Ben’s Blog

Another great arrangement on Jordi Savall’s fantastic Les Voix Humaines album is the Double from Partita 1. Same one that Donald Fleurent rocks on Chromium that I blogged about.

Here’s a video of my practice session from a spot I found at the Fells that works well for gamba practice.

I recorded this to mark a point in time-my bowing is HORRIBLE-but I hope in a few months I’ll have more control and better tone.

Also, here’s the arrangement for 6-string gamba in standard tuning, click for larger view.

bentorrey :: Sep.29.2007 :: Gamba :: No Comments »

I will definitely admit that I don’t do enough work to fit the music I play to my instrument. I’m almost always playing the music in the same key and range as written.

Listening to the great Jordi Savall tackle a few Bach pieces is like taking a lesson on that topic. His take on the BEAUTIFUL Bouree II from Suite 4 makes a great case in point. Go buy this on iTunes RIGHT NOW, the Les Voix Humaines album is absolutely fantastic!!! Pizzacato works so beautifully on this piece. It gives a sound between a lute and a harp and so beautifully fits his instrument.

So, here’s a transcription of the great master’s arrangement for 6-string bass gamba, tuned G-D-C-E-A-D (click for larger view), and a quick video that I threw on YouTube. Not bad for day 8 with this loaner gamba.

In terms of trying this one on bass, you could try tuning a 5 string in a similar fashion as the top 5 strings of the gamba, then use a capo. Since I tune my 5-string E-A-D-G-C, then try going E-A-C#-F#-B, and play it in E with a capo at the 12th fret. One of the keys to Mr. Savall’s beautiful rendition is the open string rings, so do try with a capo. You could also capo at the 15th fret, which would give you G-C-E-A-D strings and play it in G.

In 1997, I took exactly one lesson with master arch guitarist Peter Blanchette. 10 minutes into the lesson he had retuned my 6-string bass to B-E-A-D-F#-B and had put two different capos on the neck. He gave me a bunch of lute music to work on, and recommended digging into the tuning.

I was inspired then to make more of an effort to fit the music to my instrument. I need to get back to that now.

bentorrey :: Sep.22.2007 :: Gamba :: 1 Comment »

This is sort of a response to the Ruby Gamba post.

I have my good friend Tony to thank on this one. I had no idea that as a Tufts alum I can audit any class for a minimal registration fee (wow, Pax Et Lux indeed!).

My first thought when I heard that was the Tufts Early Music Ensemble. When I was at Tufts, I had hoped to play in the ensemble my senior year. In fact, the music department let me borrow a bass gamba for a month in the summer. I really enjoyed playing it, but in the fall my schedule didn’t work out to take the ensemble. Bummer.

Anyway, so I got in touch with the instructor and we met after the first class. I got to play all these great instruments: 6-string treble, tenor, and bass viola da gambas, an actual lute, a harpsichord! My instructor remarked, “you’re like a kid in a candy store here.” I wasn’t sure which instruments would be actually available, but I hoped for a bass viola da gamba being available.

In last Tuesday’s class, I got to play with the ensemble which was really great. As it turned out, they did have a spare bass viola da gamba, which I will get to borrow for the semester. It’s a beautiful sounding instrument. Took me a bit to get my bearings- gambas are tuned with the major third in the middle, so D-G-C-E-A-D. I can think like I’m playing guitar a little bit as to how the lower and upper strings “relate” but there’s more strings in that relationship. And then, the first three and upper three being straight 4ths, and strings I’m used to thinking about as a bass player. It’s just that major third divide there, and playing fluently across that that I need work on. I’ve tuned my 6-string like this occassionally, at Peter Blanchette’s recommendation when attempting some lute music years ago, but I’m by no means fluent yet in this type of tuning.

But, I’m looking forward to this very much. We even have a concert in December, so my first concert since 1996 or so! Very excited.

Here’s two junk clips from my first practice session after bringing this great instrument home. I’ll certain post more, so stay tuned!

Riffing on Snowflight (Andrew York’s great composition)

checking tuning with the bow

bentorrey :: Sep.16.2007 :: Gamba, Instruments :: No Comments »

This morning I was kind of half asleep eating a bowl of cheerios after a less than successful practice session on Partita # 2’s opening movement. I happened to have GBH on and there was a brief mention of the Rite of Strings playing at the Zeiterion Theater in New Bedford. Amazing!!! Lately I’ve been listening to and watching as much Stanley on upright as I can find. I absolutely love his approach to upright. I love the ‘94 Montreaux DVD, so this should be a lot of fun to see these three guys live.

This event I MUST ATTEND, despite the $45 ticket being 2 months of entertainment budget.

bentorrey :: Sep.14.2007 :: Stocking the Pond, Filling the Well :: 1 Comment »

I was driving into work a week ago Thursday and heard the most kicking organ music on WHRB’s Jazz Spectrum. Great drums, guitar and organ. I listened until the group was announced. Organissimo! Great stuff, I went right out and got the great Waiting for the Boogaloo on iTunes. Definitely check these guys out.

I’ve always been a huge fan of organ, Jimmy Smith in particular. Hearing Decoder reminded me of one of my older bass projects. I used to try to work out Jimmy Smith tunes for two-handed playing. I never had much success with that, but it was a lot of fun to practice. I’d have to see if I could find any of my old transcriptions around.

It’s been a lot of years since I practiced that stuff, so I was surprised how well I was able to goof with Decoder just a bit. Here’s a quick video: Practicing Decoder (get me a metronome-stat-lol). Not anywhere close to the right-hand voicings here, but kind of featuring the 9ths flavor that the guitarist is picking up on a lot. Leaving out the 7th is nice for a variation and let’s you really wack the major 7th between the minor third and the 9th. It’s also nice to leave out the minor third, or add a 4th.

I might have to pick up some work on that project again soon, it would be a lot of fun. Here’s a sketch of the voicings.

bentorrey :: Sep.08.2007 :: Stocking the Pond, Filling the Well :: No Comments »

I’m a big action movie buff. As such, I’m of course an owner of the DVD reissue of one the classic action films of all time: Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon. The DVD reissue of course has many scenes that were cut out of the released film version at the time, many of which were some of Bruce Lee’s favorite scenes.

One of my favorites scenes is the one when Bruce is teaching the young student. He says the student’s work is good, but he’s looking for more “emotional content”. That phrase stuck with me.

In working on Suite 6’s BEAUTIFUL Sarabande, I gave myself that advice. Emotional content with this piece. That’s what I was lacking in my performance.

I started to think about what imagery this piece suggests. After thinking about it for a long while, I got a scene in my head. This piece reminds me of that feeling when you sit down with family or great friends, maybe for the first time in a long time, and you sit down and talk over a nice warm cup of tea or something and catch up.

I think I’m getting closer to realizing that vision with this piece. You can have a listen below.

One note on technique, I’ll probably fingerpick a lot of this when I record, but I’m practicing tapping here intentionally, since I’ve always had trouble with expressive melodies and tapping.

bentorrey :: Sep.02.2007 :: Musical Thoughts :: No Comments »