Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

917: Dave Anderson’s bass music back in print!

We’re thrilled to announce that the music of bassist and composer David Anderson is now available through our sheet music store!

To celebrate, we’re chatting with Dave and his longtime friend and collaborator Sidney King, who was the inspiration for many of Dave’s early works.  Enjoy, and be sure to check out Dave’s music in our catalog!

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 and Intermediate to Advanced Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Dorico – Unlock Dorico for iPad – For Life! Want to enjoy all of Dorico for iPad’s subscription-only features – including support for unlimited players, freehand annotations in Read mode with Apple Pencil, support for third-party Audio Unit plug-ins, and much more – but don’t want to pay a monthly or annual fee? Dorico for iPad now provides a lifetime unlock option, so you can access all current and future subscription-only features for a single, one-off in-app purchase. Visit the App Store today and unlock Dorico for iPad for life!

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.

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.

913: Uli Schneider on the German bass community

Uli Schneider is a double bass performer and teacher in Germany and is the artistic director of Bass Camp NRW, which brings together dozens of bass students of all ages each summer in Heek, Germany.  He is internationally active as a clinician and regularly plays as a freelancer with professional orchestras like the Duisburger Philharmoniker and the WDR Funkhausorchester.

We talk about the origins of this bass camp, what it’s like putting it together each year, the challenges and satisfactions of bringing together the bass community with his event, and much more.

Enjoy, and be sure to check out Bass Camp NRW on Facebook, Instagram, and their website!

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 and Intermediate to Advanced Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

Thank you to our sponsors!

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.

Dorico – Unlock Dorico for iPad – For Life! Want to enjoy all of Dorico for iPad’s subscription-only features – including support for unlimited players, freehand annotations in Read mode with Apple Pencil, support for third-party Audio Unit plug-ins, and much more – but don’t want to pay a monthly or annual fee? Dorico for iPad now provides a lifetime unlock option, so you can access all current and future subscription-only features for a single, one-off in-app purchase. Visit the App Store today and unlock Dorico for iPad for life!

911: Fer Acosta on connecting the Latin American double bass community

Fernanda Acosta began her formal music studies at the age of 15 in the Conservatorio de las Rosas. She has had the opportunity to participate in different festivals in Mexico, including OSIM (2016), Encuentro de orquestas en Toluca de Lerdo (2016), Festival internacional de Música de Morelia (FIMM 2016) with the Orchestra of the Swan, FIMM 2017 with Voces 8 and La Galatea, and FIMM 2019 with Andrew Laurence-King. 

She has participated in masterclasses with Víctor Flores, David Curtis, Stacey Watton, Philip Alejo, Jacqueline Thomas, and Dominic Seldis, among others. She is pursuing her Bachelor’s degree, is a member of Orquesta del Conservatorio de las Rosas and Orquesta del Tzintzuni, and currently studies with Pierluigi Ferrari.

We talk about life in Morelia as a double bassist, her goals to organize the Latin American double bass community, a new podcast she’s working on, and much more.

Enjoy, and be sure to follow Fer on Instagram as well as the latinamericanbassist feed she manages!

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 and Intermediate to Advanced Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

Thank you to our sponsors!

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.

Dorico – Unlock Dorico for iPad – For Life! Want to enjoy all of Dorico for iPad’s subscription-only features – including support for unlimited players, freehand annotations in Read mode with Apple Pencil, support for third-party Audio Unit plug-ins, and much more – but don’t want to pay a monthly or annual fee? Dorico for iPad now provides a lifetime unlock option, so you can access all current and future subscription-only features for a single, one-off in-app purchase. Visit the App Store today and unlock Dorico for iPad for life!

909: Kyle Motl on harmonics and sound worlds

photo by Anqi Liu

Kyle Motl is a bassist, composer, and improviser dedicated to the performance of creative music. His work explores aspects of chaos and complexity through involved rhythmic and spectral transformations while remaining grounded in an embodied approach to performance. Kyle regularly gives solo concerts that expand upon the vast timbral resources of the contrabass.

We talk about how he found his way into the world of creative music, harmonics on the bass, what it’s like working as a performing bassist in the genres he explores, and much more.

Enjoy, and be sure to check out Kyle’s solo album and website and also follow him on bandcamp, YouTube, and Instagram!

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 and Intermediate to Advanced Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

Thank you to our sponsors!

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.

Dorico – Unlock Dorico for iPad – For Life! Want to enjoy all of Dorico for iPad’s subscription-only features – including support for unlimited players, freehand annotations in Read mode with Apple Pencil, support for third-party Audio Unit plug-ins, and much more – but don’t want to pay a monthly or annual fee? Dorico for iPad now provides a lifetime unlock option, so you can access all current and future subscription-only features for a single, one-off in-app purchase. Visit the App Store today and unlock Dorico for iPad for life!

908: A cool new bass quartet for students or pros

Today’s episode features a performance of Andrés Martin’s bass quartet Kitsune with Andrés (bass 1), Barry Green (bass 2), Owen Lee (bass 3), and Jason (bass 4).

To purchase a copy of Kitsune, you can email Andrés at mgandres@gmail.com, and you can learn more about his great music on his website, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook!

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 and Intermediate to Advanced Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

Thank you to our sponsors!

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.

Dorico – Unlock Dorico for iPad – For Life! Want to enjoy all of Dorico for iPad’s subscription-only features – including support for unlimited players, freehand annotations in Read mode with Apple Pencil, support for third-party Audio Unit plug-ins, and much more – but don’t want to pay a monthly or annual fee? Dorico for iPad now provides a lifetime unlock option, so you can access all current and future subscription-only features for a single, one-off in-app purchase. Visit the App Store today and unlock Dorico for iPad for life!