ISB @ Penn State..

[Ken McKay]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

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?

Hah hah hah you got me chuckling with this post Ken. Imagine being a gamba violist in the mid 16th C. Holding that thing between your knees for hours. Some body parts might go to sleep permanently.

When does the weekend start... did I violate the rule? If so, I will say an act of contrition.

Happy 4th of July...I always like to listen to some Mozzart on the 4th, don't know why, I guess Amadeus and the Declaration of Independence were contemporaries.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Ken McKay

Hah hah hah you got me chuckling with this post Ken. Imagine being a gamba violist in the mid 16th C. Holding that thing between your knees for hours. Some body parts might go to sleep permanently.

When does the weekend start... did I violate the rule? If so, I will say an act of contrition.

Happy 4th of July...I always like to listen to some Mozzart on the 4th, don't know why, I guess Amadeus and the Declaration of Independence were contemporaries.

We are closed today but I am at work taking calls and doing emails. Also, I am practicing as well. Playing my BIG GAMBA, learning how to handle it as well as what height works for me, bow reach, left hand reach etc. It is so big all over that I feel like I have to re-learn how to hold the Bass. I have the end pin all the way in now. Last week at a concert I was standing and I kept pulling out the endpin further to reach the bow area between the end of FB and the bridge. Now I have it all in sitting on a stool and it works just fine.

What music am I using to find the comfort zone with this monster? The original Simandl book I that I bought around 1966. Starting on page 8.

I was deep into page 10 #6 when the phone rang. UPS was at the door which was locked. I let him in and he delivered a carton of my new P.A.P.A Pre Amp stomp boxes from the Lab. I tried it today on the Big Gamba earlier with an old foam wrapped AKG mic in the bridge and it sounded great. So natural and easy to EQ as well. My son ran thru the features with a Smith bass and liked it as well.

On the Simandl, after I do it as written, I try it without open strings to work the left hand on this biggie. Taking the thought of new or hard music out of the equasion but reading something strictly written (with variation as well) helps to develop a hand position as well as a bow position on this newly restored monster of mine.

Ok, back to finishing up F and then on to Bb. hey, you can also play these an octave up in TP and use the T-1-2-3 fingerings. Fun..

Hey, we re-did the home page last night and cleaned it up a bit. You like?

We added the P.A.P.A. notice just up top and moved the Forum link a bit further down the page with the banner logo button. The rest of the other stuff was either deleted or moved to the What's New section if it's old news.

So, what do you think? A complete P.A.P.A. page is in the works as well. It will link from the 'button' on the Home page.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Hey, we re-did the home page last night and cleaned it up a bit. You like?

We added the P.A.P.A. notice just up top and moved the Forum link a bit further down the page with the banner logo button. The rest of the other stuff was either deleted or moved to the What's New section if it's old news.

So, what do you think? A complete P.A.P.A. page is in the works as well. It will link from the 'button' on the Home page.

I like. It looks great, Ken.