mtroun

Unless you're very small (under 5ft) you should really be playing a 3/4 size bass. Strings wise there are only limited selection of half size strings. Thomastik Spirocore medium gauge are widely recommended as a starter string for jazz pizz players, but bear in mind that they are actually quite difficult strings to play on (high tension) and tend to work best with quite a low action. The Thomastik Spirocore weich (light) gauge are much more forgiving. They have a very 'steel string' sound for better or worse. It would help to know what kind of musicians are inspiring you to play the bass in order to get an idea of what kind of sound you are looking for. Lots of people have quite strong opinions about strings but you have to try things to find what suits you. I have personally gone from one extreme (all steel, low action) to another (gut strings, high action) at different points of my playing career. Good luck on your journey.

My friend is the piano player in that video. I'm seriously thinking about getting a wooden endpin. Very confused about what wood though.

I'm game, assuming nothing changes in the meantime. I will bring my Bryant (strung with gut D and G)

Well since I live in Leicester, count me in! I played at a wedding at the Walnut Tree a few weeks ago! And it's a well known fact that the location of Northamptonshire is a complete mystery to the majority of the UK population.

I read this a couple of days ago and that day my bass was being an absolute pig that day! I think the recent hot and wet weather has really affected it. It was incredibly hard work no matter how long I played it for. Some days you just have to work really hard for your sound, though I do wish my adjusters were able to go lower now (unfortunately they are bottomed out and it's what I would deem medium high (thanks luthier, I'll go elsewhere next time!)

I guess it depends what you want out of them. I like a little bit of a fight in my action at the moment, but the spirocores were just killing me at the current height (10-12mm) but the gamut G feels very happy at 10mm (bearing in mind this is with Oliv D and Evah Weich A and E, the idea is to wait for the Gamut D and see how it goes with the Evahs but I think they will be an okay match). I am more or less a straight ahead jazz player, though I do like my strings to be bowable. If you were expecting your instrument to sound like an electric bass or to play modern orchestral music I think there would be performance issues. I don't think the gamut lyon (unvarnished) is drastically more difficult to bow than the Oliv, but it requires a lighter, faster approach, and is much much brighter than a year-old Oliv D but even with my modest arco skills I can play some coherent music without it sounding too mismatched.

You're doomed Geoff, but fear not, apparently plain guts can last decades...

I'm on the way to plain gut from wrapped. I had all spiros, then oliv G, then oliv D as well, then I bought a gamut lyon G. I find it superior to the Oliv G in terms of flexibility, tuning and tone. With the bow it responds well, though it requires a slightly different approach from the Oliv D, which is awaiting the arrival of gamut D to replace it. I just bought Evah Pirazzi Weich E and A to replace the spiros and I'm now wondering why I put up with such high tension for so long.

I'm putting mine out to pasture fairly soon (plain gut beckons- I have a gamut D on order) I wouldn't say it sounds dead though - it is a very dark string inherently. And yes it is a bit thuddy but the open D is one of the most glorious sounds in the world. You're more than welcome to try an old (ish) one before you buy a new one. I can let you know when my gamut arrives if you're interested in the Oliv.

Incredible performances from such young musicians. I'm worried about the lack of diversity of the candidates though, all white, all male, all attending music schools apart from one (who goes to a £30k a year private school) but then again it would be terrible if they selected candidates on anything other than ability. I was particularly impressed by the trumpet and double bass players - people forget that the saxophone is a considerably easier instrument to play jazz lines on! The first saxophone player was incredibly impressive for 13, with a very sweet tone - almost sounded like a soprano. All the players except the trumpeter lacked a bit of depth in their tone - it was all a bit 'glossy' but I'm really splitting hairs considering the age group. I'm twice the age of the bass player and while I play with a much higher action and gut strings I would kill for that kind of technical fluency.

Sorry to be a pedant but it's Nick Weldon, not Wheldon! One of the most inspiring teachers I have met!

