It's really great that you explain what to you are the basics - really well and concisely for those of us new to the bass. I love the word "floopy!" That's my new favourite word...I am already loving the DB community.
Thanks for this. I am going to share this video with all my orchestra teacher friends. Over tightening the bow is the #1 issue that I see with middle (and even high school) bassists when I do clinics. The more ways that they can get this message, the better.
My pleasure 😊 I’ve got Siberian red hair, which is quite similar in feel to a mixture of black and white hair (salt and pepper). My local bow person stocks it, and I like it!
I like to use a strong upbow in the upper registers and fast downbow playing 1st position on the E string to judge my hair tensions (after warming up). The upbow shouldn't be shrieky nor the stick touch the hair, and the downbow should pop into a strong marcato with a nice round sound. That tension leaves me room to adjust bow pressure to get the pretty/ugly sounds I want (dependent on mood/music). If I let the bow do most of the work the tension almost seems laughable until I nail that first crescendo and give myself that internal nod of approval.
I'm not an expert for German bow, but I think it's the same basic concept as for French--I try to have a bit of slack in the hair before I put it away.
great explanation! every teacher ive asked about bow tension sort of just gives a non answer so its nice to finally have a good reference point :-)
Thanks! It can be a tricky topic for sure.
It's really great that you explain what to you are the basics - really well and concisely for those of us new to the bass. I love the word "floopy!" That's my new favourite word...I am already loving the DB community.
Thank you so much! The double bass community is very fun-welcome, and thanks for watching this!
Your bass makes such a rich and characterful sound! Thank you for the super helpful tips, and the chuckle-inducing intros!
My pleasure!
Thanks for this! Recently I noticed I had tightened the hair on my German bow so tight that it looked like a Baroque bow.
I’ve had that happen as well! Glad that this was helpful! 😀
Intro/outro tune is my new fav jam!!
Ha! I had the "bass rosin" song in Ableton from a couple months ago, and I couldn't resist a new version. :-)
Thanks for this. I am going to share this video with all my orchestra teacher friends. Over tightening the bow is the #1 issue that I see with middle (and even high school) bassists when I do clinics. The more ways that they can get this message, the better.
Thanks!
I've always prefered salt and pepper, but I would be very interested in a video examining the different possibilituies.
Cool--I'll work on some ideas!
I would like to learn more about your choice of bow hair. Thanks for making such helpful videos!😊
My pleasure 😊 I’ve got Siberian red hair, which is quite similar in feel to a mixture of black and white hair (salt and pepper). My local bow person stocks it, and I like it!
Thanks for that, I probably have it too tight normally. Still working on getting my bow to grab the string well.
It's a balance for sure!
Glad you mentioned loosening the hair after playing!!!
Always!
I like to use a strong upbow in the upper registers and fast downbow playing 1st position on the E string to judge my hair tensions (after warming up). The upbow shouldn't be shrieky nor the stick touch the hair, and the downbow should pop into a strong marcato with a nice round sound. That tension leaves me room to adjust bow pressure to get the pretty/ugly sounds I want (dependent on mood/music). If I let the bow do most of the work the tension almost seems laughable until I nail that first crescendo and give myself that internal nod of approval.
Nice!
Yes. Please talk about bow hair. I generally prefer black and white mixed for that little extra grab.
Ok!
In case of german bow, how much would you untight the bow after practising?
I'm not an expert for German bow, but I think it's the same basic concept as for French--I try to have a bit of slack in the hair before I put it away.
Thanks for the video!
You bet!
THIS THING!!! HAH!
too tight
why do you yell