Ben’s Blog

I had been kind of behind the curve on the YouTube thing. My friend Bob (R of the W) sent me a link of a StarTrek spoof on there.  It was hilarious. I remember thinking, what’s this YouTube thing anyway?

It was awhile before I thought to look up musicians and music videos on there…Over the holidays though, I had some spare time and started searching and searching and searching for music stuff on there.

I stumbled upon Adam Fulara’s incredible BWV 847 and I must have watched it 20 times in complete and absolute disbelief at the musicality, dynamics and performance.

I had worked on that piece years ago, and it was a good independence exercise for me, but I concluded that I couldn’t make it sound great on my bass, and I shelved it.

Sometimes all it takes is for someone to show you that something is possible. Kind of like the runners that ran a 4-minute mile soon after Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute barrier- as many did.

With fresh inspiration thanks to Adam Fulara’s wonderful playing, I decided to take up work on the piece again. This will be a long term project, and I’ll post some more polished clips as I get them.

For now, here’s a really bad quick take of the first few bars, and a PDF of how the tune lays out on a 6-string tuned E-F.

bentorrey :: Jan.27.2007 :: Stocking the Pond, Filling the Well :: 1 Comment »

In 1993 I took a week-long masterclass with Michael Manr1ng at the National Guitar Workshop. It was so great to meet one of my biggest musical heroes. I learned so much from him, it was unbelievable.

One of the coolest “exercises” he had us do was to make a list of 10 really great albums/artists/music that you really liked and thought other might not have heard of. We spent time in class just going around the room and swapping lists. Such a great exercise! In our private lessons, we swapped lists with Michael privately. On Michael’s list was Egb3rto Gism0nti–who I hadn’t heard of at the time, but is now one of my absolute favorite musicians.

So, it’s a great exercise that you might like to try with people-both “musicians” and non. In fact, sometimes I think sometimes “non-musicians” might even listen to more music than us “musicians”. I know I have a few friends that I think listen to more and listen more widely than I do (Franko comes to mind).

Anyway, sometime last month I was talking to a co-worker (at the office coffee machine)about his son who picked up the guitar a few years ago. That morning I had gotten up early and was working on La Catedral’s 2nd movement on my bass. Since I hadn’t fully made the “transition” to CorporateIT Ben, I was still thinking about music, and mentioned to my co-worker to get John Williams’ 1995 Barrios recording on Sony Classical. About 2 weeks later, I asked him what his son thought and he told me that they absolutely loved the record, and have since bought a bunch of John Williams (guitar player) albums.

I then thought–well, maybe here’s a good spot to throw in a List of 10. So, without thinking too much, I emailed the following List of 10.

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1. Egberto Gismonti. Brazilian composer/pianist/guitarist. Amazing musician. Check out Infancia album on ECM.
2. Jaco Pastorius. First solo record on Epic. All Weather Report albums with Jaco. All Joni Mitchell with Jaco. Plus, Metheny/Pastorius/Moses, “Bright Size Life”. As many Pat Metheny records as you can get.
3. Michael Hedges. Check out Aerial Boundaries, on vinyl if you can.
4. Michael Manring. Unusual Weather and every other album he’s ever done.
5. Bulgarian Women’s Choir. Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares Vol 2, get vol 1 too. While you’re at it, checkout Tuvan Throat Singers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyOOUixo9TA
6. Yngwi3. first 3 solo albums, and both Alcatrazz records.
7. Jason Becker. YouTube (I use that as a verb) “Becker Paganini Caprice” and listen to Jason play # 5. Shocking. Watch his left hand technique, and how he shreds through the chromatic stuff like it’s nothing. Amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TCR4sXZALw
8. While at YouTube, YouTube Adam Fulara. Check out BWV 848 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c46fr2EZOhQ and 847 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E0hK8HwhLI WOW!!!
9. While on tappers, it all started with Stanley Jordan, be sure to have his first record Magic Touch close at hand.
10. Milton Nascimento. Self-title Nascimento album is great.

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It’s great fun, pass on and ask for Lists of 10!!!

bentorrey :: Jan.27.2007 :: Stocking the Pond, Filling the Well :: No Comments »

I just read about Victor Wooten’s new book, The Music Lesson, in the February 2007 issue of Bass Player magazine. http://www.victorwooten.com/store/pc-44-3-the-music-lesson.aspx

I ordered it, and can’t wait to read it. He is one of my absolute favorite musicians.

bentorrey :: Jan.21.2007 :: Musical Thoughts :: 1 Comment »

I got the greatest gift from my boss this year, Talisma’s excellent 2005 release Chromium (You can find it on iTunes). I had never heard of Talisma, but now I’m a big fan. Progressive rock, great compositions, brilliant playing- it’s just tons of fun. The first song on the record, Qwhat, is an epic adventure on its own. I was listening to that track at a coffee shop a few weeks back and I wrote down a whole set of scenes for an animation music video (I wish I could do animation). My “screenplay” has giant battle crows entering at 4:51 to turn the tide of the Great Battle. Yeah!

