Bass strings with elastic tensioners sound great!
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- Опубліковано 1 кві 2022
- Building a double bass zither with 7 elastic tensioners, and playing music with it!
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I'm Nicolas Bras, musician and homemade instruments builder, on this channel you will find tutorials, compositions, building projects, improvisations, live concerts
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Find my music on nicolasbras.bandcamp.com
Music :
Nicolas Bras - Guyane, Homemade (album)
Nicolas Bras - Tama (unedited)
Nicolas Bras - Double Bass Zither (unedited)
Sandrine Morais, Nicolas Bras : Video edition
Charlie Rabuel : subtitles
Elementary music teacher here. I'm saving your video for my unit on sound production of different instruments! Thanks for the clear, concise info and the super piece at the end. My students will love it!
Thanks, I'm glad it can be useful!
Incredible idea! Did you get to do this with your students eventually?
Just goes to show that humans (clever ones like Nicolas) can make instruments out of anything if you understand the basics of what makes a nice sound. Amazing.
Hopefully you get to make your own version of the instrument would be more engaging for students
Middle school teacher here. I've been building DIY instruments for years and plan to use some of Nicolas' ideas too!
I stretched a tensioner over the book shelf under my desk at school and played a couple of quick bass grooves whenever the teacher wasn't looking. And nobody knew where it was coming from... hahahahaha
The 0:44 sound is the best in this video, the subtle imperfect buzz ringing through and the tone of the thinner black wires is like congas being heard from a carnival far away. So incredibly beautiful.
Yes, after hearing that sound, it felt like the rest of it (later in the video) was missing something.
I agree! after hearing that it almost makes you want something more out of the upper resonance of the final product/ but I think as a bass sound specifically this is excellent, it has a rather soft attack, and I feel it could blend in well with other instruments in most any mix as a nice thickener.
this makes me think there could potentially be other registers of this instrument tho> like a smaller box version with that sweet conga thump> working together as unique orchestra
YESSS!! Reminds me of the plucked bass sound on Zamuto's 'It Can Feel So Good'!
Agreed. Reminded me of the blue man group’s iconic sound
this is the most accurate example ever and i love it
Serious Crash Bandicoot soundtrack vibes, really love the timbre it has. Gonna have to recreate this some day, excellent work.
haha, for real though! flashback!
this is super reminiscent of a hammered dulcimer. It's so obvious in hindsight but such a clever and simple design to use the bungee cables. Sounds amazing too!
I was going to come to the comments just to post "Hammered Bassimer."
It's just an even thicker version of Ashbory bass strings, or those on the Kala U-Bass.
It IS a hammered dulcimer. If he plucked it, it’s a koto. If he hits it with sticks, it’s a dulcimer.
@@ferretyluv Easier to tune than a standard version of either though. XD
This instrument has such a lovely attack to its sound. Percussive yet smooth. Great job!
Thanks!
It's like the satisfying thump of a good synth bass sound
Straordinario
Technically, it's a koto. In a double bass register. Looks and sounds sick! 👍
A koto with thick boy strings.
Yeah
Immediately what I thought
I'd say it's more of a hammered dulcimer
@@aloysiusdevadanderabercrombie8Thays what I was going to say. If he’s hitting it with sticks, it’s a dulcimer.But the adjustable tuning bridges make it a Koto
@@ferretyluv Koto isn't the only nor the first instrument with movable bridges
I love the octave tuning. It really lends itself toa sound like an analog synth arpeggiated bass, while being totally acoustic.
2:53
It fits for New Order style new-wave music perfectly.
Woah, the clap sound is awesome! Sample it a million times!
Yes love it too!
The clap sound is sampled.
@@jaysgood10 it is clearly not but okay
@@jaysgood10 Yes, sampled from the string being plucked...
i really appreciate how youve edited your video, very musically driven with the shop noises acting as instruments themselves
Anyone can learn and become smart. Read a book. But, genius is to be able to synthesize different ideas into new ones. Bravo!
I see two ways to improve this instrument right away: MDF is pretty dead, so you won't get any resonance from that. I'm not saying ply is super, but it would give a better/louder sound, especially if it was under some sort of tension. As for the strings, the nylon sleeve will surely dampen/mute/shorten the sound and... Well, if that's what you want, then, by all means, but if you want strings that ring for longer, maybe try using some cheap work out elastic things? You could get two or even three strings from one set.
Crap, now I'm getting ideas for my own instruments! :D
I was thinking using straight up tape wound bass strings or maybe rubber ubass strings and to soften the strikers to get that mellow, upright sound. Definitely right about using better wood, 1/8" sheet of hardwood would project more.
