Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

207: Claus Freudenstein on heavy metal, minibasses, and arranging

International Society of Bassists board member Claus Freudenstein is pushing boundaries and creating innovative projects in the world of the double bass

International Society of Bassists board member Claus Freudenstein is pushing boundaries and creating innovative projects in the world of the double bass

Today we’re featuring Claus Freudenstein, who is pushing the boundaries of the double bass in some really interesting ways.  Claus is innovative on a number of fronts.  He joined the world of the bass later in life than many people, and he came to it through heavy metal and the electric bass.  This resonates greatly with me because this is the exact same way that I arrived at the bass.

Claus has taken this love of heavy metal and channeled it into the Bassmonsters, a bass ensemble that is expanding the repertoire into metal and bringing a whole new audience into the fold.  We feature three clips from their first album Classic Meets Rock: Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns & Roses, Creeping Death by Metallica, and Thriller by Michael Jackson.  You can find this album on Spotify, Amazon, and iTunes.

Claus is looking for a new record label to publish the latest Bassmonsters release.  He has some tracks to pass along, so listeners, if you have ideas for a new label for Claus, send him an email and let him know.

Claus has also been quite innovative in the world of teaching with his creation and popularization of the mini-bass.  We discuss Claus’ work in education, his approach to repertoire, arranging and composing, and many other topics.  Enjoy!

203: Adam Ben Ezra on YouTube fame, looping, and percussive techniques

photo credit: Paolo Galetta

photo credit: Paolo Galetta

Today we are featuring Adam Ben Ezra, who has exploded onto the double bass scene in recent years with his unique musical voice. Adam combines elements of Arabic music, Latin drumming, American pop, looping, and many other styles to form his own craft. He has become quite popular on YouTube, and his videos are fun and visually compelling. To me, Adam is an example of what I find so exciting about the bass world right now. He’s taking the instrument in fascinating new directions, he’s pushing the boundaries of technique, and he’s changing the very perception of the instrument.

I’d also like to welcome back our sponsor Discover Double Bass and let you know about their new double bass scales package. 17 different scale types are covered in all 12 keys, over one and two octaves, along with backing tracks.  Geoff Chalmers does an excellent job with these tools, which are clear, concise, and built to benefit your playing regardless of your current level.  Look for this course to launch in the next week, and check out Geoff’s many other offerings at discoverdoublebass.com/store.

We’re featuring excerpts from several of Adam’s songs:

Adam has become well-known for his drum’n’bass technique, which you will hear through all of these excerpts, and he offers a video lesson series on this technique as well as transcriptions of several of his tunes.  We have links to these in the show notes, and learn more about Adam’s music, tour dates, his upcoming master class project, and much more at adambenezra.com.

196: Andrés Martín on the creative process, the composer mind, and forging a bass scene

Double bassist Andrés Martín

Double bassist Andrés Martín

Today’s episode features composer, teacher, and bassist Andrés Martín.  Andrés has written works recently that have become quite popular in the bass community these past few years, and I’ve been looking forward to talking with him ever since hearing his music.  Andrés is also the composer of Anna’s Gift and is currently writing the music for Anna’s Promise, the project spearheaded by Barry Green (a former Contrabass Conversations guest) that we featured on episode 189 of the podcast.

We’ll be playing excerpts from Andrés’ music throughout this episode, and we’ll start with an excerpt from the second movement of Andres’ bass concerto.  He’s a distinctive and exciting new voice in the world of the bass and has captured the bass world’s imagination for sure.  Andrés is a great guy and a deep thinker about creativity and the compositional process, and I think that you’ll learn a lot about inspiration and the composer mind from this discussion.
Tracks featured:
About Andrés:
Native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, bassist, arranger, and composer Andrés Martín has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles in Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, England, Germany and United States. Since his arrival in Tijuana (Mexico), Andrés has been immersed in teaching as well as performing as a soloist and chamber musician. He is a member of the “Orquesta de Baja California” and “Cuatro para Tango”, a chamber ensemble with whom he has released four recordings. He also organizes and directs “Contrabajos de Baja California A.C. ”, a Double Bass academy who celebrates an international double bass festival and chamber music course held in Tijuana every summer. As a composer and arranger, he works with a wide language which ranges from contemporary techniques to tango and rock. His work has been performed and recorded by very successful orchestras, ensembles, and soloists in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan and the United States.

