Old Acoustic

When I was a film student, I made a documentary short titled “Il Contrabasso.” It’s about Brady Ward, an acoustic bass player, and his thoughts about the instrument. He was also a student at the time and taught me, informally, how to play the bass. I actually never took any real lessons, but the bass ended up being one of my main instruments. Here’s the film, about 4 minutes long:

As Brady mentions in the film, the acoustic bass, and really all acoustic instruments, have a quality that is soothing and natural, almost healing. For me, the acoustic bass is sort of the epitome of acoustic-ness. You add that acoustic bass sound, and the whole recording is suddenly four times bigger, organic and rich.

I suppose most musicians who specialize in a particular instrument have an irrational love for their instrument. I remember my piano teacher looking at me and, in a very scientific tone, explaining what to her was a simple, obvious fact. She said, “You know Geoff, the piano is actually the most beautiful instrument ever invented.” And that was that. It wasn’t an opinion. And it certainly wasn’t to be argued with. It was as if this fact had been proven by extensive polling and irrefutable scientific studies. The earth is round, not flat. And it really doesn’t matter what other instruments you play. The piano is the most beautiful instrument ever invented. Period. (By the way, I kind of agree with her.)

I’d love to hear about your favorite instruments and why you love them. Even if it’s totally irrational.