Blake Hinson serves as Assistant Principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic and teaches bass at Stony Brook University. He previously served as principal bass of the Grand Rapids Symphony and was a fellow in the New World Symphony.
Many podcast listeners have requested Blake as a guest, and as I was planning my trip to New York City, I knew that I wanted to connect with him and talk about his time studying with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer at Curtis, his path through the audition world, practicing, and all kinds of other topics.
On a rainy New York weekday, Blake and I got some coffee and wandered down to Riverside Park to chat about all things bass. We walked for 45 minutes and barely scratched the surface of what we could cover. We’ll be doing a “round 2” with Blake in the near future for sure!
Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:
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.
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.
The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast’s largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome!
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.
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.
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:
- Jason Heath, host
- Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
- Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
- Trevor Jones, publication and promotion
- Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging
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