Michael Manring Releases New Solo Bass Album, “Small Moments”

by Kevin Johnson Friday, May 1st, 2020

Michael Manring: Small Moments Bass wizard Michael Manring has just released an intimate new album called Small Moments, which marks his first solo bass album since 2005’s Soliloquy. The bassist recorded the songs live with no overdubs and minimal editing.

“Although I use electronics to expand and extend the sound of the instrument, almost all this processing was done on the fly during the performances,” he explains. “These pieces were written to be played live using only the equipment the airlines will allow me to take with me when I travel!”

As you can expect from Manring, the music is sublime and sounds more like a small orchestra than one man and his bass. It begins with the atmospheric “The World is Everything That is the Case” before the achingly beautiful “Tetrahedron” brings it back to his more typical bass sound. The track switches between multiple tunings on the fly on his incredible Zon Hyperbass.

“A tetrahedron is a pyramid with a triangular base and this shape represents to me the tuning capabilities of the Hyperbass,” Manring says. “The four faces are analogous to the four strings with the triangles corresponding to the three possible tuning positions of the Hipshots. I think of the bridge tuning mechanism as changing the size of the tetrahedron. I don’t have synesthesia, but when I play this piece I sometimes like to picture a moving and changing tetrahedron dancing in space; I feel this image helps me to better visualize the various tuning possibilities of the Hyperbass.”

Check it out here:

He continues to alternate the textures throughout the album for a full and satisfying listen. If you’re a fan of Manring or just of gorgeous music, be sure to pick this up asap.

Small Moments is available now digitally through Bandcamp.