Added: 5 years ago
From: Zachmozach
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  • Wow...

  • what's the point of saying who can do better? None - music is not about who can outplay someone else and if you think it is then you are not a musicians....

  • i know what the top comments say but they are pretty out of tune ... mostly right at the beginning

  • this is why I play my upright every day. In hopes that one day I will have a hundredth of this kind of talent. incredible!!

  • the upright bass is the ultimate jazz instrument. i love my bass. it's so smooth and it has good sustain.

  • NHOP

    3 fingers definitly

    Look closer

  • NHOP: Three fingers, definitly

  • Altogether an amazing performance.

    Both McBride and NHOP are high up on my favorite bassists-list of all time.

  • totally nice session. Very good. I liked it very much

  • realy jazzy bass!amazing!

    

  • Shredfest! \,,/

  • 5:40

  • Wow!!!

  • amazing wow !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • N H O Pedersen absolute best in the world

  • two great bassists together young and old RIP Niels

  • AH!!! NHOP DOES THREE FINGER TECHNIQUE LIKE ME!!!!

  • @UnoEins

    He used 4 fingers.

  • @xuser48

    he never uses four fingers in his right hand. never has.

  • @wynnedixie

    Oh yes he did. He did when I watched him at a concert in Denmark a couple of years before he died.

  • @xuser48 He used 3, not 4.

  • @BaltsDAlts

    He used 4. I have seen it myself at a concert goddammit!

  • @xuser48 I'm sorry, but your wrong. Its clear that he is using three. I don't even think you could play 4 fingers in any sort of practical situation.

    While its really not important how many fingers he used, look closely. His fourth finger moves, but does not strike any strings.

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  • Eh Guys something happened.

  • oh my holy shit. 1:58 JESUSSSSSSS christian. wooooot

  • @tkdmaster3bd i mena 1:53

  • Damn! That double bass prolly called the rape crisis hot line after McBride pwned it

  • That's funny!!

  • I love when they are trading fours and mcbrid start a phrase into the 5 th bar and nhop finishes it.

  • woah! just yesterday I saw Antonio Sanchez , Eric Revis & Joey Calderazzo playing this one...very different rendition of this tune but still cool (both of them!)

  • Bad to the BONE baby

  • For some strange reason, the out of tune bass actually adds something interesting for the performance. I truly enjoyed.

    And it's not because I like McBride or worship NHOP. It was indeed a pleasure to listen.

  • Very nice duo!

  • I have spoken to Christian McBride personally about this recording and he said the sound in the room was horrible, so that could very well be contributing to the intonation, which, as people have noted, is VERY hard to make perfect on an upright bass.

  • the discussion of out of tune is true, and it does not sound intentional. However if anyone here has playd in a bass duo or trio it is not easy to stay in tune because the both instruments have the same timbre so its easy to tell when its out of tune. As good as nhop is it is hard to find those notes up in that register. But who cares if its not in tune, this isnt classical lol.

  • Stop talking rubbish! Niels is playing out off tune purposely to add the feel. Two giants met.

  • @orsted1984 wrong everybody sounds out of tune next to niels

  • This is fucking amazing.......and everyne who wants to diss NHØP - the greatest bass player ever - can just go f... themselves.

  • besides... the intonation is because of the sound recording, it a little bit to fast or too slow....

  • that makes me want to play :)

  • The discussion of beeing out of tune is SADLY true. I wonder what is(was) going on really, to allow this happen. That two such great bass-magicians in most other circumstances can allow this to happen!!!

  • beautiful

  • Actually NHOP and Christian are both out of this world bassists. But NHOP's Intonation is just as off as well when playing backings and comping chords.

    Upright is hard as shit and these two guys can kill anyone so everyone stop nitpickin.

  • this is so great but i wish they wouldn't hit the brown note so many times

  • what? but that's the best note!

  • makes me smile every time i watch this!

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  • NHOP = Double Bass GENIUS! His intonation is great. McBride is fabulous bassist but his intonation is poor compare to NHOP, techinique great, sound not so great. No matter how way out of tune is ... always smiling though : / don't get it ;)

  • i dont think you can judge mcbrides sound on this recording alone even though he might be out of tune at times....have you actually heard him live? hes ridiculous....his sound is so big paint starts to peel off the walls. but yeah his vocabulary is ridiculous along with his phrasing.

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  • stunning.

  • Just going in the ring with NHOP takes balls. You loose the contest but you win the battle in the long run because you dared and learnd some. See the smile on McBrides face and you know its great. NHOP is one of a kind and one of the few great Danes in resant history.He's up there with Michael Laudrup.Wozniacki might get there as well: The undisputed best in their field.There is magic to how easy it looks and how sweet it swings.

  • What phrasing from Pederson starting at 3:22! Wowd.

  • The correct Danish name is Pedersen,

    NIels Henning Ørsted Pedersen most Danes are proud of him. so sad he is no longer among us.

  • Don't talk about the intonation.Start to talk about the music.

  • I love Christian. Such clear bop lines are something of a rarity on bass. Its very refreshing to hear. Like listening to Parker.

