Contrabass Conversations

Andrew Hitz and I go way back. Not only did we both attend Northwestern University together, but we actually lived in the same arts dorm! In fact, I remember Andrew playing tuba in the great room for performance night.

We reconnected last year when I discovered his wonderful podcast The Entrepreneurial Musician. He had me on as a guest in the fall, and I'm thrilled to have him on my podcast today!

• blue versus red ocean strategy and how we're trained as classical musicians to live in red oceans
• ways you can stand out in a noisy field
• concepts from James Altucher
• the best time to start a project.. and the second-best time
• how so many people seem to be waiting around for people to become more educated and suddenly fall in love with classical music again
• the crazy hard work that is behind every seemingly overnight success
• lessons learned from shared podcast guests: Ranaan Meyer and Peter Seymour
• Seth Godin - Andrew's spirit animal

...and much more!

• Andrew's website
• James Altucher's website
• Books:
  • Blue Ocean Strategy
  • Good to Great
  • The Savvy Musician: Building a Career, Earning a Living & Making a Difference
  • Seth Godin
  • Seth Godin Live at Carnegie Hall

Andrew Hitz is an internationally renowned soloist, clinician and speaker having appeared in over 40 states and 30 countries including Japan, Brazil, Russia and Singapore. He recently ended a 14 year tenure as the tuba player for Boston Brass. Andrew has also appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound and the Marine Band of Mexico.

Andrew currently teaches tuba and euphonium at George Mason University and Gettysburg College. As an Educational Ambassador for Jupiter Band Instruments, he appears all over the world as both a teacher and performer. Andrew has presented at over 20 state music educator conferences and taught master classes at some of the finest music schools in the world including Juilliard, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore. He has also spoken about entrepreneurship and music business at many colleges and universities including Carnegie Mellon, the University of Georgia and the University of South Carolina, where he appeared as a thought leader specializing in marketing and social media at The Savvy Musician In Action Retreat.

Andrew hosts two podcasts through his latest venture, Pedal Note Media, a digital media company founded with former Boston Brass colleague Lance LaDuke. Pedal Note Media provides products and programs to educate, entertain and inspire music teachers, players and fans.. "The Brass Junkies" is a podcast interviewing the best brass players in the world on everything from the serious to the ridiculous, just like the music business. Previous guests have included Joe Alessi, Carol Jantsch and Marty Hackleman. The other is "The Entrepreneurial Musician" which features interviews with some of the most successful people in the music business. Previous guests on TEM have included David Cutler of The Savvy Musician, Ranaan Meyer of Time for Three and Gavin Chuck & Michael Clayville of Alarm Will Sound. Both podcasts are available through iTunes or streamable through the Pedal Note Media website.

Andrew is also the author of "A Band Director's Guide To Everything Tuba: A Collection of Interviews with the Experts" which features interviews with Sam Pilafian, Pat Sheridan, Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser and others. The second volume, "A Band Director's Guide to Everything Trombone: A Collection of Interviews with the Experts", features interviews with Joe Alessi, Harry Watters, Ralph Sauer and others and is available now.

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D'Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

Enter our latest string giveaway for Helicore strings at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Marcos Machado is in the middle of launching his excellent and fascinating series Tao of Bass. I saw this book pop up in my Facebook feed in the fall, and I got in touch with Marcos to do an interview about this project.

• how 20 years of scratching his head about bass technique led to this series
• why he settled on Tao of Bass for a title
• the wild mix of pedagogical styles that Marcos draws from
• how important supple technique is for sound
• how the 3rd finger is a secret weapon
• taking a non-dogmatic approach to bass technique

...and much more!

• Marcos' website
• Tao of Bass website
• Q&A blog on Tao of Bass
• Marcos demonstrates the pivot technique (YouTube)
• Marcos' Tao of Bass YouTube channel

Marcos Machado is the only South American to have earned both the "Teaching" and "Performance" diplomas from the L'Institut International de Contrebasse de Paris where he has studied with renowned double bassist François Rabbath.

While in Brazil, Machado began his double bass studies with Uruguayan professor Milton Romay Masciadri (1931-2009), the former principal bass of the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra.