[quote name='FLoydElgar' timestamp='1394233351' post='2389493'] I personally wouldn't look for answers in a book. [/quote] This. You're about to go to music college and you'll be positively inundated with information, but one of the key messages will be developing your ears to adapt to any situation. Play along to recordings of standards and compare your overall vibe to the players on the record. If there's something lacking then you'll probably want to have a deeper think about what makes their lines effective: is it the placement of the notes? How often do they use root notes and on what beats do they occur? Do they move mostly by step or are they using wider intervals to open up their lines? Part of what's going on in any given performance situation is the bass player is reacting, in the moment, to a horn player and a pianist and a drummer (for example) so you also need to think about the density of what the other musicians are playing. In my opinion, Paul Chambers is a good bass player to look at, particularly if you've already looked at Ray Brown a bit. Paul emphasises melodic shape in his lines, adapting to follow the direction of soloists. He uses a mixture of diatonic and non-diatonic notes to add colour and tension to the line and varies the different areas of the bass he's playing in. A while ago I transcribed Chambers' bass line from 'If I Were a Bell' on the 'Relaxin' album by Miles Davis, I'm going to go and have another look at it now since I've been reading this discussion!

How long have you been playing? I wouldn't recommend guts for beginners but you may like their sound and feel for jazz. I use steel-wrapped guts (olive) for my top two strings.

A couple of thoughts on this topic. On the whole I try to use one finger for consistency of sound and timing. My first teacher always said to lead with the second (weaker) finger so that your first finger is the last one to strike, an important part of jazz articulations imo (sorry if I didn't explain that well) I also frequently find myself at gigs digging in with both fingers (kind of like the hook) to get the maximum acoustic volume out of the instrument. What is hard to explain is the technique for getting the most sound out of the instrument, something which is very unlike bass guitar technique. It's particularly awkward when using the second finger. Your main ally for playing the double bass is arm weight and the tendency is to rely on the wrist when playing fast passage work. Of course there's nothing wrong with deploying the variety of different sounds you can get from the bass, but in terms of jazz pizz it's very important to master pulling the volume from the string.

I had a couple of lessons. I'd like to do more I have much less problems with pain these days probably because I spend much more time warming up. My first teacher, Simon Woolf, has had pretty extensive Alexander technique lessons and he looks incredibly relaxed playing. It is expensive though...

I've got to give credit to the church. It's a modern-ish parish church ( a sort of brickwork replica of your average medieval parish church) and I think it provided just the right 'convolution reverb'. The sax player is the owner of the Zoom, he set it up about six feet in front of us, just in front of the pews. He's a scary talent at just 18 years old (he's a first year at RAM) so I thought I'd ask him to do the gig while I still can!

Spiro E and A, Oliv D and G. I am thinking of going plain gut soon (happens to us all eventually, probably)

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1387291290' post='2310315'] Personally, I find as a relative newbie to the wonderful world of DB playing, my left arm aches quite a lot, after playing a while [/quote] To echo Bilbo, the best cure for arm ache is not stronger arms but less wasted energy. Just spending 15 minutes at the start of a practice session working each hand separately (I go with bow, left hand with bow, then right hand pizz) and using the least amount of pressure/effort necessary to produce a sound does wonders to my projection, volume and quality of sound. The fact that I'm using much less energy is just a bonus.

https://soundcloud.com/marktrounson I had a slot at my wife's choir concert on Saturday with two friends playing tenor saxophone and guitar, I'm pretty pleased with the results (bar a few speeding up moments). These are the six newest tracks on my soundcloud, starting with Stompin' at the Savoy and ending with Over the Rainbow. The weakest ones are definitely Stompin' (my only solo) and Pennies from Heaven. It was recorded at a church in Leicester and apart from the guitar (through my bass amp) there was no amplification used and it was recorded straight onto a Zoom H2. The natural reverb really worked in this context, I think. I'd appreciate your thoughts, hope you enjoy!

I concur.

I've heard of similar events in the UK, such as the Bass Fest in Frome! http://silkmillstudios.co.uk/bass-fest/ Not sure if they got to 90 though, that is impressive...

George Mraz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO4f8xfxT1I Jimmy Garrison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzb4FChD3BY) There are others I've forgotten probably.

Larry Gales: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRLwP4qRVA4 Butch Warren (Herbie Hancock) Charlie Haden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaVxm8JyJcY