I am glad to see that tracks featuring 7+ string bass guitars are in the top 10 on the New Age/Ambient/World charts.That's aside from the fact I'm playing them . New Age music is a growing market that allows for musical creativity.We sort of just fell into it.
The melodic instruments on these tracks are just bass and guitar.In a format that features relaxation, meditation and ambient,soothing music-it's nice to see tunes that features bass solos fit easily into the playlists.
About 12 years ago, I started rehearsing with a
another composer who plays all styles of guitar and
is an especially gifted classical guitarist. We both
wanted to document what we did with our instruments in
the form of a decent recording.
For me, when we started this project ,it was at a time when no one had really defined what to expect from a 7-string bass guitarist.I wanted to
demonstrate why a 7-string bass guitar was an
invaluable addition to the bass guitar family. I had
also been using my own version of harmonic tapping I
had been developed over the decades.The guitarist and
I composed 5 tunes each and added our "voice" to each
other's tunes.We are a live,no overdub duo.We performed
live for a while to develope the music.
The music was really in the jazz format and was mostly
improv, with a recognizable "head". After a lot of
drama and years passing, we were able to finally
record, master and manufacture a limited amount of
CDs. Now I had something to play for someone when they
asked me about 7- and 11-string basses, the low Jauqo
III-X/S.I.T. .195 string, Percussive Harmonics or playing
two handed counterpoint style "tapping".We also added
percussion to the tracks.
Somewhere along the process of making the CD, several
people said that they really enjoyed the music,found
it uplifting, and pointed us towards different sources
to promote the CD.
The smooth jazz people loved the CD,but said it was
too "acoustic" for the format.(too acoustic for Jazz?) So soon
after that a friend suggested I try the NewAge/World/Ambient market. My first thoughts were of long synth notes,bird calls and neo-classical piano and lots of string (violin,viola,cello) pads. I thought this suggestion was even more strange because someone had commented that we really did our homework and really "nailed" composing music for
the new age format.Of course, we weren't thinking new
age at all when composing the music.We are a real time, live,no over dubbing duo,and most of the music in the genre seems to be very produced.
So to shorten this a bit, the next thing you know,
we debuted at #6 on New Age Reporter, the "Billboard" for New Age, and have been lingering in the top ten for almost 3 months.We have been added to 188* stations and counting - Radio and internet stations,internationally, including stations in Australia , Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, France, Romania,the Netherlands,Belarus,Canada and the U.S..We are on many of their individual top 10 lists.
The interesting part is that every tune on the CD has
been getting "spins".It's good the format allows for 9 minute tracks.
All but one tune has a bass guitar solo and several have a bass intro,one that is even a minute long.
It was suggested in a thread on TB, that a technique
should be "transparent' and serve the music. In this
case,the Percussive Harmonics make up about 70% of all
the bass parts and those parts are 50% of all the
music on the CD save for the Guitar and Percussion.
Many non-musicians ,DJ's etc. comment on how much they
enjoy the music,perhaps totally unaware that they are
listening to a 7-string bass playing 70% harmonics,
and on one track, an Adler 11-string bass playing 5-6
octave arpeggios ending with the low C#0 (Thanks
Jauqo).Some ask what instrument makes the chime
sounds.
There are many great CD's featuring Keyboard ,Guitar,Cello,Vocals etc,
on the Top 100 New Age Reporter chart. I saw Tony
Levin's CD there last month-but other than that, haven't found a CD featuring Bass guitar,at least in the top 50.
I think this is another small step in establishing the 7+
string basses as commercially viable instruments,Percussive Harmonics as another acceptable "color" for the bass guitar,and the low C# string as a "Chart Topping" bass string. Now,when someone asks "What do you need all those strings for?" I can reply "to make music with":
http://www.newagereporter.com/charts...asp?m=3&y=2005
, and
http://www.newagereporter.com/charts...asp?m=4&y=2005
Instead of fitting the E.R.B.'s into the traditional bass role, the player can create music,tracks etc. around the E.R.B. and make some fresh music for an ever growing audience.
Thanks for reading.
*193 stations now
