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  #41  
Old 01-23-2010, 06:16 PM
Calvin Marks Calvin Marks is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel Larsson View Post
So what we REALLY need is two instruments! One for your regular gigs, and one that will make those hardcore baroque people call you up. You know, the ones sneering at anything newer than C.P.E. Bach, and at anything spun other than possibly the E string. Period music is becoming all the rage, it seems, and those baroque guys simply won't call you if you don't have the right gear. Then, it can be a really crappy bass, and sound sh1t when you play—at least you'll be playing on Gut, and they'll be satisfied. Maybe you can even purchase the cheapt 'baroque' bow you can find, and they'll be all fired up.
(Sometimes, I get the feeling that what these guys really do want to hear is a bit of rock'n'roll attitude, and they couldn't care less about the tonal quality. I kind of sympathize with that. )

Anyways, that's what it's like in Scandinavia. You go all-in, or you're not in. Of course, the orchestras still do classical symphonies and the occasional Baroque mass, and maybe the leader will try to impose some supposedly old style phrasing on the reluctant musicians brought up in the 20th century, maybe they'll even go as far as to change the E string of the violins to gut... but here we're talking project or freelance type ensembles specialized in period playing, and—as a freelancer—any gig is a gig you don't want to miss, so you better stand and deliver.

Edit: Oops, Calvin managed to sneak in a reply while I was writing, basically saying the same thing but with fewer words... I'l learn to express myself more concisely, and next it'll be me who posts first!!
Thanks Joel, and yes I agree with you as well. Once again, I've played a ton of different kinds of gut strings - from Aquila and Dlugolecki to Gamut and Pirastro and have used them from opera pit playing, chamber music to actual period music on period instruments.

Gut strings can make a "cheap" bass sound A LOT better...you don't need a 100k bass to sound great or get into an orchestra. If you practice and have talent then the instrument is second (the way it should be).
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  #42  
Old 01-23-2010, 06:34 PM
Richard Prowse Richard Prowse is offline
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Originally Posted by Charles Stark View Post
Gut strings can make a "cheap" bass sound A LOT better...you don't need a 100k bass to sound great or get into an orchestra. If you practice and have talent then the instrument is second (the way it should be).
Are you saying that gut strings will improve the sound of my plywood?
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  #43  
Old 01-23-2010, 06:54 PM
Calvin Marks Calvin Marks is offline
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Originally Posted by Richard Prowse View Post
Are you saying that gut strings will improve the sound of my plywood?
Once again, what kind of music are you trying to play?

Guts are for the orchestral register of the instrument, ie. how we make our money. Anything in TP requires steel.
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  #44  
Old 01-23-2010, 07:12 PM
Nathan Parker Nathan Parker is offline
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I took a lesson from a local orchestral guy who gave me some insight into arco on the gut strings. He played my bass for a bit, including some of the Vivaldi stuff he has recorded. He made my gut strung bass sound like a million bucks.

Of course, right after he was done, he was telling me how much he didn't like 'em, and couldn't figure out why I insisted on using them.
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  #45  
Old 02-16-2015, 01:33 PM
Mark Stefaniw Mark Stefaniw is offline
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Originally Posted by Ken Smith View Post
Really? If you played Jazz and had to push a Band or Big Band or played solos you would see soon why Ray Brown, Milt Hinton, Sam Jones and just about every player I have known CHANGED to Steels..

Audibly, the Guts are too slow and they make you play harder to hear yourself. I see no need at all to play guts at all unless you are playing period music. Even then, any good old bass with bowing steels will sound just about as good in my opinion.

I have played Vivaldi, Bach, Hayden and Mozart concerts mainly with one Bass and two Cellos (Chamber-like) and they loved my sound. Bowing Steels all the way with an old English or Italian bass. No one mentioned after first hearing me that I needed Gut, NO one!

Is that Period enough or we need to go earlier?

Maybe you Gut seekers just need an Older bass, you think?
Geez -- lighten up man! No one doubts that we can play period music successfully (i.e. get by IMO) on steel strings with a tourte bow. If you are serious about studying early music, you absolutley must consider a gut setup -- that's just a fact that comes with the territory. It is magical when the entire string ensemble is on a gut setup.

Check out this (click here) beautiful period performance on Viennese tuned gut violone -- frets and all. I've always wanted to study period music on a period/replica setup like that. Can you imagine the fun tuning the viola d'amore? Closest I've gotton so far to period setup is to fiddle with Viennese tuning (A-D-F#-A) on my modern double bass with steel strings ... inspired by Edicson Ruiz's Vanhal performance setup (click here). Edicson went to London to study Viennese tuning with Chi-chi Nwanoku (click here). Chi-chi spends most of her time on a Viennese gut setup ... I am envious of her career.
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  #46  
Old 02-16-2015, 01:52 PM
Mark Stefaniw Mark Stefaniw is offline
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Originally Posted by Charles Stark View Post
[...]Guts are for the orchestral register of the instrument, ie. how we make our money. Anything in TP requires steel.
I might, but just barely, agree with you...in the "Duo Sweet 17" performance I cited in my previous post (above), the violone player does some really nice, and extensive, TP work.
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  #47  
Old 02-16-2015, 07:39 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Stefaniw View Post
I might, but just barely, agree with you...in the "Duo Sweet 17" performance I cited in my previous post (above), the violone player does some really nice, and extensive, TP work.
Mark, first off, my post was done 5 years ago so your reply is a bit late on the draw. Do I feel the same way? For the most part.

Second, the name Charles Stark was made up by us after a member Died and his mother wanted his content removed from the internet. Being intertwined on many threads, we just changed his name where he was interacting and deleted very little. He was still a student by the way. Not yet a full time working professional so take that into consideration.

So, that person you just responded to can't hear you. Sorry.
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