Archive for 2012 - Page 110

The annual WesFest concert and scholarship event, held in honor of bassist Wes Wehmiller, has been announced. This is the seventh year for the event, following Wehmiller’s passing in 2005. The event is organized by Wehmiller’s friends and fellow Berklee alum, including Kira Small and bassist Bryan Beller, and is designed to be both a celebration of the bassist, as...

Flying Colors, a new band consisting of ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, Dixie Dregs bassist Dave LaRue, guitarist Steve Morse, keyboardist Neal Morse and vocalist Casey McPherson, have announced details of their self-titled debut album, set for a March 27th, 2012 release. The band utilizes elements from each member’s experience and background, according to Portnoy. “This album has bits and...

Q: I have a question about transcribing. I’m a pretty skilled player and can read, but I have a lot of problems writing down the rhythms that I hear either in my head or from a particular song. Any suggestions on how I should go about learning to notate more difficult rhythms? A: Rhythms can be tricky when you’re first...

Meshell Ndegeocello and her band recently stopped by Santa Monica, California’s NPR affiliate, KCRW, for the Morning Becomes Eclectic show. The group performed material from Ndegeocello’s latest album, , released in November. This tune, “Dead End”, is one of those tracks, and showcases Ndegeocello’s unique way of making everything groove. KCRW has the full sesson available on their website.

Godlyke has introduced a pair of new power accessories- the Iso-Pump Voltage Converter and the Ground Hound Ground Isolator. The new gadgets will be debuting at the NAMM Show. The company’s GH-1 Ground Hound takes care of grounding issues by creating an isolated ground connection for effects devices. In addition to fixing ground loops, reducing line noise and reducing cross-talk...

Meet bassist Pete Sams, a full-time working bassist who was very busy in 2011 (he played 225+ shows), including many with a live karaoke band. Pete is our player in the spotlight for the week of January 17, 2012. Bio: I’m the bassist and bandleader for Rock-bot, a live band karaoke group (500+ songs, words on the screen, etc.), an...

Our featured bass videos in December broke all kinds of records for views on No Treble in a single month. The top 10 featured many familiar faces, plus some newcomers to No Treble HQ and readers. Bassist Nick Mason (no, not the drummer), took the #1 slot with his solo bass arrangement of Randy Newman’s Toy Story classic, “You’ve Got...

Time for some more musical goodness from bassist Adam Ben Ezra. This tune, “The Busker” is one of Adam’s original compositions. Is there anything he can’t do with a bass?

Drummer Jack DeJohnette, widely regarded as one of the great jazz drummers in history, is about to have a pretty remarkable year. DeJohnette, who will celebrate his 70th birthday this year, is set to receive a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship, which is the highest U.S. honor for jazz musicians. Today, DeJohnette releases his latest effort, Sound...

Höfner has reintroduced the Shorty Bass, a model they ran in the 1980’s featuring an extremely short scale and body. The updated version bumps the scale up from 28″ to 30″ for easier playability, as well as utilizing better string spacing, similar to that found on their trademark Violin Bass. Available in black, the Shorty Bass has a basswood body,...

Note: For Left Hand Thumb positioning, check out the previous installment. When there is excess tension in the hands, the source is often improper use of the thumb and its corresponding muscles. The thumbs of both hands, just like all the fingers, should use minimum effort and pressure to achieve any particular technical goal. Pressure When in standard “neck position”...

Our Facebook friend Charles Hoernemann shared this video with us, with a word one comment: “Awesome!” This is bassist Samuel Haynes, who wrote this tune named “Rapture”, for solo bass and programmed drum accompaniment. Samuel’s bass is strung with piccolo strings.