WEBVTT

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Show of hands -

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how many of you in the audience today
know what a double bass is?

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Of those people, how many of you
can actually describe one

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without saying "that big thing"?

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(Laughter)

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Already a smaller percentage
of the general population.

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Let's make that level of refinement
our goal for today.

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To do so, we'll start with the violin.

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Everybody knows what a violin is

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even if you live in a little cave,
you come out now and again,

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and most likely, you've bumped into
a violin some way or another.

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You probably also know what a cello is.

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Maybe you even know the instrument
between a violin and a cello

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called a viola.

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If you don't, however,
you really shouldn't beat yourself up.

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Those able to differentiate a violin

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from either viola
or a stick mixer for that matter

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is already a rather small percentage
of the general population.

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The double bass is the lowest
of the orchestral string instruments:

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that being violin, viola,
cello, double bass respectively.

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Outside of the orchestra,
basses can also be found

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in jazz bands, blues ensembles,
combos, Klezmer bands

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and various other musical constellations.

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Within the orchestra,

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the bass is played bowed,

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either overhand or the French hold,

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or underhand or the German hold,

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or as the Germans themselves
like to call it "the correct hold."

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(Laughter)

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Why those of us outside of France
and Germany play the bow holds we do

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has more often than not
to do with what our teachers played

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and what their teachers played
and so on and so on.

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By the way, in case you're wondering

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why the instrument
is called the double bass,

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it is not because it is twice
as big as a normal bass,

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which, if you hang out with bass players,

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you know there is no such thing
as a normal bass,

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but it is rather to signify

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that it plays twice as low as the cello
or that it doubles the cello line.

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What does this instrument sound like?

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At first glance, the sound
we expect from a bass

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is something along the lines of...

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(Double bass music)

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That's fine and interesting,

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but then, maybe you've also known
a bass in other contexts.

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Maybe you've, I don't know, watched
a few shark movies now and again,

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and known ...

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(Double bass notes
from the "Jaws" theme song)

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Trivia for today:

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a former teacher of mine
actually was the bass player for "Jaws."

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He had come back from a recording session
in New York and said,

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"You wouldn't believe it.
I got paid today to play two notes."

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(Laughter)

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Both of those contexts
aren't really much more

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than we would expect to hear from a tuba.

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If there are any tubists in the audience,

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please, I'm sorry,
if you take exception to this,

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but let's be honest;

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when preparing this talk,

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Microsoft Word didn't even recognize
"tubist" as an actual word.

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(Laughter)

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But I'm thankful for the tuba
because if it weren't for the tuba,

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I actually wouldn't be
standing here today.

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The biggest distinction of my youth

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was that of being one
of the two fattest kids

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in my elementary school and high school.

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So the question is:
what do you do with the fat kid

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to keep him from watching
"Knight Rider" reruns all day?

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Well, you hand him a trombone,

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and if he gets any fatter,
which I unfortunately did,

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then you hand him a tuba.

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I played both, but unfortunately,
practiced neither.

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It wasn't until I discovered
the double bass at the late age of 17

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that actually interested me
enough to practice it,

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and eventually attend the conservatory
in New York, and then eventually decide,

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"Well, the classical music
isn't narrow enough.

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The bass isn't narrow enough.

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I need to study the historic bass,"
which is what this instrument is,

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and I came here in Basel in 2004 to do so.

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If there are any expats in the audience,
you know that after New York,

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the move was a bit
of a gastronomic masochism.

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(Laughter)

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The upside is that I now get to live

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in one of the most culturally rich
and beautiful European cities

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which, let's face it, 
is really not such a bad fate

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for a fat kid from the Catskills
and Long Island.

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(Laughter)

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I do believe the sound on this instrument

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is much more interesting
than the sound of my own voice.

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So I'd like to share with you
one of my favorite pieces

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which is from the classical period,

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which is from the composer
Johann Baptist Wanhal.

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Both, the piece and this instrument,

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were created just about the year 1770.

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(Double bass music notes)

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(Double bass music from the "Double Bass
Concerto in D Major" starts)

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(Double bass music ends)

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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(Applause)