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Dynamics vs. Sound… Knobs vs. Hands
Dynamics vs. Sound… Knobs vs. Hands… I’m one of those few guys (for better or for worse – hahaha) who chose not to have any potentiometer at all on his instruments…. I’ve been playing like that for almost 14 years, and my main influence for taking that decision was perhaps the great Anthony Jackson.
Attending to my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I went beyond that, so I also stopped using a volume pedal as Anthony Jackson still does. My basses are also full passive, so there is not any circuitry in there. I also use very special instrument cables with 10% pure silver content, which are not even made for musical instruments. Those cables cost about $200 dollars per meter… so add up what it costs for two-4 meter cables… luckily the Chilean Audioquest distributor just gives them to me. I also have to add that I set all the amp knobs flat at 12. I’m mentioning all of this because my quest is to look for the purest and cleanest sound possible.
The most important question here is…. why???
I think that the answer is quite simple, and is related to the difference in sound between both options.
Like any regular bassist, I started playing a normal bass with all the potentiometers and active circuitry, but something always bothered me and I couldn’t explain what it was. Finally I came to the conclusion that the thing that bothered me the most was the fact of having to produce any modification on my sound (tone or volume) “while playing” by moving a knob… I found that it was a “not so human” and a very “indirect” way to produce those sound modifications; so to say it… and I want to stress the fact that this is just a personal opinion and a personal option… I’m not the owner of any truth.
But the most important reason for me was not that… Besides the “psychological” facts already mentioned, there was a profound reason that I would say, “I consider far more objective in my opinion”, which is already a sophism — hahaha. This reason is the enormous difference I hear while working the dynamic range with my finger “touch” or my hand instead of doing it with my volume control (which I don’t have). A decreasing in volume has to be accompanied by a difference on the attack of the fingers. A good way to hear this huge difference is to play something and decrease the volume, with the volume knob or the volume pedal, while playing exactly with the same intention, strength and hand position. The volume will decrease, no doubt about it, but if you pay close attention to what you are hearing, there will be something “wrong” (so to say it) in there.
Now try the other option… that’s leaving your knobs and pedals exactly where they are and start decreasing the volume gradually just by plucking the strings softer each time. Go gradually and try to make it look like somebody’s moving down the master volume of your amp. If you work it a lot you’ll get it… and the best thing is that you’ll get a much better result than moving the master volume down while you are playing. Something is going to start making complete sense for your ears and for your overall sensation. Obviously you can do quite the opposite thing, starting from a very soft touch, that means a very low volume, and then starting to increase the intensity of the “touch”.
One of the main advantages of getting use to adjusting all of the dynamics with your hand is the fact that you are able to make those adjustments “note by note”, no matter the speed, something completely impossible to achieve in a proper manner using a volume knob or volume pedal. A really good recommendation to be able to help achieve this purpose is to set little higher volumes on the master volume of the amp, so to have more headroom to work with… I learned that many years ago from the great Gary Willis and it works really fantastic.
What about tone controlling?
Not having filters is the equivalent on a passive bass as leaving the volume and tone potentiometers completely open, or with full “bright” and full volume. On an active bass it is the equivalent of leaving the volume and tone controls on the exact middle of the rotation range of the potentiometers.
That being said, and addressing specifically the tone issue now, let’s imagine we are exactly on the center position of the tone control and we want to adjust our tone increasing the lows… well… just move your right hand a little bit towards the neck and pluck the strings with more “meat” of your fingertips rubbing it a little bit more than usual in order to avoid high transients… or staccatos, which means the same but using a musical term… also, don’t forget to push down the string instead of pulling it… the less the “pulling content” of the right hand fingers while touching the strings, the less treble on the final sound.
On the other hand, if we want to adjust our tone increasing the highs… well… just move your right hand a little bit towards the bridge and pluck the strings with less “meat” of your fingertips, using mostly the very point of your fingertips. Avoid rubbing the strings, and pull them in a more aggressive manner so to be able to increase the transients or staccatos. Also, don’t forget to pull the string a little bit instead of pushing it; the less the “pushing content” of the right hand fingers while touching the strings, the more treble on the final sound. Getting little ‘fret buzzing’ from the strings also adds “highs” to the harmonic content; you do that by pulling and hitting the strings a little harder with the right hand.
On the other hand, if you definitely want a really muffled-muted sound with almost no highs on it. palm mute is the best option to go. I’m sure you know the technique, but don’t think it’s so easy, practice it properly and diligently, be precise and clean and also get more speed from it so to be able to play fast palm muted runs too!
The left hand has also something to say here… if you want a half muted sound not as muted as with the palm mute, just press each note really shortly and softly with the left hand fingertips. That will produce a muted sound with less low frequency content, with less staccato and obviously with a really short duration.
Finally, never forget that one of the most important advantages of not having any filters and knobs on your instrument, is the fact that the harmonic content of the original and “pure” sound of the bass can fully breath untouched… and if you listen really, really carefully, you’ll be able to notice a huge difference.
See you on the next my friends!
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
Featured Videos
Visit Online
www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
FB@jesuscoomes
FB @lettucefunk
Bass Videos
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
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This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
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Bass CDs
New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
New Gear: Spector Woodstock Custom Collection Volume II
New Gear: The Dingwall John Taylor Signature Model
This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
New Gear: Esopus Guitars Launches New Acoustic/Electric Bass
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
