He currently is residing in New York City as he finalizes his thesis for a PhD in organology with specialization on the electric guitar- supposedly the first degree of its kind.
Re: Interesting bass but who is that man?
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 11:45 pm
by johnallg
Well, this sure fits into the LOW end forum.
Re: Interesting bass but who is that man?
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:04 am
by FretlessOnly
Looks like he's using a French bow with a rather unorthodox hand-grip. I can understand unorthodox, but a German bow would allow for a more "not-so-ridiculous-looking" bowing grip. That said, coaxing a clean, rich bowing tone out of a low E is not a trivial exercise. I can't imagine how tough it is on those cables.
Re: Interesting bass but who is that man?
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 11:59 am
by johnhall
I don't know much about acoustic instruments like this but I do remember him explaining that the bow, which was made by the maker of the bass was very special, in order to work properly with the also very special strings. There are some other stories about people who have tried to bow this instrument, such as a professional classical musician that was working for some famous movie score composer, and was simply unable to make it work. They hired Matthew to come play the part for them. He was also hired to play it by someone who has issued a sampler kit of the instrument as, again, the other person was unable to make it happen.