Double Bass Big Bow sound

[Chasarms]

. . . I give one guy free lessons...

Do you commute to St. Louis?

 

[anonymous0726]

Although I'm terribly in need of some fresh hair on my bow, I'd love to discuss getting together pretty soon. What's your phone number? Email me at [email protected] if you prefer

 

[kpo]

Just another perspective:

It is true that if you reach the point of getting a quality slow bow sound, you will (or already have) gain touch with the bow, it is also true that it is HARD!!! IME and at the strong encouragement of my teacher, I get a better, stronger sound with a better pace on the bow.

Steady pacing is important, good arm weight/ pressure is important, but a clean start to each note is VERY important.

FWIW, Hey, KURT M.!!!, remember a lousy bassist from Aspen 1994, staying at Marolt Ranch, on last chair in the bottom orchestra, came over to play Rachel's ISB/Gary Karr bass? That was me, "back in the day". You made a great impression then, Kurt, and sound like you're still doing very well.

 

[Dennis Frati]

I'll second the long whole tone suggestion. Keep in mind that the volume is controlled much more by the speed of the bow than any downward pressure. As far as the tone itself goes, you'll have to experiment with where you're placing the bow; closer to the bridge gives brighter tone and quicker response, while playing closer to the fingerboard will give you a darker shade and allow you to dig in a little more.

I would add that actually if you play a bit closer to the bridge, you can use a slower bow, less weight, and get more volume, fullness of sound, than if you play closer to the fingerboard.

 

[Pete G]

The great bassist and teacher Warren Benfield used to say that the single biggest improvement in players' sounds that he was able to bring about came from convincing them that they should bow closer to the bridge than what their instincts told them.

Doing that has sure helped to give me a bigger and better sound, and also more options on how to play passages.

 

[pat.p]

Just another perspective:

It is true that if you reach the point of getting a quality slow bow sound, you will (or already have) gain touch with the bow, it is also true that it is HARD!!! IME and at the strong encouragement of my teacher, I get a better, stronger sound with a better pace on the bow.

I have heard "more bow, faster bow" so many times from my teacher that I even hear it in my head when I practice at home.

For the most part, beginners (me being one) tend to bow too slowly anyway, with too much pressure and tend to use too little of the bow. The bow is 28" for a reason, use it.

There are plenty of reasons for going too slow. Often beginners slow their bow because they don't take a complete bow on the retake and thus slow down so they have enough bow to finish the note. So when you take a new bow, work on getting back to the frog. Or the pace on the upbow is slower than the downbow or vise versa, so you can get out on one end or the other and can't complete the passage correctly.

For the sake of the experience, practice your scale routine on the quarters in the 90-100 bpm range. Start on the downbow and use a full bow on each quarter. Not only will you begin to understand how bow speed impacts the sound, but you'll also have to get used to keeping the downbow speed and upbow speed at same.

Eventually, you want to get to the point where you can slur 2,4 and even 8 notes on one bow at a similar tempo and/or take the scales on the whole notes. This is where your slow bow technique comes into play. I still struggle with 8. It's pretty hard to get a good sound out on the tip of the bow when you are crawling.

Hi.
Good sound comes from your back, where you have muscles, which are able to generate maximum power with minimum tension. Try to concentrate not only on your fingers, bow and elbow, but on WHOLE hand, arm and back. You must feel, that all parts of this machine work together. Don't try to scream on your instrument, find your bass' original voice. The reason of playing with too short bow is, that your shoulder is too"lazy". When you have a clear, rapid beginning of bow movement in your SHOULDER you will not have any problem with playing long notes with whole bow.
Sorry for my English, I'll try to develop it
Good luck