400 years of low notes – The double bass: It’s history, important makers, and bassists in classical music and jazz. Written by Jonas Lohse.
About this book
Hardcover, 240 pages, four-color printing throughout. The many photos and illustrations allow for a deep look into the world of the double bass and transform this book into a captivating and entertaining lecture for every bassist and music lover.
Table of contents
- The history of the double bass at a glance
- The history of the double bass
- Tunings
- Shapes
- Sizes
- Tonewoods
- Bows
- Electric Upright Bass (EUB)
- On the road with the double bass
- The double bass and its parts (in four languages)
- Range of the double bass, the notes on the piano keyboard
- Lutherie
- Craft and industrial stringed instrument making
- Factory made violins from Germany
- Germany as a developing country
- Quality as competitive advantage
- The 20th century
- Labeling fraud
- American-made plywood basses
- Strings
- Rosin
- Important bassists
- Johann Matthias Sperger
- Domenico Dragonetti
- Václav House (Wenzel Hause)
- Giovanni Bottesini
- Franz Simandl
- Serge Alexandrovich Koussevitzky
- The double bass in Jazz
- Bowing, plucking or slapping?
- 1930–1940: The Swing era
- 1940–1950: The Bebop revolution
- Jazz Jam Sessions—breeding grounds of bebop
- Formative bassists
- Red Mitchell about the bass scene of the 1950ies
- 1950–1960: Modern Jazz
- Formative bassists
- 1960–1970: Free Jazz and Avantgarde
- Formative bassists
- 1970: The electrification of Jazz
- Technological Backlash
- Bassists and the Cello in Jazz
- Bassists in the Jazz polls
- Jazz Bass Timeline
- The Double Bass in Jazz at a glance
- Electrical amplification of the double bass
- Microphones
- Piezos
- Magnetic pickups
- The development of pickups
- Phase cancellation for pickups
- Do-it-yourself pickups
- Amplifier and speakers
- Impedance
- Tone controls and filters
- Feedback
- Digital signal processing
- Setup und sound optimization
- The fingerboard
- The bridge
- The nut
- The soundpost
- Where does the soundpost go?
- Cutting a new soundpost
- The Tailpiece
- The Saddle
- The Endpin
- Climate
- Sharp tools
- Glues
- Sound improvement from the laboratory
- Chladnian sound figures
- Mode Matching
- Vibration dedampening
- Wolf tones
- The acquisition of a double bass
- How does the bass sound?
- Prices yesterday and today
- Instrument Portraits
- Gasparo da Salò
- Giovanni Paolo Maggini
- Hans Christoph Zäncker
- Peeter Borlon
- Johann Joseph Stadlmann
- Matteo Gofriller
- Domenico Montagnana
- Domenico Busan
- Giovanni Battista Ceruti
- Giuseppe Baldantoni
- John Frederick Lott
- Hawkes & Son
- J. T. Lamy
- The “Karr-Koussevitzky” bass
- Bass making in Mittenwald
- Bass making in the Saxon/West Bohemian region
- Bass making at Bubenreuth