Contrabass Conversations

David Heyes needs no introduction . Since founding Recital Music over 20 years ago, David has brought the music of composers like Tony Osborne, Teppo Hauta-aho, and Simón García to countless bass players.   David has also commissioned over 500 double bass compositions.  Talk about an impact on the bass world! In recent years, David has become a prolific composer .   In only three years, his compos...

Jonathan Haskell may very well be the world's most interesting man . He's a bassist. In a great orchestra: L'Orchestre De La Suisse Romande in Switzerland. Also, he's the president of the musician's union. An accomplished conductor. Fluent in multiple languages. He is also the author of three murder mysteries centered around the orchestra. Here's a link to the first five chapters of On the beat, a...

Allan Santos and I met 15 years ago at the Britt Festival in Oregon. I vividly recall drinking beer with him at the bar while Dave Anderson shot pool in the corner. After studying with players like Shinji Eshima and John Hood, Allan had landed an orchestra gig in the Toledo Symphony. The goal had been reached. But Allan felt like things were at an 8 in his life. Not a 10. What would a 10 look like...

it would be sacrilege to use capital letters when writing about auditionhacker founder rob knopper . rob plays percussion in the metropolitan opera orchestra. which is quite cool. but rob also started auditionhacker , a site devoted to mastering the systems and processes required to win an audition. we talk about: rob's own auditioning experiences his super-cool practice journal system how to adva...

Seth Hanes is a horn player, digital marketing consultant, and the author of the new book, Break into the Scene: A Musician's Guide to Making Connections, Creating Opportunities, and Launching a Career , which is available now on Amazon. If you want to check out some free email templates that will help you pick up gigs and some other bonuses, visit breakintothescene.com . We talk: how to get more...

Spread and focus. That's what Trevor Davis thinks about as he makes his basses. It's all in the arching. That's what makes an instrument sound great. But Trevor didn't just magically know this from the start. His tale is one of persistence and grit. Carving scrolls during the night shift at 7-Eleven. Dragging his half-made first double bass back and forth across country. Making violins during the...

The first Royal College of Music International Double Bass Festival  will be taking place on October 16, 2016.  Gabriele Ragghianti, Dan Styffe, and Alberto Bocini discuss this exciting new event on today's episode. This event is free and requires no tickets, so be sure to check it out if you can! This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings ! Check out their Zyex strings , which are synthe...

Our teachers shape us more than we realize. Having the right teacher is critical for achieving our goals. Sandor Ostlund has had a staggering set of quality teachers throughout his life journey. First, he studied with Hans Sturm . Then he worked with Richard Davis. From there, he found his way to Paris to study with François Rabbath . In Paris, he met Paul Ellison , with whom Sandor would study wi...

Most musicians don't have a day dedicated to them in their hometown. Shinji Eshima does . In 2011, the city of Berkeley, California named the day December 6th Shinji Eshima Day, in his honor for his contributions to the arts. Even fewer musicians play an instrument featured in a Degas painting . But Shinji Eshima does . His Plumerel bass is the very same instrument painted by Degas in L'Orchestre...

Jazz is Frank Proto's native language . Growing up in Brooklyn, Frank spent his days studying with Fred Zimmermann and his nights hanging out at Birdland. I love hearing Frank describe what it was like studying with Fred. In fact, Frank's lesson slot was right after Charles Mingus. Talk about being a part of jazz history! Frank's journey from the jazz clubs of New York City to the Cincinnati Symph...

Craig Butterfield  loved Edgar Meyer's bass playing ever since discovering it. Lately, he has been following in Edger's footsteps. Performing American roots music with mandolinist Jesse Jones is now a key creative outlet. Craig also teaches at the University of South Carolina. He shows young bassists how to hone their technique to explore creative new paths. But that's not it. Craig also loves rec...

Corey Brown started out on the "traditional" music school path. Starting out at the University of North Texas, Corey left and became a graphic designer. He began developing on the web in the early 1990s. Fast forward a few years, and he created Squidoo with bestselling author Seth Godin. Squidoo became one of the most-visited websites ever with over 85 million monthly visits. Corey fused his passi...

Nina DeCesare 's creative musical quest is inspiring. First, she won the 14 and under International Society of Bassists solo competition. Then she won it again for the 15-18 division. She studied at Rice University, Tanglewood, and Domaine Forget. Also, she won a scholarship to study with François Rabbath in Paris. Nina ended her time at Rice by winning a position with the Oregon Symphony. She has...

