Re: Why it's great to play the upright?

js wrote:

Years ago, I did a "Big band Xmas" TV show/CD thing. Played a fretless jazz
on the whole thing; no FX, no special processing. Just a pre EQ DI from my
GK. Nevertheless, I can't tell you how many compliments I got on my "upright
bass" playing.

A lot of people were seriously disappointed when I told them it was an
electric. Some guys I could tell were considering me for work, but
scratched me because I didn't fit their image of a "bass" player, now that
they knew the ugly truth..

I also heard from some pros: "Well, it's DOUBLED with upright bass,
ight?" - As if it were inconceivable that an electric bass could possibly
make a sound like, you know, a bass...


Heh. Yup.

Point is, for many people the SOUND is completely secondary to the IMAGE of
some guy - preferably fat and black and dressed like The Blues Brothers -
plunking away on a URB, and spinning it around once in awhile for show.

people are flat out fascinated by the instrument, and I don't blame them.
It's when that fascination becomes the PRIME focus that it pisses me off.


Almost makes you think they just wanna see you haul the thing,
doen't it?

I'm sure your MIDI stuff sounds great,

URB patches tend to have shorter sustain, which is becoming a useful thing.

but I can virtually guarantee that if
you got hired by the artist to play those tunes live, they'd want to SEE the
URB.





That is increasingly unlikely. I tell 'em "no" up front, but say essentually what you say here - I can get close to that sound
with an electric.

--
Les Cargill


.

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