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BBC4 now for some awesome upright playing


Beedster

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All joking aside, why - in a Jazz competition and a pretty traditional one at that - would a double bass player use a mic into a huge bas rig that was itself mic'd to front of house? I'm working on the basis that both he as a pretty competent musician and the BBC sound guys both know what they're doing. Is it simply that's the sound he prefers? Going against that is the idea that the same rig was used for the electric bass player who sat in with a couple of the other acts? I was also wondering whether the rig was just 'there' and not active during the double bass set, but the stage arrangement seemed to vary with the players so I'm guessing not? Last time I saw a double bass and a 8x10 on the same stage was Old Crow Medicine Show at the roundhouse, but that's a very different genre and sound (and to be honest he might as well have been playing an electric for the sound he was getting)

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30 minutes ago, Beedster said:

All joking aside, why - in a Jazz competition and a pretty traditional one at that - would a double bass player use a mic into a huge bas rig that was itself mic'd to front of house? I'm working on the basis that both he as a pretty competent musician and the BBC sound guys both know what they're doing. Is it simply that's the sound he prefers? Going against that is the idea that the same rig was used for the electric bass player who sat in with a couple of the other acts? I was also wondering whether the rig was just 'there' and not active during the double bass set, but the stage arrangement seemed to vary with the players so I'm guessing not? Last time I saw a double bass and a 8x10 on the same stage was Old Crow Medicine Show at the roundhouse, but that's a very different genre and sound (and to be honest he might as well have been playing an electric for the sound he was getting)

Years of awful mixes on Later would say that that is a rare beast. ;)Ā 

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39 minutes ago, Beedster said:

All joking aside, why - in a Jazz competition and a pretty traditional one at that - would a double bass player use a mic into a huge bas rig that was itself mic'd to front of house? I'm working on the basis that both he as a pretty competent musician and the BBC sound guys both know what they're doing. Is it simply that's the sound he prefers? Going against that is the idea that the same rig was used for the electric bass player who sat in with a couple of the other acts? I was also wondering whether the rig was just 'there' and not active during the double bass set, but the stage arrangement seemed to vary with the players so I'm guessing not? Last time I saw a double bass and a 8x10 on the same stage was Old Crow Medicine Show at the roundhouse, but that's a very different genre and sound (and to be honest he might as well have been playing an electric for the sound he was getting)

i assumed the rig was for the Electric players later in the show who played for the pianist ,rather than him ?

Edited by jazzmanb
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1 hour ago, jazzmanb said:

i assumed the rig was for the Electric players later in the show who played for the pianist ,rather than him ?

It was. Considering the size of the rig the bass guitar sounded rather weedy. He probably got the gig because he was the drummerā€™s brother.Ā 
Ā 

Ewan a worthy winner and a fine young db soloist. I hope that he would be effective within a rhythm section as well. Liked the sax player too. Quite a mature talent at a young age.

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Unless I was dreaming the rig had moved when the bass player was using it, which is why I assumed the DB guy was also going through it?Ā 

Ā 

But yes, what a great player, might be biased but he seemed head and shoulders above the rest in terms of range and versatility/creativityĀ šŸ‘

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32 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Unless I was dreaming the rig had moved when the bass player was using it, which is why I assumed the DB guy was also going through it?Ā 

Ā 

But yes, what a great player, might be biased but he seemed head and shoulders above the rest in terms of range and versatility/creativityĀ šŸ‘

Ā 

I'll see if I can watch it on iPlayer later. But from having seen and chatted to some other musicians who came through the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland jazz program, they're often quite big on the No Amp approach for bass. So possibly the bass mic was what we were hearing.

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1 hour ago, bassace said:

It was. Considering the size of the rig the bass guitar sounded rather weedy. He probably got the gig because he was the drummerā€™s brother.Ā 
Ā 

Ewan a worthy winner and a fine young db soloist. I hope that he would be effective within a rhythm section as well. Liked the sax player too. Quite a mature talent at a young age.

Ā 

I think Michael Mondesir on bass may have been with Nikki Yeoh for longer than his brother on drums - certainly when I saw the trio in the 90s it was Yeoh, Michael Mondesir on bass and Keith LeBlanc on drums. Memory is a little hazy, but that was a good gig.

Edited by Beer of the Bass
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2 hours ago, bassace said:

It was. Considering the size of the rig the bass guitar sounded rather weedy. He probably got the gig because he was the drummerā€™s brother.Ā 
Ā 

Ewan a worthy winner and a fine young db soloist. I hope that he would be effective within a rhythm section as well. Liked the sax player too. Quite a mature talent at a young age.

