ISB @ Penn State..

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Ken McKay

Hey just wondering about the sitting versus standing effect on bass sound. The bass I just finished sounds quite a bit fuller when the knee is not touching the back. How many orchestras encourage one or the other, all or a mix...?

Try telling that to the violin players or the cello players. An Iron-Bryon like machine as used in Golf Club testing made for playing the Bass might produce the best sound due to the lack or a human dampening the wood.

Ok, short of that most players sit now a days. Why? Why not? Everyone else does!

I feel the bass in my gut just as good or better when sitting and I hear it a lot better as well. For solo playing is depends on the player as many stand today but in Orchestra sections, just about every section bass player I have seen in picture and in video lately are all standing.

I don't care if my bass sounds 5% better standing. If the bass is not good enough without standing, then get a better bass. That's my advice. My feet and back come first.I use a stool. If I feel like standing, I do. If not, I sit. It's not negotiable nor open for discussion on a gig as far as I am concerned.

Now we can argue bridges (try 100 different ones on ever bass till it's 2% better.. lol), endpins, strings, bows, rosin.. Where will it stop?????????

We need to just play the bass and not nit pic the tiny details. Set the bass up and play it. After all, the music comes first, right? Lets all go practice this weekend, NO Internet.. Deal?