"Orchestral" Bass vs "Solo" Bass: a comparison featuring David Anderson's Prelude & Scherzando

Описание: Jeremy Kurtz-Harris, double bass
Videographer: Ananda Ortanez
Session assistant: Geoff Willis
Recorded June 18, 2018

"Orchestral" Bass
0:20 Prelude
2:42 Scherzando
French "Solo" Bass
5:09 Prelude
7:31 Scherzando

David Anderson’s “Four Short Pieces” have long been favorites of mine, and I have performed them in a wide variety of situations. I have played them on formal recitals, and I have also frequently pulled out the first two movements (Prelude and Scherzando) when I present the bass to new audiences: symphony patrons who have never had a chance to hear the bass on its own, middle schoolers who are intrigued by the instrument but also trying to play it cool and not show it, and elementary students, who are happy to enthusiastically supply characters and plots to the dramatic movements when asked to describe what they hear.

Since they are a touchstone set of pieces for me, they seemed the perfect option to use when I had some extra recording time and a great videographer on hand at SDSU back in 2018. We had already finished recording Peter Askim’s “Edge” that afternoon (    • "Edge" for Solo Bass   ), and I was on the fence about what instrument to use for an upcoming recital. One was my English “orchestral” bass — a somewhat dark sounding instrument, with a certain amount of “spread” to the sound, and very good resonance in the lower frequencies — and my French “solo” bass (made to be played in orchestra, but with a sound that lends itself to solo work), which is brighter, more focused/narrow in tone, and which really “sings” in the upper octaves. Both sound good in their own respects, and I certainly realize I am quite fortunate to have access to both of them, but, like any acoustic instrument, neither captures the complete range of sounds and colors that are in my head.

While I know such a comparison can easily descend into “gear” talk, what intrigues me is how each bass has its own voice, and how an instrument’s character not only allows a performer to do certain things better than others, but also how the interaction between the instrument and the performer pushes a performance in a slightly different direction. This may not always come across as drastic changes, especially for performers who are used to finding “their” sound on different instruments, but a given instrument does “nudge” a performer in different ways, encouraging one to lean into phrases in different ways or make use of certain colors that might not be as apparent on other instruments. I recorded this just for myself, to try to get a bit more perspective on what was actually coming across when I just picked up each instrument and played it.

I recently went back to these videos and was intrigued by the comparison. I will say that, after having played Dave’s pieces for many years, my memory has made certain unintentional edits, so please don’t take this as an exact model of what is on the page. But I hope you find the comparison informative, and I would be very happy if this encourages more bassists to add “Four Short Pieces” to their repertoire! You can find the music here:

https://shop.doublebasshq.com/product...


And for those who really want details:
English bass: George Panormo (“Ex-Cruft”, circa 1825)
Strings: Spirocore (weich?) long E string, Bel Canto A, D, and G
French bass: Victor Quenoil (built for Radio France Orchestra, circa 1940)
Strings: Spirocore weich E and A, Flexocor Thin D and G
Bow: Michael Taylor, Sartory copy
Mics: vintage Neumann KM86’s (from the SDSU collection)
Recorder: Marantz 660 solid state recorder with Oade Brothers “Songcatcher” mod — no compression or EQ