influence of the amplification on the acoustic bass

[just_me]

hello everyone,
for the jazz history class, I have a work to do. Mine could be entilted: «What influence has had the amplification on the acoustic bass over the years?». Instead of reading in the books (and I guess there aren't that many books on the topic) I thought it would be much more interessting to ask reall people. One part would be more "anonymous" people, and the second part people like big names (ron carter, dave holland). I have thought about some questions which could help, but what I am really asking here is this: for those who have played for long enough to observe a significant change, what influence the amplification (and its improvement) has had on the acousitc bass, and its function/ importance in the music (on arrangement, composition, improvisation). here are the questions:
- Do you amplify your bass, or not at all ? why ? (in both positive or negative answer)
- What is your current gear for the amplificaiton of the bass ? (is it mostly pick-up, or microphone, or a mix of both, or a transducer, or something else; through a bass amp, the PA…. ?)
- Is it the same live and in studio ?
- Is the amplification a part of your sound or do you try to hear the very sound of the bass, only louder ?
- Does the amplification has any kind of influence on the set up of your bass ? (lower action, smaller bass, different kind of strings)
- How has it helped/prevent your playing ? (the technique, the sound, anything else)
- How the amplification system has changed over the years, how much better is it now? Is it something that has changed the way you approach the instrument (the fact that there’s an amplification and that it has become better with time)
- How much of that has influenced the way you think about the music ? (about the composition, arrangement, function of the bass)

also; since I want to ask some famous guy, but can not find all the contacts info, maybe someone could help me to find the contacts. here are the people I thought would be interesting to ask:

Dave Holland, John Patitucci, Christian Mcbride, Ron Carter, Reggie Workman, Scott Colley, Avishai Coehn, Drew Gress, François Moutin, Eddie Gomez, Anders Jormin, Larry Grenadier, Dan Berglund, Gary Peacock, Charlie Haden, Stanley Clarke, George Mraz, Buster Williams.

I am soooo sorry for such a long post, but any help would be greatly appriciated!
thanks a lot (and I'll post that as well in the "amps, mics etc" section as well)
thanks a million time
yannick

[Steve Killingsworth]

You might consider adding Brian Bromberg or John Goldsby to your list. They both lurk and post here.

[tgarrison]

I remember seeing somewhere where Ron Carter was talking about this very thing, how the ability to be heard and the advancement of pickup technology in particular has propelled the DB as a jazz solo instrument, but I can't remember where I saw the quote.

Here is an article that is similar to the one I remember, but not the exact one. I find his comments interesting because (my opinion only) the arco on many of his older albums sounded quite awful--thin and nasal--reminiscent of an old fishman. Anyway, here is a link:

http://www.bassplayer.com/article/ro...er-/Sep-03/814

[Mixmasta J]

I have only been playing for about 5 years, but I'll input anyway:

- I DO amplify my bass, simply for the fact that bands have become louder and playing large rooms or on a festival stage call for something that is a little more powerful than unamplified bass. Also, with the bass increasing in prominence over the course of the past few decades, the need for a larger bass sound has grown more necessary.

- I use an old-school fishman bass transducer. I simply do not have the money to upgrade, but I have paired it with a nice preamp that gives me a decent sound that is good with a big band.

- In a studio setting, I usually use bass drum kick mic's to record based on the area of the room, and what style of music I may be recording.

- I try to get the amplification of my sound to be simply my bass but louder, but it is almost impossible not to have some difference in sound when using any sort of amplification.

- My setup must stay relatively consistent, as I must keep it ready for both orchestral and jazz work. Due to my laziness to keep adjusting my string height, I usually keep it at the same height no matter what I happen to be doing.

- I can't say that amplification has truly helped me except for simply playing louder, and perhaps the ability to play with more finesse and not consistently dig into the board. Other than that, I think amplification has hindered my playing overall.

- I don't feel qualified to comment on the history of amplification, as I know I am a youngster haha!

- Amplification of the bass has not changed my outlook on the role of the bass, but it has given me some new insights on ensemble playing and dynamics for sure.


I hope I did what you wanted, it sure made me think about a lot of things.