Call for Salsa players... SBM video project

S

salsa4fun

Changui
Jason Ortiz ("jasonconbongos") and I are making a short promotional video to the Salsa Beat Machine. The general idea is to switch between showing people playing the real, actual instruments (congas, timbales, piano, etc.) to the Salsa Beat Machine playing the same instruments from the iPhone.

We therefore need some short video clips of people playing, the more variety the better.

Requirements:
- Some musical instrument you know how to play on pretty well
- HD camera
- A spare hour or two

The instruments we need the most are Timbales and Bass (is there anyone here who can play a cello? Maybe you know some good player?), though other instruments such as Guiro, Clave, Cowbell, Maracas, Piano, Congas, etc. can also be useful.

We will need to short clips of you playing: one at 150BPM, and one at 180BPM.

I would love to have some of the users here participate and appear in this video, I hope we will be able to make this rock! So if you got an instrument, HD camera, and a little free time, write it here and we will get this rolling...

Thanks!
 
Well, of all the instruments you mentioned I have all but the bass and cello (do they even use that in salsa?) and can play all fairly well. Obviously, my strengh is congas, but I also play timbales and piano, and of course the other little percs like maracas, guira and bongos/bongo bell. Let me know and I'd be glad to (I am out of town for a week or so but would LOVE to do this when I get back. :D

"EL conguero" :)
 
El Conguero said:
Well, of all the instruments you mentioned I have all but the bass and cello (do they even use that in salsa?) and can play all fairly well. Obviously, my strengh is congas, but I also play timbales and piano, and of course the other little percs like maracas, guira and bongos/bongo bell. Let me know and I'd be glad to (I am out of town for a week or so but would LOVE to do this when I get back. :D

"EL conguero" :)
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Great, what's your email address ?


And yes, they use cello to play the bass in Salsa, even though now many bands use electric bass, and I have also seen performances where they were short in players so the pianist played the bass using his left hand on the Synth keyboard...
 
Cool

I have seen the electric bass and synth on piano but didn't know they used a cello. I have seen youtube videos of Cuban groups playing son and I guess that was the big bass thing they were playing (never even seen one before lol).

But anyway, I would rather not give out my e-mail address on SF for all to see, but if you PM me I'll send it 2u that way. Looking forward to helping with this. :)
 
El Conguero said:
I have seen the electric bass and synth on piano but didn't know they used a cello. I have seen youtube videos of Cuban groups playing son and I guess that was the big bass thing they were playing (never even seen one before lol).

But anyway, I would rather not give out my e-mail address on SF for all to see, but if you PM me I'll send it 2u that way. Looking forward to helping with this. :)
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Exactly, I have discovered that too a few months ago, when I saw the New Swing Sextet preparing for a live show. They were tuning their instruments, and then began playing a few tunes to check the settings... It was in the annual Israeli Salsa congress, and even though it was almost dinner time, and everybody were at their hotel rooms, I was fortunate to find some girl sitting at the lobby and get a couple of dances with her. Imagine how fun it was to dance when a whole bands plays just for you and your follower :-)
In in the middle of all that I noticed that the bass player was playing on a cello, then I went to youtube to see that this is a common practice.
You can see that in the Salsa Beat Machine I also use a cello icon for the bass, a few months ago I used an icon of an electric guitar but I have changed it since.

Anyway, back to topic - I have PM'ed you as you requested...
 
salsa4fun said:
And yes, they use cello to play the bass in Salsa,
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salsa4fun, although similar in size to a cello, what you are referring to is an Ampeg Baby Bass. It is the standard bass instrument in salsa. It is an electric instrument, unlike the cello which is acoustic. What the player in New Swing Sextet is playing is a variation on the Ampeg -- there are many "knock-offs" and copies. The Ampeg baby bass has not been manufactured for several decades now. A picture of the Ampeg Baby Bass: http://www.senny.com/6.jpg
 
groovetpt said:
salsa4fun, although similar in size to a cello, what you are referring to is an Ampeg Baby Bass. It is the standard bass instrument in salsa. It is an electric instrument, unlike the cello which is acoustic. What the player in New Swing Sextet is playing is a variation on the Ampeg -- there are many "knock-offs" and copies. The Ampeg baby bass has not been manufactured for several decades now. A picture of the Ampeg Baby Bass: http://www.senny.com/6.jpg
Click to expand...

