Quote of the Week

"I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good."
- Seneca
"I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good."
- BassBassDude
"The town where I grew up has a zip code of EIEIO."
- Martin Mull
"My parents only had one argument in forty-five years. It lasted forty-three years."
- Cathy Ladman

Weekend Recap

Playing with someone new is always an interesting experience. I find myself with mixed emotions when thrown into these kinds of situations. Excitement to have a new situation presented and anxiety to think that you are not capable enough to keep up seem to run rampant with the anticipation of the first tune. This past Saturday at One Up, I had the fortunate opportunity to play with a new guitarist. Once we began, I could easily recognize that this guitarist had some very good chops and that I would have an easy time playing with him. Everything went very well even though I am still fighting through my bass tuning in fifths. Regardless, everything seemed to come together very well once we jumped into the first set right on through to the end of the third set. Anyway, by the end of the night, my hands were were spent and was happy with the way things sounded and I hope to play with Brennan (g), Lianne (v) and Dan (d)in the future.

What's coming up

Hey, this Saturday December 9th, I will be playing at One Up Lounge. We start at 8pm and will be there until midnight. Hope to see you there.

Stanley Jordan plays "Return Expedition" w/ Charnett Moffet on Bass

I never tried this type of slap bass on an upright. Anyway, a little virtuosity never hurt anyone.

Quote of the Week

To be a book-collector is to combine the worst characteristics of a dope fiend with those of a miser.
- Robertson Davies
I'm going to stay in show business until I'm the last one left.
- George Burns
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.
- Samuel Butler
It is better to have never lost your keys in the first place.
- BassBassDude

Quote of the Week

You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.
- Dave Barry

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
- Samuel Johnson

If we were not all so interested in ourselves, life would be so uninteresting that none of us would be able to endure it.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

If my looks could kill, I should get a mirror.
- BassBassDude

Toronto Condo Show pics

Here's a few shots I took at the Toronto Condo Show 

Quote of the Week

"If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane."
- Jimmy Buffett

"I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland."
- Woody Allen

"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion."
- Sir Francis Bacon

"Biblioteque"
- BassBassDude

Recap

The Toronto Condo Show went very well. Playing the entire length of the show really took its toll on my hands but it was a great chance to work on my bass in 5ths. I was surprised how quickly I made the transition; it was almost flawless. Although I fudged through a few lines and chord changes as well as falling back on some old habits, I found new short-cuts and lines and started figuring out how the changes would feel under my hands. Anyway, my hands are completely worn and still tired from the amount of playing I had done.

From a business perspective for Melodious Vibes at the Toronto Condo Show, we developed new contacts and many potential gigs for the future, which is what you can only hope for. Both the show owner and show manager were very pleased with what we had to offer and we hope to be back at the show next year in October.

Thanks to all who came by and said hello.

Coming Up... Toronto Condo Show

Here's what's going on this weekend...

THE TORONTO CONDO SHOW
Metro Convention Centre (North)

The Toronto Condo Show is a 1-stop exhibition designed to cater to the needs of everyone who is, or wants to be, a part of the emerging condo culture in Toronto. Attracting potential buyers overwhelmed by selection and unsure of where to begin, trendy young professionals looking to fuse modern design with small space, and seasoned owners who know exactly what they want, The Toronto Condo Show presents 3 days of everything “condo”.

Show hours:

* Friday November 10, 12pm - 8pm
* Saturday November 11, 10am - 8pm
* Sunday November 12, 11am - 5pm

Hope to see you there. Come by and say hi.

Video: Christian McBride & Niels H.O. Pedersen

I've always been a fan of Christian McBride & Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen. Both are fantastic players with two unique sounds. Here's a short clip of the two of them together. Enjoy.

Quote of the Week

Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?"/ Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
- Charles M. Schulz

Sometimes I lie at night, and I go to sleep.
- BassBassDude

Recap

Here's a quick recap on this past weekend.

My appologies for not being present at the Road To Asia pavillion. I had come down with an "illness" and was unable to attend.

