Gotta be my favourite strings. So damn reliable. Never had a breakage, even with the metal pick. Just wish I could do that harmonic thing the way you do. i.e. seamlessly!
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Thanks Muff! To be honest, the Rotosounds are not usually my go to - I usually do D’Addario - but these are reallllly groovy for me.
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What the others said is all true. You should listen to them. But that said, to count BPM in Audacity (or other DAW) for many songs:
- Select a range of the imported track starting on one beat and going through the end of a beat sometime later in any contiguous section of regular (non-fill) beats. This should usually be visually obvious; the start of a beat will be a peak spike that repeats periodically. It will look something like this:
- Count the beats. In this case, 16.
- Multiply that by 60 and divide by the elapsed time in seconds (see the selection start/end at the bottom.) In this case, 16 * 60 / 6 = 160bpm.
Looking the song up online to check my measurement I saw 160, 161, and 162.
Caveats: it’s easy to be off a bit, and also a fair number of songs change tempo. This is also more difficult with more interesting drum patterns and time signatures; the closer it is to 4-on-the-floor, the better this works.
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another easy way is to use a tap tempo app on your phone. you just tap the beat a few times (until the BPM displayed is stable) and that’s it. it works, but it’s not fun.
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That’s pretty much what I ended up doing. It’s not as difficult as it seems.
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Here is a jam track, created by Gio - it’s a major pentatonic rock track, in Bb. @Gio, I hope you don’t mind my posting your track! I know you’re a busy guy, and, figured since this was your thread, you wouldn’t mind. Plus, you make some good tracks for us to practice on!
Okay, everyone, create a bassline for this track - and upload it to this thread. All levels welcome! This is just practice, and maybe a chance to get feedback if you like, so don’t worry if what you create isn’t a “masterpiece”. Just have fun, experiment, or apply some of the concepts you learned in B2B.
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I feel like this should be connected here…
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Ok, since I posted the challenge, I better put something up myself 
Feelin’ playful this morning, don’t care just gonna have fun. I got some inspiration from Josh’s “Blues Box” lesson. So many of the 4 bar sets in mine go like this:
1 - Formula #4 Funky Tramp
2 - Formula #5 Fingerpop
3 - same as bar 1
4 - just chugging 8th notes
Had to change that flat 7th to a major 6th, to fit into a major pentatonic scale though! So the shape is more like a box with jagged edges.
The rest of it’s just whole root notes, or chugging improv. Feelin’ on top of the world musically! Just a good feeling, that I can whip stuff out now, dance while I play, and some subconscious part of my brain is keeping the beat (sort of). Don’t care if it doesn’t sound A+ (I’m going to blame my poor recording setup and software - maybe it’s time for an upgrade 
)
For reference, here’s the blues box cheat sheet:
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@Vik - so stoked to see you using the backing tracks and the combo of the Blues Box lines with this is another lovely piece of BassBuzz synergy that I am all about.
I love that you’re playing and composing and having a good time on your bass, and I like the changes between different Bb ideas.
The only think I’ll say here - and for anyone else who might want to put a track on this - there are a few little chord changes in this 16 bar progression!! Bar 13 (beginning of the last 4 bar phrase) starts on a Gminor and moves to an F half way through Bar 14, before it gets back to the Bb on bar 15.
Listen in, and if you hear that, awesome, if not - no worries. The Bb will work under it all.
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Aha! I thought so, but wasn’t quite sure - it’s a good lesson in trusting my hunches, once again. When I hear the chord changes, I’m not quite sure what they are though, or how to identify what the note is, lol. This is where I need to get better at transcribing, or just hearing and tuning my ear to different intervals. It will come in time, I’m very confident about this now!
As always, we appreciate your input here, and I would love to hear what others do for this track. I’m ready to get out there and jam now, with others. It’s this kind of stuff that creates the baby steps to reach that point, and it’s different for each person. But I’ve never regretted doing these exercises, that’s for sure!
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You are not alone here Vik! Transcribing chord changes ain’t easy for anyone. I just did a quick edit through a song book a company was going to go to press with and they missed chords too! It’s not always easy to hear. TONS of listening, transcribing and practicing. That’s the only way.
I’d recommend starting with The Ramones, or some other really simple, really obvious chord-movement tunes.
Helpful to really hear the whole band move together when you’re starting out!
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Way to go @Vik! Thanks for posting your work. Can you include the details on your signal chain with what equipment you’re using and software? It’s hard to remember who uses what.
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OK, here is my attempt to provide a bassline to @gio’s Bb jam. As before, I am obviously not there yet to bring to the bass what my mind imagines 
And, somehow, I don’t seem to be able to just plain out “rock”…
Signal chain: Fender Geddy Lee Jazz (MiM) into a Roland Rubix22 DAI directly to GarageBand, where I use a rather clean amp with a few light effects (most notably perhaps a bit of Chorus).
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Yes, tough to remember what everyone’s using! Mine is basic - I have a Peavy Vypyr VIP-3 modelling amp, with it modelling a Peavy Bass amp with a Compressor pedal. My bass plugs directly into it, I’m not using any pedals. A USB out from the amp goes directly to my desktop computer, where Audacity recognizes it, and I use that as the recording software, as it is easy to use.
I think Audacity may be the weakest link, not sure, but I have to make some adjustments in the track, and Amplify sections of it, especially in higher registers, just to be able to hear the bass. But for now, the whole thing does the job, sometimes it’s great to not mess with anything once you have that down!
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Rock on @joergkutter! Thanks for putting this out. Now I have the same question for you that I had for @Vik. Can you post your signal chain and software. It gives me a better perspective on what’s going on.
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Ah, yes, sorry! Done now as an edit to my original post 
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@joergkutter and @Vik - it is so lovely to hear you guys making music to these. I’m real stoked.
I love making backing tracks too, so if there’s something that you, or anyone else wants a crack at, holler.
Although, I recall @joergkutter’s track was super groovy as well.
Keep it up, folks. Never stop.
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Thanks, @Gio!
I learn so much from these kinds of challenges… I guess that really pushes me to explore what I can (and can’t) play and what I would like to be able to play. It is an awesome way to put what @JoshFossgreen taught us in the course into practice!! At the same time, these tracks allow you to explore some ideas that might not align with “theory” or what Bootsy’s formula says… yes, sure, I probably just re-invent what thousands of bassists have already played before me, but it is still a creative process of sorts. And, somehow, I don’t get that from covers (sorry, @terb - I know we can learn a lot of other stuff from covers, though 
)
So, yeah, if you have more of those backing tracks - either for basslines, or (at some point) for soloing - please keep them coming!!
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I agree with you, you don’t learn the same things / the same way with a cover or a jam track. these are two great exercices, with different goals.
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