![\"Sterling](\"https:\/\/hippyjo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/NewBass-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI’m loving it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been practicing and trying to learn the fundamentals, and I\u2019m having a lot of fun, even if I am clearly not a prodigy or in any way \u201cgifted\u201d with a talent of magic fingers.<\/p>\n
It’s all good, I’m just having fun.<\/p>\n
Irony<\/h2>\n
I thought a positive side of that is that I don\u2019t have to deal with accusations of my recordings being created by AI. I give you the full human experience of imperfection on display.<\/p>\n
Turns out I was wrong on that.<\/p>\n I guess a troll\u2019s gotta troll\u2026<\/p>\n Anyway, moving right along.<\/p>\n So here we are, at just over six months later, and I present an exercise in writing and recording a song.<\/p>\n I also recognized that I could create a record of my growth over time, and that doing so would be of benefit in several ways.<\/p>\n I just had to swallow my pride and put it out there.<\/p>\n I chose Soundcloud as the place I would \u201cput it out there\u201d, mostly because I had already created an account there a long time ago, and uploaded a couple of files.<\/p>\n Path of least resistance, for the win.<\/p>\n So this all started with one of the first basslines I tried to learn.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t get it quite right.<\/p>\n I admit that freely, and I will verify the song if anyone figures out what it is supposed to be from.<\/p>\n I got the notes mostly right, but I completely ignored the written tempo and played it at MY TEMPO!<\/p>\n But I stuck with it, and I like it.<\/p>\n Barely.<\/p>\n Spoken word, more like it.<\/p>\n I guess the kids might call it rap.<\/p>\n I call it a mic-check exercise.<\/p>\n File it under \u201cFunk\u201d.<\/p>\n Trying to sing\/speak at the same tempo of the bassline, I realize why it(the bass line) is so much slower in the original song I failed to copy accurately.<\/p>\n So the ultimate focus for vocals was to not mumble, keep a consistent level, and stay reasonably on beat.<\/p>\n If I was going to keep working on this, I would experiment with the lyrical rhythm.<\/p>\n Minimal, some compression and reverb. The lead guitar has distortion and wah-pedal. Pretty basic stuff.<\/p>\n I used Reason 12 to record everything.<\/p>\n Oh yeah, I\u2019ve also had to learn how to do a lot of things in Reason. Still learning that, actually, so this is a history of my progress with producing music as well.<\/p>\n I’ve been uploading artifacts of the experience to Soundcloud (see below).<\/p>\n You can hear a lot of variety between the different songs, even though it is the same basic beat and bass line.<\/p>\n Things have come a long way in the music production realm, and the world is a better place.<\/p>\n Ultimately, it’s been lots of fun so far.<\/p>\n So here are the different recordings I posted over time, illustrating the evolution of a bassline, from a daily exercise to an \u201cactual song\u201d.<\/p>\n New Bass (alternate mix): https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/bjGFT3G9NEnLhw38lG<\/a><\/p>\n Feb 1, 2026: https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/hQmxi2T6oOpP2ZPv2L<\/a><\/p>\n Testing Mix \u2013 In Reason 12: https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/ak19H57TSwGx28sbIQ<\/a><\/p>\n Howz Muh Toan?: https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/gbgJkHtZQ4hzLdzUCE<\/a><\/p>\n Day 2 Day: https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/vxZKafyvmvSbHypra7<\/a><\/p>\n As always, thank you for your kind attention and support!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I got a bass guitar for Christmas last year. I’m loving it. I’ve been practicing and trying to learn the fundamentals, and I’m having a lot of fun, even if I am clearly not a prodigy or in any way “gifted” with a talent of magic fingers. It’s all good, I’m just having fun. Irony … Continue reading Bass is Base<\/span> <\/a>For the Record<\/h2>\n
A Wrong Bassline<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nVocals<\/h2>\n
Production<\/h2>\n
Receipts<\/h2>\n