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Double Bass The Bach Videos Are Coming!!

#2
The Menuet isn't working for me, but the other two sound quite nice! May I suggest in the Allemande, rather than making the C natural octave leap in the beginning of the second half on the G string, play the lower C on the D string with your thumb. I actually play it on the A with my first, but both work well. Much safer fingering in my opinion. Also just a few issues with pulse here and there, and maybe do a better job hiding some shifts, but overall I think you sound great. That's a bright bass you have there, what strings do you have on it?
 
#4
Nice! I enjoyed it very much. Really no constructive criticism other than the few issues you pointed out yourself.

You might want to try this as well:
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Jason Heath has a "Virtual Master Class" where players post performances for feedback.

Good luck,
Steve
 
#6
Thanks very much for the tips! I'll get to work on these ASAP. :)
I just listened to the Rostrapovitch video on youtube and he gets through the Allemande with the repeats in the same time I do it without! So, yes the tempi should go up a bit, but I guess he's at the top end of the spectrum so maybe a few clicks on the metronome but I doubt I'll get twice as fast soon.
Tomastik Spiros red top Orchestral strings. This is a 1981 Rubner. I cost me 1200 bucks in 1984 and has payed for itself countless times over.
I did a lot of rebuild work on it a decade ago and it has been much brighter and focused since!
I sorted the minuet link, too.
Cheers,
Fergus
 
#10
wow, that's the camera on the computer? good image quality. two questions, if you don't mind: where did you place the mic? and how did you sync the audio and video? i have garageband and iMovie as well, but never quite figured out how to sync audio/video precisely..
 
#11
I get the mic as 'on axis' as possible about 40cm from the treble f-hole. i do a couple of tests to get the level right so I don't go into the red and then I set up the iMovie project. I get the screen facing me so I can see what is being captured to video.
The difficult thing here is ignoring the camera enough to concentrate on your playing!
Then I save the captured video and the audio and then import the audio into iMovies and slide it back and forth till I get it in sync. You have to mute the audio from the iMovie! It's a good idea to clap on screen before you play so you can sync easier, like a movie claperboard.
It's that simple!
FC
 
#13
very beautiful sound on all of this. really great work. it's a little too careful for my taste, but that may be what you're going for. i just think you let many musical opportunities go by. you can play it really quite well, you just need to decide musically what you want to do with it. also, i agree with what was said about the tempo earlier. too conservative for my taste.

to the plus, you play with great control. solo bach can get really unwieldy on the bass, and you don't let it. kudos.

oh, and your right hand pinky is driving me crazy. it actually stresses me out a little if i look at it for some reason. you can take it or leave it, but i would keep the pinky on the frog.

great work though, really!
 
#14
I love it.

Lots of work figuring out how to finger these, then get a good tone, then get them recorded properly and posted on the net.

I appreciate the labor.

I have no critique as my skills in any of these areas don't warrant an opinion. Just thought you should know I appreciate the efforts.
 
#17
Your musical intention is coming across very well on these.

A couple pointers, from the vantage point of 15+ years working on these pieces every day:

The intonation is more dependable generally going across the string and shifting less. The fingering system you're using is wonderful for bel canto playing, but as we all know, this is a completely different bag. Try to stay in position as much as possible, utilizing the A and D strings often. Your pitch will improve dramatically.

Though many will argue against it, I always side with Anner Bylsma's interpretative style, which translates well to the bass: these are indeed dance suites. Regardless of tempo, a slight stress on beat 1 of every measure sure puts some life into these pieces. Right now things are a bit democratic, and at times the meter is obfuscated by (albeit well executed) phrasing choices.

Keep up the great work!
 
#18
good work. the only things that havent been addressed are your shifts (just about every one that isnt to or from a harmonic has an audible slide) and the A 30 seconds into the sarabande -- in all the recordings and parts i have that note is a G. the A kind of makes sense though, continuing stepwise down to the upper trill note in the chord.
 
#19
Great Work!

There is a lot of shifting that I don't think serves the music, you could get a lot of mileage out of the d and a strings. What edition are you using? I would recommend checking out Francois Rabbath's and Paul Ellison's editions for great fingering ideas.

Also, your hands and arms don't seem to be relaxed and efficient:

left hand: seems tense. Are you curving your fingers for speed, accuracy? A lot of players who play these let fingers collapse and open and close their hands more, so they can reach more notes from one position. It doesn't seem like the weight of your arm is being used, but seems rather like you are holding your arm up and then trying to push down your fingers one at a time in spite of your arm position. I think your arm can work for you better, and also help you with the intonation once you get a better muscle memory happening.

right hand: the bow seems kind of too floaty, like you also aren't using weight or enough weight. I think you could get a better sound with flat hair and a more steady, faster bow speed with more weight.

musicality: Overall, I liked it. It did speed up near the ends of some phrases and could dance more as other comments said. I think the suggestion about making beat 1 stronger is a good one.

I'll try to post myself playing these soon and would love to get comments from you, lots of great playing.

Thanks also for the explanation of the recording technique, it really looks superb.
 
#20
As always thanks for al the tips! I'll get on to these ASAP.
I didn't use any bass edition but straight from cello editions. all the fingerings are my own. I play a lot of belcanto (Bottesini by the baotload!) so, yes my impulse is to go upa nd down the string and use a lot of portamento which is (as you well pointed out) not appropriate fro JSB. I will have a rethink about string crossing and also check out the A/G? in the Sarabande. It's possible that there are many mistakes like this since I'm working alone on this.
cheers
FC
 

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