Archive for 2009 - Page 34

Q: I like your style because from my point of view it seems that you’re very comfortable playing the bass (seems light touch in both hands) but the sound you get is very punchy which I associate with playing hard. So here comes the question: Do you play mostly hard or light with your right hand? And with the left...

Here is a video of bassist Tetsuo Sakurai performing a solo piece that sounds like it just landed from outer-space. His Moog-like effects and high chord progressions give a very ambient alien feel, especially since all of that is coming from his bass! Sakurai has 37 albums from working with Casiopea, Jimsaku and as a solo artist.

Mojo’s Music Academy in Colorado, host of the annual Mile High Bass Camp and Rocky Mountain Bass Slam, is running a series of clinics and lessons this November in Longmont and Boulder, Colorado. Doug Johns and Chris Ceja Private Lessons Bassist Doug Johns and Drummer Chris Ceja will be offering private lessons. Date/Time: Thursday, November 12th, 2009, from 5pm –...

Meet bassist Darren Michaels, our player in the spotlight for September 8th, 2009. Bio: Since graduating with honors from Atlanta Institute of Music in 2000, I have performed and recorded in a plethora of styles and have released three albums as a solo bassist, green (2002), equilibrium (2004), and Cumulo (2008). While many others have taken the solo bass path,...

Who doesn’t want to be on the radio? If you’ve gotten a solid response from live shows and have a strong local or niche following, radio airplay may be the next big milestone toward meeting your music business goals. These are a few things to consider when you’re trying to get into a radio rotation, but the biggest factors are...

Since our own Dr. D mentioned slapping the upright in his column, it is only appropriate that we break out some Rock-a-billy videos and introduce you to a killer player at the same time. This is Djordje Stijepovic performing an intense upright slap-bass piece “Atomic Boogie” (wait until get to 1:05). You can check out more on Stijepovic on his...

Rock bassist Mickie Jones passed away Saturday, September 5th, 2009 after battling liver cancer. According to his family he died “peacefully and beautifully” in San Dimas, California. From a brief bio on Blabbermouth.net: “Mickie performed on four Angel albums — ‘Angel’ (1975), ‘Helluva Band’ (1976), ‘On Earth As It Is In Heaven’ (1977) and ‘An Anthology’ (1992; compilation). He toured...

If you do any recording you will definitely want to check out the latest product from Line 6: the POD X3 Pro. This dual tone processor comes packed with effects for recording bass, guitar and vocals. You can even record two instruments simultaneously! You are able to blend tones to create a hybrid sound or process instruments separately. It also...

There are many ways to get better at the changes on a particular tune, but this approach works really well. First, play just quarter notes, and play all the arpeggios to get a “mental map” of all the chord tones in the progression (try to do it with a metronome): Then, still in quarter notes, start inverting the chords to...

Phish bassist Mike Gordon will begin a 10-show solo tour, the “Get Bassed Tour,” along the east coast this week to promote his latest solo CD, The Green Sparrow. After the solo tour, he’ll be preparing for the Phish festival in late October at the Coachella site in California. In a recent Boston Herald interview, Gordon was asked about his...

In case you missed it, here are some of the most popular features from last week (August 29th through September 5th). Jon Burr‘s latest lesson series continues with the extremely popular “Practicing and the Mind” article. We introduced our newest column, from Dr. Donovan Stokes. Check out the first The Lowdown with Dr. D column, “Making the Switch from electric...

A 2001 Fender Precision Bass is being auctioned to help raise money for the medical needs of Deftone bassist Chi Cheng. The bass is autographed by Green Day’s Mike Dirnt, Rush’s Geddy Lee and notable session players Reggie Hamilton, Stu Hamm, Victor Bailey, Marcus Miller and others. The bass was also autographed by Cheng before his accident. Fieldy from Korn...