Machado later moved to the USA and earned his BM and MM degrees at the University of Georgia, where he was a student of Dr. Milton Walter Masciadri. Marcos holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied with Professor Michael Cameron.

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D'Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

Enter our latest string giveaway for Helicore strings at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Hosting for Contrabass Conversations is provided by Bass Capos. Bass Capos are an excellent choice for any bass player using or looking to implement a double bass extension. Easy to install and adjust, cheaper and more reliable than hand-built latches, also lighter and quicker in operation.

The 2017 Concorso Bottesini competition will take place April 18-24. Enrico Fagone and Francisco Donati chat with Jason about the details surrounding this event.

• Salvatore Accardo
• Thierry Barbé (previous podcast guest)
• Jeff Bradetich (previous podcast guest)
• Enrico Fagone (previous podcast guest)
• Eugene Levinson
• Dorin Marc
• Franco Petracchi

Be sure to check out the website for Associazione Bottesini and follow along with this organization!

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D'Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

Enter our latest string giveaway for Helicore strings at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Hosting for Contrabass Conversations is provided by Bass Capos. Bass Capos are an excellent choice for any bass player using or looking to implement a double bass extension. Easy to install and adjust, cheaper and more reliable than hand-built latches, also lighter and quicker in operation.

Enrico Fagone teaches and performs in Lugano, Switzerland near the Italian border. He's also incredibly active as a soloist and master class teacher.

Enrico's musical journey has continued to evolve in exciting ways throughout his career, and we dig into topics like:

• switching to German bow
• becoming deeply involved with yoga and meditation
• how becoming a father changed his world view
• Japanese audiences and their enthusiasm for bass and classical music
• his ever-evolving approach to teaching and performing music
• studying conducting

...and much more!

• Enrico's website
• Enrico's YouTube channel
• Enrico's Bottesini Duets album

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D'Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

Enter our latest string giveaway for Helicore strings at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Hosting for Contrabass Conversations is provided by Bass Capos. Bass Capos are an excellent choice for any bass player using or looking to implement a double bass extension. Easy to install and adjust, cheaper and more reliable than hand-built latches, also lighter and quicker in operation.

I sat down with event organizer Will Timmons of mockauditions.com to chat about all the details.

Join former podcast guest and National Symphony bassist Ira Gold, Dr. Noa Kageyama of The Bulletproof Musician, Colin Williams of the New York Philharmonic, and several others for this unique and powerful event.

We have a special code for Contrabass Conversations listeners for this event. If you enter 'contrabass20' at checkout, you will receive $20 off any pass you purchase.

I'm also thrilled to be a presenter on this esteemed panel. I'll be presenting lessons I learned from interviewing over 25 audition winners for my Winning the Audition book.

Many times you may run into a wall when it comes to your audition taking. What keeps you from playing your best? Could it be fear, anxiety, lack of preparation, not trusting yourself? There is a long list of things that contribute to a less-than-optimal performance and every person has a unique set of issues to work through.

We all need to be able to perform our best in any given situation. It's time to get rid of those issues and allow ourselves the chance we deserve at winning our next audition. That is why the Audition Breakthrough Summit was created.

In this summit, we will focus on improving our MINDSET, STRATEGY, and FLOW. These three components are essential for achieving your audition goals. Each session will relate to at least one of these components, giving you the tools you need to excel and achieve your goals.

Remember to enter 'contrabass20' at checkout and receive $20 off any pass you purchase!

I first met Patrick Neher when I was an 18-year-old student at Northwestern University, and I've followed along with his career ever since.

Honestly, I can't believe that it has taken me this long to interview him for the podcast!

After teaching at the University of Arizona for 28 years, Patrick has relocated to Bellingham, Washington. He is immersed in composing new works... including two new double bass concertos!

• growing up in New Mexico
• attending Juilliard and studying with David Walter (be ready for a funny story about this!)
• taking his bass on the subway and surviving blackouts in New York City
• meeting François Rabbath and switching rom a block technique to an open hand technique
• how the right hand is core to Rabbath's approach
• Patrick's "natural tempo, natural forms" approach

We also feature several excerpts from Patrick's wonderful solo albums. It was a pleasure to spend some time with this active artist who has contributed so much to the double bass!

