Hi Mr. Ruby, I currently play using the rabbath method, I was wondering what, if any, advantages are there to playing with a german bow while using a laborie or bent endpin? Btw, my teacher you said you are going to come to blake relatively soon, do you have any idea? Btw, I go to blake high school, and I met you at all-state auditions. I was Mr. Vans Evers student, but switched to LLoyd Goldstein(student of rabbath). Thanks for your hopefully prompt reply!

Hi there - I'm not sure exactly when I'll be playing at Blake but will let you know. Please give your teacher a big hello for me - he does such wonderful and creative work with the Double Bass.
I really like the Laborie endpin and experimented with it for a while. It didn't take as I prefer to have the bass available to tilt 360 when performing and found it a bit constricting - but that's my own preference and is not meant in any way to comment or judge. The endpin would be great with french or german as the challenges with German or French have more to do with what's happening to the string. I found that the Laborie endpin impacted the left hand far more than the right.
I hope to post more thoughts on this in the near future and will give a PS in the next half day -

cheers,

David Ruby

I think you will find that numerous german-bow players are playing Rabbath music and methods. It is not the bow that matters, it is the approach to the music and understanding its "improvisational" attitude. Rabbath has had numerous german-bow students, including Paul Ellison (as you may know) and does not require anyone to add french-bow to their tools unless desired. I require my students to play at least one Rabbath piece, no matter what bow they chose and all have been successful at approaching the music. So, if you like the music (just like it were Beethoven or Proto), go for it !! See more on the french-bow -- german-bow question(s) at my forum also.
Best!
PN

Hi Mr. Ruby, I currently play using the rabbath method, I was wondering what, if any, advantages are there to playing with a german bow while using a laborie or bent endpin? !

I play german and stood with a bent pin for years. First the Egg, then the carbon fibre.

For me it has more to do with which bass you play.
On my old french bass with sloping shoulders similar to a quenoil, I was very comfortable standing. On my very large Hill it is another matter.