After playing--and improvising--with the Grateful Dead, Branford Marsalis said they had "big ears."
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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread
- Thread starter ttasselm
- Start date
At least it was the cool Marselis family member.
That seems to be a common suggestion. There’s something about the bass vi sounds that I like but I think a 27.5” scale baritone might be good for me. So I’ll eventually get both
That seems to be a common suggestion. There’s something about the bass vi sounds that I like but I think a 27.5” scale baritone might be good for me. So I’ll eventually get both
a bass vi covers a bit of the range as a reg 4-/5-/6-string bass. it sounds a bit different, but you can catch a lot kf thr same notes.
a baritone guitar gives you more high range (mine are an octave up from my 6-string basses); there’s less overlap with the bass and more high range area for chordal/melodic material.
afaik, they use the same spacing.
because i’m a bass player that is used to wise spacing and predominantly use fingers, mine do not—i got them made 16.5mm spacing (my 6-string basses use 19mm).
Now I want to see pictures.
There’s variability across different makers, though it’s all within the “guitar” range of widths. I suspect a baritone classical guitar would have the widest spacing.
not sure how comfortable i am with revealing the depth of my depravity.
This is a safe space for GAS depravity.
The baritone guitar vs bass VI discussion makes me wish there were more standardized registral variants on the bass instrument "family" like we have with woodwind instruments. Sax, clarinet, and flute players get all the fun, with sopraninos and sub-contra-altos and everything in between.
The idea of a "bass" that's tuned like a guitar doesn't really inspire me* ...but the idea of a handful of basses, each one tuned to a different register, seems like a far more interesting excuse for owning multiple instruments. I know there are piccolo basses and tenor basses and a tiny handful of genuine contra- (or are they sub-contra-?) basses like the old Knuckle Guitar Works extra-long scale 8vb instruments...I just wish all of those were more common, and that the idea of "extended range bass" didn't only refer to a single instrument with 6+ strings and an enormous tessitura.
*otoh, as a some-time guitarist I'll note that I find the idea of baritone guitar way more appealing than bass VI.
The idea of a "bass" that's tuned like a guitar doesn't really inspire me* ...but the idea of a handful of basses, each one tuned to a different register, seems like a far more interesting excuse for owning multiple instruments. I know there are piccolo basses and tenor basses and a tiny handful of genuine contra- (or are they sub-contra-?) basses like the old Knuckle Guitar Works extra-long scale 8vb instruments...I just wish all of those were more common, and that the idea of "extended range bass" didn't only refer to a single instrument with 6+ strings and an enormous tessitura.
*otoh, as a some-time guitarist I'll note that I find the idea of baritone guitar way more appealing than bass VI.
I tend to think of my Miezo as "cello range." Up an octave from a standard 4-string bass, but with the low B... and then it plays just fine tuned down to ADGCF instead. "Cello" makes more sense than "piccolo" to me...
@Bob_Ross
this is sort of what i’m after:
in addition to my standard 6-string basses (B-C), i have Eb basses (tuned D-Eb), Bb bass (A-Bb) and now my baritones, which might be considered piccolo 6-strings basses (B-C, up an octave). then there are double courses and different types of strings…
by the way, don’t forget what anthony jackson calls the 6-string bass: contrabass guitar.
in terms of the wind instruments, they’re *sort* of standardized: in the saxophone family you have alto/baritone, tenor/soprano, but then sopranino, bass, C-melody, tubax. the clarinets start into contra-alto, Eb (sorta piccolo), etc. some similar variations with flute.
i play with a guy who plays a lot of the above (why i know even a little about this). some of my reasoning is based on watching him.
since we play a fair amount of improv together, i’m going down the path of bringing basses and baritones to gigs. i look it as something akin to bringing a tenor and a soprano to a gig. if you think of fretless being like clarinet (woodier sound), then i’m also bringing clarinet and bass clarinet.
a lot of timbral possibilities in there that i’m looking forward to exploring.
This is exactly why I have a Reverb alert set up for Miezo listings
interesting to note that cello string length seems to be about 27.35 inches.
so it’s close to 27.5 baritone. mine are 28.
my low B is a half/step lower than the cello low C
so it’s close to 27.5 baritone. mine are 28.
my low B is a half/step lower than the cello low C
Will be very curious to hear the sound of the higher strings on the fretless.
Also, a question: why does the top string (Eb, Bb) define the tuning? Is that how it’s done on other instruments? I always think tunings from the low string.
I played a 4-string piccolo bass for about a decade before just giving up and trying guitar.
As I’ve moved over to all touch guitar or pick, I’ve really come around to narrower string spacings.
Also, a question: why does the top string (Eb, Bb) define the tuning? Is that how it’s done on other instruments? I always think tunings from the low string.
I played a 4-string piccolo bass for about a decade before just giving up and trying guitar.
As I’ve moved over to all touch guitar or pick, I’ve really come around to narrower string spacings.
it’s because i think of it as a transposing instrument. when i read and finger a C, it’ll sound as either an Eb or a Bb (sort of like saxophone transpositions).
30-something years ago I played a Conklin fretless 7-string bass (tuned BEADGCF) and the sound of that high F string was totally captivating. More sitar-like than bass-like, but I could immediately envision applications for that sound in the music I was making.
I don't play nearly enough fretless these days to warrant getting another instrument, but I still keep one of the two 5-string fretless basses I do own tuned to EADGC just because I love that sound of higher thinner strings. If I had unlimited time, wherewithal, and performing opportunities I'd be all over a fretless piccolo bass or something in a similarly high register.
