Prayer bowls & pedals... Portals...

[ritz]

As requested in the pedal cv thread...

First of more to come perhaps, so I'm making my own thread

For context:

A good prayer bowl is pretty much the world's most flawlessly complex acoustic oscillator.

There is a deeply mystical purity to it for me. No synths, no computers, no post-processing, just playing the bowls (mostly percussively), manipulating and layering in real time.

Starting off with some dark atmospherics from the other night, first time going deep with the Ottobit jr. Also featuring ss/bs mini, clusterflux, spectre, pretty years, shapeshift mountain, tremotron, happiness, xerograph, nemesis, space.

Not necessarily a typical sound for me, but I'm loving the glitched vibe of it and sharing for that Ottobit hype.

Two tracks, one short one long.

https://soundcloud.com/miz-lazarus/ottobit-the-dust-1

https://soundcloud.com/miz-lazarus/ottobit-the-dust-2


The instrument is an 18th century prayer bowl, 7 inches, with exceptional range.

[ritz]

And here's one in a more "typical" style:

https://soundcloud.com/miz-lazarus/transmissions

[D.o.S.]

[chamberpain]

Yes! Excellent stuff ritz! How are you capturing the sound of the bowls...mic...contact mic?

[Sasquatch]

This is so awesome! Well done! Love the use of stutter in there too.

[ProCarsteNation]

Radness!
liked/commented/followed on SC...

[ritz]

Thanks all. This is church for me, so it's good to hear that you're feeling it.

Stutter was definitely where it was at on those tracks, Sasquatch. In my mind it's a little robot dude that you're improvising with. Maybe Ottobit needs its own robo-mascot?

Chamberpain these days I'm using an AKG C414 - which costs more than any other piece of gear I own (even at the off the back of truck price I got on reverb), a purchase I do not regret because it's just so good. Crazy low noise floor and I can hit it with very high SPLs without overdriving it. These bowls can be seriously loud, and I play them really close and interactive with the mic. From there it's straight into an A&H mixer and then to multiple effect chains on the fly.

I did recently get a contact mic for experimenting, as well as a waterproof one. Playing the bowls in water (sitting, dunking, pushing etc) while they are mic'd underwater is a trip... crazy whale gurgles and water-wahs ahoy. But idk how practical for routine playing. The sound waves are powerful enough to splash quite a bit of water. I will use the regular contact mic on occasion - it's a great way to get a strong thunky percussive attack without the sustain (because you're dampening it with the contact)

[Ugly Nora]

What are you doing for your waterproof mic? I keep meaning to do this too but never get around to it. Are you just putting a condom around a mic, or did you buy an actual specialized water mic?

[ritz]

I got the one from perfect circuit. It's gooped with some epoxy or liquid plastic.

[chamberpain]

Chamberpain these days I'm using an AKG C414 - which costs more than any other piece of gear I own (even at the off the back of truck price I got on reverb), a purchase I do not regret because it's just so good. Crazy low noise floor and I can hit it with very high SPLs without overdriving it. These bowls can be seriously loud, and I play them really close and interactive with the mic. From there it's straight into an A&H mixer and then to multiple effect chains on the fly.

I did recently get a contact mic for experimenting, as well as a waterproof one. Playing the bowls in water (sitting, dunking, pushing etc) while they are mic'd underwater is a trip... crazy whale gurgles and water-wahs ahoy. But idk how practical for routine playing. The sound waves are powerful enough to splash quite a bit of water. I will use the regular contact mic on occasion - it's a great way to get a strong thunky percussive attack without the sustain (because you're dampening it with the contact)

Good info. Thanks. I've messed with a contact mic on my bowl quite a bit. Usually I'll place it on the bottom between the bowl and a little pad. It tends to pick up the singing aspect without noticeably dampening the sustain. I need to try micing it sometime.

Playing the bowls in water

Insane! I've gotta give this a go.

[Ugly Nora]

I got the one from perfect circuit. It's gooped with some epoxy or liquid plastic.

Thanks, I appreciate your honesty.

[JonnyAngle]

Where do
You get these bowls?

[Chankgeez]

This Reverb shop has some cheap ones:

https://reverb.com/shop/pristine-auctions

[Ugly Nora]

I got mine at http://bestsingingbowls.com/

It is a good site because all bowls have multiple pics and sound samples of each bowl using different striking implements. The guy is also helpful if you have questions.

Nora

[JonnyAngle]

Spendier than I thought