How do you view the bass’s role in collective improvisation?
I think of it as having an unlimited number of roles—everything you can play in a group. And I don’t exclude the fact that you can go into a groove or something tonal. You can do everything from a traditional role to being more of a soundmaker, using arco for sound effects or doing percussive effects. Or it can be very melodic in the upper register, or you can use lower notes for a groove. It’s wide open. How does your tone come into play? I can use more variety in my tone in that setting because I don’t have to support the band. So I can play with a less-full sound if I want to, or with less attack.
In those situations, do you still think of the bass as a timekeeper?
On the recording the time is more of a collective thing, but I always feel that I am responsible. If I feel like the groove is about to get lost, I can jump in and pull it together. But if I play more melodic bass, I don’t feel the band will fall apart or that the groove would be anything less.
How did Miroslav Vitous influence your bass playing?
We worked just on getting tone with the bow for about a semester. He also has a highly developed hammer-on technique—his hands are huge!—so he emphasized being able to punch down the notes with the left hand, using the gravity of your arm rather than muscling it. He was very picky about having the elbow high enough to have more of the weight of the arm going into the fingerboard. He would play études with his left hand only, and I could hear every note clear and loud. That’s something I’m still working on, to feel that the sound is produced as much in the left hand as with the pizzicato hand.
What do you emphasize with your own students?
I teach all levels, and a lot of my students come in with really bad technique—fingers collapsing instead of rounded and strong. So I work on some of the same exercises as Miroslav, plus I’ve developed other stuff. I use a Segovia chromatic hammer-on exercise using arco, and we work on pizzicato technique. I use only two [plucking] fingers, and I find upright players do a lot of raking and get into other bad habits because they’re not alternating fingers. Then we get into improvisation and walking lines. Even some intermediate players don’t understand the theory behind walking lines—what notes to emphasize, etc. With more advanced players I get into sequential walking lines that can stand on their own as being very melodic—thinking in terms of not just one or two bars but four or eight bars, and creating a balance between ascending and descending lines.
CAN BE HEARD ON
(All on Orbis) Lifelines, 2008; Chrysalis, 2004; Ascenscio, 2003
CURENTLY SPINNING
John Hollenbeck, A Blessing [Omnitone, 2005]; Drew Gress, 7 Black Butterflies [Koch, 2005]; Fernando Huergo, Provinciano [Sunnyside, 2008]; U Srinivas, Live at Madras Music Festival 1984 [
musicindiaonline]
“I’m very involved with South Indian music— there are some of those concepts on Lifeline.”
GEAR
Bass 200-year-old unknown u-size flatback, maker unknown; Thomastik Spirocore strings
Setup Medium. “Since I articulate and do a lot of hammer-ons with my left hand, I need a fairly low action, but there’s always a delicate balance between sound and playability.”
Effects Boss Loop Station, Lexicon MPX200, Mac- Book Pro running Logic Pro MainStage software Live sound Fishman Full Circle pickup and Platinum preamp through Euphonic Audio iAmp Micro-300 combo, sometimes alongside Schertler PUB 280 combo
Studio sound His own Audio-Technica AT 4047 mic plus studio Neumann mic when available; Retrospec Juice Box tube preamp; mic position: Audio-Technica facing ƒ-hole at an angle; Neumann farther down
CHECK IT OUT
Råberg’s web site,
www.brunoraberg.com, includes lead sheets and streaming audio.