Using Cello as a stand up bass ?

[Charlieshafer]

Or, just in case you wanted to get into bluegrass cello bowing:

[Johnny60]

The Ronstadt Generations band (Michael J Ronstadt and his two sons) use a cello. One of the sons plays cello in every song, ranging from bowed to plucked. He's a great player and even does fiddle tunes on it!

[zedmando]

Ever heard a cello & flute do a duet?

that can sound very cool...

[John Adrihan]

I might look into this.... a used cello 100 bucks, some rubber strings, a very portable thumper to bring to a jam instead of lugging the big bass around. beats a wash tub any how.

[John L]

Check out Oyster Band. Not sure what tuning he uses, but Chopper uses a cello as bass. Standing up with a long peg.

[foldedpath]

I might look into this.... a used cello 100 bucks, some rubber strings, a very portable thumper to bring to a jam instead of lugging the big bass around. beats a wash tub any how.

Well, if you tune it down to EADG with rubber strings, we're back to the problem of whether anyone will hear it in a typical acoustic jam, especially if it's a cheap cello with a plywood top. It's just not designed to be driven that way, at that pitch.

All the situations mentioned in this thread where a cello is used in a band are amplified. That's where it can work, although personally I still think a cello is best played as a cello (both pizz and arco) in a setting like the Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas duo.

If you want an acoustic bass sound at a jam without lugging a big bass around, and if you can get the group to accept amplification, I think a better bet is a Kala U-Bass -- one of those little ukulele things with rubber strings and a pickup. Then get a compact battery-powered bass amp. That combo is more portable than carrying a cello in a gig bag. And it will sound like a bass.

[Richard Eskite]

They're more likely to be playing this sort of stuff, though

Haas Kowert Tice

That's Natalie's sister, Brittany. She's pretty great, too. I saw her and Darol Anger playing together in Cape Breton a couple of years ago. Natalie was there, too.

[EdHanrahan]

Michael G. Ronstadt (Linda R's nephew) plays cello both as bass, on country/rockabilly stuff, as well as bowed... beautifully. IIRC, he went to Julliard for... you know, that training. I've seen him live twice in VERY small venues, but couldn't find a bass-ish YouTube to add here.

He plays in a folkish duo, and with his dad in Ronstadt Generations. We've spoken but I assumed that he was in standard cello tuning.

[ombudsman]

Interesting post and interesting comments. Just in passing -- and I do not mean to distract from the original post -- but Pops1's comment above about a jazz guy tuning his bass is 5ths is also intriguing ... For a bass, does anyone think you'd need to change string gauges to do so? Or would regular bass strings work (and should we go "up" or "down?" Thanks!

The range is greater and different strings are required. There are several variations of fifths tuning, covered on this page. Red Mitchell was a great jazz bassist who switched to this tuning and used it for a lot of his career.

http://www.lemurmusic.com/Spirocore-.../products/320/

[ombudsman]

As others have said, cello as the bass instrument in a group can be very cool. Ron Carter, Ray Brown, and Fred Katz have made a lot of good jazz recordings using cello. It will never sound like an acoustic double bass, not just because of the lows but also because of the difference in midrange and attack. I suppose a tricked out cello could get close to a dark, not too natural, obviously amplified upright bass sound, but it would be a lot of trouble and expense for something unlikely to beat a U bass.

[Charlieshafer]

To use the cello as a substitute bass properly, you really do need to use the bow to get the snap and growl that you can get with a double bass without the bow. It's just a quieter instrument. Something like this is a wild and wooly example, but it gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. More genteel versions would be by Natalie Haas, Tristan Clarridge and Maria DiMeglio of Harpeth Rising.

[Perry Babasin]

My Dad was a pioneer of Jazz Pizzicato cello in the 50s and he did tune to fourths... This is a fun old TV show from the LA area. The intro is very silly but the band is pretty cool! PS, I think Chris Thile took stage-face lessons from my Dad!