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Author Topic: B/C bass layout  (Read 886 times)

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Neil

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B/C bass layout
« on: May 31, 2019, 03:40:05 PM »

Background information: The system - BC; the music - Scottish and Irish trad; the experience - half a century of playing the music but just six months on the box.

The main thing I have learned from perusal of Melnet is that there is no "one system to rule them all", just a choice of compromises. But after six months I am planning ahead for the day when I can get a box set up to suit my own personal preferences (or maybe foibles), so I'm starting to think about the bass side.

My current box has the traditional bass layout which is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. But that's fine for now; my personal preference is to use somewhere between very little and no bass in my playing. But there are times when I could use a drone, and it seems to me that the essential thing for that is to have every main note on the push and pull - and from that, preferably on the same button.

As for chords, they are not something I am likely to want to use, even without the thirds, so I was wondering whether anyone had tried an eight button layout which just has the single notes A-G on push and pull and leaves one button spare for something unlikely such as the day I learn a tune in Bb.

A search of the forum turned up a comment from george garside about ten years ago suggesting that he might try such a thing - did you ever?
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Stiamh

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Re: B/C bass layout
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2019, 04:02:08 PM »

Hi Neil, I'm fairly sure that Owen Woods, a member here, has experimented with something similar on a small B/C/C# conversion (he's mainly known as a very fine D/G player but has ventured into semitone territory very successfully). I could be wrong and haven't time to conduct a proper search of the archives just now. You could contact him via his forum profile, perhaps.

Theo

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Re: B/C bass layout
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2019, 04:52:26 PM »

Also worth looking at the Darwin system bass devised by Marc Serafini.  I’ll try and post a link later.  The Darwin has 24 bass buttons, 12 play basses and 12 play chords and all play the same in and out.  Maybe a chromatic 12 bass only buttons would be your ultimate bass system.
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george garside

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Re: B/C bass layout
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2019, 04:57:37 PM »

I havn't got round to trying to do a conversion to the 'bass notes' only i.e. no chords and probably never will although I still think its a good way to go.  However  my double ray with 12 stradella bass is, to me, a great improvement on the 8 push pull bass

As to button layout I was thinking in terms of  one row (earest the hand)  with 7 buttons and the other row with 5  (all unisonoric) so it would be laid out more or less the same as a piano keybaord   i.e  the inner row of 5  as a group of 2 and a group of 3 buttons as in the black notes on a piano????????????????????????

george
« Last Edit: May 31, 2019, 05:09:35 PM by george garside »
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Stiamh

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Neil

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Re: B/C bass layout
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2019, 06:54:24 PM »

Thanks to all for the information and useful links. Maybe the ideal for me might be half a Darwin on a 12 button bass, but it's good to know that this is not such an off the wall idea that it hasn't been done before.
Neil
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