Not trying to be arrogant here, but who listens to this?

[Multicore]

Yes, it must be difficult to play. And, judging from this clip (start at 2.43 minutes) it very much sounds (on my iPad) like an oud.

Yes, it does, but this similari8ty has as much to do with music he's playing as the instrument. He's basically playing like a oud player would play on an instrument that's much easier to hold in your lap. Oh boy, the oud is hard to hold... I find.

The tune I learned on oud is this one which afaik is composed by the player. The themes are stated for the first time starting at 2:30.

 

[computer-audiophile]

@Gorgonzola

Thanks for the tips. The horizon is expanding with new names and new works. If you go into it in terms of content, the thread costs a lot of time and you get more and more behind.

Most people will find it a bit, (not necessarily a lot), more accessible than the Elliott Carter work I mention in my earlier post.

That is true, also for me. I like George Crumb - Black Angels immediately.

 

[computer-audiophile]

@Multicore

Thanks for the insights, Tom.

Ceramic objects or the art collection in general would be a topic of its own, it all runs parallel to the audio hobby. My taste in fine arts and sculpture is similar to the contemporay music.

The audio setups don't rank up there with art, even though they are often individual creations. Can't remember the last time I went to a ordinary hi-fi shop.

 

[ahofer]

@Multicore

Thanks for the insights, Tom.

Ceramic objects or the art collection in general would be a topic of its own, it all runs parallel to the audio hobby. My taste in fine arts and sculpture is similar to the contemporay music.

The audio setups don't rank up there with art, even though they are often individual creations. Can't remember the last time I went to a ordinary hi-fi shop.

Have you seen the Thomas Comeraw exhibit? (full disclosure, my wife is Museum Director and this exhibition is one of her babies, along with the permanent Tiffany exhibition on the 4th floor)

 

[computer-audiophile]

Have you seen the Thomas Comeraw exhibit? (full disclosure, my wife is Museum Director and this exhibition is one of her babies, along with the permanent Tiffany exhibition on the 4th floor)

Very interesting.

Unfortunately, the topic of artistic ceramics is beyond the scope of the thread here. I have many strong relations to it. Rustic ceramics is not one of them, and I also have not been to New York. I have a special soft spot for Japanese masters and have visited many exhibitions and artists in Japan. When the earthquake catastrophe years ago caused a lot of damage, we helped two ceramicists in the Mashiko area with donations to rebuild their kilns. That is a longer story which I had published in my former Blog.

Apart from that, we own artistic ceramic objects of various kinds.

 

[Multicore]

Have you seen the Thomas Comeraw exhibit? (full disclosure, my wife is Museum Director and this exhibition is one of her babies, along with the permanent Tiffany exhibition on the 4th floor)

I have not. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I make strenuous efforts to avoid visiting NYC. My wife the potter will be there later this month.

 

[Shorty]

Yesterday I found this video of Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway playing a song called Crooked Tree. I almost cried it's so good. Consider how much of this music is composed and collectively understood by the band and how much is not. Then consider how tight the band plays: every gesture supports the whole, sometimes embellishing it. The solos are short, get to their point and end without heroics. And it's a nice simple evocative song, poetic enough to allow you to make of it what you will.

EDIT: woops. forgot the youtube link

Ah yes, that was wonderful. Played with the kind of careless virtuosity essential to bluegrass music.

 

[Multicore]

Ah yes, that was wonderful. Played with the kind of careless virtuosity essential to bluegrass music.

Such a good sentence. You said you were a pro music writer at one time?

Yes, when the soloists get serious, as they sometimes do, it can be very impressive but something else is lost.

 

[Shorty]

So you are a Journalist (?)


Americana - Now I've learned another new generic term that I didn't know yet, thank you. I'll have to remember that.

I can hardly find anything there that appeals to me. Only exceptions like Eva Cassidy, who gets to my heart with her singing and of course with her sad biography.

@Shorty
What do you like listening to most today?

Well, I’m retired now, so no, I’m no journalist anymore.
I don’t think Eva Cassidy could be considered ‘americana’. I think the genre nowadays is considered to have started in 1968 with an album by The Band (Music from Big Pink), but thankfully, you really can’t pin it down. Roots rock, alternative country… there are no fixed borders.

Nowadays I’m lucky to have found a radio station that plays popular music without regard to market share (!): it’s name is FIP, a French public radio station. They play music (alternative pop from all over the world, some classical music) they hardly talk at all and there’s no news bulletin every hour. I find it a great relief to have escaped the stranglehold British and U.S. popular music have on most European radio stations, and to be rid of the mindless cackling of self-centred unfunny d.j.’s who are forced to play the music prescribed by their marketing department.
So I listen to the radio one or two hours a day, and if I hear something I like I add it to a playlist of my streaming service.

 

[computer-audiophile]

So I listen to the radio one or two hours a day, and if I hear something I like I add it to a playlist of my streaming service.

Shorty, thanks for the clarification about Americana.

I too have been retired for a long time. Luckily I was able to get out of the meritocracy early on.

