[78-L] Use of double bass in dance bands

[DAVID BURNHAM]

In my experience with live dance bands, I've always found an un-amplified double bass provides a very rich foundation for the group.  It is difficult today to find a jazz or dance band with a bass with no amplifier and I feel the sound suffers.  The reason for this may well be that inspite of the fact that a 16 piece band can put out a lot of sound power, they insist now on having mikes for every instrument, and the mikes are turned up loud enough to over-power the acoustic sound, making the whole business sound like a bad recording.  A few years ago I was recording a Glenn Miller style band in Parry Sound.  They had sent a tech list requesting mikes for every stand.  I asked the crew to hide all of their mikes and tell the band that Parry Sound is a small town and they didn't have elaborate sound systems.  So the band played the concert acoustically, (except for the vocalists), and afterwards they were thrilled with the sound and said they wished
 they had the courage to play that way more often, (the beginning of the concert was pretty wimpy because the players were used to just playing into a mike rather than projecting into the hall but once they overcame that, the sound was very exciting).

db