Double Bass mmm... my words are tasty

[Andy Allen]

I've gone one better with a regular Friday night gig I've picked up - it's an acoustic piano/bass duo, so no amp at all to lug around and set up.

This is the first time I've played acoustic-only on a regular basis so I'm having to develop my technique to provide more clarity and volume, with less effort (it's very easy to just start pulling hard and run out of gas quickly).

GigSpam Alert: If anyone in L.A. wants to come and see me get my but kicked all night by the piano player it's at Bistro of Santa Monica (@23rd St.).

Andy

 

[bolo]

Marc, I definitely hear what you're saying. I did a gig not too long ago where I left the mics and the preamp/mixer/blender at home. Set up and tear down was quicker and less hassle.

But ... The real cool part was like you said. I knew from the first few notes that on this particular night, the amp, p/u, and amp placement were just perfect. Just a few bars into the first tune, Someday My Prince Will Come, the rhythmic ideas are flowing. The lyrical and harmonic ideas are flowin'. I'm reflecting on how Miles and P.C. approached it. I'm hearing how Bill Evans and Scott LaFaro approached it. And I'm sort of fallin' somewhere in between those two pairings (or trying anyway). My mind is at work in the music, and so are my hands and my body. I am relaxed. I'm playing the instrument, not the amp. I am playing with the pianist, not being narrowly focused just on how I sound.

That, like you said, was liberating. Felt friggin' great. I wish more of my gigs were like that.

 

[bolo]

Reflecting. I can't explain why the p/u sounded so good on the gig I described above.

So I had to go and spoil it all. Set up my Beyer at home. Man, sounds like my bass. Then A/B'ed it with the pickup. Sounded er beefier I guess, but not nearly as natural and pleasing. Kinda irritated me side by side solo'ed vs. the mic. Kinda yuck actually. I've done this before. No surprise really.

I dunno, I dunno. Gigging situations are different than music room experiments.

Simpler is better ... dunno. Yes and no. It depends.

Choices are better ... dunno. I think so. Sometimes the simplest choice works better though, like you said.

 

[Marc Piane]

Andy. No question playing without an amp is the best case scenario. Unfortunately I have only had success with it is there are no amps involved for anyone. An acoustic duo sounds perfect. As soon as it has to be a duo with a keyboard and an amp the balance of power is thrown off. You are a lucky man. I love doing those kind of gigs.

Steve. I've given up on practice room experiments. The results always seem to be different once I get to the gig. We play in so many rooms with so many variables. I think we are experiencing the bass players conundrum.

I used to ascribe to Rufus' notion that if you are gigging with an amp you should practice with one. I did this for a while but have gone way the other way. As I have ranted before, the bass is an acoustic instrument. I really believe that the amp needs to be a 'plug and forget' kinda thing. We all get that in different ways.

I'd like to pose a question to the DB community...

Do you practice with an amp?

 

[bolo]

Marc,

Like I said, I'm a small timer. Been that way since 1979. But to answer your question, "Nope." Practice (to me) means no amp.

The only time I plug in at home is when I've acquired a new piece of gear. Or if I feel compelled for some odd reason to scrutinize or experiment w/ an old and familiar piece of gear. Then I am not really practicing so much as trying to learn how to use the equipment and what it can and cannot do.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I'd like to pose a question to the DB community...

Do you practice with an amp?

Until I found my setup and got it squared away, I used to practice with an amp in the quest for "the workable sound". Not every time I practiced, not even often, but sometimes. Now I just play the bass. But before i was entirely comfortable with what my amp could and could not do...

 

[Marc Piane]

Just to update. I am going on 5 months of my 'easy button' setup and still going strong. I think the big difference to me is the easy and carefree setup. For good or bad I know that there is a limit to the amount of tweaking I can do and mostly leave well enough alone and just play. I feel like there is so much bass playing stuff I need to get better at that a simple amp setup that works is the thing for me. Plug in and forget.

I sold my mic (K&K). It was a fun experiment.