Tascam Bass Trainer

[bassmonkey]

Just took delivery of one of these, I won it on eBay. Had a little mess around with it last night. I'm still waiting for delivery of some decent cans, so was just using in-ear buds. I must say, I am most impressed. The ability to slow a track down is fantastic. It really surprised me that a few phrases where I thought I was playing them spot on, in actual fact I was not. Already helped me figure out a few things I was struggling with. I definitely think this will help my fretless technique and bass playing in general. I really wish these had been around 20 years ago when I started out playing.

10/10

 

[Rick]

I love mine.

Do yourself a favor and get the AC adapter, if you didn't already, cuz that thing eats batteries like mad

 

[Shakedown]

Me Too

I also have one of these. I find the looping feature very useful.

 

[tommyindelaware]

i got one too....
& i gonna be wearin it out the next day or 2...

 

[whamonkey]

Heard great things about them....I have the Korg PX4B and it is amazing for what it is...a practice tool. Highly recommended.

 

[Mobay45]

I just got one the week before last. Great tool!

 

[Psycho Ward]

OK, you've got me interested in one of these things. I've got a program in one of the studio computers that does the same thing, but that means turning the damn things on again. Ever since I got into bass I've been anti-DAW 's.

Man I wish I had all that money invested in EBMM's, I could almost be MusicMan Nut!

 

[adouglas]

I noticed from the specs that it's not a mini stereo input. Does this mean it can slow down mp3s as well as CDs? It would be cool to be able to just plug in my iPod and use it that way....

 

[Fuzzy Dustmite]

don't know about the MKII version, but my original one does not have the ability to play or slow down mp3s from a cd. You can plug your iPod (or Dell DJ in my case) into the stereo in and play along, but not slow down.

Still, I love mine.

 

[bassmonkey]

don't know about the MKII version, but my original one does not have the ability to play or slow down mp3s from a cd. You can plug your iPod (or Dell DJ in my case) into the stereo in and play along, but not slow down.

Still, I love mine.

I wondered about that. Darn it! I've got stuff on mp3 that I haven't got on CD. Can you still loop stuff on mp3 though? I would have thought the loop would be some sort of microprocessor-type recording thingy. (Sorry, I'm not very technical).

I've got the Mark1 even though the guy on eBay advertised it as a Mark2. Grrrrr!

 

[Psycho Ward]

I just looked over at MF and it doesn't say anything about mp3's on the MKII, they mentioned a built in tuner, does the MKI have a tuner?

 

[Fuzzy Dustmite]

Yeah, the MK1 has a tuner, but no metronome, and I think something with the onboard effects may have been upgraded/changed.

You know, I haven't actually tried to loop one of the mp3s (I don't think). I guess I just assumed that it probably marked the start/end times on the cd and then just jumped back.

 

[bassmonkey]

Yeah, the MK1 has a tuner, but no metronome, and I think something with the onboard effects may have been upgraded/changed.

You know, I haven't actually tried to loop one of the mp3s (I don't think). I guess I just assumed that it probably marked the start/end times on the cd and then just jumped back.

Can a CD jump back that quickly, as it is instantaneous?

 

[Mobay45]

I don't know if the CD that I've been working with is MP3s or not.

The loop function is great. I have also used the function that slows down the song without changing the pitch. That really helps out for some of the bass lines that have sixteenth notes.

I haven't found the metronome function yet but I haven't been looking for it. I guess reading the instructions might help but I have a tendency to remember how work better when I just figure them out on my own.

 

[Fuzzy Dustmite]

Can a CD jump back that quickly, as it is instantaneous?

That's a good point. I'm not sure it can, but I never really gave it much thought.

I'll try looping from my mp3 player tonight, if no one else replies with a better answer.

 

[SteveB]

As a last resort, you could convert your MP3 files to .WAV on a computer and then burn a plain old Audio CD with the tunes you want to practice.

It involves jumping through some hoops, but in the end you get the tunes you want on a CD, which the Tascam can loop and/or slow down.

I haven't tried it myself with a burned CD-R, but I can't imagine why this would not work.

 

[adouglas]

Can a CD jump back that quickly, as it is instantaneous?

It might not matter. The specs say it has a 10-second buffer for bump protection...so it's likely that it can do an instantaneous jump even if the CD mechanism can't scan that fast.

 

[Psycho Ward]

There may be a buffer just for the looping feature, that's the way my software version works as with most samplers.


My god I'm talking keyboard/computer crap!, I've got to go gargle some Jack Daniel's!

 

[bassmonkey]

I've got to go gargle some Jack Daniel's!

Just be careful none slips past your tonsils!