  • amazing

  • 2 mostri della "durlindana"

  • I love the double bass.!.

    And these guys really bring out the awesomeness of the instrument....

    Im fourteen and im impressed..

    It takes a lot to impress a teen...

    Lol...

  • They both played with Ray Brown. NHOP in the Montreux 77 Oscar Peterson Trio, and McBride in a bass trio with Milt Hinton, if I'm not wrong

  • @OscarPetersonFan

    Superbass 1 and 2, McBride, Brown and Clayton.

  • @346cta Exactly!!

  • @346cta wrong nhop 1 go to donna lee

  • Take 2 breat acoustic bassists playing a duet. Add one youtube idiot. The result is invariably some inane comment about intonation.

  • You're absolutely correct, I can't believe their intonation has turned into such an issue on this thread! Jeez! I guess it makes all of us who AREN'T McBride or Pederson feel somewhat relevant. If we all were so fucking great at intonation, maybe OUR video would be up for analysis on YouTube, huh?

  • Yes and here's the real trump card: The imperfections are what make it beautiful. If you want midi "perfection" listen to smooth jazz. These idiots remind me of bumpkins who see hand stitched lapel on a beautifully tailored suit jacket and complain "the stitchin' is un even...not like the jacket I got from Wal Mart"

  • pederson has insane chops, but mcbride has the funk in his playing. this was fucking awesome

  • such beautiful playing!!!

  • Bass from Mars!!!

  • I never really liked bass only music

    but this one is strangely good :)

  • i love that bit at 2:20 lol

  • Man, McBrides D-string is way out of tune. They should be able to tune it, while they play... Too bad...

  • it is out of tune.. too bad, they seem like great players. i feel for them, so much can happen in a live performance context over which you have no control!!!!!!!

  • ok, Master! thanks! i can't wait to have this class!! you're amazing!!

  • Alright, I checked out your videos couldn't help but notice that you play electric and as far as I can tell, not upright. When playing an electric intonation is simply a matter of turning the knobs to the right spot while on upright you have to have the knobs in tune and your finger in the exact right position and jazz musicians

  • which these guys are) tend to just get in the general area and call it good. It's not that they're out of tune it's that they're not that worried about it. Don't pass judgement on an instrument you don't play

  • met Christian McBride. he's a cool guy

  • ah now kids..make up and be friends.

  • sry for the area....i meant fields...

  • i'm starting to like jazz more, specially those avant-garde like hadouk trio and john zorn....anybody could indicate me some exotic jazz who explore new areas?

  • Check out Charles Mingus, he was one of the first Avante-Garde players, great composer and bassist

  • Double basses are often not exactly on pitch, particularly when playing together in a duet. They aren't a fixed pitch instrument, so pointing it out seems silly.

    ianenderson, I dig your video, but I can only take your claim that you can "do better" with a grain of salt when you're playing a fretted instrument.

    Watching two jazz legends playing a (rare) double bass duet and all you can say is "Wow, they're out of tune?" That's damn petty.

    And you talk about maturity? Glass houses...

  • What is fixed pitch? But assuming the meaning, why wouldn't they be fixed pitch. There is no excuse for playing out of tune.

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  • I don't claim to know this, but, is it possible that McBride's bass is not so much "out of tune" but that he has simply tuned it "differently" for some purpose? I know that a lot of guitarists do this so why not a bassist? again, I'm not saying that this is what he's done, it's just hard for me to believe that after, god-knows-how-many years of playing that McBride (or Pedersen for that matter) would not have noticed this. If not perfect pitch, I would assume both to have at least relative pitch

  • Let me preface this by saying that both of these players are phenomenal and I love this tune! Most bass players, especially on upright, don't alter the tuning as doing so can be harmful to the instrument. If you play a bum note on a fretless instrument, you can always change the intonation slightly. If one of the strings was out of tune when played open, either of these players could compensate for that. Perfect pitch? Who knows, but both players probably have excellent relative pitch.

  • @robclassact obviously they should have used autotune, all the music greats e.g. bieber do!

    long live double bass, and the joys of fretless fingerboards.

  • @robclassact Well said, I also think to the folks concerned about pitch, have you watched the whole vid? They just get tighter and tighter with the whole piece as they learn each other.... and man that Pederson is ridiculous...

  • @zetabass At 7:45 I was almost jumping out of my seat.

  • Yeah, but what's a quarter tone between friends?

  • I'm not a teenager. I haven't been a teenager for a while now. And my face is clear, thank you. I have respect for people above me - but not for people like you, who are so far below anything intelligent, you barely warrant the energy it takes to type a response.

    Now, gtfo.

  • Mr. Anderson is that you playing the bass on your youtube homepage? The "excercise in G minor"?

  • OH! GOD!

  • and Christian's slide riff at 5:45 is absolutely filthy

  • that's one of the coolest riffs in the whole damn video! Where'd you get that idea from?

