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| I've been playing one musical instrument or another for as long as I can remember. One of my first memories is of a small set of drums that someone got me for Christmas. I played them until my parents' patience ran out. After that I remember looking up at them on a shelf much too high for me to reach. Then there was a cheap tin flute that I played incessantly. I used to do bird calls on it, or at least what I imagined to be bird calls. Imagine the sound of a bipolar canary. |
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| In school, I took my first formal lessons on recorder, then viola, and finally clarinet, which I played in my high school marching band. But by then it was the Sixties, and I wanted to play a cooler instrument. After all, The Beatles didn't use a clarinetist. I remember discussing the situation with a friend. We came to the conclusion that the electric bass would be easier to play than a guitar, since it only had four strings, and you didn't play chords on it. Little did I know. |
| I've been part of one recording environment or another on a steady basis since the mid Seventies. The first ones were demo tapes on somebody's father's Webcor. These days I have a 24 track ADAT studio. I produced my first CD from this studio in February, 2000. I also got a set of drums over the summer. I've found that practicing on a kit improves my timing, and makes me a little sharper when working with a drummer. I've also gained a lot of respect for percussionists. I've walked a mile in those shoes, and I've found that the drums are a bona fide instrument. They require more concentration and focus than any other instrument, if you want to play them well, it isn't all just banging. |
| I can play other instruments, but I like bass best. The bass has its own range in any musical setting, down there in the low frequencies. I like playing with a drummer I can read. I enjoy the feeling of driving the music, of setting a foundation for the other instruments. Soloing on the bass is alot of fun. These days I practice a theory that there are no wrong notes, only a possible temporary lapse of judgement. Jaco is influencing me in that direction lately. I also listen to Victor Wooten for the sake of his solos. These two players illustrate a style concept on the instrument that validates the electric bass as more than a background instrument. I also listen to Bootsie Collins, Larry Graham, Stanley Clarke, Flea, and Tim Bogert, to name a few. One interesting thing about playing the bass is that it's totally hands-on. By that I mean that while you can if you want to, there is usually no pick of bow used, just the hands and fingers. There are several ways to play the instrument, and each one has its own distinctive dynamics and sound. I like the idea of playing an instrument where I can express myself artistically while influencing other soloists as well as the band as a whole. In spite of what some people perceive to be a limited range, I feel that the electric bass has a great role in music as the player wants to give it. The common complaint I hear lately from both bassists and percussionists is that they find their musical roles being stereotyped. Some bandleaders would be happy to relegate drums and bass to a mundane four-on-the-floor beat, providing nothing but a backdrop for a flash soloist. And that's fine' I'll concede that the beat is a necessity. As I've said, I like the idea of being one of the foundation instruments. But the instrument can do more than that, and I'm lucky enough to be able to get to do it more than that. |
| Some things change, even in the instruments. We've seen changes in string configurations, some basses now having as many as seven. We've seen vast changes, if not necessarily improvements, in electronics, materials and finishes. But one thing stays the same. These days, if you ask a New York taxicab driver how to get to Carnegie Hall, he still replies, "Practice!" |