Buzz
Pyramiding: An Approach to Musical Exercise
There are many ways to approach a given exercise (e.g. trills, vibrato, etc.) and each have benefits. Some, of course, are more thorough than others. When I want to truly want to intensive on a particular area of technique I sometimes apply a concept borrowed from bodybuilding known as “pyramiding.” In simplest terms (when applying it to music), it means...
The Who Featuring Pino Palladino: My Generation
It’s pretty telling when the top comment on a video by one of the world’s greatest rock bands is “Thumbs up if you? are here only to see Pino playing.” Here’s the one and only Pino Palladino rocking out with The Who on Later… With Jools Holland back in 2007. The bassist lays out some gnarly breaks with an octaver,...
In Memoriam: Butch Warren
Jazz bassist Butch Warren, who worked as a house bassist for Blue Note Records in the 1960s, has died. He was 74 years old. Born in Washington, D.C. in 1939, Edward Rudolph Warren Jr. grew up in a musical family. His father, a part-time jazz pianist, would invite touring black musicians to his home to offer them a better stay...
Weekly Top Ten: The Top Bass Stories and Videos for the Week of September 29th
Here are the most read stories and how-to’s, and the most watched videos on No Treble for the week of September 29 – October 5, 2013. Thanks for reading, commenting and sharing! 1. Reviving Old Bass Strings: A New Approach MarloweDK let one of his friends borrow his 1978 pre-Ernie Ball Music Man bass, and he really gunked up the...
Star Wars Meets Metal Bass
Davie504 combined two of my favorite things (bass and Star Wars) and made one pretty epic video. Davie said, “Here’s a little metal arrangement on my bass of some Star Wars tracks…” When he started playing the Cantina song, I was completely hooked. Now if only Vadar really played the bass…
Stone Roses Working on New Album
After reuniting in 2011, it looks like The Stone Roses have a new album in the works. Bassist Gary “Mani” Mounfield revealed the news to Amelia Ward of the blog Gigslutz. “When posed with the question regarding new material, Mani said “Yeah we’ve been working on a few bits” and when asked about a new album release he stated, “2015...
Reed James Custom Pickups Introduces RJ NEO Vintage Vibe Jazz Bass Pickups
Reed James Custom Pickups has released the new RJ NEO Vintage Vibe Noiseless Jazz Bass Pickup, a single coil pickup that mixed modern and vintage tone with noiseless operation. The Vintage Vibe incorporates exposed poles that are individually charged by small neodymium magnets. Reed James’ RJ NEO Vintage Vibe Noiseless Jazz Bass Pickups come standard in four and five-string sets...
Victor Wooten’s End of Camp Concert: Why Can’t We Be Friends?
If you’ve ever had the chance to meet Victor Wooten in person, you know that he’s much more than just a phenomenal musician. On Victor’s Words and Tones/Sword and Stone tour last summer, I got the the chance to introduce my daughters to him. He invited us to hang out on the tour bus for what ended up being an...
Metallica: Through The Never Film Playing Nationwide
Metallica: Through The Never is now showing at theaters across the U.S. Part concert, part action, the film centers around a roadie named Trip who is sent out to recover a mystery item during the band’s sold-out arena performance. His journey takes a drastic turn when he’s involved in a car accident and subsequently finds himself in a surreal, apocalyptic...
TC Electronic Announces New BG250 Series Combo Amps
TC Electronic has expanded their BG250 combo from a single 1×15 model to an entire series of bass amps featuring three new speaker configurations: 2×10, 1×12, and 2×8. Each of the 250-watt combos features dual TonePrint onboard effects, intelligent Tone Shaping controls, a built-in tuner, a direct output, and rehearsal inputs. The effect on each of the TonePrint controls can...
Jim Bennett: All Bass Daft Punk “Voyager” Cover
Back in July, we featured Jim Bennett’s incredible video of his all-bass Daft Punk “Get Lucky” cover. Even more incredible was the story behind it. Jim has had a lot of success with that video and has decided to record a bass album featuring more Daft Punk covers, dubbed Daft Bass. Here’s Jim’s work-in-progress for Daft Punk’s “Voyager”. “Please keep...
Juan Alderete Joins Deltron 3030 Tour
Juan Alderete has announced he will be laying down the low end for hip hop supergroup Deltron 3030 on their upcoming tour. The band, which consists of Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien and Kid Koala, is hitting the road in support of their latest album, Event II. “I met Dan “The Automator” Nakamura in the early 90?s when...