Double Bass Brian Bromberg

[Bruce Lindfield]

If you keep this thread going long enough then BB himself will probably chime in. He checks the boards every once in a while. Quite some time ago I started a thread called "Wood II". Brian got in on the discussion and talked a little about his sound. You can search for it.

We have a clairvoyant!!

Great to hear from the subject of the thread - Happy Christmas!

 

[Marc Piane]

When you get to the level of those guys there is no greatest, there's just flat out great! They all have a voice and something to say, as well as plenty we all can learn from. Thank God there is that diversity out there or bass playing would get pretty damn boring!

Well said and thanks for all your insight. Happy Festivus and a safe and prosperous New Year to you. Marc

 

[Schlyder]

Keep listening, keep playing, keep searching, and keep up the low end. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!.............Brian Bromberg

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you too, Brian. And all the best in 2011.

 

[Bijoux]

 

[Treyzer]

Wonderful to see Brian's post here; intelligent, thoughtful and insightful. He may not be your cuppa but if you are an actual double bassist, you at least have an understanding of what has gone into developing that level of technical ability. Like Chris says, he's not just flash, he can play lines any horn player would be proud of. At the very least, it would seem that Brian deserves some respect for all that he has accomplished. It ain't easy getting to that level. I'm just sayin!

Hey may you all enjoy a Blessed and Joyous Holiday Season!

Best

Trey

 

[JtheJazzMan]

At the moment Im studying some of BB's recordings along with Eddie Gomez, Miroslav Vitous, Eberhard Weber and a few others.

Its been very interesting to pick apart their playing and understand their thought processes and in turn absorb that into my own playing.

Specifically with BB I have been working on Saga Of Harrison Crabfeathers and Goodbye off the Wood album. The overall musicality is fantastic and the solos are very good. They are very well proportioned with peaks and valleys of intensity.

I think this is where people need to focus on the ability to play fast from another perspective. Its not just about playing lots of notes, it is one of many tools used to create intensity in your playing. A lot of double bassists I hear, perhaps most, simply cant produce that variety of effect in their soloing.

Also BB's playing is integral to the album, in the melodies, the solos, and accompanying, which solidifies your place as a musical individual.

 

[ChuckCorbis]

No disrespect the BB, but I just want to point out the HUGE difference between NHØP - who was a full-time double bass virtuoso, including arco and Mr. Bromberg who through set up and idiosycratic approaches has managed to translate a lot of his phenomenal bass guitar technique to a severely altered double bass.
Both awesome but differently awesome, and one is just way more relevant to my ideas about the instrument than the other.

Damon forgive me for asking but what does "through set up and idiosyncratic approaches" and then,"severely altered double bass" mean? Just curious what exactly your referring to? Was NHOP's bass "severely altered" too? I think you mean low action and use of the amp volume for tapping, but the "severely altered " part is a mystery to me. What's so irrelevant about those techniques. I've listened to Willie Dixon and Milt Hinton do some amazing slapping stuff that at times has that Mississippi Delta guitar flavor and it is not really irrelevant. I bet Ray Brown could do that tapping thing in a heartbeat but I will agree he and others didn't. Yeah I said Mississippi. That's where that stuff started and I think that's where they were born. What's wrong with a little flash and creativity?

 

[damonsmith]

I guess the flat fingerboard is where I start to disagree! But, that is me. I am sure plenty of folks disagree when I start shoving sticks in the strings, etc.

 

[ChuckCorbis]

Fair enough. Thanks.

 

[Brian Bromberg]

Again I think these forums are so cool!

Not like it matters but just for the record my bass does NOT have a flat fingerboard! It has less of a curve then a bass set up to bow or gut strings etc... but it is not flat by any stretch of the imagination. But if it was flat who cares?

You know if we all played the same way with the same strings and the same action and the same technique with similar playing styles on basses set up the same way they were 50 years ago etc...bass playing would probably be pretty boring and not very adventurous (for the most part.)

I think some of you might be referring to a bass that Lemur Music set up with an action that they said was identical to my fingerboard and set up? That bass was set up with a fingerboard that was almost as flat as a ruler. That was NOT my set up at all and is NOT how my Italian bass is set up. Lemur Music has and has had some very good set up guys, but Lemur Music has never set up my Italian bass.

Going back to the point I didn't know there was a rule book on how a bass is supposed to be set up and played? I thought music was for all of us to find our own path? I think it's great that we have guys like Bunny Brunnel who plays with way lower action then I do with even a flatter fingerboard and he uses glued on fingernails on his right hand!

