Buzz
Top 10: The Best Bass Gear (September 2010)
This week, we’re taking a look back at the top 10 most popular bass gear stories for September, 2010, based on No Treble readers. 1. Music Man Roasted Maple Necks Music Man introduced roasted maple necks as an option for their instruments. No Treble readers voted with their visits and said they love this the best. 2. EBS Fafner II...
Squarepusher Releases Shobaleader One: d’Demonstrator
Electronica bassist Squarepusher, aka Tom Jenkinson, has released his latest project, Shobaleader One: d’Demonstrator. The album, which is a follow-up to last year’s Solo Electric Bass, is the bassist’s 14th to date. According to Squarepusher, Shobaleader One is his new band, which is a first for the bassist who thus far has only used drum machines and programs. In an...
Gear Watch: Source Audio Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter
Source Audio has released their newest bass pedal, the Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter. The pedal features 21 different filter sounds ranging from “Two Pole Filters, Four Pole Filters, Single Peak Filters, Triple Peak Filters, Peak and Notch Filters, and Phasers.” The filters can then be modulated via positive or negative sweeps, frequency range of the sweeps, and attack/decay speeds. The...
Ask Damian Erskine: Breathing
Q: I’ve been playing for over 30 years and I’ve heard the subject of breathing as relates to playing. I’ve come to know that disciplined relaxation while playing can work wonders for stamina and affects the accuracy and musicality of one’s technique. I’ve become aware that breathing is very closely involved too, e.g. holding ones breath or even breathing too...
Dixie Dregs with Dave LaRue: Assembly Line
Check out the bass on this one! The Dixie Dregs, featuring bassist Dave LaRue, who joined the band in 1988. The tune is “Assembly Line”.
Vail Johnson Celebrates New Website with Free Music Download
Vail Johnson has just launched a new website, and to celebrate he is giving away a free song download from his latest CD, Come Together. The album consists of Johnson’s versions of classic Beatles songs, including Penny Lane, Eleanor Rigby, and of course, Come Together. To get your free download, visit the music page on Johnson’s new site and enter...
Reader Spotlight: Edward Baida
Meet Edward Baida, a bassist from New York and our player in the spotlight for October 19, 2010. Bio: I’m a 21-year-old bass guitar player about to be a senior in college at Boston University. Playing music is how I’d like to make a living for myself, and making a living for myself is a reality I am going to...
Review: Simon Little’s “Mandala”
A solo bass guitar record improvised live that often sounds nothing like bass guitar, Simon Little‘s Mandala is enjoyable, highly listenable and varied both sonically and in terms of mood. Little manages all this despite recording the whole album using one bass, his Warwick Thumb VI. Little joins a select group of bassists who make highly musical recordings using looped...
Innerviews: Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten and 22 Others Share Insights on Life as Musician
Journalist Anil Prasad has a new book out, featuring contributions from 24 musicians from jazz, rock, world music, hip-hop and electronica. Innerviews: Music Without Borders features essays by each musician, who share their thoughts on the creative process, their careers and goals, conflicts, collaborations and the realities of the music business today. Musicians include Stanley Clarke, Jonas Hellborg, Victor Wooten,...
Filipe Moreno: 14 Year Old Bass Player
First, there was the 13 year old bassist from Brazil knocking everyone’s socks off. Now comes 14 year old Filipe Moreno, also from Brazil, showing off his skills. We don’t know if there’s some bass school in Brazil, but we’d like to find it if there is.
Victor Wooten: The NPR Interview
A recent interview with Victor Wooten on the NPR program “Talk of the Nation” has been posted online. During the segment, Wooten talks about his music philosophy, music education, and gives some basic information on different techniques. The legendary bassist also performs with drummer JD Blair, starting the show off with a duet rendition of “You Can’t Hold No Groove,”...
Common Upright Bass Tunings (Part 1 of 2)
One of the beautiful things about upright bassists is their unwillingness to conform. When it comes to tuning, we often refuse to conform not only to the practices of other instruments in our family, but also to each other! Although 3 string basses are largely a thing of the past, there are still uprights with 4 strings, with and without...