double bass technical developments (essay help)

[ellen28]

Hi all, I'm a student in london and am in need of some help and opinions. I've looked up articals and read books but none are relevant to what's been happening in the 'bass world' over the past 10 or so years, so i wondered if any of you would be kind enough to give me your opinion on this question i need to answer by tuesday next week:

What in your view has/have been the most significant technical development/s for your
instrument? How have the developments you identify affected the nature of the music
written for your instrument?

Thank you so much, the more debate the better!
Ellen x

[jsbarber]

Ellen:

Here are some things that come to mind:
- Airlines are very much disinclined to cooperate with DBists regarding bringing instruments on flights. This means that many of our most popular touring musicians use "portable basses" instead of their own regular instruments. An off-shoot of this is that the portable basses are improving, but nevertheless it would be much better if the bassists could bring their instruments with them.

- Pernambuco supply has been at risk of being restricted, as the trees that yield the wood are endangered. Fortunately, a year or two ago bow makers were allowed to continue to use this wood, since such small quantities are required. However this remains a concern.

- From a bass playing technique perspective, players like Mark Dresser and many others continue to push the envelope. Mark has a pickup in his bow, in his fingerboard, etc. and uses some techniques such as infrasonics, as I understand it. [I really don't know much about this, Damon Smith is much more familiar with this and can elaborate both on some of the new equipment that Mark and others are using and also on new playing techniques that have been developed especially in free music.]

- I don't know that there are any deep advances in luthiery. Although, in general, over a longer period of time I think there have been some advances in better organizing the craft or "industry". In Cremona they established a violin making school about 30 - 40 years ago, and there have been educational improvements in the US which I believe is helping to increase the level of competency somewhat. I think there are some great instruments being made today.

- Carbon Fibre. There have been significant advances in the use of Carbon Fibre or Composite Materials for building instruments and bows. Bows especially seem to be very playable, and I know of a number of top level musicians who use the carbon bows. I recently saw a performance by Jeremy Kurtz and except for one piece the entire performance was with a carbon bow. Obviously a player of his caliber has some very good wooden bows, so I found it interesting that he chose to perform with the carbon bow.

Some of these topics can be researched here on TBDB. The Pernambuco issue was covered in an issue of Double Bassist of the Strad within the past two years.

Hope this is of some help.

Jim

[Andrew McGregor]

For bass technique, the only thing I can think of in the last 10 years is subharmonics (which seem to have been discovered by a violinist in 1997 or thereabouts)... it seems that everything else that has been going on is consolidation on the previous 30 years or so, when there were a number of revolutions.

I think the big item in bass and bow construction has to be carbon fibre composite construction. Pernambuco is an amazing material for bows... but for bass bows, composites are better from a durability and mechanical reliability point of view, and from a sonic point of view the composites might not quite match the very top end, but they are certainly better value for money. It's less clear for the instrument itself, but carbon basses certainly have potential; a carbon bass is rather expensive, but is probably also good value.

[robobass]

I think fingerboards have improved a lot, at least in the last 20 years. I see far fewer boards with improper camber and too much, or uneven relief than I did when I was younger. Having more comfortable action allows players to do more and sound better.
Also, C-extensions. They have become much more popular (at least in English speaking countries) as well as the use of chromatic latches, which were a real oddity fifteen years ago. Having more players able to access the low notes affects the symphonic sound, and modern composers are certainly exploiting this.

[Ike Harris]

I'm not sure if the fundamental nature of bass building has improved all that much. You see a lot of instruments based on master basses from the past, but there seems to be more of an awareness about basic improvements in materials and various theories in bass building in general. Things like this website, the ISB, etc., I think, help in spreading information in this regard to players and luthiers alike.

Otherwise, there seems to be a lot of new gadgets and gismos to help players cope with the modern music world in terms of technology and desired sound production. More basic things like, having more choices in strings have really made an impact, and it seems a new string design pops up every other day. Fingered extensions have been mentioned and have impacted the classical side certainly, and smaller items, such as, adjustable bridges, flexible TP cables, more choices in tailpieces, raised saddles, pivoting neck blocks, on and on. On the jazz and popular music side, probably the biggest impact is new developments in amplifying the bass. Improvements in amps specifically for upright, pickups, mics, cables, speakers, electronics in general - and more choices of all the above, have developed in recent years. Travel basses have been mentioned, and may be straying from your intent, but it's a concern to those of us that have that need. Hope this helps.

Ike

[Eli_Upright12]

Two more

Wire Tailpieces: basically reducing the mass of your tailpiece to just four wires, then your bass is allowed to vibrate more freely. The Jury is out on the idea that it reduces wolftones.

I believe this goes back more than ten years, but...

Bridge Adjusters: it seems as though most new basses are now coming with adjusters, it allows the bass to adjust(at least partially) to the changes in season.

[Peck_Time]

different types of endpin have become more common. Titanium, carbon fibre and a return by some to the wooden 'peg-legs' of the old days.

Bent endpins and the angled ones that require drilling another hole in the bass.

New strings and especially 'Hybrid' strings (combining a metal wrap with a non-metallic interior) seem to be arriving every week: the Velvet range, Evah Pirazzis, et cetera.

