Buzz

Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx will be taking to the airwaves in 2010. Premiere Radio Networks has announced the upcoming launch of “Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx” in January of 2010 to be played on rock and alternative music stations. Sixx will give listeners and inside look at the rock star life, including perspectives from celebrity guests. There is also...

Aguilar Amplification has announced the TLC Compressor, the newest addition to their line of bass gear. The TLC Compressor is designed for both recording and live use and features a four-knob layout with a wide range of attack times, as well as variable threshold and slope levels. Features include: Threshold control: variable from -30 to -10 dBu Slope control: variable...

Basic Funk Formula, Bootsy-style

Bootsy Collins, one of the funkiest bassists ever, shares his formula for a basic funk line. Just keep it on the one, and you can do anything you want with it!

Bassist Ben Williams was this year’s winner of the Thelonius Monk International Jazz Competition and has been making a splash in the music scene since. Williams took first prize in the competition with Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” performed with vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater. Judges included notable bassists Charlie Haden, Ron Carter and Dave Holland. Williams recently performed with his quartet, including...

Kompoz is a music collaboration network innovating the way we work on music. They’ve recently launched a new online publishing feature allowing musicians to self-publish completed collaboration projects and retain all rights to the original work. In other words, you can launch a collaboration project on Kompoz, work with other musicians to develop the song (think of all those twitter...

I would be remiss to get to do a column where the great people at No Treble let me “rave” about anything I want to not write about one of my all time favorite bass players, Gary Willis. Since first hearing Gary with Tribal Tech years ago I was an instant fan. He is a master of groove, melody, soloing...

Jeff Schmidt: “Little Sunflower” Solo Bass

Check out Jeff Schmidt performing Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower”: For more, check out Jeff’s CD, Outre.

British bassist and record producer Mark Smith, who has performed and recorded with The Waterboys, Roxy Music, Robbie Williams, George Michael, and many others was found dead at his home in the Battersea district of London on November 2, 2009. A band mate found his body, after Smith did not show up to a gig. Smith regularly played with the...

If you’re looking to improve your fretless skills, bassist Bunny Brunel has a new instructional DVD coming out on November 17th. The DVD, Fretless Bass with Bunny Brunel, covers the proper right- and left-hand techniques, pitch, vibrato, and sliding on a fretless bass. The DVD includes 30 minutes of exercises and is a NTSC format, region free DVD release. Running...

Building Dexterity on the Bass

While it is always important to have a strong theoretical backing and intellectual depth to your music there are times where you just need to focus on your chops. You can have the coolest idea ever, but if you don’t have the dexterity and agility to move freely and quickly around the fingerboard you won’t get anywhere. These drills are...

We can’t get enough of the looper videos around here. This one is particularly interesting, featuring Gustaf Fjelstrom and his bass cello. This performance took place on April 10, 2009 a house concert in Capitola, CA.

Ron McGovney, the former bassist for Metallica, is auctioning his bass on eBay. Bids will be open until November, 6th at 7:03pm Pacific Standard Time. The bass is a Fender Precision, purchased in 1985 and used in his post-Metallica band Phantasm. McGovney wrote, “This is an awesome bass and it does have a lot of history to it. I know...