huge step forward in the evolution of the electro-acoustic instrument.
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 705
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 8:03 am:   Edit Post

The main effect that you're hearing is the EHX Hog -- I found these new sounds without exactly being aware of what I was doing, but especially on the Goldfish piece, it had to do with utilizing the envelope section of the effect. Later I was able to reverse engineer the settings pretty closely, but not exactly. Fortunately, I did save the preset -- which I had forgotten doing -- though now I have a neurotic fear of deleting it. So I wanted to get some recordings down pretty quick. The delay is the new great Strymon Timeline.

Also, that's the Fender on the Goldfish piece, believe it or not. But the whole signal is being processed through the Hog on that one, including the original voice. It's a complex pedal.

I've been sort of locked in the studio for awhile so Im going to go down and play at the local pub this weekend...I'd love to get together for an improvisational performance...any time.
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61

Post Number: 434
Registered: 2-2011
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 12:21 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks for the info Hugh! Have fun jamming this weekend!
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 706
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 1:58 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks ;)
groovelines
Senior Member
Username: groovelines

Post Number: 704
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 3:03 pm:   Edit Post

I've always enjoyed your compositions, thanks for sharing.
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 707
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 4:54 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks. You know -- perhaps unexpectedly -- the tenor tuning is not easy to play. It sounds really nice, though. I'm missing the E string, but I can also see why Stanley Clarke didn't switch to a 5-string instrument. Does anyone have a 5 string Alembic strung with a high C? Curious....
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 708
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2012 - 9:15 am:   Edit Post

Dave -- you play a six, don't you?
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10578
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Friday, March 02, 2012 - 4:32 pm:   Edit Post

Yes, straight tuning, B to C.
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 709
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Friday, March 02, 2012 - 7:44 pm:   Edit Post

Could you recommend a good cheap one?
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10583
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Friday, March 02, 2012 - 9:28 pm:   Edit Post

Alembic.

Look for a used one. In my view, a primary consideration will be neck taper; and for most Alembics that will be either classic or comfort taper. My preference is classic taper. I couldn't do the things I'm doing with either my right or left hands on a comfort taper. But that's me and my style of playing; others of course couldn't do what they're doing on a classic taper. I'm very happy with my 34" classic taper six string.

After that, the electronics package will also be key. But when cost is a significant factor, just getting an Alembic with the taper and scale length you want, and getting that Alembic tone from those pickups into your rig or recording console, is a great starting point.

Also, your idea of a five string E to C is a good one, especially in light of what you are doing with chords. In the songs that I play I use my B string a lot, but it is capo'd at the third fret and I am primarily using it as an open low D. Of course it does come in handy when playing regular bass lines or doing extended runs across the neck. And I do practice incorporating the B string into chords; but those are still a bit difficult for me to hit, and they haven't yet become part of any of the songs I'm playing. So a five string would be a good option.

But I can't recommend anything except Alembic. They are the only instruments I know anything about. I played a G&L L-2000 from around 1980 until January 1996 when I got my first Alembic. It was night and day. I haven't played anything but Alembic since. Sixteen years.

So perhaps not the answer you were looking for. But for someone like you, and I really like a lot of your tonal ideas, I think it worth considering getting the best quality tone as your starting point. And Alembic pickups are the perfect canvas for the tone shaping you are so good at.

But of course budget realities are important too. And lots of great music has been made on things that weren't Alembics; or at least that what someone I met in jail told me. Or maybe it was great books written on cheap paper. Hmmm, can't really remember; it was a long time ago.
dadabass2001
Senior Member
Username: dadabass2001

Post Number: 1629
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 6:55 am:   Edit Post

Dave,
also great bands recorded live on Radio Shack audio cassettes? :-)
funny, and true

Mike
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 710
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 8:51 am:   Edit Post

Yeah, you know, I'm not sure I'd even like a six, but at least I get what they are now. Probably playing an Alembic would make me like it right off the bat, though.
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10585
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 10:08 am:   Edit Post

Mike; perhaps even more remarkable, J S Bach was born in 1685, before even Radio Shack. Makes you wonder where he went for batteries.

Hugh; I wouldn't limit "what they are" just based on my usage. Lots of great bass players play six string basses in ways that vary greatly from my approach, and with far more ability and greater results.
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 711
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 10:55 am:   Edit Post

I know...I just meant I was always sort of baffled by them, but. For whatever reason, I "get" them now.
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 712
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 12:58 pm:   Edit Post

Sorry, I was typing that last post in broad daylight on an iPad. ;0
cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 1169
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 6:46 pm:   Edit Post

"Lots of great bass players play six string basses in ways that vary greatly from my approach,..."

No argument.

"...and with far more ability and greater results."

Dude, I've seen the vids you've posted - you are mistaken on this point, sir. You kick ass.

Peter
hb3
Senior Member
Username: hb3

Post Number: 713
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 7:24 pm:   Edit Post

Agreed.
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10586
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 8:39 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks for the kind words guys.

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