Ariane Cap: Bach Improvisation and Badinerie

Bassist Ariane Cap plays a duet (with herself) dubbed “Bach Me Up”. Ariane performs this on her 6 string Marleaux Consat.

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  1. mike.b

    fantastic.love the little smile at the end.

  2. Geoff Kovarik

    Powerful! No wonder the French named a rocket booster after her.

  3. For a second I thought they were twins…really amazing stuff…

  4. James Thomas Wilson

    Sounds like there are more than 2 basses going on here. Either way, this sounds quite amazing!

  5. Sounds like there are more than 2 basses going on here. Either way, this sounds quite amazing!

  6. That was amazing Arian! :)

  7. Posted this back in September, but she bears another look. Oh, those French and their mad bass skills!

    • I am Austrian gone Californian and the bass is from Germany, although, admittedly, it does sound French. Thanks for checking that out!

    • It just sound french cos’ many of young people there try to play this piece for their high school graduate, you’ll see many of them putting Bach on Youtube lol… but not with that sound ;-) anyway, really, really nice… and for John Winter: Jannick Top plays many, many, Bach pieces on bass (he started as a classical cellist) but he doesn’t want to “straight copy” any classical piece on a bass, he just plays as he feels (as you can see with Magma), even with a strong classical knowledge, that’s another instrument, other possibilities, thinking as a straight purist never enhance inspiration.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGCJAfNoGKM

    • @Joachim – As a classical trained tuba player, playing electric-bass and double-bass as well (all of them in almost any genre) I have been playing Bach and other classical transcriptions to, on both tuba and e-bass – even though those instruments where not invented until 150 ad 250 years after Bach past away – and I have no problems with that – as long as one honors the written music the genius composed.
      I just listened to the Jannick Top-link you posted, and it sounded great …. at first, but then it all fell to the ground as he tried to improvise/play something “Bach’is” – sounding more like a mediocre technical etude – light years away from the musical quality of Bach’s composition. He doesn’t want to “straight copy”, you say (Well that’s how I feel when playing traditional jazz – why copy note by note what the old masters where improvising at the recording, play the melody straight (when introduced), copy the arrangements where they are thoroughly arranged note by note – for the rest COPY THE FEELING – that’s what makes good jazz!) But with classical music its a bit different isn’t it – you don’t “copy straight” do you – you play a composition exactly the way the composer has put an effort in composed it!
      If you try to “improve” Bach’s compositions (or any other classical composer) you could ass well be raping him/her – imagine a symphonic orchestra starting to improvise half way into a symphony, saying: “Hey – we just wanted to improve it with some of our own stuff, and didn’t want to “copy it straight”. Do that twice – and you’re out of business!
      A Danish painter (Jens Jørgen Thorsen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jens_J%C3%B8rgen_Thorsen) – who was quite provocative (he several times painted paintings on house gable’s showing Jesus hanging on the cross with a hard-on – so he was in no way a straight purist. But once when playing in a jazzband who wanted to play popular songs as jazz – he wisely said:
      “You can turn everything into jazz – and you can turn jazz into everything!”
      (Meaning of course that it would be worthless – being not really anything in a proper way.)

      Why drag some of Bach’s composition into one of your own compositions? To elevate the musical level? Unless you’re a genius composer at Bach’s level – its 100% doomed to fail!

      If you have the skills to compose and improvise and the urge to enhance your inspiration – COMPOSE YOUR OWN STUFF – it doesn’t even have to be Bach’s level to be good – it can be made exceptional well and inspiring, and you can even mix with popular tunes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ji6sJLFc8A

      Don’t get me wrong – Ariane is playing very well and with great sound on her bass and all, if she had looped a stand alone bass line, grooving just right – and recorded some accompanying voices upon it – and had improvised (or played a beautiful melody on top of it all – I probably would have wet my panties in pure enjoyment!
      But she didn’t!
      She took a Bach invention which should have contained of two equal voices – mixed it up with some “home brew” – and recorded it all one separate voice at a time, the equal voices not being able to relate musically to one another – and I don’t find the outcome particularly good!
      If I had 4 bass-student playing this, and it sounded like this recording – I would stop them quite quickly asking them what the heck they where doing – asking them to listen to the each other, concentrate on following each other and relating musically to each other – a thing being hard/impossible to do when recording equally weighed voices- one at a time! ;-)

    • Ok so Bach is for purists and you can’t do what you want with any kind of music? waow, I tought artists were more “openminded” lol. So I won’t talk about lyric female vocalists that turned into improvised music, I think you’ll hate !! Do youy have your “Bach’s Keeper of the Flame” graduate ???

