Contrabass Conversations

Hugh Sung is the ultimate musical entrepreneur.

After years spent teaching at the Curtis Institute of Music, Hugh co-founded AirTurn, a company that produces pedals designed to turn pages on a tablet device.

Hugh is also an author. In fact, he wrote From Paper to Pixels as a result of using tablet devices for reading music.

Now Hugh has moved into the world of podcasting with his show A Musical Life, getting a quarter of a million downloads in only a few months.

In addition, he recently launched A Musical Life Mastermind, a membership site devoted to helping musicians explore opportunities to grown their career.

Learn how he does all of this and much more in this interview!

Hugh's website

A Musical Life (podcast)

A Musical Life Mastermind

AirTurn

Teaching improvisation is like Fight Club.

That's Project Trio's approach, and it's totally compelling.

10 years ago, Peter took all the energy and drive he had for the audition circuit and poured into getting Project Trio off the ground. We talked about it back then.

Fast-forward to the present, and the results of this hard work have paid dividends.

Learn about what Peter did and the results he got in this interview!

Project Trio website

YouTube channel

Danny Ziemann couldn't find a book on bass lines that worked for him.

Now he's released his second volume, and he's looking to expand way beyond that.

Danny is committed to teaching the fundamentals in a clear, step-by-step process. It's a fresh approach to jazz bass pedagogy from the mind of a committed music educator.

Learn more about this dynamic young musician in this interview!

Danny's website

The Low Down Vol. 1 and 2

Lauren Pierce started out on the typical music school path.

In the midst of grad school, Lauren decided to quit. She struck out on her own and asked herself a critical question:

Instead of grad school, Lauren decided to:

- put dozens of videos on YouTube - learn how to write code - build up a worldwide social media following - start a membership site - create video courses - teach Skype lessons

Learn how taking the road less traveled helped Lauren launch her career in this interview!

Lauren's website

Lauren's YouTube channel

Lauren's teaching site

Bowing course on Discover Double Bass

Codeacademy

This is Emilio Guarino. He plays bass.

But that's not all he does. He makes music with computers. He also teaches and performs in many musical styles.

On his blog and Youtube channel, Emilio asks questions like:

• Are you the type of person you'd hire for a gig?
• Are auditions a problem-solving activity or a chance to beat up on yourself?
• When does the real world actually start?

We dig into these topics and much more in this interview!

Emilio's website

Make It (book)

Emilio's YouTube channel

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

The Art of Deception by Nicholas Capaldi

Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

James Clear (writer)

Mark Manson (writer)

Christine Hoock is a tossed salad of musical genres.

Maybe she's playing Phillip Glass. Perhaps she's performing Arvo Pärt. She could even be playing tangos or jamming with a DJ.

But regardless of what she's playing, it's with her beautiful, compelling sound.

Günter Klaus and Franco Petracchi taught her, and she has taken the double bass a new level.

She has total command of the bass and is a compelling world-class artist.

Learn how she does it in this interview!

Resources we covered in this interview:

Christine's website

Christine on YouTube

Christine on the Vanhal Concerto (Strad Magazine)

Contrabajisimo (album)

other albums by Christine

Pablo Aslan breaks bow hairs.

A lot of bow hairs.

In fact, he rivals the guys in the Met for most-frequent rehair at his NYC bow shop.

He also makes killer bass lines. He's truly the Ray Brown of bowed marcato bass lines.

Learn how he does it in this interview!

Resources we covered in this interview:

Pablo's website

AvantangoMedia (Pablo's YouTube channel)

Piazzolla in Brooklyn (album)

Tango Grill (album)

Sam Suggs calls himself an omnivorous musician.

I feel like I'm eating at a fantastic fusion restaurant when I hear Sam's music. I'm not expecting these flavors to work, but they are so good together.

First, he takes a little 1750s galant style.

Next, he adds a dash of Verdi.

He finally tops it off with—I kid you not—Skrillex and Daft Punk.

Then he marches over to a bar and gives it a battle test in front of the patrons.

Learn more about how he works his magic in this interview.

Sam is also kicking off the upcoming International Society of Bassists convention. We dig into what he's planning in our chat, and I know you'll love what he's got in the works.

Sam's website

Sam's YouTube channel

Study with Sam at James Madison University

Music in the Galant Style by Robert Gjerdingen (book recommendation)

On both the blog and the podcast, I've always taken the stance of making things as good as I can and then putting them out in the world without any apologies. Nothing drives me crazy more than listening to a podcast and heading the host apologize for a few minutes about this or that.

I resolved never to do this. I would make the best product I could and then just present it without and excuses or "aw shucks" commentary.

Today, I'm letting loose. This is all the stuff that I have struggled with behind the scenes over the years. All the times I slapped my head in frustration at my missteps.

Check out the accompanying blog post, (featuring similar but not identical content) and enjoy these tales of podcasting gone wrong! You can also check out the three-part series I wrote for ArtsHacker about podcasting for more nuts & bolts information about the technology behind making a podcast.

Thierry Barbé is a man in constant motion.

When he's not performing as principal bass of the Paris National Opera or teaching at the Paris Conservatory, Thierry can be found in all corners of the globe, performing lesser-known gems from the bass repertoire and giving clinics along the way.

He is a technical synthesizer, pulling from many different schools of playing, even incorporating German bow into his bag of techniques.

Thierry is a pioneer in uniting the European double bass community. He organized the first European Bass Conference in 2008 and started the European Society of Bassists shortly after that.

He also has a new CD/DVD, which are must-haves for any bassist. It's available from the Triton label and as an MP3 download on Amazon.

Best of all, Thierry is a warm and caring person who brightens the day of anyone he runs into. I had the good fortune to work with him on the International Society of Bassists board a few years ago, and he brought a marvelous energy to the organization.

Check out the full interview using the audio player, and subscribe to the podcast to get interviews delivered to your inbox or device automatically!

Resources we covered in this interview:

Thierry's website

Thierry's YouTube channel

French Impressions on Amazon (MP3 download)

French Impressions - CD/DVD on Triton