Double Bass Against my better judgment...

[marcox]

Would you rather have dueling banjos, or banjo, mandolin, and eefin'?

This game upsets me and I decline participation.

 

[GretschWretch]

This game upsets me and I decline participation.

A wise decision. It could always get worse.

 

[VictorW126]

Since resuming an active presence here a few months back, I've noticed that @damonsmith is often in disagreement with other TBers, not just you...

I would like to write here that there are several things that I learned from Damon's posts. I'm pretty much an dilettante and can use whatever advice I like. Often I didn't like Damon's opinion and seemed strange. Now I see that he is right. I will note what I remembered when I typed this message on the keyboard.

1 Bass for rehearsals should be good. This thought was completely new to me. When I was in music school I had two accordions: an educational one and a concert one. The first was much cheaper and simpler, but I played it 99% of the time. The concert accordeon was very good, but the adults told me that it was an instrument for special occasions. As a result, I played the concert accordion two or three times. I adhered to these same thoughts all my life. I changed a few basses and every time I had two or more basses I rehearsed the simpler ones.
Damon said that we spend more time at rehearsals than at concerts. The better our bass is, the better and more enjoyable it is to play it. As a result, it develops us stronger.
Today I completely agree with him. Plus, rehearsals are the safest time for bass. We rehearse without an audience (what pouring beer and trying to befriend us and our bass). Rehearsal venues are usually comfortable in terms of temperature and humidity, and concerts can take place anywhere. A good bass during rehearsals is our gift to ourselves, not to those around us.

2 Bowing practice gives a lot for pizzicatto practice. I knew this thought earlier, but ignored it. I thought that if I mainly play pizz, then I need to rehearse pizz. I took out the bow only when my teacher demanded it.
After reasoned messages from Damon and others, I began to use the bow more often in all situations. This solution seems to be very good.

3 Carved basses are better than plywood ones. This topic seems to be causing a lot of controversy.
In the Russian tradition of bass (there are deep roots and their own schools), it is believed that a carved bass is better than a plywood one. Nobody argues about this in Russia. But in the American tradition, this does not seem to be the case. There are whole areas of music where plywood basses are used (old jazz, bluegrass, rockabilly). The irony is that I do not play Russian music, but play what can be called American music. I began to focus on the opinion of the contrabass players here. I wanted to get a plywood bass (becouse both of my basses are now completely carved). Damon destroyed my doubts. He is one of the few contrabass players on the forum who directly points out that carved bass is better in all musical situations. (I'm not talking about acrobatic rock and roll, where you need a really strong bass). It suits me! I do not offer this opinion to others, but it is important for me that an authoritative player confirms my opinion.

4 Basic playing technique is suitable for most players. Even if you play Free Jazz and avantgarde music, it is helpful to start with basic teaching methods. This is a free interpretation (I do not remember a direct indication of this). Damon wrote that as a teacher, he starts with the classical methods of Simandle, etc. At the same time, Damon's double bass sounds as if he was trained in music in another galaxy. Looking at him it seems that he is not familiar with the classical school at all. For me, this means that a good solid base helps with musical flight.

There are some other important tips for bowing and left hand technique, but I can't write that much. There are some more tips I would like to get from Damon, but I cannot formulate them. They are about free improvisation, thinking and interpreting your thoughts on the instrument.

If there are those who have read this message to the end, please note that I am not a professional. But I am a very passionate person and I catch every drop of information. For ten years on the forum (wow! It's already a more than ten!) I have learned a lot of useful things.