In my endless search for fast and easy way to build backing tracks, I decided to reinstall my old-good Broomstick Bass (BB for friends, and no, it is not Brigitte Bardot in the seventies )
Bitwig is able to manage 32bit plugins natively, like Reaper if I remember well, so no problem with compatibility
I think that the Scaler 3 + Broomstick Bass is unbeatable to make backing tracks in the easiest and fastest way possible, because BB contains a bunch of very good bass models, and also an automatic drummer whose riffs change according to the genre
Too bad that the plugin was abandoned years ago because Swen Bornemark lost the developer
I think to remember that he was in the development of another bass plugin, I don’t remember if Toontrack or the UJAM, but neither reached the easiness of BB, so it remains unvaluable to me
Clearly, if you like practicing on better sounds, you should go to others tools
I use also Jamstix and UJAM basses, but they are to be programmed first, while BB works instantly
Too bad that nobody developed similar tools, but there is some hope, because it seems that the Jamstix developer resurrected from the oblivion, and I think to remember that he wanted to create an automatic bass also
Hiya Claudio - I’d forgotten all about Jamstix which, afaik, was unique in it’s ability to improvise along with a complex jam live and I got some impressive results after extensive tweaking of the response sensitivity.
However, said tweaking was killing my workflow especially as, despite buying all the libraries, I never liked it’s sound so I had to waste time finding the right SSD, Addictive, BB or Superior kit to match any beat.
Still, thanks for the reminder. I’m short of jamming buddies (though I’m having some fun with strangers on Ninjam) so I’ll try adding it to a Reaper track and see how it goes…
Actually, if you use the Audio input, you don’t need any tweaking, for backing tracks at least, so I am currently using Broomstick Bass (most often the Chapman Stick) for the bassline only, while Jamstix is the drummer (almost always Bill Bruford because I am a King Crimson fan ) driven directly by my axe dynamics
The Jamstix sound is not great indeed, but I am focalized more on improving my manual skills than mixing, now
BTW, today I used my 4-tracks Tascam stereo mics and my acoustic guitar to practice and compose in the garden; no cables, a very few buttons to touch for recording and setting loops: way more relaxing and inspiring; I’ll keep using this set
@edkocol Really impressive that you’ve been a bass player for over 50 years and developed BassMuse. I’m curious — how did you get into plugin programming? Did you have a background in IT alongside your music?
I refuse to use anything that even barely reminds me an AI crap
This is why I bought an acoustic guitar, and I am composing with it ONLY
And I also bought a soprano recorder…
And, maybe I’ll buy a bass a day or another
Anyway, I’ll test it and let you know if it beats BB or not
It’s been some time that Win10 is not supported by Microsoft. Upgrade was (is still) free. Maybe you can still do it. I did it 3 or 4 years ago. Of course, it depends on your hardware. I have computers older that 10 years and migration was OK for all, but after that, I could not install updates. My current PC that has 5 years is absolutely OK. It’s the configuration quite similar to yours if i remember well.
I cannot, because my PC doesn’t like it
But I have no reasons to upgrade because it is perfect for what I do, for my job and for fun
but also because I hate certain Win 11 features, like e.g. the forced AI integration
I hate anything related to AI, and the AI concept itself, and I hate a device that does what it wants, even against my willing; so I’ll never go to Win 11 or above
And my interest in PC is way lowered also
Below is my new set: electro-acoustic guitar, multi-effect, 4-track recorder, mini-amp
I compose almost all with it, quite often using the electro-acoustic guitar only
My PC and a few automatic plugins (EZkeys, BB and Jamstix) are just used for backing tracks
Interesting. There is nothing in my Win 11 PC that forces me to use AI. You can uninstall Copilot any time. And if there is something AI-ish, like Google searches, it is not because of Windows, it’s purely Google problem. It’s much worse on phones with Siri (Apple), Bigsby (Samsung) and others AI “Assistants”. WIndows is AI-ish as much as the applications we install and use. And it is our decision, not AI’s.
If your hardware does not support Win11, it’s OK to avoid it. By the way, I find it almost as good as Win10 after some customizations that I did. Also, I have the same look and feel as Win 10. But your next PC might be Win 11 (12, 13, or more), and you’ll need to accept it if you wish to continue working or so.
I think I can still work and have fun with Win 10 for dozen of years, if I keep working, because when my PC will die, I’ll buy another one with the same Win version
If I stop working instead (the main reason to use Windows BTW is that I have essential tools that works under Win only) I can use a Linux distro forever, or some future device with no AI crap included
BTW, not all users are able to remove copilot…
Maybe you were able, but you are not a “common user”
And I remember the waste of time when I reinstalled Win 10 and had to remove copilot and other useless bloatware that was hard to remove; I hate this kind of things
Thanks but I asked for a return because I was badly adviced by them: The baroque contralto recorder is way harder to play compared to the german recorder, and I had difficulties to reach the pinkie hole also, so I’ll try to have it replaced with a soprano german recorder, that is smaller and easier to play
)
) driven directly by my axe dynamics
Add more Claudio, it’s interesting.