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Double Bass Stability While Standing

#62
#63
i saw dave holland last night. front row, he was about 15 feet away. i was thinking of this thread at the same time as i watched and listened. most of the time he stood there like some tree, straight up, spine straight, legs straight. feet about 18 inches to 2 feet apart. moving around a bit, sometimes he leaned into the bass, over it. in a solo.

btw i got a good clip of him doing a 3-minute bass solo. how do i post that? i put a pic of him with his czech ease bass in the traveling bass thread under "basses".
 
#64
William Hoffman said:
i saw dave holland last night. front row, he was about 15 feet away. i was thinking of this thread at the same time as i watched and listened. most of the time he stood there like some tree, straight up, spine straight, legs straight. feet about 18 inches to 2 feet apart. moving around a bit, sometimes he leaned into the bass, over it. in a solo.

btw i got a good clip of him doing a 3-minute bass solo. how do i post that? i put a pic of him with his czech ease bass in the traveling bass thread under "basses".
Click to expand...
email it to me, I'll host it for you.
 
#66
Sorry to sound like a newbie but what kind of bass is that? All the upper proportions are the same but it has no bottom.

Back on topic, he seems to be using what I call the 'bass in the gut' stance. He keeps the instrument almost perpendicular to his body and has the E-Side corner leaning into his stomach. One of these days I will be skinny like Dave and will be able to play like this lol.

P.S.
I am really looking forward to seeing Dave Holland live this year at the Portland Jazz Festival (Portland, OR that is).
 
#68
Hemispheres85 said:
(1)So many posters here are blaming the nature of the instrument for their problems standing.

(2)Jason Heath has a good post on this http://doublebassblog.org/2008/05/standing-versus-sitting-for-the-double-bassist.html
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(1)Rightly so. The original/traditional bass design never made ergonomic sense. Only recently have user-friendly ergonomic basses been produced.
(2)To me, Heath's blog merely codified what has been said by posters to this thread and offered no real solutions.
 
#70
Don Higdon said:
(1)Rightly so. The original/traditional bass design never made ergonomic sense. Only recently have user-friendly ergonomic basses been produced.
(2)To me, Heath's blog merely codified what has been said by posters to this thread and offered no real solutions.
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Yes most instruments are built around the function of producing sound, then afterwards musicians had to contort their bodies to fit the instrument.

It just seems the double bass community of players are more masochistic than any other community? The easier we can make the instrument to play, the more time we can spend enjoying the music.
 
#71
Mike Goodbar said:
On that subject, Don, I was wondering if you have played Arnold Schnitzer's Ergo Bass? How far does his design go in solving some of the ergonomic issues bassists encounter?
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Yes, I have. I brought his first ergo bass to an orchestra rehearsal. It was very playable. Other members of the section tried it, and loved it.
What is not known or appreciated is the many new concepts of internal construction that Arnold employed. This was an object lesson in function determining form.
 
#73
Johnny L said:
I think violinists and violists have to struggle with ergonomics also...maybe more than even bassists suffer, despite having a smaller, lighter instrument to play.
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An example of an ergonomic viola (prob. most here have seen this). I see one of these used in the Milwaukee Symphony.

Violists really have it tough -- I understand that they have one of the highest rates of instrument related injuries.

Invalid Link Removed
 
#77
Mike Goodbar said:
...Violists really have it tough -- I understand that they have one of the highest rates of instrument related injuries.
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I've been reading some interviews with William Primrose, who claimed it's the failure of violists to hold the instrument with their left hand rather than with the chin and perhaps some shoulder rest that causes these sorts of injuries.

The idea peaked my interest because Rabbath makes the very same suggestion to bassists who stand - to balance the bass with the left hand as one allows the instrument to lean towards the player.

Most insteresting is that Rabbath suggested this way of standing before he began using an angled endpin to reduce the weight of the bass on the left hand. That's how I learned to stand a la Rabbath, with a straight endpin also...though of course I would rather have the angled endpin.

Holding the bass with the left hand (or the viola as well) does create additional challenges when shifting, but if Rabbath and Primrose are any indication those challenges can be met and overcome successfully.
 
#78
The posture used while holding and playing the bass is usually different than the posture used in other life activities.

The key to minimizing injury is self awareness of your posture and motor functions in the execution of your activities and movements.

Every human being is unique. One "size" doesn't fit all perfectly. We are all individual collections of flesh, bone, neural awareness, and life experience.

If you have problems, a good body work teacher can lead you to your own awareness of movement, and your own perfection that way. Only you can really know what's right.

My only advice would be to run away from anyone that tells you that their way of posture with the bass is the ONLY way. Even if it means you don't pass the audition.

IMO.
 
#79
Well, I'm switching. :hiding: Actually, no I'm not. I still think sitting is superior to standing. But for the first time, I'm actually comfortable standing and playing thanks to this thread and Jason Heath's post. Thanks TBDB members!

The key piece of advice was lowering the endpin. For a straight endpin, I think this is paramount. What does it do? Well, it brings down the center of gravity, which helps make the bass more stable as you're standing. It can't be too low, of course, but when it's too high, you're forced to balance the instrument with your left hand more because it keeps trying to tilt over.

After that, you need to find the right balance point so that the bass won't fall if you let go. It also needs to be a comfortable enough of position so that you can actually play naturally without contorting yourself for the sake of balancing the bass.

Basically, like with anything, balance is the name of the game - keeping the bass itself balanced, and the balance between balancing the bass and positioning yourself so you'll play relatively uninhibited.
 

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