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Double Bass Drone Tone Practice

#43
Maybe it's just me, but for some reason when I practice with either real or electronically-produced cello drones or double bass drones I can hear the unisons, octaves and intervals much better than when I've tried to practice with pure electronic tone drones or electronic tuning-fork drones. Anybody else experience this?
 
#44
Jack Clark said:
Maybe it's just me, but for some reason when I practice with either real or electronically-produced cello drones or double bass drones I can hear the unisons, octaves and intervals much better than when I've tried to practice with pure electronic tone drones or electronic tuning-fork drones. Anybody else experience this?
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Yeah, my ears have better "grip" on more harmonically complex sounds. I think all my tuner/metronomes produce square waves for this reason.
 
#45
fingers said:
What I find most interesting about drone practice lately is if I set a drone and then place a line in different keys against the same drone my ears start to hear the line differently. I've been trying to 'stretch' my harmonic concept a bit and this is an interesting way to hear lines in different ways.
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+1 to this, and kind of what I was thinking about earlier when I was talking about keeping the same drone even when the piece modulates. It really makes you hear the line in a deeper way.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] an accidental example of this from tonight's practice: I was working on the 2nd cello suite in D with a drone and the recorder on, and at the end decided to see if I could play Body and Soul in D with the same sound concept with the drone. The bridge is wild to play like this, since the keys of it are a half step up and a half step down from the drone. There are a couple of finger slips and a couple of pitch corrections, but I love the way the out-of-key stuff sounds in this context; it either sounds eerie or just plain weird, but either way I like the way it demands focus on hearing the pitches differently, as if you somehow have to hear them as more solid and secure to pull the melody off at all. Big fun!
 

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#49
matthewbrown said:
Do you find this helpful in learning the key center movement of different tunes?
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Absolutely! It also helps me understand and appreciate the inherent tension of the modulations in various tunes as they relate to the central key. I think this will ultimately help me savor the distant ones more.

Jeremy and Tito - thanks. Those are actually only four year old Dominants, still in the thick of the prime of life. The Spiro stark on the bottom - which didn't get played on this clip - is actually the same age as my son: 9 years old! Still kicking, and still invading small countries on a daily basis... also like my son. He's a human wrecking ball. :)

Chris Symer said:
Hey Chris, have you ever checked out W.A. Mathieu's book "Harmonic Experience"? It's all about singing over a drone and feeling the pitches in your body. Definitely relates to what you are experiencing when playing.
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I've been reading the book and doing what Mathieu recommends as regards pitches, and I think I'm getting it. He has a weird way of combining mysticism with mathematics that is alternately endearing and off putting, but more the former than the latter. Interesting guy, to be sure. I really like the way he reconciles Just intonation with equal temperament, and like the idea of the middle ground between the two.
 

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