Hans Sturm isn't afraid to reinvent himself. Everything changed for Hans when he first met François Rabbath. Before he knew it, he was in Paris soaking up these new concepts . Fast forward many years, and we find Hans playing the second Rabbath Concerto with Sylvan Rabbath on piano. If you look at the music for this concerto, you'll see that François dedicated this piece to Hans . But that's not i...

Diana Gannett might be the most thoughtful double bass teacher I've ever encountered. Her approach to teaching is comprehensive and nuanced. She incorporates everything from group warm-ups to Aikido principles on her website. Every bassist out there should have this site bookmarked ! But she's not just a great teacher—she's a jaw-droppingly talented performer . You have to hear her sound to believ...

Hugh Sung is the ultimate musical entrepreneur . After years spent teaching at the Curtis Institute of Music, Hugh co-founded AirTurn , a company that produces pedals designed to turn pages on a tablet device. Hugh is also an author.  In fact, he wrote From Paper to Pixels as a result of using tablet devices for reading music. Now Hugh has moved into the world of podcasting with his show A Musical...

Teaching improvisation is like Fight Club . The first rule of teaching improvisation is you don't talk about improvisation! That's Project Trio 's approach, and it's totally compelling . 10 years ago, Peter took all the energy and drive he had for the audition circuit and poured into getting Project Trio off the ground. We talked about it back then. Fast-forward to the present, and the results of...

Danny Ziemann couldn't find a book on bass lines that worked for him. So he created The Low Down. Now he's released his second volume, and he's looking to expand way beyond that. Danny is committed to teaching the fundamentals in a clear, step-by-step process. It's a fresh approach to jazz bass pedagogy from the mind of a committed music educator . Learn more about this dynamic young musician in t...

Lauren Pierce started out on the typical music school path. But something happened along the way. In the midst of grad school, Lauren decided to quit . She struck out on her own and asked herself a critical question: What if? Instead of grad school, Lauren decided to: - put dozens of videos on YouTube - learn how to write code - build up a worldwide social media following - start a membership site...

This is Emilio Guarino . He plays bass. But that's not all he does. He makes music with computers. He also teaches and performs in many musical styles. He's even written a book to help musicians figure out how to find a foothold. On his blog and Youtube channel , Emilio asks questions like: Are you the type of person you'd hire for a gig? Are auditions a problem-solving activity or a chance to bea...

Christine Hoock is a tossed salad of musical genres. Maybe she's playing Phillip Glass.  Perhaps she's performing Arvo Pärt.  She could even be playing tangos or jamming with a DJ.   But regardless of what she's playing, it's with her beautiful, compelling sound . Günter Klaus and Franco Petracchi taught her, and she has taken the double bass a new level. She has total command of the bass and is a...

Pablo Aslan breaks bow hairs. A lot  of bow hairs. In fact, he rivals the guys in the Met for most-frequent rehair at his NYC bow shop. He also makes killer bass lines.  He's truly the Ray Brown of bowed marcato bass lines. Learn how he does it in this interview! Resources we covered in this interview: Pablo's website AvantangoMedia (Pablo's YouTube channel) Piazzolla in Brooklyn  (album) Tango Gr...

Sam Suggs calls himself an omnivorous musician . I love this tagline. I feel like I'm eating at a fantastic fusion restaurant when I hear Sam's music.  I'm not expecting these flavors to work, but they are so good together . First, he takes a little 1750s galant style . Next, he adds a dash of Verdi. He finally tops it off with—I kid you not—Skrillex and Daft Punk. Then he marches over to a bar an...

On both the blog and the podcast , I've always taken the stance of making things as good as I can and then putting them out in the world without any apologies.  Nothing drives me crazy more than listening to a podcast and heading the host apologize for a few minutes about this or that. I resolved never to do this.  I would make the best product I could and then just present it without and excuses...

Thierry Barbé is a man in constant motion.  When he's not performing as principal bass of the Paris National Opera or teaching at the Paris Conservatory, Thierry can be found in all corners of the globe, performing lesser-known gems from the bass repertoire and giving clinics along the way. He is a technical synthesizer, pulling from many different schools of playing, even incorporating German bow...