Never been a fan of the Yellow at all on the MB stuffĀ 

It looked a bit out of place in that classy setting for meĀ 

Going to rewatch as i tuned in half wayĀ 

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Thanks for the heads up! iPlayer link to save anyone else the search, Euan Hastie is at about 1h06 but it all looks worth watching/listening to. I concur that the Markbass rig is Michael Mondesir's and Hastie isn't using it.Ā 

Ā 

I don't think I've seen anyone play upright left-handed before, have I missed anyone notable who does this or is it rather unusual?

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17 minutes ago, nekomatic said:

Thanks for the heads up! iPlayer link to save anyone else the search, Euan Hastie is at about 1h06 but it all looks worth watching/listening to. I concur that the Markbass rig is Michael Mondesir's and Hastie isn't using it.Ā 

Ā 

I don't think I've seen anyone play upright left-handed before, have I missed anyone notable who does this or is it rather unusual?

Ā 

Took me a few minutes to realise that he was a lefty, couldn't work out what wasn't computing visually at firstĀ šŸ¤”

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We've had comments about his equipment and his signal chain. Can I ask this question: Did you enjoy the music he was playing? I didn't. I watched for about 6 or 7 minutes and then I gave up. I found myself scratching my head and questioning whether there was much overlap with the bass-playing I do.Ā  I just couldn't relate to the music at all - I found it uninvolving, unmemorable, and meandering. I'm struggling for an analogy. I'll try this: It was a bit like an aural version of looking out across an extensive pebble beach - lots of individual tones but no real sense of enduring structure or cohesion. Of course, all of that is my own very personal opinion, and I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about their own personal enjoyment of the music that was played.Ā 

Edited by solo4652
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1 minute ago, solo4652 said:

We've had comments about his equipment and his signal chain. Can I ask this question: Did you enjoy the music he was playing? I didn't. I watched for about 6 or 7 minutes and then I gave up. I found myself scratching my head and questioning whether there was much overlap with the bass-playing I do.Ā  I just couldn't relate to the music at all - I found it uninvolving, unmemorable, and meandering. I'm struggling for an analogy. I'll try this: It was a bit like an aural version of looking out across an extensive pebble beach - lots of individual tones but no real sense of enduring structure or cohesion. Of course, all of that is my own very personal opinion, and I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about their own personal enjoyment of the music that was played.Ā 

Ā 

I thought exactly the opposite, I'm no great fan of upright as a lead instrument (I tried with Mingus for years), but found his playing more accessible and importantly, enjoyable. I'm looking forward to watching it againĀ šŸ‘

Ā 

Now the pianist who followed I really did not enjoy at all :(Ā 

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20 hours ago, Beedster said:

Donā€™t often see Markbass 8x10 on a jazz stage ?

Tons of live vids of The Bad Plus and Medeski, Martin & Wood using 8x10 or two stacked 4x10 cabs with DB at big jazz festivals like Newport and North Sea (although Chris Wood does often double EB and DB).

Not easy to see the sound engineering details on grainy old vids - my guess would be PU into amp and mic to FOH.

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22 minutes ago, solo4652 said:

We've had comments about his equipment and his signal chain. Can I ask this question: Did you enjoy the music he was playing? I didn't. I watched for about 6 or 7 minutes and then I gave up. I found myself scratching my head and questioning whether there was much overlap with the bass-playing I do.Ā  I just couldn't relate to the music at all - I found it uninvolving, unmemorable, and meandering. I'm struggling for an analogy. I'll try this: It was a bit like an aural version of looking out across an extensive pebble beach - lots of individual tones but no real sense of enduring structure or cohesion. Of course, all of that is my own very personal opinion, and I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about their own personal enjoyment of the music that was played.Ā 

Ā 

I gave up, too, skipping through the three numbers. Good drumming, reasonable keys but incomprehension on the bass playing. I didn't feel I was missing out much by 'fast-forwarding'. Can't please 'em all, I suppose.Ā :|

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1 hour ago, nekomatic said:

Thanks for the heads up! iPlayer link to save anyone else the search, Euan Hastie is at about 1h06 but it all looks worth watching/listening to. I concur that the Markbass rig is Michael Mondesir's and Hastie isn't using it.Ā 

Ā 

I don't think I've seen anyone play upright left-handed before, have I missed anyone notable who does this or is it rather unusual?

I canā€™t seem to embed any footage, but checkout Nicolas Dubouchet on YouTube or Facebook. Heā€™s a fantastic lefty player

Ā 

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12 minutes ago, Storky said:

I canā€™t seem to embed any footage, but checkout Nicolas Dubouchet on YouTube or Facebook. Heā€™s a fantastic lefty player

Ā 

Ā 

Of course he is, I'd completely forgotten, I started a thread on him a while back, probably my fave bassist

Ā 

Ā 

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