@@johnnydeformed7123 The skin from a hollow core door would work pretty well, might need a few bits of bracing through the middle, that's all.
Plywood is out of stock…at least in Germany 😕
I think thick grass trimmer cord will work well as strings.
Ahh yes! Resistance bands. I knew there was some kind of rubber tubing I was trying to think of.
Sounds extremely cool! When I was a kid, I also experimented with these elastic tensioners, but failed to get good sound because I used cardboard boxes that were WAY to small ;).
By the way, I LOVE the track from 3:42 onwards!
I recently made a two string double bass and played it at the school talent show yesterday. The resonator is a big cardboard box, and it’s decently loud acoustically. The high string is a marine elastic cord. I’ll make a video in tiny bit but unfortunately since yesterday it’s been sounding different, lots of buzzing. It sounded exactly like a real double bass yesterday and the before.
Yep, cardboard can sound good, but you need some volume!
I fixed it, I’ll make a video later today
It's almost like a bass dulcimer but similar with a koto with the movable tension, definitely a cool idea
While I was watching the video I said this is a bass hammered dulcimer.
Thanks!
Your methods of sound producing by inventing new instruments is really cool.
Thanks!
This is incredibly cool 😍 I want to remind everyone to be cautious with bungee cords and secure them super well like the ones in the video, maybe even with extra fail-safes, and use eye protection when building -- bungees are a leading cause of horrible eye injuries! But all seriousness aside, this is really awesome and I love it! (Comment is not meant as a criticism of the video or design at all, just serving my duty in life to be That Person at the party.)
Stop concern trolling. He was fine and will continue to be.
@@agenericaccount3935 "Concern trolling" is the new dumbest-I've-heard-yet misuse of the term "trolling", and that's saying something lol. That term has been so wildly corrupted as a catch-all "anything I don't like on the internet", ugh. But anyway, all seriousness aside -- I tried to make it clear in my comment that it's not about the video creator at all, just an opportunistic healthcare PSA. Serious injuries are remarkably common when people work with any sort of cordage/cables under tension, especially when elasticity is involved, and bungees with hooks are especially notorious for this because of their design and because people use them casually. Anyone thinking about undertaking a project like this should ideally have such a warning.
If that bothers you, then frankly I think either your priorities suck, or you're missing some vital information about the legitimacy of the risk and the importance of awareness. But hey, I'd defend your right to choose to be annoyed about a harmless comment on the internet. I just also hope you consider finding more worthwhile things to direct your dissatisfaction towards. 🤷♂️ If you're just gonna keep being cranky that's cool too, I tried my best, best of luck to you
@@ItsAsparageese Can attest to this myself.
Bungee snapped hit me in left eye and was instantly blinded like I was looking through a glass of milk. Luckily vision returned but I have one of those David Bowie pupils. One large one not. Like you say one of the leading causes of blindness. Bungees. A problem you never hear about till the doctor tells you. To late of course.
@@hpodell Oof, glad your eye turned out okay! Thanks for the backup and sharing your cautionary tale. Yeah some years back my mom had an eye injury from a bungee cord, she healed up fine too but it was a nasty scare in the meantime. Thankfully that's the worst case I've been close to but I've heard horror stories and vehement warnings from enough healthcare colleagues to know it's a big issue.
I appreciate the cautionary warning Emerald because it's happened to me too. I'm just so glad the first time there was not much tension on the cord got hit in the mouth. No SCAR or anything. The second time though a lot of tension on the top of my head really hurt had to lay down a while. If there was a scar you couldn't see it. Yeah they can be dangerous. 🤕
Awesome!
Hey I know you...
Thanks a lot!
I am impressed with the variety of noises you can make with that single instrument.
percussive and melodic like a true bass
I feel like you've been gone for a while. I'm glad you did this though, and thanks for always publishing the recordings
Thanks! Yes one month since the last one, real life projects take time too!
Well, you proved the hell out of that concept. With obsessive enhancing (maximising the ideal shape, material, and construction of the resonator, testing dozens of makes of bungees to find the best for this application, changing everything all the time to determine the best way to do everything) you'd have a world-changing instrument here. Really fun video; thanks!
That's not something I'll do, I'm a prototype guy, I have hundreds of other ideas I want to develop, but the idea is free to use!
@@NicolasBras As I expected. There's inventors, and there's fiddlers.
This is very cool but i have just one problem with this video: I can't hear the bass very easily without turning my volume way up- Only to be blasted by the volume of your voice
other than that, excellent :)
try earphones
tbf it really depends on what you're using to listen, if it's just your phone's speaker,, then you might as well just mute the video low noises are REALLY hard to hear. even a regular speaker if not some, surround stereo system can really make it hard to listen to. if you like bass I def recommend you get some ear/headphones
@@nipunagunarathne4882 I'm using headphones ._.
