Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

496: Audition Thoughts from Colin Corner

Today, we dig into some thoughts that past podcast guest Colin Corner shared about the recent Oregon Symphony Assistant Principal Bass audition.  Check out Colin’s most recent interview here, and check out his complete recital from the 2017 Pittsburgh Double Bass Symposium here!

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Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

Robertson & Sons Violins

For more than four decades, Robertson & Sons has specialized in providing the highest quality stringed instruments and bows to collectors, professional musicians, music educators, and students of all ages. Their modern facility is equipped with three instrument showrooms as well as a beautiful Recital Hall available to our clients to in their search for the perfect instrument and/or bow.

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.

D’Addario Strings

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.

A440 Violin Shop

An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440‘s commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

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472: Colin Corner Recital

I had the good pleasure of spending time with Oregon Symphony and Grant Park Symphony principal bassist Colin Corner recently.  We did a deep-dive interview on auditioning, being a principal string player, and much more.

Colin and I also talked about getting some recent playing of his up on the podcast, and he shared this recital from the 2017 Pittsburgh Double Bass Symposium.

You’ll hear the following pieces on this episode:

Enjoy, and a big shout-out to Colin for passing this along!

Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

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.

D’Addario Strings

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.

A440 Violin Shop

An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440‘s commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

466: Colin Corner on auditions and being principal bass

A podcast listener recently suggested that I re-interview Colin Corner about how he has managed to win audition after audition.  It turned out that I would be in Portland, Oregon for a couple weeks, and Colin and I sat down for a terrific deep-dive into auditioning, the role of a principal bassist, and much more.

Prior to his current positions of principal bass for the Oregon Symphony and Grant Park Symphony, Colin played principal bass for the Atlanta Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic.  He also held positions in the Minnesota Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, and Louisiana Philharmonic.

I originally interviewed Colin back in 2007 when he was playing in the Minnesota Orchestra, and I caught up with him briefly in 2009 after he’d moved into his role as principal bass of the Rochester Philharmonic.  It was such a pleasure to dig into Colin’s experiences over this past decade.  There are a tremendous amount of valuable takeaways from this conversation!

Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

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.

D’Addario Strings

This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D’Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

A440 Violin Shop

An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440‘s commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

CBC 134: Colin Corner update

Colin Corner.pngWe’re featuring a quick update and some performances from from double bassist Colin Corner, a previous CBC guest. When we first interviewed Colin back in 2007 he was performing in the Minnesota Orchestra, but he now serves as principal bass of the Rochester Philharmonic.

In addition to his orchestral duties, Colin maintains an active career as a composer and jazz bassist, and he currently performs with the modern jazz trio Blood Electric (DeVon Gray, keys; Peter Leggett, drums; Colin Corner, bass). Learn more about Colin at his website colincornermusic.com.

Tracks featured:

  • Body and Soul (solo overdub)
  • 1794 German Perfection

CBC 45: Colin Corner interview 2 and Rob Kassinger music

This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features the conclusion of our chat with Minnesota Orchestra bassist Colin Corner. Colin joined the orchestra in 2006 after being a member of the Vancouver Symphony and Louisiana Philharmonic. In this episode we discuss the process of taking an audition for an ensemble like the Minnesota Orchestra–the various rounds, screen (or lack thereof), and repertoire. We also discuss improvisation, parallels between classical music and jazz, Colin’s sources of musical inspiration, and his instrumental activities outside of the orchestral sphere.

Check out episode 34 of the podcast for the first part of this interview.

We also feature a recording of “Trioticism” from Chicago Symphony bassist and Contrabass Conversations interview guest Rob Kassinger. Enjoy!