[chromium]

Hi- I always enjoy seeing and hearing Gibson basses being used out there in the wild - so I thought I would share with you a recording that I just recently completed that features one of mine.

This link is to a better-quality copy of the recording, posted on my homepage:
http://www.hillscloud.com/music/Passage-to-Infinity.mp3

...and this one is to MySpace (the song will auto-play):
http://www.myspace.com/hillscloud

I used my 1966 EB-2DC on this song, for both the bass line and the solo (at ~1:50). Both parts were recorded running direct thru an old F-2B preamp - with the bright-switch on! . Some of you might recall that my bass features that choke true-bypass modification - well for this song, I used the original "unchoked-but-filtered" position with only the neck pickup on, and vol/tone wide open. If I were to compare my basses to voice-over actors - this one would be James Earl Jones! (where's that Darth Vader smiley when you need it...)



In addition to the bass, I also played a neat old keyboard worth mentioning, that I suppose is sorta Gibson-related (both under Norlin ownership) - a '78-ish Moog Multimoog. I did this thing with it where you patch one of the outputs back into the external input - creating a feedback loop that overloads the filter, and results in that searing, sputtering brass-like sound hear on the melody and lead lines. The infinite synthesizer!

[Redbird]

Really cool song, love the vintage tone meets modern music. Killer solo, sounds almost fretless

Love the keyboard part & sound

Nice bass work, sound & mix.

[Basvarken]

Wow, very groovy!

What exactly does that filter do?

How do you get it to sound so fretless in the first part of the solo?

That Moog sounds awesome too. I'm a sucker for vintage stuff such as Moogs, Wurlitzers, Rhodes, Clavinets etc etc


thanx for sharing!
Rob

[rockinrayduke]

Gorgeous bass, great track as well.

[jules]

Originally Posted by chromium

If I were to compare my basses to voice-over actors - this one would be James Earl Jones!

and which one would be Chewbacca? A Thunderbird no doubt.....

Great track, particularly the solo. Are you playing all parts?

I like the bass line on equinox too. Your whole project reminds me of Headhunters... do you like them?

Just sent you a myspace hello

What basses are you using on the other tracks?

[chromium]

Thanks guys! And thanks for the myspace adds...

@Jules - Yeah I'm playing everything on the tracks. I'm just recently getting back into playing keyboards - and since these old buggers don't have midi, I can't sequence or quantize them. I guess that's what drives me to use them, though. Just like old basses - they have minds of their own, and the end results tend to be less sterile sounding to me with this quirky old gear in the mix. It just means I have to practice more, and re-tune frequently!

The bass on Equinox was my '69 EB-0. I love that bass. I used the string mute on it, and backed the tone down about halfway for a nice, billowy thud. Terraforming has my Ovation Magnum I on it (with flats and mute), and Adrift is an Alembic Distillate.

I can see the parallels to Headhunters. I do like that off-kilter funk-fusion stuff like on Thrust, or something like Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow, The Meters, etc... all good stuff.

@Rob - I got that fretless/upright buzz by aggrevating a defect in my crappy setup job . I had switched that bass back to round wounds, but never took time to set it up properly. As a result, the neck has way too much relief, action is high, and also there is not much downward string pressure on the bar-bridge due to its typical slanting posture. If I dig in close to the bridge, it gives it that rattle/resonance that dulls the attack of the notes a bit. Other than the preamp, the bass sounds didn't have any other processing on them.

Another funny thing is that when I was recording that solo, one of the fretboard inlays popped out and landed on the floor in front of me! I have to glue that back in. Hope this isn't a bad omen! :twisted:

I have a weak spot for old keyboards as well - almost as bad as with basses. The filter I referred to is the low-pass filter inside of the Moog. This one is probably real similar to the filter that they recreated in the Moogerfooger MF-101 pedal, and this one can also be used to process other instruments. In this case, I was processing the synth back into itself (synth inbreeding?) - at a gain level that caused the Moog filter to distort. Assuming you like the sound of synths to begin with, the Moog filters can yield a notoriously vicious and nasty (in a good way) sound when overdriven. It may very well be the mudbucker of the synth world!

[Redbird]

Your show how valid the old school sound can still be in modern music instead of the active clanky bass sound that is on 99% of modern music today.

[Dave W]

Outstanding mud.

[doom]

Agree with previous posts. Nice mix of old and new. The bass blends in terrificly. Nice solo too.

[Redbird]

What I found ironic is I always pictured Chromium more of a vintage 60's type music player.

I was half right, but never dreamed how cool & far out your music is.

a great surprise!