At the Bass/Nature Reunion Camp, Victor Wooten had us explore bass as a
role, not just an instrument. Here is a different instrument that filled that role:
Sorry for the poor picture quality, but its a tradeoff for enlarging and lightening.
The artist is Pamelia and the instrument is a
theramin . . . that eerie-sounding electronic instrument that does OOOEEEEEUOOOOE in 50s sci-fi movies.
It generates a magnetic field and sound is produced when you interupt that field. The vertical antenna controls pitch, the horizontal antenna controls volume.
This woman could play it and make it sound like an upright bass! She played an awesome version of "Autumn Leaves." She keeps perfectly still (moving your body in the field will change the pitch), she played the pitches with her left hand and "plucked" them with her right hand, moving each hand near its antenna to get the right pitch and volume . . . it truly looked like she was playing air bass! You really had to see this to believe it! Very amazingly awesome!
Just think what you would save on strings! Although I would find it very hard to play this way, I have to "move" and "dance" to the music in my own subtle way . . . I don't think I could keep perfectly still except for my hands the way she did.
:)
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