musician, such as, for example, Reid Anderson of The Bad Plus, and you have
a sound that combines both the deep, resonating tones of the classical con-
trabass and the speed and tonal flexibility of a bass guitar.
Electric bass guitar ............................................................................
The modern electric bass guitar is the smaller, handier offshoot of the family
of big orchestral basses. In 1951, inspired by the success of the electric
guitar, Leo Fender built the first commercially available electric bass guitar.
As it was designed to be electronically amplified, there was no longer any
need to have a gigantic hollow body to amplify the sound, which meant that a
guitar-sized solid body could be just as deep and loud as a contrabass.
Further modifications to electronic pickups — coil, passive, active, hybrid,
and humbucker — have led to the possibility of creating tones that range
from the grittiest, dirtiest rock and pop to completely pure, clean notes, all
on one instrument.
Generally, the four strings of the bass (electric, acoustic, and upright) are
tuned E-A-D-G, one octave below the lowest four strings of the 6-stringed
guitar. It has a range of E2 to G5 (the second E on the piano keyboard up to
the fifth G). Five- and six-stringed basses have identical tunings to four-string
basses, but they extend the instrument’s range on the low end with a B string
and/or increase its solo capabilities on the high end with a high C string.
However, because it is a stringed instrument, the possibilities of creating
higher and lower tones by using alternate tunings, à la Richard Thompson
or Nick Drake, are considerable.
Acoustic bass ......................................................................................
The acoustic bass is the mellow cousin of the electric bass, and, being born
in the 1970s, is the youngest member of the bass family. The famous Ernie
Ball — famous to people who buy guitar and bass strings and accessories,
that is — invented it in California after hearing the guitarrón used in mariachi
bands.
Nowhere is the difference between an electric and acoustic instrument as
apparent as it is when you compare the electronic and acoustic basses. The
acoustic bass lacks the driving power necessary for pushing a band along
simply because the lowest notes of the instrument are not loud enough to
adequately thump out the pulse of a song over the other instruments. It also
lacks the wicked snap of the electric bass that characterizes so much funk
and rock music. Even with an electric pickup in place to amplify the sound,
an acoustic bass fails miserably as a punchy pop instrument.
Chapter 15: Composing for the Nonstandard Orchestra 189