    • I’ll repeat:
      “You can turn everything into jazz – and you can turn jazz into everything!”
      Equals: “You can turn everything into music – and you can turn music into everything!”
      Of course you can do what you want with any kind of music – until it all becomes one indifferent mass of meaningless substance, not worth listening to – by all means go ahead!
      Being open minded is good – being mindlessly open minded is not good!
      Actually I think you will have a hard time finding musical genres I don’t enjoy listening to – when played properly! But as open minded I actually am, as critical am I to what I hear – the musical qualities – and the lack of same!

    • Sooner or later, everything gets improvised. No reason to get upset over it. If you prefer sticking to what is written that’s fine. For some things, so do I, but I also find improvisation to be just as exciting. Bach is one of those composers whose music everyone wants to play in some form or another, even as loop samples in hip hop. THAT my friend, is his genius.

  8. Wow, Ariane, that was amazing. Your interpretations were spot on. It sounded at points as though there was a third bass, ama I wrong?

    • Hey, thanks for checking it out. Yes, it is four tracks total during the improv part. I just couldn’t get more than two videos going with my version of iMovie.

    • I understand completely. Very well done, nonetheless. The music is fantastically complex, the fact that you pulled it off so well is truly impressive and far more important than how many videos ran simultaneously :)

  9. I’m amazed how easily you all are impressed by a bit of technique, and the lack of critical approach when listening to the music!
    Several elementary mistakes are made here!
    First of all – Bach was a genius – mixing up something he composed with something mediocre so called improvised and blurry stuff, shows a disrespect for Bach and his composition.
    Play Bach’s music – or compose and play your own!

    This sounds exactly like what it is – two (more counting in the “improvised voices”) separate voices, played and recorded separately as if they where not connected at all. It totally lacks the musicality and magic which develops when two musicians plays each part together, listening to each other, following and relating musically to each other, “answering” each other dynamically and musically.

    Well I guess I should say at least something positive – so: Nice Bass! ;-)

    • John, do you have anything better to offer ? I sincerely hope life is not too disappointing for you, surrounded by us idiots. I guess you can always stay home and listen to your Bach recordings. But why on Earth do you feel the need to lash out at others like you’re doing here ?

    • Do I have anything better to offer? Aaaahh you mean like getting personal, instead of keeping to the subjects debated, Robin? Being the judge of whether people you don’t know should go out and listen to Live concerts or staying at home listening to records – and adding comments on how you think life has been for people you don’t know at all, that’s not being particularly bright is it (if you allow me to respond in the equal personal way, it seems you prefer) Not knowing me at all, you really don’t have the skills nor background or knowledge to let out any assumptions on how my life have been/are/or will be – have you!
      So I strongly suggest you stick your comments getting personal up where the sun newer shines – and stay tuned in on the subjects being debated. Otherwise I can get personal too – and I assure you: You don’t want that!
      Could you copy/paste or refer to the place I used the word or called anybody Idiots, please?
      You see, I don’t recall calling anybody names! I merely expressed a wonder of general focus – are you able to see the difference?
      The only time I really feel a need to lash out at others (to use your expression) , is when IDIOTS tend to get personal, going for the man instead of the ball!

      Maybe, Robin van der Sande, in your fluffy pink world everybody are only allowed to speak candyfloss sweat – but I prefer honesty and speaking the mind, and if you read my comment above, except for bit of wondering in the lead in, it is all about an honest approach to the music on the video – no personal attacks occur, no lashing out (and no animals are harmed ;-)) The subject for my comment is the music! You don’t have to agree – and I don’t know you, so I can’t know if you are able to have a clue of what I’m talking about – but as well as all of those who are entitled to write positive comments on the video, who speak their minds – I’m entitled to leave a comment with a critical approach, speaking my honest opinion.

  10. Uh, gulp; does anybody want to buy my basses? After 45 years of playing I think I just gave up!

  11. Ariane’s playing is incredible and a really nice person as well.

  12. I really enjoyed that! Great sound too – I have a Consat Custom 5, and it is amazing.

  13. Jennifer Vincent

    Great!!! Jaco would have LOVED this!!!! inspirational……..