 The Ethnic Clarinet
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Author: kfeder@hotmail.com
Date: 2006-06-27 15:08
I've been coordinating...wrangling together... an amateur klezmer ensemble these past few years and since my background as a musical director is very limited I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the role of the bass in an ensemble. In terms of keeping the beat does the drummer and the bassist have a different function?
Also it seems like a number of people are interested in playing bass even though they double on other instruments. The fact that different individuals seem to be vying for the position of bassist leads me to think that they perceive it as a really key instrument to play. The heart of the ensemble?
I don't know, I'm just playing clarinet........
Also......any thoughts on electric versus acoustic bass? And issues on amplification in a klez group that has about a dozen people? Sometimes the guitarist likes to go electric. Other band members think he is too loud when amplified.......
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Author: ChrisC
Date: 2006-06-27 23:10
I remember seeing Hasidic New Wave live at the Knitting Factory over five years ago, and noting how well the electric bass (which was played exclusively) fit in with the klezmer repeteroire.
Then again, it's nice to have a bowed upright bass for 3/8 horas like Gas Nigun. Perhaps the bassist could switch off between instruments depending on the nature of the tune.
I don't hear any audible bass on the recordings of Tarras and Brandwein (on Brandwein's recordings the role is often taken by a *very* audible trombone). Not to say definitively that a bass was not there, only that the recording technology of the time failed to capture it if one was present.\
Ultimately, such a decision boils down to the specific sound one is looking for, and to the dictates of necessity. I have performed with a klezmer band that was without a bass player, or a drummer, for that matter; piano, guitar, and mandolin sufficed to keep the freylekhs flowing.
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Author: ginny
Date: 2006-06-28 21:55
I think Chris makes some excelent points. The Klez band I'm playing accordion with had a Tuba (brass band style for the most part) that was replaced with upright bass. He bows some and plucks some. Our bari sax player holds a lot of the basslines too. Electric would be appropriate for some of the more experimental Klez influenced stuff we're working on. I'd love a midi accordion for that as well... oh well, I'm mostly doing rhythm at this point anyways.
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