apologies, this thread is not really about orchestral technique but it seemed like the most fitting place...
to summarize as much as possible: i played a lot of DB in high school, but gradually shifted my focus towards jazz/contemporary and along with it the bass guitar. by the time i graduated and left for college, i wasn't playing DB at all. somehow or other i started taking lessons on the nay, a flute existing in various forms throughout the middle east. it really opened my eyes to the potential of modal music and improvisation outside of jazz idioms.
having an intermediate grasp of the maqam system, it struck me that DB is really just a good fit aesthetically, in terms of tone and range of expression. DB is now relatively common in middle eastern 'art music' ensembles, but it's role is to simply accent the strong beats of the melody and is almost always pizz.
so i thought, why not treat it as a melodic instrument and see what happens? well, this presents a new set of technical obstacles. mainly that 1)maqam-based music has 3/4 tones AKA half-flats and half-sharps and 2)intonation of a note can vary considerably depending on both expressive intonation and the idiosyncrasies of a particular maqam.
obviously, traditional fingering methods do not account for 3/4 tones. and having being reared on simandl, i feel it is too rigid to perform the constant slides, blips, and trills that are integral to the music (but perhaps my impression is wrong).
for the past for days i've been practicing what seems like a mix between 'ud fingerings and rabbath. thinking in terms of the D string, the thumb stays behind E. the index finger covers Eb, E half-flat, and E. the middle finger covers F and (big pivot) F half-sharp and F#. the pinky can hit G if need be. so far this seems workable, although maqams like hijaz (D Eb F# G) require a lot of movement.
i know this is sort of out on a limb and i don't expect anyone to have experience with it, but i'd appreciate any ideas and/or feedback.
to summarize as much as possible: i played a lot of DB in high school, but gradually shifted my focus towards jazz/contemporary and along with it the bass guitar. by the time i graduated and left for college, i wasn't playing DB at all. somehow or other i started taking lessons on the nay, a flute existing in various forms throughout the middle east. it really opened my eyes to the potential of modal music and improvisation outside of jazz idioms.
having an intermediate grasp of the maqam system, it struck me that DB is really just a good fit aesthetically, in terms of tone and range of expression. DB is now relatively common in middle eastern 'art music' ensembles, but it's role is to simply accent the strong beats of the melody and is almost always pizz.
so i thought, why not treat it as a melodic instrument and see what happens? well, this presents a new set of technical obstacles. mainly that 1)maqam-based music has 3/4 tones AKA half-flats and half-sharps and 2)intonation of a note can vary considerably depending on both expressive intonation and the idiosyncrasies of a particular maqam.
obviously, traditional fingering methods do not account for 3/4 tones. and having being reared on simandl, i feel it is too rigid to perform the constant slides, blips, and trills that are integral to the music (but perhaps my impression is wrong).
for the past for days i've been practicing what seems like a mix between 'ud fingerings and rabbath. thinking in terms of the D string, the thumb stays behind E. the index finger covers Eb, E half-flat, and E. the middle finger covers F and (big pivot) F half-sharp and F#. the pinky can hit G if need be. so far this seems workable, although maqams like hijaz (D Eb F# G) require a lot of movement.
i know this is sort of out on a limb and i don't expect anyone to have experience with it, but i'd appreciate any ideas and/or feedback.