I also like very well curated radio shows. My favorite is France Musique, they play a lot of classical music but also good jazz and they have a contemporary classical section. I get a lot of inspiration from there. With Deezer HiFi I can go deeper into some things. By the way, this streaming provider is also based in Paris, which appeals to me.

It's great that 'radio' now has such a wide reach with long-distance reception.

Picture of my modern 'radio set'

 

[EJ3]

This is not a beautifully designed instrument, for example, I would say. I like the look of my 'Jim Triggs Signature' guitar better.

View attachment 261945

I believed that people were talking about MOOG products associated with guitar, so I provided a guitar that had a lot of the stuff built in. And a weight was mentioned (8 Kg.? I think). I am willing to bet that this weighs more.
Functional, possibly with an outrageous sense of humor: yes. Difficult to hold up and play: yes. Difficult to play: yes. An object of beauty: ah, no. (I suspect that was not part of the criteria of the build).
As to beauty (or the lack thereof), I think that the name "Hydra" already indicates that it is not beautiful, nor did I claim it to be.
As to it's functions (1:40):

 

[Shorty]

Shorty, thanks for the clarification about Americana.

I too have been retired for a long time. Luckily I was able to get out of the meritocracy early on.

I also like very well curated radio shows. My favorite is France Musique, they play a lot of classical music but also good jazz and they have a contemporary classical section. I get a lot of inspiration from there. With Deezer HiFi I can go deeper into some things. By the way, this streaming provider is also based in Paris, which appeals to me.

It's great that 'radio' now has such a wide reach with long-distance reception.

Picture of my modern 'radio set'

View attachment 262319

I recognize the website! Radio France is absolutely wonderful, and internet radio is a blessing.
It seems you listen to music while working at your desk? I couldn’t - it’s one or the other, for me. Perhaps, like you, I don’t think I ever listen to the radio on my main audio system, which is too overwhelming to casually listen to.

To get back on topic: even France Musique seems to have a stream with modern classical, but I know of no radio station that would play Stockhausen, Boulez or Berio. (This last composer’s music used to be relatively popular with critics and audiences in my country, not in the least thanks to the performances of Cathy Berberian, a regular guest in The Netherlands in the 70’s.)

 

[EJ3]

I know of only one guitarist who plays fretless and have no idea why there aren’t more like him.

Others that play fretless bass:​

Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones), Rick Danko (the Band [also very prominent on Neil Young's Revolution Blues, Bernard Odum (James Brown's Band [listen to I Got The Feelin’]), Pino Palladino: Paul Young’s Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s Home),​

Tony Levin (Tony has racked up quite a list of credits; he’s worked with Pink Floyd, Herbie Mann, Yes, Carly Simon, Don McLean, Lou Reed, Buddy Rich, Paul Simon, Alice Cooper, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Tom Waits, Warren Zevon, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie, and countless others. Playing wise, Levin is a very creative and inventive player, while also being incredibly versatile. He can play heavy and complex rhythmic lines like those with King Crimson, melodic jazz playing, straight rock playing, and more. However, his most iconic bassline has to be from Peter Gabriel’s hit Sledgehammer.), Les Claypool mainly known for his work in Primus, one of the weirdest bands of the 90s that somehow got a major label deal. His playing is, well, “unique.” There is certainly no other bassist you could mistake him for. He is a virtuosic player who was famously denied entry into Metallica for being too good (and weird). His playing is incredibly rhythmic, filled with slapping and popping, tapping, flamenco style strumming, and more. He has carved out his own incredibly identifiable bass style with his custom, six string, fretless basses.​

And the list goes on and on. Enjoy exploring it...​

 

[Shorty]

Such a good sentence. You said you were a pro music writer at one time?

Yes, when the soloists get serious, as they sometimes do, it can be very impressive but something else is lost.

Thank you for the compliment. Yes, I did work for a newspaper and also wrote, primarily about music.
Seriousness is an asset in classical music and the musicians who play it, and an obstacle in other genres.

 

[Shorty]

Others that play fretless bass:​

Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones), Rick Danko (the Band [also very prominent on Neil Young's Revolution Blues, Bernard Odum (James Brown's Band [listen to I Got The Feelin’]), Pino Palladino: Paul Young’s Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s Home),​

Tony Levin (Tony has racked up quite a list of credits; he’s worked with Pink Floyd, Herbie Mann, Yes, Carly Simon, Don McLean, Lou Reed, Buddy Rich, Paul Simon, Alice Cooper, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Tom Waits, Warren Zevon, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie, and countless others. Playing wise, Levin is a very creative and inventive player, while also being incredibly versatile. He can play heavy and complex rhythmic lines like those with King Crimson, melodic jazz playing, straight rock playing, and more. However, his most iconic bassline has to be from Peter Gabriel’s hit Sledgehammer.), Les Claypool mainly known for his work in Primus, one of the weirdest bands of the 90s that somehow got a major label deal. His playing is, well, “unique.” There is certainly no other bassist you could mistake him for. He is a virtuosic player who was famously denied entry into Metallica for being too good (and weird). His playing is incredibly rhythmic, filled with slapping and popping, tapping, flamenco style strumming, and more. He has carved out his own incredibly identifiable bass style with his custom, six string, fretless basses.​

And the list goes on and on. Enjoy exploring it...​

Thank you. This was about guitars, not about bass guitars.

