We’ve covered a lot of different material in the Bass Tone series: after 9 articles and 6 podcast episodes, it’s about time to stop and check whether your ears have kept up! We’ve had a few quizzes along the way, but this week it’s time to add a final test on bass effects, and re-check your knowledge on the previous three topics.

The first quiz is all about the sounds of the fretless, introduced in “The Upright Bass” and “Fretless Electric”. You’ll need to distinguish between fretted, upright and fretless electric bass guitar sounds to succeed:

Next up we’ll take a listen to different playing techniques, as introduced in Playing Techniques, Part 1 and Part 2, and the corresponding podcast episode. Do you remember all about slaps, pops, slides, pull-offs, and hammer-ons? Time to find out!

Click to read the rest…

With over 150 articles here at EasyEarTraining.com it would be easy to miss out on some that might be useful for your aural skills training.

Today we’re going to take a look at the 9 Training Series we have here on the site, and what each of them can offer you as a musician or audio professional.

Pitch & Harmony

Pitch & Harmony by Thomas Evdokimoff introduces some fundamental concepts in musical ear training, teaching you to recognise and sing intervals and chords. You’ll learn about the solfege system for ear training, and how major and minor scales can be used as the basis for all relative pitch skills.

Listen Close

Brad T. Bush chooses stand-out examples of songs to examine how they’re put together and what can make a track amazing instead of run-of-the-mill. Along the way he’ll point out the techniques used by song-writers, musicians and producers which you need to know for your own music. If you’re keen to hear and understand more in the music you love, Listen Close is a great place to start.

Music & Life

Sabrina Peña Young takes a broad look at all the wonderful ways music influences our lives at every age, and how specific ear training can benefit us, as musicians and simply as people. Of particular interest for parents, Music & Life teaches you how best to nurture a child’s inner musician.

Open Your Ears

Looking for some new musical avenues to explore? Part of being a great musician is having wide experience of musical styles and techniques, and being open to new sounds. Open Your Ears provides some interesting and unusual pointers to new musical experiences.

Bass Tone

If you’re a bass player, or (inspired by Open Your Ears) simply want to expand your knowledge of that low-down instrument, check out Nick Long‘s series Bass Tone. The series covers the different types of bass, from the original double bass through to modern electric bass, and all the other essential topics for crafting (or appreciating) a unique bass tone, including amplifiers and effects. There’s also a free 6-part Bass Tone Podcast if you prefer to learn by listening.

Frequency Fundamentals

Professional audio engineer and studio-owner Fotios Koulakos takes you from zero knowledge to being a master of the audio spectrum with his series Frequency Fundamentals. If you’ve ever wondered what “kilohertz” are, how studio engineers know which knobs to tweak, or struggled to get your recordings to sound professional, get stuck into this series on all things frequency.

Hearing Effects

Picking up where Frequency Fundamentals left off, Hearing Effects dives into the wild world of audio effects, covering all the essential types of sound-processor, including delay, compression and modulation effects. All you guitarists and audio pros should not miss this one!

Wired for Sound

Sometimes ear training can be hard work, and if your sound system’s not up to scratch you’re only making life harder for yourself! Don’t make silly mistakes with your hi-fi setup, learn the right way with Nick Long‘s Wired for Sound.

Listen to Les

Of all the musicians who’ve furthered the art of recorded music, probably none has contributed as much as Les Paul. From his iconic guitar, the Gibson Les Paul, to his innovation in recording techniques, to the audio effects he pioneered, Les Paul’s gift to the world of music has been remarkable, and the Listen to Les series will help you understand why.

Well, did any of those whet your appetite? Hopefully you’ve found something new to dive into. Remember, a topic doesn’t have to be central to your musical world for it to help open your eyes (and ears) to new possibilities, so don’t be afraid to branch out – especially from the music side to the audio side, or vice-versa.

We’re always keen to hear from our readers, so if there are any topics not covered above, or you have a great idea for a new series please do get in touch by email or leave a comment below.

Time to continue your bass effects education! Following on from the last part, Episode 6 of the Bass Tone podcast covers some more innovative effects, including modulation and pitch-shift.

In this week’s podcast you’ll learn all about:

• What modulation effects are and how they work
• The Chorus and Flanger effects and how they impact your tone
• The sound of Wah-Wah effects, and why they combine well with distortion effects
• Pitch-shifter effects (including octaver effects)

http://www.EasyEarTraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/6_-_Bass_FX_2.m4a

You can subscribe to the Bass Tone podcast in iTunes, or your favourite podcasting program using the feeds below:

	Bass Tone Podcast (iTunes)
	Bass Tone Podcast (RSS feed for other clients)

You can also download this episode directly:

Download Bass Tone Podcast – Part 6 (right-click and “Save as…”)

The podcast is an M4A (AAC) file, which should play back on most modern audio software and portable music players. If you have any problems downloading or playing the file please let us know.

Have you crafted your distinctive personal bass tone yet? Found a bass effect that really sets you apart? Share your experience in the comments below!



This is the last podcast in the Bass Tone podcast series. If you’ve enjoyed it, please let Nick know!