And there are also the old school guys who use gut strings about 4 feet off the fingerboard! Who is right? What is the correct way to play? Was Red Mitchell wrong because he tuned his bass in 5ths? According to the "rule" book you are not supposed to do that on a bass, but Red Mitchell was one of the greatest players of all time.

Kinda like Stanley Jordon, you are not supposed to play the guitar like that, but he does and is a freak of nature. So was Jim Hendrix, but wait, he played the guitar upside down, is that in the guitar playing rule book that you can't do that?

I will tell you this, if I played your bass I would sound like me, if you played my bass you would sound like you.

What's awesome here is that we all have a voice, we all have something to say and none of it is for anyone to tell you or me how "it" is supposed to be done. We all do our thing and that's what makes it so amazing. We all have our favorite players and playing styles and sounds that we gravitate too. That is the way it is supposed to be. Our differences is what makes us all so special and unique. If we all did it the same way or sounded the same then what would be the point? Plus there would be no TalkBass forums at all!................

 

[MysterMunky]

^^^^ love it!

 

[Chris Symer]

I think some of you might be referring to a bass that Lemur Music set up with an action that they said was identical to my fingerboard and set up? That bass was set up with a fingerboard that was almost as flat as a ruler. That was NOT my set up at all and is NOT how my Italian bass is set up.
......... Was Red Mitchell wrong because he tuned his bass in 5ths?................

A while back I read on Lemur's site about how they carefully copied all the dimensions from your bass and were offering copies for sale. I had to laugh when looking at the measurements, the upper bout was something like 1/2 an inch wider than yours and the lower bout 3/4 to 1 inch wider if I remember correctly. Obviously they made some changes they thought worthwhile, the fingerboard was probably one of them. You have to wonder why they spent the time measuring it at all. ( No offense meant to Lemur, I've dealt with them for years and had nothing but great service)

As for Red being wrong about the 5ths, I know that he wasn't but that doesn't mean that I might not be......

 

[ChuckCorbis]

Does that mean I can continue to use my Dunlop capo in half position on my 7/8 no name Chinese double bass? Wow. What a way to start the New Year. Today is the first day of Kwanzaa everybody. Happy Kwanzaa Brian. Thanks.

p.s.

BB please feel free to come back and jump all over these guys when the **** hits the fan.

 

[iiipopes]

Chuck -- why not use your capo in other positions as well -- could really open up some new voicings for soloing, among other applications. On the slab side of things, I've had to play a couple of 2-steppers with my dance band, scored, of course, in Eb for the horns instead of D or E. I use a capo on the 1st fret, not because I have to, but I'll be damned if I'm going to play 1 - b3-3 - 5 - 65 a fret off, because the song relies on the tonality of "open" strings.

 

[davidsbass]

I would work on getting your own sound. Its good to imitate, but you shouldnt be a complete mimicker. If people wanna hear a brian bromberg sound theyre going to listen to him. Dont let imitations go too far whereas you end up buying something to sound like someone.

 

[damonsmith]

Good, to hear, I stand very much corrected!. Not a bad thing at all to be wrong about. Your music was very inspring early on for me as well.

Again I think these forums are so cool!

Not like it matters but just for the record my bass does NOT have a flat fingerboard! It has less of a curve then a bass set up to bow or gut strings etc... but it is not flat by any stretch of the imagination. But if it was flat who cares?

You know if we all played the same way with the same strings and the same action and the same technique with similar playing styles on basses set up the same way they were 50 years ago etc...bass playing would probably be pretty boring and not very adventurous (for the most part.)

I think some of you might be referring to a bass that Lemur Music set up with an action that they said was identical to my fingerboard and set up? That bass was set up with a fingerboard that was almost as flat as a ruler. That was NOT my set up at all and is NOT how my Italian bass is set up. Lemur Music has and has had some very good set up guys, but Lemur Music has never set up my Italian bass.

Going back to the point I didn't know there was a rule book on how a bass is supposed to be set up and played? I thought music was for all of us to find our own path? I think it's great that we have guys like Bunny Brunnel who plays with way lower action then I do with even a flatter fingerboard and he uses glued on fingernails on his right hand!

And there are also the old school guys who use gut strings about 4 feet off the fingerboard! Who is right? What is the correct way to play? Was Red Mitchell wrong because he tuned his bass in 5ths? According to the "rule" book you are not supposed to do that on a bass, but Red Mitchell was one of the greatest players of all time.

Kinda like Stanley Jordon, you are not supposed to play the guitar like that, but he does and is a freak of nature. So was Jim Hendrix, but wait, he played the guitar upside down, is that in the guitar playing rule book that you can't do that?