 

[Axo1989]

Shorty, thanks for the clarification about Americana.

I too have been retired for a long time. Luckily I was able to get out of the meritocracy early on.

I also like very well curated radio shows. My favorite is France Musique, they play a lot of classical music but also good jazz and they have a contemporary classical section. I get a lot of inspiration from there. With Deezer HiFi I can go deeper into some things. By the way, this streaming provider is also based in Paris, which appeals to me.

It's great that 'radio' now has such a wide reach with long-distance reception.

Picture of my modern 'radio set'

View attachment 262319

To continue that tangential discussion for a moment, depends whether we are talking about Americana as culture, or as more strictly defined overarching musical classification. In case you like/are interested in new(er) material then Lana Del Rey has been mining both veins of Americana for a decade or so. You can check out her initial mainstream hits (infused with cultural references) like Video Games and Born to Die to get a better sense of her sound, but this one a year later has Lana as both Marilyn and Jackie O along with (the part that appeals to my sense of humour given the earlier discussion) hip-hop artist A$AP Rocky as JFK:

This more recent one (just audio, duet with Nikki Lane) is more strictly Americana genre:

... just fyi. Incidentally, my streaming service summary tells me she was my most played artist during the pandemic lockdowns. The dreamy melancholy obviously worked for me. Not particularly relevant to the thread, obviously. Funny too after listening to all the avant-garde examples how short pop sings really are.

 

[EJ3]

Thank you. This was about guitars, not about bass guitars.

Sorry, but since your sentences were arranged this way:
"Alternatively, do until your guitar what Jaco Pastorius did to his bass: get a pair of pliers and rip out those frets.
I know of only one guitarist who plays fretless and have no idea why there aren’t more like him."
And you had mentioned:

Jaco Pastorius,​

When most people think of fretless bass, they think of Jaco. He is easily the most iconic and well-known player of fretless bass. His association with fretless bass is so iconic that it’s hard to even imagine it without him.

Jaco was undoubtedly a true master of the fretless bass. His playing was melodic, soulful, technically impressive, raw, innovative, and powerful all at the same time. He really could do anything with the trusty “Bass of Doom” in his hands. Whether he was doing post-bop and free jazz with his own band, pushing fusion forward with Weather Report, or working with Pat Methany to take Joni Mitchell’s 70s material to new heights, Jaco always managed to impress. Sadly, Jaco tragically died after being beaten outside of a club in 1987 at the age of 35, cutting his revolutionary career painfully short.

I thought that the key was 'fretless' not 'fretless guitar'. I guess that I did not key in on "your guitar what". Sorry.

 

[computer-audiophile]

I recognize the website! Radio France is absolutely wonderful, and internet radio is a blessing.
It seems you listen to music while working at your desk? I couldn’t - it’s one or the other, for me. Perhaps, like you, I don’t think I ever listen to the radio on my main audio system, which is too overwhelming to casually listen to.

To get back on topic: even France Musique seems to have a stream with modern classical, but I know of no radio station that would play Stockhausen, Boulez or Berio. (This last composer’s music used to be relatively popular with critics and audiences in my country, not in the least thanks to the performances of Cathy Berberian, a regular guest in The Netherlands in the 70’s.)

Hi Shorty,
Thanks for your understanding. It would be great to have such music connoisseurs like you as neighbors. Since a while I live in an audiophile diaspora with a very conservative population.

I am actually surprised that they play relatively much contemporary classic in between at France Musique, when it is so unpopular. They also talk about it very knowledgeably. Maybe they want to introduce people carefully to this type of music? But then there are times when 'la contemporaine' is the main focus of France Musique. Boulez, Messiaen, Henry, Schaeffer, Bayle, Chion... and the other French avant-garde are often played, but also a lot of brand new things, a musical treasure trove. There are also German cultural channels that have an excellent program of contemporary classical music at certain times, but then I would have to tune in at a specific time, which is too inconvenient for me.

When I want to hear something very precise, I indeed sit very close to my small studio monitors most of the time. My wife has her own listening area with the same equipment. The larger system with tube amps and horn speakers in our media room is more for the big sound and for celebratory music listening. I do, however, change my audio setups frequently, with different emphases.

 

[Multicore]

Others that play fretless bass:

You mentioned both Tony Levine and Les Claypool. Have you seen the youtube of the latter playing Thela Hun Ginjeet on which the former provided the bass? It's stunning. It's also a good example of a point @Shorty made above.

 

[ahofer]

Speaking of Jaco, this battle between Jaco and Michael Brecker (during Brecker’s solo) is amazing. Heightened, I think, by the fact that Brecker had objected to Jaco coming on this tour (not because Brecker though he was bad, but because his drug use made him very erratic).

Such a shame they are both dead.