• Patrick's website
• Patrick demonstrating "natural forms" approach (YouTube)
• Patrick discussing pivoting (YouTube)
• Recordings from Patrick:
  • Ensemble
  • Soliloquy
  • Music 4 Friends
  • Music for Friends, Two!

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D'Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

Enter our latest string giveaway for Helicore strings at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Hosting for Contrabass Conversations is provided by Bass Capos. Bass Capos are an excellent choice for any bass player using or looking to implement a double bass extension. Easy to install and adjust, cheaper and more reliable than hand-built latches, also lighter and quicker in operation.

Sometimes I get a guest recommendation repeatedly, which is a sure sign that I need to sit down with them and do an interview.

Tracy is an active performer and teacher in the Cleveland area. Formerly the Assistant Principal Bassist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, Tracy currently serves as Principal Bass for CityMusic Cleveland.

She has also performed with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, and Carmel Bach Festival.

• studying with Paul Ellison and Ed Barker
• playing in the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, CA
• moving to Ohio
• attending George Vance's summer bass workshop
• starting to teach the double bass to 5-year-olds
• the brilliance of the Suzuki "Mother Tongue" concept
• how focusing on sound above all else is critical for teaching beginners
• learning how 90% of playing the cello happens pre-Twinkle

...and much more!

This was a fun conversation for me--Tracy is doing great things for the bass!

• Tracy's Oberlin page
• Tracy performing Reitba by François Rabbath (YouTube)
• Playing the String Game by Phyllis Young (a book Jason mentions)

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D'Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

Enter our latest string giveaway for Helicore strings at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Hosting for Contrabass Conversations is provided by Bass Capos. Bass Capos are an excellent choice for any bass player using or looking to implement a double bass extension. Easy to install and adjust, cheaper and more reliable than hand-built latches, also lighter and quicker in operation.

Emilio Guarino has just launched a Kicksarter campaign for his chromatic. Support has been great so far, but clock is ticking, so be sure to check out the campaign and pre-order or pledge your support!

Check out Emilio's full Contrabass Conversations interview if you haven't--it was a great conversation!

Originally from Ireland, Bernard O'Neill has been a bassist, arranger, and educator for over 30 years. He works regularly with Sinead O'Connor and Rufus Wainwright, and he recently put out a project called Syriana: The Road to Damascus.

• how double bass has actually been in Middle Eastern music for a long time
• how North African orchestras always had double basses, from the colonial times onward
• different scales used in Arabic music and how specific the quarter tones and decorations are
• bass section proclivities
• micing techniques for orchestra
• how he got into arranging (his grandfather was an arranger and a band major in the British army)
• how many talented arrangers came out of Dublin with Bernard
• deep and multifaceted discussion around teaching improvisation to advanced string players
• how Bernard structures his writing and balances it with performing, teaching, and other projects

Bernard is doing great things for the music world, and it was a pleasure to sit down and chat with him!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to your inbox!

Learn how you can support the show at contrabassconversations.com/support

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D'Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

Enter our latest string giveaway for Helicore strings at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Hosting for Contrabass Conversations is provided by Bass Capos. Bass Capos are an excellent choice for any bass player using or looking to implement a double bass extension. Easy to install and adjust, cheaper and more reliable than hand-built latches, also lighter and quicker in operation.

It was a ton of fun to sit down with Clarineat podcast host Sean Perrin! Sean is a fellow music podcaster and just hit his one-year anniversary of podcasting, and we got a chance to sit down and dig into what he has learned in the process.

• formulating good questions
• doing research
• booking guests
• keeping the flow of conversation going
• where he sees the podcast going in the future

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to your inbox!

Learn how you can support the show at contrabassconversations.com/support

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D'Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

Enter our latest string giveaway for Helicore strings at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Hosting for Contrabass Conversations is provided by Bass Capos. Bass Capos are an excellent choice for any bass player using or looking to implement a double bass extension. Easy to install and adjust, cheaper and more reliable than hand-built latches, also lighter and quicker in operation.