Recent content by Pietsch

"Bass is Beautiful" as Gary Karr proclaimed. As snow covers the ground in much of the US on this last day of January, let's enjoy this beautiful music:

I heard Aaron Copland's explanation of riding the rhythm instead of phrasing based upon changing time signatures while he was rehearsing the Indiana University Philharmonic Orchestra for a concert in 1972. I was in the double bass section. I've used this principal many times in my arrangements...

Aaron Copland said that when he composed music that he would "ride the rhythm". On paper this sometimes was written with frequent meter changes. But, meter changes with the implication of accents or groupings weren't his intent. If a soloist stays in time with the ride cymbal or something else...

Study, but play by ear.

Sure, there are some examples from the 1950s of bass guitar use. Even so, in the 1940s and 1950s the upright bass dominated the radio and vinyl records from rock, to country, bluegrass, R & B, jazz and so on. What is meant by "traditional" big band sound? That's the upright bass. In the 1960s...

Your Squier Telecaster Bass with humbucker would work just fine. Try a set of roundwound strings intended for jazz. Set your amp and bass so that notes on the D and G string are as loud as the notes you play on the A and E string. Play long notes when you're walking the bass or playing Latin...

I knew 3 Fender Jazz bass players who played in a big band style. They were all brass players who never played a double bass. Their sound wasn't as much the jazz bass and amp. They sustained each note until the next note began...whether that suited the music or not. In contrast, I used a...

"Baby Love" by the Supremes in late 1964 was recorded with the Motown, inhouse built 8-channel tape recorder in Studio A. This allowed bass guitar by James Jamerson to get its own channel for signal processing and for a strong, clear-sounding bass sound during mixdown.

Motown acquired Golden World Records in Detroit in 1968. This became Motown Studio B used for overdubbing some strings, horns, and vocals. Motown Studio A built their own 8-channel tape recorder that was first used on "Baby Love" by the Supremes.

Before studying at Indiana University Music School in the 1970s, John Clayton studied with Ray Brown and Carol Kaye in LA. John played double bass in Dave Baker's band and studied classical bass with Murray Grodner. While we were both students at IU, John introduced me to the Carol Kaye method...

Detroit Motown has an identifiable sound in the mid-1960s on many hits.

Motown's West Coast crew is credited with "Do I Love You" by Frank Wilson in 1965. (Recorded in LA). Carol Kaye credited on bass guitar.

LA AFM union rate hourly scale was $50 to $100 per hour for session players in the mid-1960s. Motown was also union paying $150 per 3-hour recording session. Even so, musicians often work "off-the card" for demo tapes at lower rates.

John Clayton introduced me to Carol Kaye's method books while we were both double bass students at Indiana University. I bought most of her books and practiced them for years on bass guitar.