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Double Bass Does thrashing around while you play do any good?

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Go practice. If you think you can do a better job than Mr. Tuneh, please, by all means, go do so. We'd all love to hear you fellows do better.


Actually the point of this thread is not that I or any other can play better that Guy (something open to discussion BTW) but that Guy himself could play better if he stood on the spot. Something which I think the Elgar video proves anyway.
FC
 
" Please note- there have not been any criticisms issued regarding the actual musical performance.

I would gladly, but then I would be changing the topic of the thread. Actually his moving around is directly connected to his music making and it is his music making I really don´t care for.
I respect the man for going after his dream but don´t care for it.

There are so many other bassists in the world who have had a much greater influence on the history of the doublebass.
 
Adam Furay said:
that looks beyond ridiculous. Say whatever you want about expression, timing, phrasing etc. It is distracting and he would be a greater asset to this group if he would sit down and just play without the immature "show" he is putting on. If you can't play well sitting still like a person with some dignity and sense, you probably can't play very well at all.

:lol: now this is ridiculous.

Dignity?

What are you on about?
 
I do not find it particularly annoying. However, at the start of the first video, you can see that the violist gets kind of scared when he almost shows his head off with his bow, I really believe that one should respect others with his expressions and they are a bit... staged for me. Or better said over the top?

Mr.Tuneh plays really good, that is for sure, however I have doubts about his personality. You know, on Facebook in one particular bass group that is well-crowded, Mr. Tuneh was already banned from for his excessive posting about his own works.

He would go and post 6 messages about his upcoming VIRTUOSO BASS PIECE PREMIERE WORLD ORIGINAL in a time span of two days, not to mention that he did not really react about any questions that he was asked in the comments on these posts. That smells like a bit of self-centering over there and egoism. And these happened repeatedly.

Playing skill and music expression is not all that counts for me, we are still people aren't we? There should be some respect even if you are good. I do not know him, I can't judge him, but provided with these... Mhmp. Maybe he feels the music like that. I enjoyed the piece nonetheless.
 
@ mcnach: just to clarify for you, I was suggesting that a more composed manner of playing would exude dignity. What he is doing exudes immaturity or lack of self-control. And it looks like ****.

"Orchestra" in Greek means "a place to dance."

Just pointing that out.

Secondly, why should you try to fight moving with the music and potentially stifle really good emotion and phrasing in the process?

And lastly: Why does everyone have such a problem with him when he sounds great? You're listening to music--if this were ballet then we could have a long talk about how poor his form is, but this thread is smelling more and more like dead fish to me.
 
He moves when he plays.

Nobody has a problem when Lang-Lang or Joshua Bell does it.

Nobody had a problem when Heifetz and Oistrakh did it.

I don't have a problem with it now--I think anyone who does it being pretty petty.

I'm going to refrain from commenting on Mr. Tuneh's performance.... I would just like to point out that many people do have a problem when Lang Lang or Bell move so much. I wasn't alive to see Heifetz or Oistrakh perform live, but I have seen enough of them on video to know that they never moved like that.
 
Distracting at the least, for the other players and the audience.
Moving the bass around to that degree changes the sound balance on the stage.....one second, the other players got the bass in their ears, the next second the bass sound is coming to their ears a foot or more away. Kindly, I say, that's no way to treat dynamics.
Also, kindly, it distracts me from checking out the chick players.
And I thought watching Charlie Haden play made me nervous. :hiding:
 
I will refrain from commentary on Mr. Tuneh's musical performance, but I will comment on his physical performance. As a professional bassist, conductor, and educator I find that level of movement in this setting distracting.

Many have mentioned Joshua Bell or Yo-Yo Ma. I have had the opportunity to play with both of these artists on the stage. They both move when they perform- as a soloist. They also move when they are playing chamber music. I have never seen them play in a chamber orchestra playing a Mozart Divertimento with a conductor, however I would speculate that their level of movement would be appropriate for that piece.

As a conductor, I would find his movement distracting. If I was conducting him, I would feel that he was trying to conduct the group from the bass stand. This is counter-productive to music making. The conductor should be the focal point for the visual aspect and phrasing of music in an orchestral setting, second only by the concert master. From what you can see in the video, the conductor is moving much less, and appropriately for Mozart. Mr. Tuneh looks as if he is playing a Romantic period concerto as a soloist. Playing repeated eighth notes does not require such movement.

As an educator, I would suggest that some movement while playing is good. Internalizing the rhythm through movement is a great way for musicians to play together. However, there are diminishing returns. If one moves too much it can be detrimental because of the extra rhythms that are created in the body. There are many times as a conductor that I see rhythm in the feet or movement in the body that do not match the beat that I am conducting. If your external subdivisions do not match what the rest of the ensemble is counting it can affect the ensemble negatively.

As a bassist, I move when I play. I am also very efficient when I play. I try to move my left hand as little as possible to improve intonation and shifting. There are some times that I heard his fingers slap against the strings so hard I heard it on the video. I would say that he is overplaying this piece. His movement makes playing the bass more difficult. Maybe he is bored with the part? Maybe he is trying not to fall asleep?

I am not judging his playing based on the body movement, but if he was my student I would definitely try to quiet him down. If he was a student level player, his technique would be affected by the extra motion of spinning the bass to and fro.

Respectfully,
 
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