192: Michael Klinghoffer on driving a double bass, how not to hold the bow, and directions in education

Michael Klinghoffer, author of Mr. Karr, Would You Teach Me How to Drive a Double Bass?

Michael Klinghoffer, author of Mr. Karr, Would You Teach Me How to Drive a Double Bass?

Today’s episode features double bassist, author, conductor, and educator Michael Klinghoffer. Michael is a former Gary Karr student and is the author of the unorthodox and compelling book Mr. Karr, Would You Teach Me How to Drive a Double Bass?

Michael is one of the most interesting minds in the world of contemporary double bass. In addition to his book, he has a wealth of articles, videos, and resources on is website pertaining to bass, musicianship, education, and numerous other topics.

We talk about his first encounters with Gary Karr, the impetus behind writing his book, how not to hold the bass and bow, and integrating performance, conducting and composition, and where education is going in the near future. This conversation is a deep philosophical dive into technical and mental aspects of musical practice, thought, and development.

We’ll feature two selections from Michael’s album Mostly Transcriptions Vol. 2. We open the episode with an excerpt from the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 1 in Bb Major, and conclude with the final movement of Strauss’ Sonata in F Major. This album, along with Drive a Double Bass and an interesting solfege book titled The Bottesini Project.

Check out the following links from Michael–they contain a wealth of useful content on a variety of topics):

About Michael:

Michael Klinghoffer, Author of Mr. Karr, Would You Teach Me How to Drive a Double Bass?, Dean of Performing Arts and Senior Lecturer of Double Bass at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Israel.

Michael Klinghoffer, double bass performer, conductor and educator studied under Gary Karr at Yale University, where he received Master of Music and at the Hartt School University of Hartford, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts.

He has been assistant principal bass player in the Israel Symphony Orchestra and in the Israel Sinfonietta.

Currently, he performs solo concerts, recitals and chamber music and conducts master classes in Israel and abroad. His repertoire ranges from contemporary Israel music, (much of it composed for him), to his own arrangements for double bass, which have been published in the U.S. and in Europe and recorded on two compact discs.

He has published articles on Music Education and on Pedagogy in Israel professional periodicals as well as in the U.S. “Music Education in Institutions of Non Formal Education” was published by MATAN in collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Education.

Since 1987, he has been on the faculty of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, conducting orchestras, teaching the double bass and other subjects. He was the Head of the String Department, the Dean of Students and he is currently serving as the Dean of Performing Arts and is the Direcor of the Jerusalem Consevatory Chamber Orchetsra.

Along with his academic commitments and performing engagements, and after being Music Director for seven years at MATAN, (Arts and Culture Project for Youth), Dr. Klinghoffer still devotes much time and energy to working with young musicians from diverse backgrounds all over Israel.

185: George Martin on challenging restorations, the art of varnishing, and riding horses in the English countryside

George Martin of T&G Martin Violins

George Martin of T&G Martin Violins

We are featuring George Martin from Thomas and George Martin Violin Makers. Their shop has been making basses for over 30 years, and they have a wealth of knowledge about the instrument-making and restoration process. George and I dig into these details, talking about some of his most challenging restorations and what goes into making a bass.

Our recent Contrabass Conversations guest Marc Ramirez spoke with me about finding his Cavani bass at the Martin shop (that story starts at the 80 minute mark for that episode).  It was a great story and a great talk in general–be sure to check out Marc’s interview if you haven’t yet–it was episode 173 of the podcast.

About the Martin Shop:

As many will know, The Thomas and George Martin Workshop is just north of the town of Banbury, England in an ancient hamlet.

It took us several months to turn an ancient open fronted stone barn into a sate of the art workshop to continue the family business of making and restoring fine stringed instruments.

The workshop is a warm and happy place to work with an easy working atmosphere. We have an outstanding team of highly skilled individuals who each play an important part in producing and restoring some of the finest instruments in the world. The workshop operation is cared for and managed on a daily basis by George, while Tom is often called in to give advice and check all the new basses. Please have a look at our meet the team page to get to know everybody better.

The workshop team has now produced a large number of double basses, several fine cello’s, and a few violas and violins. We have also had the privilege to repair and restore some wonderful instruments over the years as well as performing minor adjustment and set up work for players just starting out to the worlds best professionals.