Archive for October 2014 - Page 8

Our Facebook friend Ricardo Franco sent us this video of Brazilian bassist/vocalist Paula Zimbres performing her song “Quatro Pontes” at Sofar Brasília from May 2014. Accompanied by guitar, Zimbres starts by vocalizing with her bass line before laying more of a foundation on her fretless. She then goes on to take a thoughtful solo at the 2:03 mark before bringing...

During his long career as a bassist and producer Bill Laswell has always defied expectation, working in almost every genre, from funk and jazz to world and ambient music. And he continues to do so with his latest collaborative project. The Dream Membrane features David Chaim Smith reading selections from his work, “The Awakening Ground”, over dark ambient music from...

Meet Joshua Hall, a bassist who is anything but a music snob, which has served him well in his musical quest. His musical interests and knowledge are quiet broad, to say the least. Joshua is the No Treble reader in the spotlight for the week of October 6, 2014. Be sure to check out his answer to the “why I...

TC Electronic has expanded their line of micro bass amplifier heads with the BH550 and BH800. In addition to increased power, the new amps step things up a notch with an expanded EQ section and dual switchable Toneprint effect locations. The BH550 and BH800 start with built-in tuners that handle up to six strings. Their 4-band EQ sections have Bass,...

Good news! Zander Zon looks to be well recovered from his recent injury and back to playing his incredible bass arrangements. This time around, Zander is performing an all-bass cover of “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites” by the dubstep group, Skrillex. “The melody lines were what interested me about the piece,” Zander shares. “I thought it could work well with...

If you love R&B, soul and jazz bass you know and love Jerry Jemmott, who popped up again on national TV recently backing Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin on The Late Show With David Letterman. A two-time Grammy winner, Jemmott was discovered by saxophonist/bandleader King Curtis, gained fame as a session player in the 1960s and started a solo career...

Jens Ritter has a knack for creating unique instruments, but this one is something different even for him. Bassist and performance artist Angie Taylor got this custom made Ritter Cora with a mystic neon paint job. The 4-string bass is built with an alder body, maple neck, and ebony fingerboard. Its neck features a black frosted transparent finish to complete...

The electric bass and the double bass (aka Contrabass, Kontrabass, Contrebasse, Upright bass, Stand-up bass, String bass, Doghouse bass, etc. etc.) are cousins. It seems intuitive that one plays both instruments. After all, we share a range, number of strings (generally) and a tuning (most of the time). However, the constructions of the instruments differ enough to make for substantial...

I always love it when Nathan Navarro puts out a new video, and this is one of my favorites. He takes the classic Beatles tune “Because” and perfectly captures its ethereal vibe with a heavy reverb. Navarro shared the video on his Facebook page noting, “Here’s an interesting quote from John Lennon: ‘Yoko was playing Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ on the...

Dick Lövgren is a bassist as at home playing jazz as metal. While he’s a trained jazz bassist, since 2004 he’s been more well-known for his work with Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. His Meshuggah sound, created by playing with a pick exclusively, is evident on the band’s second live recording, CD/DVD set , which documents a May 2013 London...

Besides bass, a common thread in this week’s top 10 list seems to be groove. And that’s just fine with us. Plus, a top 10 list inside a top 10 list. Also fine by us. Here are the top 10 most popular stories and videos for No Treble readers for the week of September 27 – October 3, 2014. Thanks...

Radial Engineering has introduced the Stagebug SB-48UB, a phantom power supply for use with a condenser microphone. Aiming the device at double bassists who utilize mics in their setup, the company explains the new box supplies microphones with 48 volt phantom power and outputs an unbalanced signal that is more appropriate for use in a standard preamp. The SB-48UB is...