Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

862: celebrating 10,000 subscribers!

Today’s episode is an audio rebroadcast for our 10,000 YouTube subscribers celebration from December 3, 2021.  

Enjoy, and thanks to John Grillo, Paul Thompson, Valentina Ciardelli, and Geoff Chalmers for joining me!

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Upton Bass String Instrument Company – Upton’s Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long “Karr neck” has even become a favorite of crossover electric players.

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – CMU is dedicated to helping each student achieve their goals as a musician. Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city’s ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah’s website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

Ear Trumpet Labs – They make hand-built mics out of Portland, OR and they have an excellent mic for upright bass called Nadine. The Nadine is a condenser mic with a clear natural sound and incredible feedback rejection. This mic is a completely new design — the head mounts in between the strings above the tailpiece with a rubber grommet, and the body securely straps to the tailpiece with velcro elastic. A 14-inch Mogami cable connects the two parts making it easy to place on any bass. It’s durable and holds up to the demanding needs of the instrument while offering excellent sound quality. Ear Trumpet Labs is offering a free t-shirt just for Contrabass listeners with the purchase of a mic, just visit EarTrumpetLabs.com/contrabass to claim yours and check out the Nadine!

Contrabass Conversations production team:

358: Orchestra and Opera Excerpts

This is a “best of” episode from three classic Contrabass Conversations episodes. Back in the early days of the podcast, John Grillo and I recorded two episodes that dissected various excerpts. He and I talked through each excerpt and then played a recording of John performing it.

These have been extremely popular resources over the years, but they came out not he podcast ten years ago. With so many episodes of this podcast and so many new listeners to the show, bringing these classic offerings to light is important to me, so I’m planning on doing a few rebroadcasts of this cornerstone content every now and again.

Orchestra Excerpts Covered:

  • Beethoven Symphony No. 9
  • Beethoven Symphony No. 5
  • Brahms Symphony No. 1 and 2
  • Shostakovich Symphony No. 5
  • Mozart Symphony No. 35 and 39
  • Mahler Symphony No. 2
  • Schubert Symphony No. 9
  • Strauss Ein Heldenleben
  • Britten Young Person’s Guide
  • Verdi Otello

Opera Excerpts Covered:

  • Strauss
    • Salome
    • Rosenkavalier
  • Wagner
    • Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
    • Die Walküre
  • Britten
    • Peter Grimes
  • Verdi
    • Otello
    • Rigoletto
    • Falstaff
  • Weber
    • Euryanthe
  • Mozart
    • Magic Flute
    • Marriage of Figaro
  • Beethoven
    • Fidelio
  • Humperdinck
    • Hansel and Gretel

Continue Reading …

294: 10th Anniversary Show!

Thank you.

Really, I don’t know what else to say.

Thank you to each and every one of you who have taken your precious time these past ten years to listen to these episodes.  You’ve written in.  You’ve suggested guests.  You’ve shared your passion and energy with me and with the wider community.

Thank you to the hundreds of guests who have lent their valuable time to this crazy project.  Through the gift of your time, energy, and experience, you’ve helped thousands of people across the globe.

Thank you to John Grillo, who co-hosted this and so many other episodes with me.  John, Win Hinkle, Jonathan Stefaniak, Kells Nollenberger, other folks have guest interviewed people for the podcast, for which I am so grateful.

Thank you to D’Addario Strings, Bass Capos, Discover Double Bass, Upton Bass, The String Emporium, Riccardi’s Violin Shop, Classic Contrabass, and Douglas Mapp Music for their support as sponsors over this past decade.  I am grateful to each and every one of you for your support with keeping this juggernaut going.

And finally, thank you to Lloyd Goldstein, Mitch Moehring, Szymon Marciniak, Tracy Friedlander, Jay Stark, Adam Booker, and Justin Locke for calling in and contributing to this 10th anniversary episode!

Here’s to another 10 exciting years!

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This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

Hosting for Contrabass Conversations is provided by Bass Capos.  Bass Capos are an excellent choice for any bass player using or looking to implement a double bass extension. Easy to install and adjust, cheaper and more reliable than hand-built latches, also lighter and quicker in operation.