@@uranusouji9703 i have some it's just that the higher pitched/louder sounds are also loud. Most headphones don't have a separate volume for bass, including mine sadly
@orbismworldbuilding8428 you should be able to adjust you phones audio equalizer in the settings somewhere. Its worth it
That was fun! Thanks! Who here, hasn't plucked a tension cord? ...20 years ago I found a great, old steel spring, on a wooden screen door. It was so "twangy",....it had a whole range of interesting low register notes. The wooden frame of the door enhanced the sound. I engaged the spring using a screw driver, and a metal putty knife. Opening the door changed the pitch, too. I discovered this by accident, and felt compelled to strum the coil, knowing it would make a fun sound.
Very interesting, like some others have said MDF is limiting the full potential this has. Plywood wood be an improvement, always try to get it thin and light, as it is easier to energize and vibrate. Tim Sway uses old hollow core doors to build guitars and basses, so that may be an option too.
Edit: Looking again, that IS a torsion box - it's an assembly table.
Could build a torsion box out of MDF, too. It has similar properties to a hollow core door and won't warp over time as much, so it won't keep shifting and require tuning and fixing the bridges constantly
your YT channel is a gold mine. Thank you
DUDE this is amazing! Can't believe there are still ppl who say bass is easy and boring! If you are good this one instrument can be a whole band!
There's nothing quite like a good deep base sound. This felt so nice.
I think you might get more projection on the sound by using a drum head, like a banjo. Banjos are insanely loud for acoustic instruments, I think maybe the challenge would be getting enough tension for the elastic bands to transfer sound through the bridges and into the drumhead. Maybe use weird drums for bridges/frets like you're using here, or a giant drum for the box. That would be fun
I love the sound of this! This groove absolutely slaps 🔥
Genius! I just found your channel today and have watched several videos already. You’ve got me so inspired!!
Thank you for sharing your talent and knowledge with the world!!
Wow!! This is brilliant!! Sounds like a cross between an upright bass and a synth, but OF Course so much cooler because you made the instrument from scratch ! Some of the coolest sounds I have heard on UA-cam in a long time..Bravo !!
You accomplished what I’ve always tried to do as a kid lol this was absolutely incredible!!!
I don't know what is more amazing, the sound or your musical talent.
WOW.. ! This is great ! Thirty years ago..or so.. I worked for an engineering company. They kept some stock items on
" A " frame racks outside. There was a rack of plastic piping left over from a project...various sizes.. up to.. maybe 20 inches. I made two paddles from scrap wood to hit the end of these pipes and make different sounds. Some were offcuts and made a different note. Some of the pipes were very long.....5 metres, maybe... The bass sound was incredible.. with a slapping sound from the paddles. I taught myself a little riff.. and got hooked.. I had forgotten about that 'til you reminded me....cool.
Sounds amazing for what it is! Nice work.
Great sound, great idea. And thank you so much for your PERFECT delivery of the information. No faff, not waffle, nothing irrelevant but all fun. Great video.
Thanks a lot!
Very cool build and the song was pretty jamming.
Ooo that first sound with the percussion sticks was so woody and resonant I love it
Your creativity is so inspirational 👏
Thanks!
Simply incredible! Impressive large scale and useful. Bravo! Sooo much fun to play I'm sure!
Thanks! Yes that's a really fun one to play!
I'm just listening to the music that starts at 2:37 in a loop. I love this tune! Tribal dance music they surely played in clubs in the neolithic age! Very cool :D
This is fantastic!!! I love it, and I agree that the sound you got with the metal corner bead was amazing. Thank you for the inspiration!!
You can add a ceramic piezosensors under the "bridge"-blocks. To make a balanced connection without additional preamp you need a two ordinary piezo-beepers and connect them to balanced cable like this HOT--> i| GND |i
This sounds so cool and this is a great idea! I'm impressed with how low it really is!
Thanks! Yes that's pure bass!
The amount of fun you having is soooo illegal
This has such a beautiful bass sound. Great job Nic.
Beautiful sound!
Thanks!
Dude!! This is just amazing. Love the sound it makes. Bravo :)
Thanks!
This is completely amazing!!
A musician, composer, and a craftsman.
Sounds so cool! A band called Motograter created something similar to this back in the early 00s, but it had less strings and used metal cables. And sounded way uglier. 😂
Motograter actually still exists and tours, but I'm not sure they still really use that thing as much.
Hey dude, you're amazing. I had forgotten the name of this band for a long time. It was almost 17 years ago that I heard the first piece of this band, the name of the song was (suffocate). I was always looking for the name of the band, thanks a lot
I want a one hour version of this music.
