Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

1073: Sidney King on his multifaceted career

In this episode, acclaimed double bassist, composer, and arranger Sidney King discusses his busy fall filled with outreach events, master classes, and student recitals at the University of Louisville. 

Sidney highlights his collaborations, notably with flamenco guitarist Gareth Jones, and shares insights into his compositions for orchestras, educational groups, and church services. 

He emphasizes the importance of community and education in his work and the success he’s found in making his compositions accessible through his new website.

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Upton Bass – From Grammy Award winners and Philharmonic players like ME Max Zeugner of the New York Philharmonic, each Upton Bass is crafted with precision in Connecticut, USA, and built to last for generations.  Discover your perfect bass with Upton Bass today!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio is a valued part of an innovative fine arts community in a top research university. Students receive weekly private lessons and solo classes with Micah Howard, and Peter Guild teaches weekly Orchestral Literature and Repertoire. They encourage students to seek lessons and guidance from local bassists. Members of the Symphony, the Opera, and the Ballet provide annual classes and individual attention. Visit Micah’s website to sign up for a free online trial lesson here.

758: Trevor Jones on the cost of college

We’re talking today with Trevor Jones of The Scholarship Roadmap about the value of a college education and the critical importance of finding a school that fits a student’s needs and a scholarship that makes it possible.

Trevor is doing great work connecting students to colleges.  Learn more about his work on his website, and follow The Scholarship Roadmap on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Register for his upcoming workshop on December 19th for student musicians and their parents covering non-audition topics.

Check out our Online Sheet Music Store with 80+ wide-ranging titles for bassists.

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

Check out my Beginner’s Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Dorico – Dorico helps you to write music notation, automatically producing printed results of exceptional quality — and plays it back with breathtaking realism. It is easy enough for anyone to learn, yet has hundreds of advanced notations, features, options and sounds to satisfy even the most demanding professionals.  With its streamlined, natural user interface, students and those with less experience in scoring can compose and arrange straight into Dorico, making learning the language of music notation much faster and more intuitive. Editing and making changes — such as instrument, time signature or key — are straightforward, with the notation instantly and correctly adapting to include them, reinforcing the learning outcome.

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!

Practizma – The Practizma practice journal is packed with research based strategies to turn your ho-hum practice into extraordinary practice.  Develop your curiosity, discipline, creativity, daring, tenacity and zen.  Take a journey with four elements each week: goal setting, reflection prompt, action challenge, and journal pages to track your practice.  Curious? Download the introductory chapter of the journal for free – this gives you an idea of what it’s all about. 

Modacity – Are you a practice-savvy musician? Get Modacity – the music practice app that organizes, focuses, and tracks your progress.  Recorder… metronome… tone generator… timer… note taking… Do away with the random assortment of music practice apps in your arsenal. Modacity™ combines all the tools you need into one easy to use, music practice tool.  Organize, focus, and reflect on your practice – motivating you to increase retention in less time.  Modacity has a special offer for Contrabass Conversations listeners that includes lifetime access to the app.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

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757: David White on music school vs real-world experience

We’re joined today by past podcast guest David White, who has played for many Broadway and National Touring shows, including Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, The Bridges Of Madison County, Motown: The Musical, The Producers, HAIR!, Guys & Dolls and The Illusionists: Turn Of The Century. 

We talk about a wide array of topics, including the pandemic’s effect on musical theatre and how various companies are handling this crisis.  We also dig into the value that music school actually offers and whether this is the best path for many aspiring performers.  

Enjoy, and be sure to check out David’s website and his YouTube Channel

Check out our Online Sheet Music Store with 80+ wide-ranging titles for bassists.

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

Check out my Beginner’s Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Dorico – Dorico helps you to write music notation, automatically producing printed results of exceptional quality — and plays it back with breathtaking realism. It is easy enough for anyone to learn, yet has hundreds of advanced notations, features, options and sounds to satisfy even the most demanding professionals.  With its streamlined, natural user interface, students and those with less experience in scoring can compose and arrange straight into Dorico, making learning the language of music notation much faster and more intuitive. Editing and making changes — such as instrument, time signature or key — are straightforward, with the notation instantly and correctly adapting to include them, reinforcing the learning outcome.

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!

Practizma – The Practizma practice journal is packed with research based strategies to turn your ho-hum practice into extraordinary practice.  Develop your curiosity, discipline, creativity, daring, tenacity and zen.  Take a journey with four elements each week: goal setting, reflection prompt, action challenge, and journal pages to track your practice.  Curious? Download the introductory chapter of the journal for free – this gives you an idea of what it’s all about. 

Modacity – Are you a practice-savvy musician? Get Modacity – the music practice app that organizes, focuses, and tracks your progress.  Recorder… metronome… tone generator… timer… note taking… Do away with the random assortment of music practice apps in your arsenal. Modacity™ combines all the tools you need into one easy to use, music practice tool.  Organize, focus, and reflect on your practice – motivating you to increase retention in less time.  Modacity has a special offer for Contrabass Conversations listeners that includes lifetime access to the app.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

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

742: An Impossible Choice with Zach Finkelstein and Dana Lynne Varga

Zach Finkelstein and Dana Lynne Varga turned a lot of heads earlier this year with their co-authored article An Impossible Choice: Music Majors, COVID-19, and an Uncertain Future.

We dig into this complicated topic, plus the unique challenges vocalists face in their career, the concept of a correlating career, the pitfalls of Young Artist Programs, and much more. 

Enjoy, and be sure to check out Dana’s site The Empowered Musician, Zach’s site The Middleclass Artist, plus check out Zach’s latest album and MassOpera, which Dana co-directs.

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

Check out my Beginner’s Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass!

Thank you to our sponsors!

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!

Practizma – The Practizma practice journal is packed with research based strategies to turn your ho-hum practice into extraordinary practice.  Develop your curiosity, discipline, creativity, daring, tenacity and zen.  Take a journey with four elements each week: goal setting, reflection prompt, action challenge, and journal pages to track your practice.  Curious? Download the introductory chapter of the journal for free – this gives you an idea of what it’s all about. 

Modacity – Are you a practice-savvy musician? Get Modacity – the music practice app that organizes, focuses, and tracks your progress.  Recorder… metronome… tone generator… timer… note taking… Do away with the random assortment of music practice apps in your arsenal. Modacity™ combines all the tools you need into one easy to use, music practice tool.  Organize, focus, and reflect on your practice – motivating you to increase retention in less time.  Modacity has a special offer for Contrabass Conversations listeners that includes lifetime access to the app.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

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

734: Heidi Kay Begay of Flute 360 podcast

Heidi Kay Begay is the host of the Flute 360 Podcast as well as a flutist, teacher, and non-profit organizer.  She and I connected to talk about all things podcasting, and she cross-posted this conversation on her podcast as well.

We dig into content creation, daily and weekly routines, social media and marketing, email newsletters, and much more.  Heidi also recently featured my friend and colleague (and fellow bassist!) Garrett Hope, which was an inspiring and thought-provoking conversation.

Enjoy, and be sure to follow Heidi’s great work on Instagram and Facebook!  

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

Check out my Beginner’s Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass!

Contrabass Conversations production team:

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