[uprightben]

When you said technical, did you mean technology, or technique?

[LouisF]

This might help on the carbon fibre issue

http://www.luisandclark.com/

Louis

[Jake deVilliers]

There's a Luis & Clark DB at L & M in Vancouver and it sounds awful. The cellos have some music in them but not the DB.........

[Andrew McGregor]

Actually, I quite liked that CF bass... it's really crying out for different strings, though.

[Jake deVilliers]

Yeah, that's on the list...........

[bobalew]

I suppose some mention should be made of pick-ups and amplification. The application of piezo transducers has expanded, though the underlying technology is not particularly new. It has become easier to retrofit remarkably old instruments with pick-ups without damaging those instruments. New classes of electronics have come to market in the last ten years, improving the amplified sound. These electronic issues are most apparent in some of the portable instruments in Jim's excellent list.

The greater availability of 5 string instruments - though not at all a new development - has given some composers the notion that it is perfectly fine to write notes for double bass that us 4-stringers know aren't there! So the literature is changing. (And I still think of 4 strings as progressive!)

I wonder if you can find sales brochures or catalogues from ten years ago to compare with current markets. Perhaps a "then and now" comparison will suggest some other things to ponder.

[bobalew]

I see Ike had already mentioned pick-ups and amps. Certainly didn't need that in here twice ...

[LouisF]

Larry Wolfe from the BSO plays one here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z4S9v3ct1E

I have no experience with them myself.

Louis

[hdiddy]

+1 on the pickups and DB specific amps/cabs. I think that by far has had much a great and widespread impact than adjusters, tailpieces, etc. Compared to 10-15 years ago, we have a great selection with higher fidelity. I mean just look ... ppl went from no amp to GKs and Polytones. These days we have Acoustic Image down firing cabs, EA m-line cabs, lightweight cabs, small up firing PJBs, advanced microphones, mic mounts, on and on.

Meanwhile, with the bass, we only had fancy tailpieces, endpins, and bows whose construction tends to have not changed much relatively over the years. None of that tech is obsolete but we got thinkgs like Barcus Berry Picups or BP-100 pickups that mostly noone will touch except for a small minority. Even the carbon fiber basses still depend on an age old design. With bass related electronics, the designs still have yet to settle.

Also just look at the pros. In the classical world, many of them are sticking to what works with the tried and true. Old basses, old bows dominate the scene - or new basses based on old designs. Look at the jazz world and you will see lots of guys who are using the latest amplification tech and some are going to different bass designs (travel basses namely) to cope with travel issues mentioned above. Yes there are some die hard bp-100 users but take someone like Rufus Reid, Brian Bromberg, or Charnett Moffett - all which have all kinds of pickups and different bass rigs for performance. There's alot more there to dig into. I'm not saying that Classical is better than Jazz or vice versa but there is definitely more new tech being adopted in the jazz world because of different circumstances/demands.

EDIT:
Oh I just remember one major thing that has impacted all bass worlds: Strings. Strings have had revolutionary changes over the years due to new materials. We've gone from gut to steel to synthetics of all sorts.

[Ike Harris]

One thing that has lead to a sort of renaissance of the acoustic bass is the desire for the Sound that only this instrument can make - in all kinds of acoustic music - classical, jazz, bluegrass, or whatever. Other than junior high concerts, when was the last time you heard el. bass in a big band? In the seventies, the electric was all over the place. Now the upright is king, and I hope it's not just a passing fancy that will soon fade. It's just the right instrument for the job.

Also, outside of any bass technology, the new breed of players is just amazing. At the first ISB conference I went to back in 2001, I couldn't believe some of the 16 yr olds that were playing great solo classical stuff while trying out basses. And a healthy lot of jazz players are out there, young and old. Some of the newer bass gismos may grease the wheels and recording technology has improved making things on the listening end more enjoyable, but in the end the music itself has made the most impact in the state of the bass.

Ike

[billyfalconer]

Originally Posted by Peck_Time

Bent endpins and the angled ones that require drilling another hole in the bass.

Don't forget the EGG pin, which gives the same functionality as the bent pins, but doesn't require damaging the instrument by drilling a hole in it.

[robobass]

Originally Posted by LouisF

Larry Wolfe from the BSO plays one here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z4S9v3ct1E

I have no experience with them myself.

Louis

Wow! That settles the CF arguement for me. I've played the Cosi and found it wonderfull to bow, but wasn't in an environment to properly judge the sound. Sounds like a bass!

[PaulKing]

Not one for the purists here, but:

Just like when mass produced electric guitars took classical and jazz guitar playing off in the direction of rock and roll, modern bass manufacturers like King Double Bass are making custom basses specifically for loud amplification, with built in electronics, rigid (ie acoustically quiet) bodies, and sturdy construction.

Together with custom finishes, colours, designs ... these are instruments that bring the double bass screaming back into pop and rock music, solving many of the practical and technical issues that pushed the db out in favour of the eb all those years ago.

These are different instruments, not for classicists or jazzers... just as Django would never have played a BC Rich or a Gibson SG.