Ebow

[KB]

Michael,
I have been interested in getting an Ebow to play with my fretted basses, but I can't seem to find anyone who has a lot of experience with it on a bass. What are you opinions on this since I have heard that you use it some on your basses. What does it sound like on bass? Can you achieve bowed cello or upright sounds with it,or do you just have to stick with "space" sounds with it. I have an EH bass synth pedal as well and I was also curious as to how it would sound with that too. Any info you have would be greatly appiciated (since none of my local music shops have one, so I would have to mail order it.

Thanks in advance

-KB

[Steve Lawson]

Hi,

I'm not Michael, but I do use an E-bow a lot, and have a Bass Microsynth as well - the combination of the two is great! If you set the synth onto one of the velocity controlled sounds, and move the E-bow along the string, you get a great envelope effect that sounds like nothing else.

As for replicating the sound of a URB or Cello - well, there are definitely similarities, and you can play melodies with an E-Bow, though changing strings is tricky, but it's really a sound of it's own. I use mine mainly on fretless, but have used it on fretted as well, and use it in conjunction with various delay, reverb and step filter effects to create soundscapes that you just can't get any other way...

I'm sure that Michal will fill you in on his own E-Bow discography, suffice to say that Adhan from his album 'Thonk' is an exquisite composition that uses two E-Bows at once!!!! If you've not heard it,and you can find a copy of the album, get it, it's fabulous...

Steve www.steve-lawson.co.uk

[Michael Manring]

Once again Steve has made my job easy by answering your questions so thoroughly! I am a huge fan of the EBow and while I agree that it does shine a bit more on the fretless than the fretted, I've actually come to consider it an indispensable part of the bass and I always keep one close by no matter which instrument I'm playing. I've long since lost count of how many recordings I've used the EBow on -- my guess would be somewhere around 100 -- but do check out Steve's use of it. He has a wonderful touch and he really shows what the EBow is capable of!

Thanks for writing,
Michael