Here are a few cool items going on around the classical music blogosphere. Stay tuned later this week for some new articles and interesting items from yours truly. We’ve got all kinds of interesting projects percolating in the background…

Because Shut Up, That’s Why!

Drew McManus and I recently did a series of podcast episodes with Lyric Opera Orchestra members Frank Babbitt and Collins Trier and Lyric Opera principal librarian (and Inside The Arts columnist) John Rosencrans. This was a lot of fun to do–these three guys are both knowledgeable and entertaining, and I had a great time participating.

The second episode in this installment features music from the Chicago Symphony and bassist DaXun Zhang. Check it out at www.insidethearts.com/podcasts. You can check out this most recent episode (which I’m hosting) below. There’s a lot of good bass talk in this one!

Thoughts on standing and sitting

My post discussing the various advantages of standing and sitting (with photos of me demonstrating these various postures and stances) generated some interesting follow-up posts from some other double bass bloggers.

Joe Lewis wrote an excellent follow-up post on this topic, reflecting on his experiences as both a stander and a sitter. Joe (like me) was a cello-style sitter for a long time, and switched to a standing position during his studies with Don Palma. Interestingly, Joe feels that the French bow lends itself to a seated position, while the German bow is more suited to a standing position. Very interesting–check out the complete post here.

Personally, I began my career standing (like most bassists), then switched to a bizarre foot-on-chair standing position, then was ridiculed so much that I moved to a seated position with my foot on a rung, then switched to a low stool and a seated position, then switched to a medium stool height with a guitar footstool, then to a drum throne with guitar footstool, theeen switched to both feet flat on the floor with an angled stool, and finally to a traditional standing position, using a regular wooden stool for orchestra gigs.

How’s that for trying everything under the sun? This is actually par for the course for most bassists!

Double bassist Chantal Incandela (who has left us comments before for both the blog and the podcast) shares her own experiences standing and sitting. Like many bassists, she began as a stander and switched to sitting, and shares a funny experience about being stuck an instrument that’s too big for her while standing in some pretty spiky heels. Check it out here (along with some photos of the shoes in question and how she dealt with playing the bass).

Muti bears a striking resemblance to……

Michael Hovnanian (Chicago Symphony bassist and Contrabass Conversations guest) discovered a striking resemblance between the Chicago Symphony’s new music director and a certain favorite fantasy character. Check it out here!