Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

800: Erica Bramham on pandemic projects

Erica Bramham just released Enamel, her third album and her first self-recorded release. We talk about how the pandemic inspired these compositions, what it was like shooting the music videos for this album, what the pandemic has been like for her in Melbourne, thoughts on future projects, and such more.

Enjoy, and be sure to check out Erica’s work on her website, Bandcamp, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook!

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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!

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:

621: Erica Bramham on her double bass journey

  Erica Bramham is a critically acclaimed vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer from Melbourne, Australia.  She has recently taken up the bass and has been studying with Anita Hustas.  For her, playing the bass has been a uniquely challenging experience, and one that she has become deeply passionate about.

Erica has developed several interesting projects in recent years, including:

  • The Song Chain Project – writing a song a day for 203 straight days
  • The Dryad Project – bringing creativity and improvisation into her practice routine and letting the instrument direct her creative process, all while using composition to help solve technical challenges

We talk about these projects, the value of routines, reflections on her first year of playing double bass, and more, and we also feature excerpts from her singing and her partner Adam Speigl playing bass on A Low Heavy Sun.

Enjoy, and be sure to connect with Erica on her website as well as Instagram,  Facebook, and YouTube.

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Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

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.

Ottava Imports

Naj Qureshi has made it his mission to get the highest quality hand carved Italian Basses into the hands of bassists at prices that are unbeatable for the quality of Ottava’s Inventory. Naj’s priority starting Ottava has been to make sure that any bassist has access to marvelous instruments crafted in the Old World Tradition at realistic, fair and uninflated prices.

Steve Swan String Bass

Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast’s largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada.  Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor.

Modacity

Modacity is a practicing app that helps musicians be more effective at practice.  They help you get the results you want, while keeping you encouraged and motivated to stick with it and reach those goals – however big, or small, they may be.

Kolstein Music

The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein’s has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production.

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.

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.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

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