I will tell you this, if I played your bass I would sound like me, if you played my bass you would sound like you.

What's awesome here is that we all have a voice, we all have something to say and none of it is for anyone to tell you or me how "it" is supposed to be done. We all do our thing and that's what makes it so amazing. We all have our favorite players and playing styles and sounds that we gravitate too. That is the way it is supposed to be. Our differences is what makes us all so special and unique. If we all did it the same way or sounded the same then what would be the point? Plus there would be no TalkBass forums at all!................

 

[Brian Bromberg]

Lemur's replica of my Italian bass was a very nice bass, but I am no longer associated with Lemur Music. They are selling basses now that they copied from my Italian bass without my input or approval so I have no idea what the quality of those basses are since they are having them made without my involvement.

It makes no difference at all what bass you play. Just like buying a Marcus Miller Fender Jazz Bass bass will not make you sound like Marcus Miller or buying a Les Paul guitar will not make you sound like Les Paul. Your sound is in your hands period. The better the bass you have the better the bass sound you will have but your sound will still be your sound.

One night when I was hanging with Jaco Pastorius listening to him play with his band he proved that fact to me that your sound is in your hands. He went from playing fretless bass to fretted bass when I went to the bathroom. I didn't see him switch basses in between songs and when I came back out of the bathroom his sound was exactly the same. When I saw that he had changed basses while I left the stage are for a few I was amazed. It completely blew my mind. The only way you could tell he was playing fretless was when he slid up and down and did that fretless thing. When he just played centered notes in tune you could not tell the difference between when he was playing fretted or fretless bass. Astounding to hear and see with my own eyes. It was at that moment all those years ago that I realized that your sound is actually in your hands and has nothing to do with the brand or type of instrument you play..............

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Lemur's replica of my Italian bass was a very nice bass, but I am no longer associated with Lemur Music. They are selling basses now that they copied from my Italian bass without my input or approval so I have no idea what the quality of those basses are since they are having them made without my involvement.

It makes no difference at all what bass you play. Just like buying a Marcus Miller Fender Jazz Bass bass will not make you sound like Marcus Miller or buying a Les Paul guitar will not make you sound like Les Paul. Your sound is in your hands period. The better the bass you have the better the bass sound you will have but your sound will still be your sound.

One night when I was hanging with Jaco Pastorius listening to him play with his band he proved that fact to me that your sound is in your hands. He went from playing fretless bass to fretted bass when I went to the bathroom. I didn't see him switch basses in between songs and when I came back out of the bathroom his sound was exactly the same. When I saw that he had changed basses while I left the stage are for a few I was amazed. It completely blew my mind. The only way you could tell he was playing fretless was when he slid up and down and did that fretless thing. When he just played centered notes in tune you could not tell the difference between when he was playing fretted or fretless bass. Astounding to hear and see with my own eyes. It was at that moment all those years ago that I realized that your sound is actually in your hands and has nothing to do with the brand or type of instrument you play..............

Great points Brian, all of them, and that Jaco story is the icing on the cake!

Keep on playing your own style man and Happy New Year!

 

[damonsmith]

It makes no difference at all what bass you play. Just like buying a Marcus Miller Fender Jazz Bass bass will not make you sound like Marcus Miller or buying a Les Paul guitar will not make you sound like Les Paul. Your sound is in your hands period. The better the bass you have the better the bass sound you will have but your sound will still be your sound.

I am not one to split hairs over brand names, that is for sure. I only had issues with the incorrect assumption of a flat fingerboard.
While there are many types, once the instrument can't be bowed I don't feel it has a relationship to my personal view of the double bass.
I feel it becomes something else at that point, which could more than certainly create interesting music.

Others draw the line in the sand at different places, the Italian double bassist and laptop musician Domenico Scajano once did a tour with just his bridge, pick up, bow and computer!

 

[nicechuckh]

Really great thread. I've listened to and played, sang, and written a huge variety of music and there is so much out there to appreciate. Brian is an awesome talent, so was NHOP and Jaco etc. I love what so many bassists have done/do with traditional jazz, and people like NHOP and Brian Bromberg don't/didn't pull off every trick in thier arsenal on every tune, but tons of other music is breathtaking also. There are probably peices that all of my fav. bassists have played that I could've done without, but there are plenty of songs that I wrote that I can't stand either lol. I'm amazed at the talent out there, and as long as it is actual music played by people and if it has lyrics you can let a child listen to it, it can be very rewarding to listen to.