My lesson in 5ths went really well. I picked up some new exercises that would help with my technique and accuracy. Although the names are a little odd (vomit, flesh burning, and El Perro) they are very effective. The neat thing is that these are exercises that Joel Quarrington uses. I also found out that rubbing a small amount of almond oil on the strings helps keep them soft. As a beginner/novice at thumb postition exercises, I'll probably take this advice to heart. I'll probably start rubbing them down before I begin playing at the Toronto Condo Show.

Quick reminder,

I will be playing with Melodious Vibes performing this weekend at the Toronto Condo Show. Hope to see you there.

Coming Up...

Besides a lot of wood shedding and another lesson, here's what's coming up for me.

At the JCCC there is the The Road to Asia Festival 2006; a two-day festival celebrating the richness and exciting diversity of Asian culture. The festival creates a thriving multicultural atmosphere which highlights Asian cultures through traditional Food, Arts and Crafts, Music, Dance and Martial Arts, all under one roof. I won't be playing but I will be there. Visit www.jccc.on.ca

The following weekend, come down to the Metro Toronto Convention Center for the Toronto Condo Show. I'll be playing all day at the Melodious Vibes booth. Visit www.torontocondoshow.com for more details.

Hope to see you there.

Video - Oscar Peterson w/ NHOP & Ray Brown

Two greatly missed bass players.



I was glad to catch both of them.

Quote of the Week

"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."
- Henry David Thoreau

"Success can be found next to your lost set of keys. Good luck."
- BassBassDude

Lesson Revisited

I had my lesson on the weekend and it seems like I'm progressing pretty well with playing in 5ths. My tone is sounding better and my intonation is extremely close but not quite there when I shift quickly. In fact, the exercises given to me last week were etudes focused primarily on intonation; I just need to practice more effectively. Basically, effective practice comes from practicing slowly and deliberately with much concentration on each individual note produced. I also noticed that my left hand technique needed a slight adjustment in order to play properly in order to produce better accuracy and speed. My right hand bow technique also needed more work to create better tone and efficiency. Old habits die hard.

We also took a look at some music, of which I am happy to say is Bach's Suite #1 Prelude. Which brings me to one great asset of having my double bass tuned in 5ths; I can now play cello pieces. Now that's not to say that I couldn't play cello pieces, it's just that I can further understand what a composer is thinking when writing for cello. Furthermore, there is so much more fantastic pieces for cello than there are for double bass. It just seems more fun (and more challenging) to learn cello solos and on the double bass.

One last thing. I mentioned to my teacher that having my bass tuned in 5ths seemed to make more sense than having it tuned in 4ths. He agreed. Although it may be a little easier to play in 4ths, there seems to be something logical having my bass tuned in 5ths. My hands seemed to find notes with less trouble than when I was tuned in 4ths. This may be because I have a less of a learning curve having to figure out 3 of 4 strings, but old habits do die hard when your comfort notes are at different parts of the fingerboard.

There is a lot to woodshed before my next lesson and I need to bury my old habits and adopt better ones.

Coming Up...

Here's what's going on with me this weekend.

I have another lesson with my instructor. We'll probably keep ploughing through more on my technique with my left and right hands. Hopefully I'll get more stuff to work on (not to say that I didn't have enough to work on last time). Sorry, looks like I won't be at One Up Restaurant and Lounge. You can probably catch me next week from about 9pm to midnight. Other than that, I'll be spending most of my time working on my bass.

Have a good weekend.

For your listening pleasure...

Here's a quick snippet of Brian Bromberg's Wood II.

Audio:Shining Star

You can find more samples of Brian Bromberg's work at
www.brianbromberg.net
I might just have to pick this up. That and keep practicing.

Lights in the night

I took this shot back in the summer. I was playing around with the shutter speed at the time with a tripod. There is still a bit of motion blur that probably came from pushing down on the shutter button.
Lesson Learned: use the timer to avoid motion blur when slowing down the shutter speed.