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#701699 01/29/22 12:25 PM
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Still experimenting with the various genres within BiaB . . . .
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677/bossa-nova-bungalow


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Nice bungalow for a holiday smile
Relaxing.

Rob and Anne-Marie


We are Rob Meulman and Anne-Marie Bovenkamp from The Netherlands.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1gsdNLE7_Gy8qavoOplQow/videos
http://rnam.net/


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Many thanks. I watched one of your videos . . . you guys are talented and prolific!


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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'Bass Thumper'...

Your composition, 'Bossa Nova Bungalow', presents an intriguing, if brief, experiment in what sounds more like a samba rhythm than a bossa nova, combined with a twangy background guitar track, which is a novel blend of instrumentation.

The cool strings section overlaid by the soulful tenor sax solo adds a familiar sheen of romantic melancholy to the production. All-in-all, it's a bittersweet taste of rainy day blues with an Afro-Latin touch, to my ears, at least.


"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
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Hey Bluage,
Thanks for a sophisticated analysis, it sort of implies that I had a pre-conceived plan in mind to be executed. In reality, it was hunting, pecking and experimenting until something pleasing to my ears happen. The genius and beauty that BiaB is, allows this kind of experimentation to be done by a novice like me. How cool is that?

At this point I'm in a general exploration mode to learn what BiaB can do across various genres and the icing is that it forces my bass playing to adapt. And it is brief because early on someone commented on how long my songs were, so I'm trying to accommodate.

Music is indeed what feelings sound like. smile


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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The mix is bass-centric.
Good bass tone & playing but the level in the mix is relatively loud.
How are you recording your bass? DI? Mic'd amp, combo of those...etc.
Plenty of scope for experimentation in the program.


Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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There's much I struggle with and getting a good mix is one of them. Any tips/suggestions would be appreciated.

My recording process:
1. Save Special the muted bass composition in BiaB to MP3 format (Track 1)
2. Open Track 1 in Audacity
3. Patch cable from my bass to my practice amp
4. Line-Out from the amp to a Tascam A to D converter
5. USB out of converter to Win 10 desktop
6. In Audacity simultaneously play Track 1 (audio is sent to desktop speakers) and record my bass playing (Track 2)
7. In Audacity Noise-Reduce, Normalize and Compress Track 2
8. Listen to Track 1 and Track 2 with headphones and adjust (real-time) each track volume to taste
9. Mix and render to a separate mixed track (Track 3)
10. Export Track 3 to MP3 format and upload to SoundCloud

Note in Step 8 I see no dB meter or other software assist to help with the mix. But I recently became aware that I have RealBand and may try using it in place of Audacity.


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Originally Posted By: Bass Thumper
There's much I struggle with and getting a good mix is one of them. Any tips/suggestions would be appreciated.
My recording process:
1. Save Special the muted bass composition in BiaB to MP3 format (Track 1)
2. Open Track 1 in Audacity
3. Patch cable from my bass to my practice amp
4. Line-Out from the amp to a Tascam A to D converter
5. USB out of converter to Win 10 desktop
6. In Audacity simultaneously play Track 1 (audio is sent to desktop speakers) and record my bass playing (Track 2)
7. In Audacity Noise-Reduce, Normalize and Compress Track 2
8. Listen to Track 1 and Track 2 with headphones and adjust (real-time) each track volume to taste
9. Mix and render to a separate mixed track (Track 3)
10. Export Track 3 to MP3 format and upload to SoundCloud
Note in Step 8 I see no dB meter or other software assist to help with the mix. But I recently became aware that I have RealBand and may try using it in place of Audacity.

Nothing wrong with any of your process.
I'm not sure how much latency you get playing along to your speakers from Audacity...it can be a problem in some instances.
You'll get better sound uploading a .wav file of Apple equiv. to Soundcloud if you have the bandwidth to do it.
When tracking bass, (I am - primarily - a bassist), I either mic my amp or use a Behringer BDI21, (a Sansamp clone). As I get lazier I do more BDI21 stuff...it gives tone shaping options etc. and is dead easy to use plus gives me a good clean signal to tweak as needed In The Box.
I couldn't get my head around Audacity..I used it for a couple of things but moved on to Cakewalk ProAudio 9.3 and then Reaper fairly quickly.
A simple/general rule is to have bass at about the same level as the snare &/or kick...but that alters for lots of reasons...style, genre specifics, imaginary rules etc.


Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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Latency is a funny thing, meaning I'm not sure if it is a constant for my setup or not. There are times where Take 1 feels like I'm right in the pocket with the band but upon playback I'm like a half second late at the beginning or at the end resulting in garbage. Without any changes I'll do a Take 2, it'll feel the same as Take 1 but on playback my timing is spot on. This makes me wonder if fluctuating CPU usage can cause timing issues.

Do you have a simple process to accurately measure real-time latency?

Either way, bass volume in the mix is to some degree a matter of personal preference and genre. Listening to Pandora on my Sony Receiver, Pioneer Towers and 12" powered subwoofer there are some pop songs where the bass is pushed way back in the mix and could be described as "mushy", while there are some smooth jazz tracks where I need to dial back the woofer gain due to floor joist rattle. I guess my preference is to lean towards the heavier side when mixing in bass partly because the higher register of guitar, keyboard and vocals can easily punch thru. But a level meter in the DAW would make things more consistent. Hopefully RealBand has such a meter.

When you mic your amp and play to loud speakers won't you end up with just one track? Or do you play with headphones?


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Lots to like about this composition.

I believe you have delivered a really neat arrangement. If this is a start, then we can sure expect more quality material from you.


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Originally Posted By: Bass Thumper
Latency is a funny thing, meaning I'm not sure if it is a constant for my setup or not. There are times where Take 1 feels like I'm right in the pocket with the band but upon playback I'm like a half second late at the beginning or at the end resulting in garbage. Without any changes I'll do a Take 2, it'll feel the same as Take 1 but on playback my timing is spot on. This makes me wonder if fluctuating CPU usage can cause timing issues.
Do you have a simple process to accurately measure real-time latency?
Either way, bass volume in the mix is to some degree a matter of personal preference and genre. Listening to Pandora on my Sony Receiver, Pioneer Towers and 12" powered subwoofer there are some pop songs where the bass is pushed way back in the mix and could be described as "mushy", while there are some smooth jazz tracks where I need to dial back the woofer gain due to floor joist rattle. I guess my preference is to lean towards the heavier side when mixing in bass partly because the higher register of guitar, keyboard and vocals can easily punch thru. But a level meter in the DAW would make things more consistent. Hopefully RealBand has such a meter.
When you mic your amp and play to loud speakers won't you end up with just one track? Or do you play with headphones?

Latency time is hard to measure with your signal chain. Most interfaces will give you the figure and it can be measured but I'm not sure how with Aud.
Tracking and latency will be slightly better addressed by using headphones to listen to the backing.
I track my bass amp with two mics into my simple interface and listen to the click necessary backing via heaphones from that interface. Close micing means that very little room noise or environmental noise gets into the mic and as I'm wearing headphones from the interface and, for that purpose, they're closed back and ear covering, there's no bleed from them as may occur when doing vocals.
If you'd like to explore these matters to fully suit your set up use the private message option and send me a g'day. We can then chat, investigate talk bass without me hijacking your thread.


Cheers
rayc
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Originally Posted By: Bass Thumper
Hey Bluage,
Thanks for a sophisticated analysis, it sort of implies that I had a pre-conceived plan in mind to be executed. In reality, it was hunting, pecking and experimenting until something pleasing to my ears happen. The genius and beauty that BiaB is, allows this kind of experimentation to be done by a novice like me. How cool is that?

At this point I'm in a general exploration mode to learn what BiaB can do across various genres and the icing is that it forces my bass playing to adapt. And it is brief because early on someone commented on how long my songs were, so I'm trying to accommodate.

Music is indeed what feelings sound like. smile


Hello, again, 'Bass Thumper'...

Well, thanks a lot for providing such a detailed response to my comments. You illuminated my understanding of the process of creation of your song.


"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
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i really like the sound picture of this song.
on phones sounds nice here.
nice bass playing .

best
om


my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..)
https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs
(90 songs created useing bb/rb)
(lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
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Thanks guys . . . play on smile


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Mellow!
Enjoyable listen.

moto

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Many thanks motto, I'm still climbing the ladder of learning.


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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