Chris West has released a new book titled The Paganini of the Double Bass: Bottesini in Britain. This book tells the complete life story of Bottesini, with a huge amount of supporting material from periodicals of the time and a chronological listing of all of Bottesini’s double bass compositions.
We talk about the idea for this book, how Chris went about this research and what he learned in the process, fascinating facts about Bottesini’s life that Chris uncovered in the process, and much more.
Enjoy, and be sure to check out the book on Amazon, learn about the backstory on Chris’ website, and Chris’ accompanying video about playing Bottesini arpeggios on the bass!
Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!
Check out our Online Sheet Music Store with 100+ 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.
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.
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:
- Jason Heath, host
- Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
- Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
- Trevor Jones, publication and promotion
- theme music by Eric Hochberg
