Archive for December 2015 - Page 8

Costantino Riemma does it all in this video featuring the bassist playing both bass and drums… at the same time. And wow, does he do it well. In this clip, Costantino covers a lot of musical ground with “Smoke On The Water,” “Billie Jean,” “Pretty Woman,” and “Enter Sandman”. Check out Costantino’s Facebook page for more.

It seems the end of an era has finally come upon us. After hinting that their recent R40 tour could very well be their last, Rush drummer Neil Peart confirmed that he is retired from music. The prog-rock hero spoke about it in a new interview with Drumhead Magazine. “Lately [my daughter] Olivia has been introducing me to new friends...

Jake Serek of Serek Basses has a style that is rooted in the tradition of bass guitar history while advancing in his own ideas. That makes sense when you realize that he worked for one of the larger bass companies around, plus his natural curiosity led him to reverse engineering classic designs. This week we’re checking out his Sacramento model....

In the last lesson, we introduced the Permutation Exercise. This time we’ll talk about some more pattern variations to increase your dexterity. The permutation exercise can be played to drill down on lots of different fingerings that come in handy. We’ll be practicing the concept across strings and by implementing it with the whole tone and half-whole diminished scales. Be...

Charles Mingus was one of the greatest bassists and composers of the 20th century. His melodies and harmonies always seem to express the deepest of emotions in unexpected ways. Pablo Elorza and Valeria Falcon bring out that same depth with their bass and vocal arrangement of “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love.” Full of lush and complex chords, the duo seem...

Jethro Tull’s 1976 album Too Old to Rock ’n’ Roll: Too Young to Die! has acquired some new life in a 40th anniversary box set. The 2 CD/2 DVD set, featuring the bass work of the late John Glascock (Carmen) includes the original; a version of the album re-recorded for a 1976 television special; the TV film; alternate versions of...

Happy Sunday. Time for the best of the best from the world of bass (according to No Treble readers). Here are the top 10 stories, lessons, videos and more for the week of November 28-December 4, 2015. Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Learning to Jam A self described “old rookie bass player” sent a question to Damian...

After producing the model through their custom shop for several years, Seymour Duncan has announced that the Quarter Pound for 5-String P-Bass has been added to their regular pickup lineup. The pickup is designed to retrofit into any Fender or equivalent 5-string P-Bass model with a 6-pole/4-pole offset design. It features large diameter Alnico 5 rod magnets and a high...

Here’s another great cover by the band featuring Bryan Ladd on bass. This time around, the trio of Ladd along with James Spears on Fender Rhodes and Jason Patterson on drums takes on Stevie Wonder’s “Love Light In Flight.” These guys get down. (And dig that Moogerfooger-driven bass solo!)

A new free app called BandLab promises to allow musicians to collaborate and create music in the cloud. The recently launched app lets musicians capture, store and recall song ideas and synchronize all the info to all cloud-linked devices. In addition, you can work on multi-track projects with others using the app’s built-in mix editor. Then, once a piece is...

Italy’s Alusonic Aluminum Instruments has introduced the Django bass guitar. The model aims to bring handmade quality to an affordable price point. The bolt-on bass is built with an alder body, a hard maple neck, and a grade A ebony fingerboard. It comes in matte black, high gloss black and high gloss white finishes, adorned with a PVC mirror or...

So much can be said with just a bass guitar. Here’s a great example of that with David Piggott’s “Unbroken,” a song he wrote for his wife. Piggott uses some crafty measures to create a beautiful flow of notes, with some strings backing him up for good measure.