Archive for April 2014 - Page 3

Q: I’ve been weaving in and out of bands for a few years, since bassists in my town are scarce. But I rarely find a band I enjoy playing with due to either the members’ personalities or the music I end up playing. As someone who wants to make a living playing music, starting my own band – with people...

One of the most popular videos we’ve ever shared is Viktor Lörincz’s “Boomerang,” back in 2011. We even had Stuart Clayton transcribe it. Now Lörincz is back with “Return of the Boomerang,” a bass solo that builds on his previous and most popular video. This one’s got it all: slapping, tapping, chords, and of course, a deep groove.

Meet Harry Ostrem, a busy bassist, educator and (sometimes) Mick Jagger impersonator. He has a great story, as you’ll see. Harry is the No Treble reader in the spotlight for the week of April 21, 2014. Bio: I first picked up a bass guitar in 8th grade and continuously played in rock bands and jazz combos during my high school...

Source Audio has released the Soundblox Hub, a box that allows for linking up five of the company’s Soundblox 2 pedals and saving the settings on each. It utilizes MIDI Program Change and Control Change messages to save and recall up to 128 pedal “scenes” to be recalled later. “For the first time, you can save the state of your...

Today we’re celebrating Charles Mingus’s birthday. Here’s a video of one of my favorite Mingus tunes, “So Long Eric,” taken from Belgium’s “Jazz Pour Tous” TV program in April 1964. The quintet’s lineup includes drummer Dannie Richmond, pianist Jaki Byard, tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, and alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy, for whom the song is named. Often, the song is thought...

Yes founder and bassist Chris Squire is in the process of writing his autobiography, with the help of his actor friend Vincent Gallo, according to an interview with BANG Showbiz. They’ve been working on the book for about a year, Squire says. The pair meet and talk about Squire’s life, then Gallo transcribes the conversations. No deal yet exists for...

Alusonic Aluminum Instruments has teamed up with Italian bassist Alberto Rigoni to present the Alusonic Alberto Rigoni Hybrid signature bass. The bass is a take on the company’s hybrid blend of aluminum and wood construction and features an alder body topped with aluminum. “As many bass players, I’m affected by GAS but I’m also pretty eclectic – I’m always looking...

There are a number of things than can adversely affect a bassist’s tone when they are using the bow. For example, failing to move the bow parallel to the bridge will cause impurities in the tone. Too much, or too little, rosin can cause problems. So can worn out bow hair or an improperly tightened bow. Beyond moving the bow...

Mike Gordon’s fourth solo album, Overstep, was released last month to critical acclaim. The Phish bassist has been touring in support of the record, but he’s also just released this music video for the fourth track, “Yarmouth Road.”

If you didn’t hold on to your Dead Kennedys singles and you want to relive the days when you laid down a 7-inch record on your turntable and dreamed of a punk rock revolution, was made for you. The vinyl set features seven singles released by the band (with Klaus Flouride on bass and Jello Biafra on vocals) between 1979...

Take two great bass lessons, add four bass gear stories, three bass videos and one bassist story… add them together, and you have the top 10 stories and videos on No Treble. Here’s the list for the week of April 13-19, 2014. Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Dan Lakin Launches D. Lakin Basses with Two New Models...

Argentinian effects company MBS Effectos has released the Evolution Volume Pedal. The active pedal utilizes a transparent buffer to allow for placement anywhere in your signal chain. It also has a buffered tuner output that’s not affected by any volume changes to allow for quick and easy tuning. The tuner output can be used to split the signal into dry...