Archive for 2011 - Page 15
Catherine Popper Leaves Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Catherine Popper has parted ways with the folk/blues rock-tinged group Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Popper, who joined the group in 2009, made the announcement on her Facebook page. “Hey everybody for the past two and a half years, [Grace Potter and the Nocturnals] has been my family away from my family. We’ve all grown so much together. So it’s...
Reader Spotlight: Ethan Sobotta
Meet Ethan Sobotta, an extraordinarily diverse bassist living in Seattle who makes his living the way it should be: playing bass. Among the musical genres he lists are “Punk rock sea shanties and Appalachian death polka,” somehow performed by a single band. Ethan is our player in the spotlight for November 15, 2011. Bio: I studied bass at the...
Question of the Week: What would you like No Treble to cover?
This week, we’re changing up the question format a little and seeking your advice. What would you like No Treble to cover more often (or start covering)? We’re here for you, so let us know!
Top 10: The Best Bass Videos (October 2011)
The videos we featured in October, 2011 were among most popular (most viewed) videos of the year. The mega-popular video featuring John Entwistle‘s isolated bass on “Won’t Get Fooled Again” ranked #1. Rounding out the top 10 is our own wacky “How to Fix a Guitar” video, plus some amazing performances by Daniel Rey, Tal Wilkenfeld, Victor Wooten, Scott Ambush,...
Bass Cover Week: Zander Zon’s Solo Bass Cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven”
In the early ’70’s, music shops in England banned (and even fined) guitarists for playing “Stairway to Heaven” in the stores. (I seem to remember quite a few talent shows at as a kid that would have benefitted from this rule). This even inspired the scene in Wayne’s World, when Wayne started playing the Led Zeppelin classic before a salesman...
Fear and the Nervous System Releases Debut Album, Featuring Billy Gould
Fear and the Nervous System, an experimental industrial metal band formed by Korn’s James Shaffer and Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, has released their self-titled debut album. The group also includes Repeater vocalist Steve Krolikowski, Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman, guitarist Leopold Ross and keyboardist Zach Baird. Grounded by Gould’s gritty bass tone, the album project began as a...
Symphony Pro: A Look at the Music Notation App for iPad
If you’ve been wishing for a music notation app for your iPad to make quick sketches or exercises, or any other simple notation and charts, Symphony Pro by Xenon Labs might just be what you’ve been waiting for in an app. While Symphony Pro can’t match up feature-for-feature with desktop apps like Sibelius or Finale, it is a terrific notation...
Top Ten: Double Thump Lesson, Two New Gibson Basses, Plus The Best Bass Play-Alongs, Videos and Gear of the Week
We had a lot of fun with the Bass Play-Along Week last week, featuring several No Treble readers and their awesome bass skills. Readers seemed to love them too, as two of our top 10 features on No Treble were just that (and the others closely followed). Check out Adrian Bartol, who nails Pino Palladino’s bass line on the live...
Supergroup Rocket Juice and the Moon, Featuring Flea and Damon Albarn, Release Live Tracks
The group known as Rocket Juice and the Moon has uploaded seven songs from their debut performance at the Cork Jazz Festival. Consisting of Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Blur/Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn, and Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen this supergroup announced their union late last year. Their world-music influenced style draws heavily from the ’70s Afrobeat, especially as...
Zoom Upgrades Recorder Line with the H2n Handy Recorder
Zoom is now shipping their new H2n Handy Recorder, a device related to the company’s original H2 design. The H2n features five studio-quality mics, onboard with several modes to employ different micing techniques, including Mid-side, 90-degree X/Y stereo, 2-channel and 4-channel surround. This updated version has more controls added to the sides of the unit to streamline workflow. Zoom also...
Bass Play-Along Week: MarloweDK’s Tower of Power “So I Got To Groove” Bass Play-Along
Our bass play-along week ends with the king of the bass play-along, Thomas “MarloweDK” Risell playing along to Tower Power’s funky “So I Got To Groove”, which of course features the awesome bass work of Rocco Prestia on the original. Just because bass play-along week is ending doesn’t mean we’re not featuring videos by the awesome No Treble readers. Keep...
MMW and John Scofield Release MSMW Live: In Case The World Changes Its Mind
The trio known as Medeski Martin & Wood first teamed up with guitarist John Scofield in 1997, performing on Scofield’s A Go Go album, which helped MMW gain broader expsoure. MMW, which includes bassist Chris Wood teamed up with Scofield again in 2006, releasing the album Out Loud under the name Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood. This week, the combined...