Good to know... Even though I remember having seen some references mention cello as the instrument of bass in Salsa. How much does a baby-like cost? Is it like an electric cello ?
 
salsa4fun said:
Good to know... Even though I remember having seen some references mention cello as the instrument of bass in Salsa. How much does a baby-like cost? Is it like an electric cello ?
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I have never seen a cello used in a salsa band or on any salsa recordings. And I don't know what an original Ampeg baby bass might go for on ebay or in a used instrument shop. And I'm sure the various knock-offs vary in price and quality. A professional latin bass player would be your best source of information on all this.

I can say it's not like an electric cello, because it is not a cello. A cello is a hollow body acoustic instrument and is played with a bow. However, a cello can be modified to become "electric" by use of a pickup (just check out Dana Leong).

The baby bass is a solid body electric instrument that requires an amplifier to be heard and is played with the fingers -- it is not bowed. It is more of a descendant of the double bass -- but much smaller, hence the term "baby bass". If you want to know what a double bass is then check out Cachao López.

I hope that helps.
 
groovetpt said:
I have never seen a cello used in a salsa band or on any salsa recordings. And I don't know what an original Ampeg baby bass might go for on ebay or in a used instrument shop. And I'm sure the various knock-offs vary in price and quality. A professional latin bass player would be your best source of information on all this.

I can say it's not like an electric cello, because it is not a cello. A cello is a hollow body acoustic instrument and is played with a bow. However, a cello can be modified to become "electric" by use of a pickup (just check out Dana Leong).

The baby bass is a solid body electric instrument that requires an amplifier to be heard and is played with the fingers -- it is not bowed. It is more of a descendant of the double bass -- but much smaller, hence the term "baby bass". If you want to know what a double bass is then check out Cachao López.

I hope that helps.
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I was wondering about this a lot. I think people are referring to the double bass when they say cello. Like you say, the ampeg baby bass is an upright bass about the size of a cello. A double-bass playing friend of mine says it sucks to play.

A lot of players now use a bass guitar, but mute it with a sponge placed under the strings near the bridge, to get the percussive, fast-decay sound of the baby bass. Our bass player does that and it sounds great.
 
sweavo said:
A lot of players now use a bass guitar, but mute it with a sponge placed under the strings near the bridge, to get the percussive, fast-decay sound of the baby bass. Our bass player does that and it sounds great.
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I'm sure your bass player is killin' but in New York the standard in salsa always has been and still is the Ampeg baby bass. Andy Gonzalez plays it. Joe Santiago plays it. Ruben Rodriguez plays it. Guillermo Edgehill plays it (and he majored in double bass at Julliard). Jerry Madera plays it. On and on... Victor Venegas used to play it. It's the standard. I'm sure it's the same in Puerto Rico.
 
groovetpt said:
I'm sure your bass player is killin' but in New York the standard in salsa always has been and still is the Ampeg baby bass. Andy Gonzalez plays it. Joe Santiago plays it. Ruben Rodriguez plays it. Guillermo Edgehill plays it (and he majored in double bass at Julliard). Jerry Madera plays it. On and on... Victor Venegas used to play it. It's the standard. I'm sure it's the same in Puerto Rico.
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You're talking like the baby bass is holy and inviolable, like it's a Mac or something! Did this all come out of my assertion that one friend of mine says they're horrible to play?

You say it "still is" the standard, yet also that it hasn't been manufactured for several decades now. Is it that we can henceforth only have five salsa bands because there are only 5 baby basses left in NYC?

I don't actually know who those (undoubtedly famous and excellent) bass players are but I've seen plenty of videos online with bass guitar and I've seen cachao with a double bass, so I'm not going to set up a shrine to the baby bass in my home just yet.

That's not to say I think it's a bad instrument or sound... whenever I've been aware that I'm listening to a baby bass I've liked the sound.
 
sweavo said:
You're talking like the baby bass is holy and inviolable, like it's a Mac or something! Did this all come out of my assertion that one friend of mine says they're horrible to play?

