Monday, August 25, 2008

I like this song

...but I really like seeing a double bass in the back. I think that is a very interesting instrument. I also like to see those bass players really working their fingers. The fact that these guys are 'thumping' the string just below the actual note's string to give a fuller sound. Check out this but I really like seeing a double bass in the back. I think that is a very interesting instrument. I also like to see those bass players really working their fingers. The fact that these guys are 'thumping' the string just below the actual note's string to give a fuller sound. Check out this but I really like seeing a double bass in the back. I think that is a very interesting instrument. I also like to see those bass players really working their fingers. The fact that these guys are 'thumping' the string just below the actual note's string to give a fuller sound. Check out this video at the 2-3 minute to see a bit of this explained and some nice finger dancing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCwtJbVPRas

The double bass is found in wide varieties of music, from classical, to bluegrass, to jazz, swing, polka, 1950's rock, rockabilly (okay, some folks will say 1950's rock is rockabilly, but no one was calling it that, but I reserve the use of rockabilly for the modern resurgence of 50's style rock)(did people use the term rockabilly in the 40's and 50's?) and rockabilly leads to psychobilly.

Further, the bass players of all the non-bow genre are very much an interconnected group, spending time learning and teaching each other. I don't think many up and coming rock guitar players seek out country music guitar players to learn from, or vice versa.

Anyways, I find it interesting the wide variety of play options you have with this instrument. Bowing of course, and the the basic pluck. Banging on the body proper like a drum to keep time was very common in jazz, and then they also moved to slap-string where the string was pulled then banged against the fingerboard. Now, people are even playing the strings with drumsticks, some going further to have sticks in a variety of woods and lengths to produce different 'taps' to compliment the string's sounds.

Granted, this bass player isn't doing a lot, but with an instrument that big, just being there adds to the visual composition.

1 comment:

w1ndst0rm said...

I may have just swooned.

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