matthew wengerd|bassist

Tuesday night, I drove straight from USF to Loch Haven Park in Orlando to meet Rumano Solano and pick up my bass. Some ribs have been doubled for strength and all of the cracks repaired. I have some work to accomplish to get the sound where I want it, but I am very pleased with the results. Even though I get frustrated when my bass is gone, Rumano’s a great guy and I really appreciate how much he cares about younger cats like me who are trying to get better.

mine’s the one in the middle

Rumano with a bass he just completed

Rumano, Mike Hill and I

The bass world lost a bright star yesterday with the passing of the Cleveland Orchestra’s Charles Barr. Charles was a friend of my teacher, Mike Hill, and was just really beginning to reach his stride, some say.

Barr was struck by a truck while riding his bicycle yesterday after rehearsal.

My first day at the CJC went rather quickly (well, it was only 4.5 hours). It involved proofing the CJC website for a list of updating needs, clearing out some parts that were left at the CJC and placing them with their scores in the music library, and some light cleaning/arranging of the facilities.

I don’t have to go every day this week, which is nice, but I really enjoy it. I can tell (I don’t know if I’m good at this sort of thing) that Dave and I will get along famously. I really enjoy the environment already and am looking forward to the tough stuff.

Even if I didn’t like it, it would be worth it because I’ll be heading with Dave and Chuck to the IAJE National Conference in NYC in January! Additionally, it looks like there’s a good chance of a European trip (my first) next summer.

To top it all off, I picked up Southeastern University’s double bass to continue practicing while Rumano performs surgery on mine.

The USF School of Music

The CJC

Presently on my stand:

Isaiah Billè: Nuovo Metodo Per Contrabbasso
—This is the first of seven (!) books in the method. I bought these when Mars was going out of business in Tampa for less than $35 for the first six books. ‘ve never really worked through them and am now to determine their viability as a teaching method. Plus, they’re helping me develop a good, long practice routine.

Ron Carter Basslines: All Bird
—Trying to build my four-on-the-floor reading and swing chops. my goal is to get through the whole book in one session by the end of the week.

Max Dimoff’s Warmups
—This is the Cleveland Orchestra warmup set about which I’ve already posted. Excellent, but tough!

Excertps for the USF Orchestra Seating Audition
—Two mvts from Mozart’s Haffner and two from Brahms Two. The Mozart (especially the Presto) is all about dexterity and speed and the Brahms, for me, is challenging in nuance.

Yardbird Suite
—From Aebersold’s “All Bird,” I have to have the head and changes down cold for the Jazz seating audition.

As a Cleveland Orchestra junkie and former student of Kevin Switalski, Assistant Principal at the CO, I was quite excited when Farin Hoover posted these warmups on Talkbass.

They are extremely time consuming and difficult, but well worth the effort. In the beginning, I recommend you take one warmup per day, until you’ve conditioned yourself to play the whole thing. I’m not there yet and they sure don’t sound musical or delicate under my fingers, but they’re a great conditioning exercise leading up to school.

This is the Laborie endpin I recently had installed on my 2003 Solano Klotz. It is installed at a 44 degree angle from verticle and can be installed straight back (perpendicular to the back) or angled “out” (from the player’s feet). I elected to get mine set straight back because this is the way it’s invetors, Francois Rabbath and Christian Laborie, intended it.

The advantage of the Laborie is that it moves the bass’ point of balance closer to or behind the center of gravity, lessening the perceived weight of the bass on your left hand. Rabbath, a French bow player, advocates a whole system, including a small, sloped-shoulder bass (such as the Queniol), the Laborie endpin, French bow, and an open stance.

I, however, don’t have any of this besides the endpin. Instead, I play German bow on the largest bass I have ever seen and have a mid-stance (not too closed, not too open). The primary benefit I see with the Laborie is my ability to enter Thumb Position (TP) easily while standing. It also means I don’t need to haul a stool around anymore!

You can read more about Rabbath here

placement auditions coming soon.