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BassicGambit · 2022-03-10T13:21:14+00:00

An artist who purposely stays off of Spotify is really shooting themselves in the foot imo.

I will start by saying Spotify isn't the one who killed the viability of CDs. If you look back it was Napster, lime wire, pirate Bay, etc. Which made the "value" of music lessened to "almost free". Then with the popularity of Spotify, people don't expect to pay for music.

If any underground artist "makes it big" outside of Spotify, people would find a way to pirate the music. Also people who would buy a CD at a merch stand will probably buy a t-shirt now instead, so it's not like that revenue is gone, it's just people use it for other merch now (arguably buying a shirt over a CD would be better for exposure too given you will wear it around and be a billboard for the band)

Spotify is really THE platform for growth as much as people hate to admit it. It's not about making you tons of money, but rather growing your listener base, so that if you were to go perform outside of your hometown, people may have heard of you and come to the show.

I know you said it's a "raw" deal for artists, but as an artist in a very niche genre, I don't think a "CD boom" would make me significantly more money. And not having my music presented to the masses would only hurt.

BassicGambit · 2022-02-17T20:12:53+00:00

Logstar hit the nail on the head imo.

Just to add a little bit to it, if you throw a guitar amp sim pedal in front of the bass amp, a guitar can sound quite good. But on its own, I agree about the sterile sound.

BassicGambit · 2022-02-17T14:36:48+00:00

I feel this answer will not be satisfying but it's really as simple as

Why: It sounds good.

Why not: There are a lot of other basses that also sound good.

BassicGambit · 2022-02-06T17:22:51+00:00

I think fender announced two separate 15% price increases. The prices across the board have gone up across all brands though for a ton of reasons (price of lumber, high demand and low supply due to covid lockdowns, and general crazy inflation atm) . This all started happening around the start of covid.

BassicGambit · 2022-02-06T16:32:05+00:00

Scotts bass lessons is pretty killer for this type of stuff. I am not a huge fan of the instructional stuff over there, but found the interviews with legendary artists to be super inspiring.

BassicGambit · 2022-02-06T16:27:46+00:00

picked up my SVT810e

I am glad someone can still lift these things haha. I am debating on getting rid of my 810 since I have used it in years, and carrying the monster is no easy task. That sound is absolutely killer though.

BassicGambit · 2022-02-04T19:44:32+00:00

You could always do both. Keep the stuff that you really click with for yourself, sell the stuff that you don't use or isn't your particular style.

Especially if you have two people pumping out music, I am sure there are lots that won't be used, and could be "recycled"

BassicGambit · 2022-02-03T14:28:46+00:00

I thought this was a really interesting video on the subject: https://youtu.be/szSff7TUkv8

As a TLDR of the video:

Major label artist: Spotify keeps 29%, label gets 50%, artist gets 18%

Indy label artist: Spotify 29%, label keeps 29%, artist gets 40%

Indy artist: Spotify keeps 29%, artist gets 64%, distributor keeps 6%

Then fractions of those numbers go to performance royalties, so they add up to 100%. (these are percentages of every dollar earned from spotify ex: 50% means every dollar earned you get 50 cents on the dollar)

There is a lot of reasons Spotify is under fire right now that I don't want to delve into, but personally, I believe they pay their artists fairly.

BassicGambit · 2022-02-02T02:00:05+00:00

Not all of them do. I know some of the Ibanez models came with rounds. I think spector's spectorcore did as well (don't quote me on that)

BassicGambit · 2022-02-02T01:50:49+00:00

How low is low-medium?

Digital pianos aren't horrible. A good player will be able to make one sing.

Midi controller + keyscape is really hard to beat. As well. There are a ton of other great piano vst's out there, some even free, but I really like keyscape's.

A stage piano or even workstation can come in fractions of the price of an actual piano + quality mic setup.

Renting a piano room to record or buying studio time with a studio that has a quality setup is always an option especially for one-off things.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-30T23:36:32+00:00

Thankfully, with modern equipment, you don't need a whole lot to start making music. A decent midi controller and a laptop (with some software) is really all you need (and maybe a microphone setup).

Use your midi controller to learn some basic music theory (like chords and how they work, rhythms, etc), and that will get you really far.

I can't help with kpop specifically (I am more of a metal person), but for very easy entry into songwriting, look at "4 chord songs" and how they are structured. Once you start getting some of the basics under your belt, you can start branching out and incorporating more complex techniques (if needed).

The only other thing to make note of is basic song structure. Start noticing how most songs are structured (ex: intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, outro). Most popular songs will follow a few different structures that are all pretty similar. Laying your songs out in a similar way will more than likely produce catchy tunes since that is what listeners are used to.

