How To Archives - Page 4

For many people, buying an upright bass is a financial transaction that requires some planning. Nearly everyone wants the highest quality instrument they can afford and, as a result, many spend their last available dollar (or more!) on the instrument itself. This is completely understandable, and laudable. However, if it’s your first upright you should also consider obtaining a few...

Q: I have a question regarding power amps and cabinets. There are so many choices out there, and even more when you consider every amp available online (but probably won’t see in a store). How do you go about choosing an amp without just throwing a dart at the board and taking a huge financial chance? A: Unfortunately, there is...

Q: I tend to hit a wall while practicing over a tune, where I don’t know what else to play. I know you’ve explained some chordal exercises and other ways to expand one’s vocabulary, but do you have any other thoughts about what to play when you just don’t know what to play? A: Actually, yes. We all hit a...

Hal Leonard’s latest book in their Music Pro Guides series is Rockin’ Your Stage Sound: A Musician’s Guide to Professional Live Audio, a step-by-step guide to improving your stage sound. The book, penned by professional live-sound engineer Rob Gainey, features over 170 stage tips, including 100 tops from players in nationally recognized acts. Topics including microphones and miking technique, monitor...

Q: As someone who wants to practice for hours each day, what advice would you give to prevent injury? Do you have any warm up routines or other advice? A: You know, I’ve been lucky. I’ve never consciously warmed up when practicing, and I’ve never had any pain issues. However, I’ve noticed more recently that it takes my hands and...

Q: I have been playing bass for about 12 years now, and over the last 5 years, I have been practicing more and more. I’m definitely seeing progress in the areas of practive, but sometimes I feel there are holes in my playing. For example, I get very nervous when I´m in a situation where I need to play by...

Our Facebook friend Ryan Pusiak posted a question on our Facebook page, asking about the best way to go about converting a fretted bass into a fretless one. So we decided it was a great opportunity to feature the series from Jason Holder, one of the guys at The Musician’s Den in Evansville, Indiana. Jason really breaks down the process...

Alfred Music has released The Studio Builder’s Handbook, the latest entry in their Pro Audio Series. The handbook focuses on building and improving recording studios, for any budget. The book covers a variety of topics, from isolation booth acoustics to building a studio from start to finish, offering details on planning, engineering, construction and gear selection. The book also dives...

Steve Bunker sent in this request: “Can you talk about the best way to amplify the upright to avoid feedback and the best way to record the bass. I play mostly rockabilly.” Hi Steve! I’ll get to the recording part of the question another week. For today, let’s talk feedback. Feedback is a real problem for anyone amplifying the double...

Q: Can you give an example of how one might get more comfortable with available chord tones? A: An exercise that I’ve been enjoying lately addresses this exact issue! I’ve previously stressed the importance of developing the ability to arpeggiate chords in every inversion while working through any tune in the Real Book. To refresh (briefly), you would practice playing...

In response to the my last column on bass pickups (Bass Pickups: A Guide to Formulating Your Sound) we received a request from a reader to cover the topic of setting up pickup height. Because everyone plays differently and every bass is different – even when comparing two similar models from the same company – there is no black and...

Q: When I’m in jam situations and someone asks me to “kick it off” or start something, I just freeze and draw a blank. How do you know what to play? A: This is something we’ve all dealt with at some point. The problem is all in our minds. Our analytical and critical minds see the myriad of possibilities and...