[78-L] question for dance band experts

[Mark Bardenwerper]

Long ago and far away,

On 10/24/2012 7:59 AM, neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com ecrit:
> I'm thinking about acoustic dance bands. When they performed live in the
> day, did they use the same instrumentation as they used for recordings,
> such as tubas for the low end, or did they have other instruments, such
> as string bass?
>
> I am thinking that they used more conventional instrumentation for live
> performances, whatever that would be. Same as classical performances.
> Would appreciate a confirmation or correction.
And now on the subject, "Use of double bass in dance bands":

Belated response to this thread, and apologies for that. My experience has been, and that comes from merely from listening to lots and lots of dance records from 1918-34, is that while the brass bass dominates before 1928 both brass bass and string bass are used interchangeably in this whole period. There are very early dance records from around 1920 that use bass clarinet or bassoon in that role as well. And the brass bass doesn't necessarily disappear from the scene after 1928; witness this Fletcher Henderson recording from 1931:https://www.box.com/s/f6hiw1l0crf83tm60jv7  It seems most bass players in jazz/dance bands in that period were capable of playing both, much as a saxophone player in the 1920s was expected to know clarinet too, and several kinds of saxophones and if needed, other reeds such as oboe. If there was a conscious transition from brass bass to string bass, and I'm not sure that it was "conscious" per se, before that it was up to the player or arranger to determine which option sounded better within a given piece. Vince Giordano is the bassist in the Nighthawks and he crams into his little spot on the stage at the Edison Hotel a bass sax, tuba and a metal string bass. You do see similar configurations in old photos of dance bands; I really think it was up to the discretion of the player. Possibly the pluckier sound of the string bass "won" by 1935 simply because it fit better with the tempo of swing music, but note that in the Henderson file the brass bass has no trouble swinging this chart. I play the electric bass regularly and I can attest, yes, if you are a bass player it is easy to detect mistakes in the bass line. But the upside of that is that you can better appreciate really outstanding bass playing when it happens.

Uncle Dave Lewis
uncledavelewis at hotmail.com  	


In this long and interesting set of conversations, we have learned a 
lot. Is it safe to say that this is a chicken/egg thing?
in another attempt to answer the original question, what drove what and 
in which order?

Microphone technology (or not)
recording technology (or not)
emergence, influence and merge of musical styles in writing and 
performance (or not)
?
?

-- 
Mark L. Bardenwerper, Sr.

Technology...thoughtfully, responsibly.

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