Thomas Brett is a musician and writer who holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from New York University. He is the author of The Creative Electronic Music Producer, and his essays and book reviews have appeared in the journals Popular Music and Popular Music and Society, as well as edited collections by Routledge, Oxford, and Cambridge University presses. He has released numerous electronic music recordings and his compositions for marimba and vibraphone have been performed internationally by soloists and university ensembles. Thomas has played percussion on Broadway since 1997 and writes about music at brettworks.com.
Love the reverb* on that pad and that low glitchy “bass” part. I have sometimes chosen to get close to that bass timbre with muting on electric bass while tracking live, but the buzzy overlay adds something else.
*Sounds like this remind me of the oft-told anecdote of the engineer running out of the studio in protest when Phil Lesh requested that some part they were recording should sound like “heavy air.”
Yeah–I also like reverbs that add immense texture. I like the Lesh’s “heavy air” idea too–talk about a Wall of Sound.
Devising ways to “dirty up” sounds in recording is a great timbral adventure. About your bass: reminds me of Jon Hopkins advising to “distort” one’s sonic artifacts, “then distort them again” to explore and amplify that world. The right kind of bass almost replaces the need for percussion too.