And then there’s Donald Fleurent’s brilliant bass playing that drives the songs throughout. Inventive, so musical, so many different sounds coming out of his 4,5,6,7 and 12 string basses. Plus he plays nylon too!

The last track, the third Double from Bach’s Partita # 1 for Violin (BWV 1002) beautifully arranged for 7-string bass-is amazing. I always forget how cool a sound playing with a pick is. He fits the piece beautifully into the lower register of his range, and I think use of the pick helps it glide along. It’s a great workout for your pick skills!!

I’ve included a bit of the first part, with very incomplete picking and articulation, arranged for a 6-string in standard tuning. Don’t read this before buying the album on iTunes, or at least buy this song anyway (Best $0.99 you will ever spend!). You won’t believe how incredible this adaptation is for bass. I think this is one of the best adaptations of a classical piece of music for bass that I’ve ever heard. I’d rank it right up there with Jaco doing Chromatic Fantasy.

JS Bach Double arranged by Donald Fleurent from Talisma Chromium (2005)

bentorrey :: Jan.18.2007 :: Musical Thoughts :: No Comments »

Yesterday I was driving in and listening to the Jazz Spectrum on WHRB, and there was a fantastic tenor sax, drums and upright bass trio playing. It was a live recording. I couldn’t quite place the tenor player or the upright player, both just incredibly brilliant.

The pure sound of the upright player made me think a lot about my whole philosophy of not spending much in music. Just the sound of this guy’s instrument–not to mention how well he was playing it–really made me think. My philosophy has always been to not spend any money on upright until I could really play well, but I don’t know about that sometimes. It kind of reminds me of the great story about Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates…It might be time to set my priorities and finances such that I think about buying a decent, carved bass in the next few years. As a minimum, I may have to get a better pickup system and pre-amp for my plywood bass (that I’m proud to mention I bought for $699 in 1989). Another more affordable option might be getting that EUB I saw which is also about $800.

But, that’s a detour just based on the sound I heard, but then back to the bass playing, the player. I couldn’t place who he was, but man, so brilliant. Here and there he would chime some harmonics, and then double-stops. There was no guitarist, no pianist, and what he was doing to fill out the music was so great, so musical and fit so well. It made me think about my own playing, and I remembered being in an ensemble at one point in NEC with a keyboardist and a guitarist and I’m doing all my tap stuff–just no point to that.

But, this bassist was filling gaps so musically. When I arrived at work, I concluded I had no idea who this player was. Since my computer had crashed quite badly that morning, I knew I wasn’t recording the show, so I called in and asked the DJ. I had about 4 guesses about the tenor player, and 6 or so guesses about the bass player.

I was totally wrong. It was Joe Henderson, the State of the Tenor, recorded live at the Village Vanguard in 1985. Wow, have to get that album now. And, the bass player? Wow, Ron Carter. I’m a huge Ron Carter fan, but I have to say, I’ve never heard Ron Carter play like that. But, now that I think about it, I’m also not sure I’ve ever heard him play without a pianist or guitarist. It’s really neat to discover a new facet of a player that you had no idea existed. I will get that record and once again learn from the master that Ron Carter is.

One little Ron Carter story. Around ‘92 or ‘93 I went to the Newport Jazz Festival with my brother and my friend Adam. The marquee band was the amazing reuniting of Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Ron Carter and Wayne Shorter. But, the weather didn’t cooperate, it was a total rainstorm, almost like a hurricane. By the time they went on, the wind was howling, the rain was going sideways, and there was literally only a few hundred people there, huddling up front as the canvas protecting the stage loudly flapped in the wind. But, they played on and they were as smoking as you might imagine. As the storm worsened though, right in the middle of a tune, all the power went out. But, those guys kept playing and didn’t miss a beat. They played about another 25 minutes like that.

What I couldn’t believe was how well I could hear Ron Carter–no amplification at all, over the storm and other instruments. What a player, wow!!!!!

And, wow, Joe Henderson, how did I not get that? He was my favorite tenor player when I was playing tenor, I absolutely loved those early Blue Note albums, and remember spending the better part of a summer trying to transcribe every note from Page One. I still have that manuscript book somewhere…

bentorrey :: Jan.17.2007 :: Musical Thoughts :: 1 Comment »

I really enjoyed the Life Pie and time audit exercises in the Artist’s Way. When I took a look at what happens with my time when I get home from work, I realized that I need to treat my time with more of a sense of urgency…but then there’s almost always:

“Doink-Doink” (That’s the Law and 0rder sound) on the tube. And it is very compelling TV–when McCoy is after you on Law and 0rder, you are done for.