You say it "still is" the standard, yet also that it hasn't been manufactured for several decades now. Is it that we can henceforth only have five salsa bands because there are only 5 baby basses left in NYC?

I don't actually know who those (undoubtedly famous and excellent) bass players are but I've seen plenty of videos online with bass guitar and I've seen cachao with a double bass, so I'm not going to set up a shrine to the baby bass in my home just yet.

That's not to say I think it's a bad instrument or sound... whenever I've been aware that I'm listening to a baby bass I've liked the sound.
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Hey Sweavo, relax man. Why the defensiveness and sarcasm? I complimented your bass player (and in a prior thread stated how swingin' your band is, which I meant sincerely) and then simply stated the situation in New York City. The truth is that 9 out of 10 Salsa gigs here in New York you will see the bass player playing an Ampeg Baby Bass. Plain and simple. There must be something to it. I know bass players that have moved here from Venezuela and Ecuador who play the Ampeg, because they want to work in salsa bands. No shrines needed, just stating some facts. And there are a lot more of the instruments out there than you think.

As for your point of the instrument not being manufactured for several decades now, well so are many other instruments that are standards in various styles of music. Sometimes, there is just something about a particular period in time, the workmanship, materials, design, sound, etc. that endure over time, long after manufacturing has stopped. The Martin Committee trumpet hasn't been made since the 1960's yet it is still highly coveted as an instrument in both latin and jazz. Look at the Stradivarius violins in classical orchestras. Same principle applies to the ampeg bass in Salsa music.

And now back to salsa4fun's interesting project, which this thread is really about.

Take care.
 
And once again, an attempt to answer someone's question has regressed to a debate...

lol just playing with you all. I understand both sides here because I've found myself in a similar situation recently. As many on SF know I also produce merengue, and one of the most basic percussion elements of that genre is the tambora: it's essentially a 2-sided conga, played on the lap with one hand using a stick. These drums are essential to classical merengue and add texture and depth to modern merengue (and some would argue that the sound is not exactly identical to that of a conga).

So... what to do? On one hand, these drums run $500+ on ebay, (I don't even want to think about how much they are from retailers), and their very conga-like sound had got me thinking the rhythm could be played on a conga. Then I found a video that teaches you how. I've recorded it in a few and though it may not be 100% the same thing it's extremely close. On the other hand, Christmas is coming and the actual tambora drum is an option. And that would provide the "correct" sound to go along with the other instruments. But then that's a new drum to learn, new rhythms, etc. But... but... the list of pros and cons goes on :D

So to me, the "realistic" bottom line seems to be work with what you have. I would love to see one of these "baby" basses, but if you can get a very similar sound with a regular bass and sponge, why not? Then someday if you can manage to find the "real thing" there is no longer a need to worry about it. In my situation, I'll be using the conga till I can save up the $ lol :D

Hope that helps,
El Conguero
 
groovetpt said:
Hey Sweavo, relax man. Why the defensiveness and sarcasm? I complimented your bass player (and in a prior thread stated how swingin' your band is, which I meant sincerely) and then simply stated the situation in New York City. The truth is that 9 out of 10 Salsa gigs here in New York you will see the bass player playing an Ampeg Baby Bass. Plain and simple. There must be something to it. I know bass players that have moved here from Venezuela and Ecuador who play the Ampeg, because they want to work in salsa bands. No shrines needed, just stating some facts. And there are a lot more of the instruments out there than you think.

As for your point of the instrument not being manufactured for several decades now, well so are many other instruments that are standards in various styles of music. Sometimes, there is just something about a particular period in time, the workmanship, materials, design, sound, etc. that endure over time, long after manufacturing has stopped. The Martin Committee trumpet hasn't been made since the 1960's yet it is still highly coveted as an instrument in both latin and jazz. Look at the Stradivarius violins in classical orchestras. Same principle applies to the ampeg bass in Salsa music.

And now back to salsa4fun's interesting project, which this thread is really about.
Click to expand...

LOL. I think you pwned me in every way there. I'll shut up now :-)
 
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