Contrabass Conversations

Kieran Hanlon, bass professor at The State University of New York at Fredonia and also a past podcast guest, has been hard at work putting together a Bach project.

Titled Practical Bach for the Double Bass, this project involves transcribing select movements of the Bach cello suites into the lower positions of the double bass.

Kieran shares his inspiration for the project on his website:

I have always thought of solo Bach movements as musicianship and style etudes alongside their clear technical challenges (string crossings, bow control, intonation, balancing double stops, quick range changes, the list goes on and on). It always saddened me, that in my own work, the work of my colleagues, and in my teaching, it seemed that musicianship and style development would sometimes have to go by the wayside as we all struggled to handle the major challenges of high-position playing. I remember on one occasion a violin colleague saying, “I simply cannot imagine playing Bach in 12th position!”

I do feel strongly that once one reaches a certain point of technical achievement on the bass, there is a benefit to and place for high position Bach playing. While I hold that belief, I maintain that playing these works in the low range is beneficial for all of us, particularly for less advanced students or for bassists aiming to develop their comfort, flexibility and elegance in the lower register. This is of course useful in our work on orchestral skills, where we need the utmost musical flexibility and poise in the low end.

Learn more in this short but interesting interview and also on Kieran’s Bach Project page!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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