But, I really don’t have time for that anymore. See, TV isn’t in my Life Pie, and the only way I can get music back into my life without a drop off in any important Life Pie area is to break free of the habit.

It’s sort of like when you’re hungry, you can either reach for a Snicker’s bar or you can go home and cook some whole grain rice and beans. I think of my decisions nightly sort of like that. After a day at work most definitely I need to reach for something to “take the edge off”. TV is like a Snicker’s, but sitting down to make some music is so much better for me in the long run.

I guess it comes down to what Ganda1f said in LOTR, “All we can do is use the time we have wisely.”

bentorrey :: Jan.17.2007 :: The Life Pie :: 2 Comments »

I think I generally like to multi-task a bit, and I notice that even in my day job.

When it comes to music, bass is really the perfect instrument family for me because you get to experiment with so many sounds within the bass family. These days, I spend most of my time playing my 5-string EAB, or my 6-string electric, but I can also grab my 4-string fretless and enter a totally different world. I was just in the mall and heard that Cel1ne D1on song from T1tanic, I came home and grabbed my 4-string tenor fretless and jammed that melody on my C string.

And, then there’s upright! Upright is particularly fun for me, because I really can’t play upright all that well so it really grounds me for real “bass player” fundamental type playing. I was listening to WHRB yesterday morning on my way in and they were playing the first track from the great Bob Moses album When Elephants Dream of Music. I pulled that out Friday night and played along with my upright.

And that’s just different instruments-even within one instrument like an electric bass, you’ve got such variety of how to play. Pizzacato, fingerstyle with thumb, slapping, tapping, fretless, fretless with an E-bow. I’ve been rediscovering what a cool sound playing with a pick can be. Arco on an upright. Plus, altered tunings (great way to make your instrument seem new!) or changing string guages and types…(can’t wait to try these expensive phosphorbronze Thamastick-Infeld strings on my EAB for Cello Suite 3)…

Just glad to be a bass player I guess…

Bach’s Bouree in e minor for electric bass

bentorrey :: Jan.13.2007 :: Musical Thoughts :: No Comments »

Ah, All3n Ivers0n’s famous rant about practice. It’s a classic. I was thinking about that a few weeks ago, as the story was rehashed when AI was traded to Denver.  The guy does have a point–when it’s time to play, he’s right on it, and he kicks butt. How relevant is it to talk about practice?  

And, then I remembered probably my favorite Yngwi3 ad from back in the days, “If you really love music, play it“. Yngwi3 talks about there being no need to practice scales necessarily, just play music. It’s a good reminder, because scales aren’t music. I printed that ad and placed in my practice space for inspiration, like I had when I was younger.

And I thought about my own practice routines and regimens both before I stopped playing and now that I’m back playing. They are completely different. I used to practice scales and exercises quite a lot and now I almost never do.

I guess to bring it back to basketball, and the “practice” of layup drills–how often in a game of basketball do you get to go to the basket completely undefended? Probably not much. Similarly in music, how often in a piece of music are you running a scale exactly? Never.

Take the case of the opening phrases of prelude from Suite # 3. That’s using a scale for some music. But, practicing that phrase is infinitely more useful than running a C scale up and down.

That being said, I’ve seen some brilliant examples of great musicians making practice exercises musically rewarding–and that’s the direction I want to go in. More specifics on that later.

bentorrey :: Jan.13.2007 :: Musical Thoughts :: No Comments »

working on the 3rd Bach Cello Suite now, you can hear 1 and 2 at http://bentorrey.com:2112/music/jsbenny

Thought I’d try this Bouree on my tenor fretless electric bass–but got my ass kicked on the intonation. Will definitely practice this one with the lights off and use more open strings for reference notes, great suggestions from the great Steve B@iley on Bassplayer.tv (debate with jeff B3rlin)

Plus forgot to repeat part 2.

You can check the video out on YouTube.com, for some reason I can’t embed the object in WordPress.

bentorrey :: Jan.11.2007 :: The Quantity... :: No Comments »

Recording music is really, really hard for me. I see that red light go on, and next thing you know I’m nervous (about what?) and making mistakes. I’m convinced it only gets easier only with lots and lots of practice.

In college I took a very fun class at the Extension School in Chinese Calligraphy. The fun thing though was when you put your pen down on the paper, you could only move and do the strokes of the characters in a specific order, you couldn’t back track and fix anything. Funny enough, I had the hardest time with that rule! And it’s the same with music, when I hear a “mistake” I need to fix it, and if I’m not backtracking to fix it, I’m thinking about it. “This take is junk. Why did I screw that up? Why didn’t I practice harder/better/smarter?”, etc.

I guess, in my practice, in my recording, and in my practicing recording, I want to move toward a flow where I’m not thinking about back tracking to fix things, maybe it’s just perfect how it is…or I’ll get it better the next time.

bentorrey :: Jan.09.2007 :: Musical Thoughts :: No Comments »