Electric Balloon Tour, Day 4
Oberlin ended up being pretty much the best college show we’ve played. The venue had big delicious cookies and the best root and ginger...
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Ethan Bassford
Feb 20, 20144 min read
Electric Balloon Tour, Day 2
Preparing for tour is a drawn-out, stressful affair. No matter how many times you’ve done it, you always forget to pack something, and...
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Ethan Bassford
Feb 11, 20142 min read
The most excited I’ve ever been about a sandwich that didn’t even have any meat or anyth
I’ve been going to Commodore for years now. It has great happy hour (3 dollars for good stuff like Harpoon, in a neighborhood where it’s...
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Ethan Bassford
Feb 7, 20144 min read
You Can Never Escape Math Class: The Fretboard as a Grid
Another excerpt from “How Do I Bass?”. See also this post about how the fretboard is not a grid. In the actual book this chapter will...
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Ethan Bassford
Feb 5, 20143 min read
Road Story: High school punk smoothie scene
Working on a long post about abstracting the fretboard, but the visual aspect is taking a while. In the meantime, here’s another road...
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Ethan Bassford
Feb 3, 20145 min read
Road Work
Ava Luna is going on tour! We will be accompanied by Krill, who are an excellent group of musicians and humans. I look forward to...
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Ethan Bassford
Feb 1, 20143 min read
Road Story: Sharon and the Sad Fan
The first of a series of stories about things that happen on tour. Expect more on our upcoming tour! We are on tour opening for Sharon...
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Ethan Bassford
Feb 1, 20148 min read
Your Set
Apologies for the inactivity while I adjust to the rhythms of sedentary post-tour life. Until I get my shit together to start producing...
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 30, 20143 min read
Perception Exercise 3: The Sounds are Coming from Inside the Sound
When a string or whatever object vibrates at a constant rate you assign a pitch to it, but there is never only one pitch. The string...
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 28, 20144 min read
Pete Seeger: “I make my living as a banjo picker– sort of damning, in some people’
My summer camp used to take all the kids on a trip to see Pete Seeger every year. We would sail on his boat, the Clearwater, and spend a...
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 28, 20141 min read
Time for the Bass Solo
It is the 19th century, when Britain ruled the waves, and Dr. Livingstone and his band of missionaries are floating down the Zambezi...
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 27, 20142 min read
In Praise of the Nerdy Pick Holder: The Pocket Protector of Stringed Instruments
This is a Jim Dunlop “Scotty” pick holder. It costs two or three dollars, and if you don’t own one you should stop what you’re doing and...
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 24, 20141 min read
Ancient Chinese blues
Love this guy’s poise. Awesome harmonic runs towards the end like it’s not even a thing. Click through for video. #video
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 22, 20141 min read
NY Pizza Suprema
I am far from the first to shout out the superlative quality of NY Pizza Suprema, but let me just say: believe the hype. This pizza has...
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 21, 20142 min read
Kimchi in my Sandwich I know, I know, it’s serious
It’s no secret I love Vanessa’s Dumpling. Ideally the one on Eldridge, but they’re all a certain level of good. Everything is cheap, and...
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 21, 20147 min read
Should I move to New York/Austin/wherever?
The following is an excerpt from the other book I’m working on, tentatively titled Minimize Your Suck: Unsolicited Advice for You and...
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 19, 20145 min read
Technology, Constraints, and why I love my Scordatura
Another excerpt from my upcoming book tentatively titled “How Do I Bass?” Music is all about constraints. You can’t avoid them, so you...
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 19, 20142 min read
Perception Exercise 2: G = G ^ ~G
Set the EQ flat on your bass and amp. If you normally use an overdriven or “hot” sound, set it to clean. Play an open G. Play it a bunch....
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 19, 20142 min read
Perception Exercise 1: The Whole Hog
This is one of the few exercises you should do without a metronome. You are not aiming for perfect execution, you are evaluating what is....
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Ethan Bassford
Jan 19, 20142 min read
Pitch <> Sound: The Fretboard as an Irreducible Whole That Refuses to Submit to Abstraction Despite
When you’re starting out with a teacher, you are probably told that the fretboard is a grid, but this is only half true. The fretboard is...
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