Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2018 7:31 am Posts: 416 Location: Zürich
Have you tried Dual Bass Reciprocal?
Hello guys,
The title is pretty self-explanatory: Have you tried Dual Bass Reciprocal? If so, What is your opinion?
The reason I'm asking is that on my new-to-me stick I have classic tuning and I'm starting to like the whole concept of 4ths and 5ths. I guess I finally got over the wrong idea of thinking that the stick is a bass+guitar sharing a fretboard and accepted it as what it is. I was going a bit crazy trying to find tunings that would give me a guitar & a bass in terms of range, feel and fret spacing, but that is over now.
I'm learning with the copy of Free Hands that I have, Crain's free book and Greg's videos. Also, improvising and messing around on my own to get to know the fretboard. For the latter, I mostly tap with both hands on the bass side, which gives me a great range due to the 5ths tuning (yay! I like it now ). And since one of my main inspirations to learn the stick is Tony Levin, and he started by playing only the bass side, I figured that I may not be too far off track.
My question again rises from being able to play both melody and bass on the bass side alone. Which advantages would be by having an extra bass side on the melody part of the stick? As a former bass player and guitar player, I've learned that I'm more comfortable with the mid & low end of the spectrum. So, "losing" some high notes by having two basses on DBR is not an issue for me.
Cheers, Walter
P.S. PM if you live in Zürich and want to jam. P.P.S. I know that DBR may not be possible with my current polycarbonate stick. Still, I'm considering it if I (hopefully soon) order a new stick.
_________________ "I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me."
Hi Walt. I’ve tried DBR. This was about 4-5 years of playing with MR. I did have the luxury of two Sticks so I never had to fully commit. It’s a cool tuning but I ended up missing the sweetness of upper range melody so I never spent too much time with the tuning.
Greg Howard has a video out there, probably on his channel that demonstrates what can be done with DBR.
You’ve mentioned that you’re currently just tapping the bass side. When I got my first Stick I was doing the same thing.......soon you will discover the melody side and branch out. I would suggest staying with your classic tuning, or do what JRJ has suggested ( which is what I did when I first went to MR).......loosen the melody side a whole step. The strings will be slightly sloppier but not too bad. The intonation “hit” you will take will be negligible.
I love DBR. I think more than other tunings it turns the Stick into one unified instrument, with fouths in one direction and fifths in the other. There's no odd-man interval between the two sides.
You can still play and think about it as a divided board, but its advantage is its continuity of fourths and fifths, making it easier to approach as a single entity. It also makes it easier to read and play parts written for bass.
Sonically, I consider it somewhat like a cello on the right-hand side and a bass on the left-hand side, with lots of overlap. And especially with 12 strings, the highs are plenty high for chords and melodies.
I played only MR for years thinking I had no need for a second tuning. Then I stumbled upon Greg's Rain Dodgers video and almost immediately ordered a DBR Grand.
I love DBR. I think more than other tunings it turns the Stick into one unified instrument, with fouths in one direction and fifths in the other. There's no odd-man interval between the two sides.
You can still play and think about it as a divided board, but its advantage is its continuity of fourths and fifths, making it easier to approach as a single entity. It also makes it easier to read and play parts written for bass.
Sonically, I consider it somewhat like a cello on the right-hand side and a bass on the left-hand side, with lots of overlap. And especially with 12 strings, the highs are plenty high for chords and melodies.
I played only MR for years thinking I had no need for a second tuning. Then I stumbled upon Greg's Rain Dodgers video and almost immediately ordered a DBR Grand
John, we still have that relationship (4th,5th) when we use classic tuning or matched reciprocal.....so I’m not sure what you’re getting at here.
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2018 7:31 am Posts: 416 Location: Zürich
Re: Have you tried Dual Bass Reciprocal?
kevin-c wrote:
john.e wrote:
I love DBR. I think more than other tunings it turns the Stick into one unified instrument, with fouths in one direction and fifths in the other. There's no odd-man interval between the two sides.
John, we still have that relationship (4th,5th) when we use classic tuning or matched reciprocal.....so I’m not sure what you’re getting at here.
Hi Kevin, thank you for your reply and the video! The way I understand John's reply, is that he doesn't mean that now we have 4ths AND 5ths; because, as you said it, we have it in almost every tuning. What I think he's saying is that by having a bass in 4ths PLUS another bass in 5ths, the continuity is seamless between both parts of the stick, i.e. the "jump" in pitch from the two lowest strings with any other tuning is not there anymore. With DBR, the two lowest strings are connected and you can combine licks in the same fret position.
Did I get that right, John?
_________________ "I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me."
Hi Kevin, thank you for your reply and the video! The way I understand John's reply, is that he doesn't mean that now we have 4ths AND 5ths; because, as you said it, we have it in almost every tuning. What I think he's saying is that by having a bass in 4ths PLUS another bass in 5ths, the continuity is seamless between both parts of the stick, i.e. the "jump" in pitch from the two lowest strings with any other tuning is not there anymore. With DBR, the two lowest strings are connected and you can combine licks in the same fret position.
Did I get that right, John?
Yes, that's what I meant. Because of this, you have a pivot string in the middle, the fattest one. It serves as the lowest note on both string sets. To me this is the magic of DBR.
Another cool thing is that the string gauges feel more uniform. I have medium gauge, and they feel pretty heavy even on the highest strings. This makes the whole instrument feel more like one big bass than a bass plus guitar.
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). And since one of my main inspirations to learn the stick is Tony Levin, and he started by playing only the bass side, I figured that I may not be too far off track.