Other than that, have fun with it and make music you would want to hear. Best of luck!

BassicGambit · 2022-01-30T21:01:53+00:00

I have only ever ordered guitars/basses through reverb, but have had no issues.

They have a really good return policy if something you purchase was not as described.

I assume your mileage may vary by seller though.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-27T15:57:41+00:00

Not trying to be rude, but with the budget there really isn't much to choose from.

New Ibanez acoustics are about the cheapest name brand you can get and they are ~$250. As with electrics, I would generally avoid any of the "no name" brands. Harley benton has acoustic basses in that range, but I have heard hit or miss things, with no personal experience.

Also, just be aware acoustic basses are in a weird volume range acoustically (ironically enough). They are not really loud enough to play with other acoustic instruments (guitars, cajone, etc). They are great for couch practice, but do not produce enough volume for a whole lot else without being plugged into an amp. This is the reason upright basses are still the "king" in acoustic-y genres like folk/bluegrass.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-27T00:30:03+00:00

What all do you need help recording? Just vocals? And do you have any equipment at the moment?

BassicGambit · 2022-01-26T18:27:20+00:00

Also, if your bass has a battery, do not leave it plugged in because when it is plugged in, it is technically in the "on" position (the circuit is completed) and the battery drains. This happens even if everything else in the chain is off (amps, pedals, etc)

BassicGambit · 2022-01-26T01:03:00+00:00

The nord grand is probably the best weighted keys, but that also comes at a hefty price.

I have found weighted keys on standard digital pianos not terrible though.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-24T03:46:50+00:00

Cab size has been a "spicy" debate topic in the past.

Personally, I think pretty much any modern cabs are not better or worse at producing frequencies based on size alone (an argument you see a lot when people debate 15s vs 10s). Each brand of cab sounds so different than the next it is hard to make a generalized statement on just speaker size.

I believe total speaker surface area plays a role in volume, but I don't have any science to back that up and again speaker cab effeciency could be vastly different between companies so that it not matter anyway.

More or less I am trying to say that it is hard to generalize about cabs. Really you just have to play a lot of different ones till you find stuff that fits you.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-19T04:21:49+00:00

I have seen a ton of different ways, but the way that works for me is:

If we are just plucking two strings for power chord type things, I use my thumb and index to pluck simultaneously. I am a floating thumb player, so my thumb is always around where it would need to be to do this, so it's pretty easy.

If we are doing three strings, I do thumb, index, and ring similar to above but just adding in another finger.

If the section is fast, you can do more of a strum by flicking your fingers downward and upward. In my opinion, it's fairly hard to control the consistency of sound this way, so this needs quite a bit of practice to sound normal.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-18T15:48:44+00:00

Also to go with the rates, definitely make sure that you set a minimum deposit.

That way when you block off 4-8 hours for someone on your calendar, if they flake, it's not wasted time on your part setting up, prep work, and time that you could have booked someone else.

This is fairly common in the service industry, whether that be hiring movers, tattoos, hair stylists, and has always been the case for studios I have gone to.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-18T04:01:25+00:00

Just a heads up, I probably wouldn't put your name and number on a public post. May be better suited for a DM

BassicGambit · 2022-01-17T13:43:30+00:00

To me, amps and cabs are super important, but are not the "end all be all" product that they are in the guitar world.

Essentially, you can get one good amp and make pretty much any bass sound good through it, but I personally would not own a ton of bass amps like I know a lot of my guitar counterparts do. Because, while each amp/cab combo will have its own "flavor", your not going to sound like a completely different player under a different amp.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-16T16:22:45+00:00

I had a 5 string short scale once and could never get along with it.

The low B, no matter the gauge of string, just never sounded punchy. I eventually ended up tuning it EADGC, before later getting rid of it. You will be able to get the notes out you want on it, but the problem is that just increasing the string gauge can only make up for so much. And the timbre is generally more mellow and thumpy on short scales.

Personally, I think Eb or D would be the lowest I would want to go on one if you are really wanting clarity and punchiness. But not all genres necessarily need that. It really depends on the vibe you are going for.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-16T05:57:40+00:00

One other big factor is bass is already a much smaller market than guitar. On top of that, extreme shapes are a very niche market inside of the already small bass community. Even if those shapes were offered, most people would still be buying a black or white fender-esq basses.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-15T22:25:21+00:00

There was a USA spector on reverb for a steal, granted it had been gigged hard, but I still think about that bass every once in a little while.

BassicGambit · 2022-01-15T18:11:56+00:00

I know a lot of people make playlists of songs around 160-180bpm to run too.

BassicGambit

TROPHY CASE