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Fitting It All Together: Reading, Listening and Playing Through the Changes
Last week, we wrapped up the series on Breaking Down Harmonic Substitutions. After that, I had a great moment with a student where there was a small distinction made that seemed to have a great impact in the student’s playing. An immediate impact. We were running the Wayne Shorter tune “Juju”, primarily because it has a ton of whole-tone scale...
Phil Jones Bass Releases BigHead Bass Headphone Amplifier
Phil Jones Bass is now shipping the BigHead, a compact mobile headphone amp designed for bass players. While its primary function is as a bass headphone amplifier, the BigHead has an analog to digital converter and USB connectivity for use as a recording interface. The device’s front panel has two dual function knobs. The first controls Volume and Gain; the...
Cahit Kutrafali: Lotus Flower (Part I)
We love the musical diversity of No Treble readers! Bassist Cahit Kutrafali shared this video, along with this note: “I started to compose a new tune called ‘Lotus Flower’ for electric bass and strings. This is the opening (part I) with electric bass, cello and cajon… The following parts will include the whole string quartet.” Simply incredible.
Learn More About Electronics and Sound In New Music Pro Guide
So, you’re not a math person. And you really don’t feel like technical electronics tasks are really your thing. However, you need to know some concepts about sound and recording. was written with someone like you in mind. The book, publishing as of Hal Leonard Corp.’s Music Pro Guides series, teaches you how to test cables, use an oscilloscope, and...
Reader Spotlight: Nelson Montana
Meet Nelson Montana, a musician who plays eleven instruments in total. But thankfully, he claims the bass as his primary one. While he started out on other instruments, he said he fell in love with the bass, “the feel, the sound, and the majesty of it.” We dig that. Nelson also has some great thoughts on music, bass, composition and...
Bergantino Unveils CN210 Bass Cabinet
After introducing the lightweight CN Series last year, Bergantino Audio Systems has added a 2×10 cabinet configuration to the lineup. The CN210 is rated at 400 watts RMS while weighing in at only 34 pounds. Bergantino achieves a lighter weight by constructing the cabinet with a light poplar plywood to reduce weight while employing a sturdy Baltic birch baffle for...
Janek Gwizdala: “Day Tripper” Solo Bass Arrangement
Last year, the No Treble crew got the chance to check out and visit with all the great bassists at Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp. One of the evenings included a Beatles tribute concert with each of the guest artists putting their own spin on the Fab Four’s work. While all of them were spectacular, Janek Gwizdala’s solo version of...
Bass of the Week: Neubauer Guitars Snow Owl Mazinger Contrabass Guitar
We interviewed bassist Snow Owl earlier this year, and his playing astounded me. His Neubauer custom six-string bass caught my attention, too, so we’re featuring it as the bass of the week. The Neubauer Guitars Snow Owl Mazinger contrabass guitar is built with neck-through construction featuring a laminated five-piece maple/wenge neck and a wenge fingerboard. Neubauer makes the neck unique...
Improving Troublesome Passages: Five Tips for Bass Players
Continuing our series of “Tips” columns, here’s one on breaking down troublesome musical passages. 1. Take it Slow Practicing technically difficult passages at slow tempi is nearly essential for mastery. Learning something at a slow tempo is learning it well. Doing so helps us avoid unconscious errors such as incorrect notes, fingerings, rhythms, errant string hits, etc., all of which...
Jaco Pastorius & Word Of Mouth Big Band: “Three Views of a Secret” Live (1982)
On this day in 1951, John Francis Anthony Pastorius III was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. A short number of years later, the world of bass was forever changed. Today we celebrate with a composition I think is one of Jaco’s finest – if not the finest – of his incredible career: “Three Views of a Secret”. The audio here is...
Bass Gear Roundup: The Top Gear Stories in November 2014
Of all the bass gear we covered in November, electric basses reigned supreme – taking the top 6 slots, and 7 overall. Here they are, plus the other top gear stories based on No Treble reader views. Thanks for reading, commenting and sharing! 1. Alusonic David Caraccio Hybrid Signature Bass Bassist David Caraccio – better known as YouTube’s DavidSinRocks –...
Weekly Top 10: New Bass Gear, More On Harmonic Substitutions, “Marcus” Doc, Top Bass Videos and More
This was a huge week for bassist birthdays: Donald “Duck” Dunn, Edgar Meyer, Bob Babbitt and John McVie. We also celebrated Thanksgiving here in the U.S., with some of our favorite videos. That, plus some new gear, Damian’s third and final installment on his Harmonic Substitutions series, news of a documentary on Marcus Miller and the bass of the week...