Amazing. double sided contrabass hammered dulcimer. I am floored. Sounds awesome.
What a great sound and so versatile too! Bravo!
This sound is amazing
My only concern is that the tensioners are notoriously unhealthy for eyeballs. My suggestion is wear protective eye wear while playing it.
Hi Nicolas, I'm a big fan of yours. I think it would be interesting if the next project would be some DIY handpan or tongue-drum :)
I never tried this kind of instrument!
Fantastic musicianship and crafting/engineering,
Thank you for the 💡 idea!!!
Just found this channel. This reminds me of what N.U. Unruh has done with Einstuerzende Neubauten, with his amplified spring.
Cool.
Your voicerecord is much more louder than the other audio, maybe not so aggressive limiting to voice / more balaced? 🌼
Very quiet, struggled to hear the instrument at all. Kudos on making it though!
@@Whistler-007 It's VERY bassy with very few overtones so if you are watching on something that doesn't have a lot of bass you won't hear anything at all.
@@bryndayy Thanks for replying. That'll be it. Cheap monitor speakers were not up to the task.
Big Box = Big Bass
Awesome job! Really love the sound of this, can’t wait to hear it as a Soundpaint instrument.
Brilliant work! Music also sounded great!
Watch with headphones! Don't make the mistake i did!
Quelle créativité j'adore! Je suis tombé sur ta chaîne par hasard et je suis épaté, bravo! 😄
Grand merci!
Fantastic idea and great work! Finding unique tones and textures from objects not normally associated with music is so cool and endless. There is a whole world out there to be discovered. Thanks so much for an informative and interesting video.
I love all your sounds! So well done
Me looking for Davie in the comments
You pretty much made a Japanese koto in a base register.
What you have invented is a bass hammer dulcimer. When I was working at a music store I had the joy of tuning a vintage hammer dulcimer. 48 strings and 48 bridges. I still have nightmares.
This is amazing, seriously. Kudos for your revolutionary thinking.
Un cymbalum basse DIY ? J'achète !
J'ai des sangles "racagnac" qui ne demandent que la même base...
Et du fil de soudeuse...
(bref tu m'as encore mis sur orbite pour un futur Gaffophone !)
Oui il faut s'y mettre!
@@NicolasBras Hors sujet, j'ai lâché une caisse, spontanément je me suis demandé : "Ce serait quoi un Gastrophone ?"
(ça donne ça de vivre avec un cerveau de Lamborghini dans une carcasse de Lada)
so a koto with 3 notes that plays bass
This sounds much better than I initially thought! +1 great stuff!
Massive props for ingenuity!
On sent bien l'accent français
Hi, please try to mix your sound better. At 1:21 I have to turn my volume way up because the bass is so quiet, and 5 seconds later you are speaking super loudly into the mic. Really annoying for me to have to increase/decrease my volume throughout the video.
Instead of worrying about how he mixes his audio, maybe worry about how deaf you are because it wasn't quiet.
This sounded super cool!
How amazing sounds great!
That's so crazy. Thanks for the inspiration.
I don't know shit about music but I love how hard you go. I'd buy an album played solely on this bungee cord frank-in-strument.
Enjoyed very much, Thank you. More please
Another big success! Beautiful sound and really so much like an old tea-chest bass. I had fun with this track by putting my phone speaker close to my mouth and giving a 'vocoder' effect!
this is similar in principle to some of the DIY instruments Dan Rathbun used in Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, namely the Sledgehammer Dulcimer/Slide Piano Log, which used piano strings and fretted with one drumstick as a slide instead of having adjustable stops. i love the sound of this, and the two sticks give really cool melodic percussion style rhythmic groupings.
Love the enthusiasm!!!
I had this idea years ago. Great to see it done!
W.O.W.! I could listen to this for hours. Your enthousiasm is contagious.
Some serious blue man group energy! I love it!!
Genius. To use the bungee cords with the braided cloth on them for a level and consistent dampening is a great idea. It sounds amazing in your hands. This video inspires a lot of ideas with a lot of people.
I'm a bass player and I will be following this video to build my own. Thank you Nicholas!
Love the idea, the sounds it makes and your accent!!! In general, I Love your channel! 10/10
increíble tu ejecución!
Feeling the vibration
Dude! You totally made a Bungee Bass Zither!
Instead of a bass drum, you made a drum bass. Killer dude 👍👍
That is amazing, well done!
insane! the instrument is awesome.
Excellent videos and excellent work! I find your work so fascinating!!
Awesome!! What an inspiration you are!! Thank you!
I finally completely grasp the bass as a rhythm and percussion instrument.