  • They are so good... makes me wish Ray was still alive

  • Actually they are pretty well in tune. I would say they are about 90% in tune. And that 10% is not so much dissonance, when there is two double basses. I think it's not very easy to play double bass with another double bass player at the same time, if wants to avoid dissonance... It's about microintervals and very small difference may product some ugly dissonance.

  • so much finger endurance here man...

  • Absolutely fantastic!!!

  • Its not as much the fact that i like the band though they sound ok its just AWESOME MY NAME IS THE SAME ! Christian McBride is my name to =p

  • I love this video - what legendary players. rest in peace NHOP.

  • Christian eats basses for breakfast. true story.

  • can you do any better? seriously...

  • You're not that big jazz-listnener, are ya?

  • Nhøp was my teacher, so about respect...

    And Ed Thigpen says am upcomming. So how about we just agree musicians artical freedom? ;)

  • If you are so much better than them, why aren't you the one in the video?

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  • I hate people like you. Every gig I've ever played, whether in Jazz, Rock, or other genres, there is always the one person who says "you're out of tune!" or "god, that was a sour note at (insert bar/phrase here)". It's obvious that they intended this to be dissonant. Just sit back and enjoy - not everyone wishes to hear your self righteous bullshit.

  • So every gig you play people say you're out of tune.....that kinda speaks for itself now doesn't it.....

  • Yes, someone always claims I am, or some idiot claims I hit a wrong note.

    Despite the fact that I used both a tuning fork and digital tuner on all instruments before the gig, as well as retuning after every song in a few seconds.

  • guys, common...i entered this idiot's page on youtube and thought he played the acoustic bass...wow man...what an idiot! exercise in g minor! boring, poor...aarrrrrgh! hate those people!! ianenderson, you're probably one more guy who plays with your brain exclusively...feel sorry for you...

  • Dude... it's not self-righteous bullshit. I can easily tell that, for example, at 0:48 Christian is flat. Pointing out that even world-famous musicians aren't perfect isn't self-righteous - it's just realistic.  Chill out.

  • No, but insinuating that professional musicians are too dumb to know a quarter note difference is. They tuned this way for a reason.

  • Musicians make mistakes. Nobody ever said they're "too dumb" to know the difference. Nobody said anything CLOSE to that.

  • and who knew that in a couple more years Niels would be making the transition? Man, life is short so why not make beautiful music!

  • THAT WAS

    SO

    GANGSTA

    Holy crap.

  • From a Bass player, 2 of the greatest bassists ever. Great video!!!!

  • CB is one of only a hand full of upright bassist that can/could compete with NHOP technique wise.

  • haha did niels flick his low E string at the end:)?

  • Yeah that confused me. I felt weird, but it made it sound nuts! No complaints here :)

  • he missed at first haha but it sounded awesome.

    the whole thing sounded awesome.

  • he pulled a jaco

  • sempre + stonato pederson

  • perchè mai dici ciò?

  • non senti? eh bè...mi sa che ti tocca fare 1 pò di esercizi per l'orecchio...mi disp

  • ???? :oO

  • my fav vid

  • my fav vid

  • This is probably one of my new all time favorite videos. AWESOME.

  • This is amazing bass playing by these two greats. Great musical depth from NHOP here.

    No one plays this instrument always perfectly in tune for various reasons, mainly string length and low pitch.

    The musicality is what counts here.

  • there is some good dissonence, but it does seem like there is also some out of tuneness

  • Something is very out of tune here.. - strange indeed..

    Amazing technique show-off at least :-)

  • it's not out of tune it's just the dissonance Christian McBride has in his solo he's playing rele out side ,if u know what that means.

  • Basically it IS the dissonance (chromatisim, intervallics, triad pairs, wholetones etc). It is also slightly out of tune but so what!  The instruments are likely not in perfect tune with each other and when--in order to stay out of each other's way--they play 1+ octave apart, minor differences are exacerbated.

  • Christian's solo isn't at all outside. They are great bass players but they are out of tune. Do you know what playing outside means ?

  • When I played with Anthony Braxton in 1982, we played "outside" (i.e outside of western diatonic melodic structure). There are four generally recognized concepts for "Playing Outside". The Chromatic Approach where at 1:58--2:01 where he plays a call phrase 1/2 step "out" and the answer phrase a 1/2 step "in" the diatonic structure. I won't waste time with the Symmetrical, Superimposed 12 Tone Approaches as you don't hear the most basic "outside" playing. Thanks 4 sharing your tin ear though.

  • We all agree that 3:19 is out of tune. Anytime a jazz player plays flawlessly (perfectly in tune, time with appropriate dynamics)we can safely assume that s/he is not really improvising but rather is just paraphrasing (usually someone else's) work. Exceptions ("mistakes" to your mind) are the hallmark of adventurous improvisation.

  • By the way. The instruments are essentially out of tune with each other. This is distinguished from a string being out of tune with another on the same instrument or playing with bad intonation. At :32 we see CB effortlessly hit harmonic at the 2nd position on the G string. That G double octave would not ring like it does if there were any shakiness in CB's intonation. We agree that the 2 axes are out of tune with each other. Bravo. Now lets get back to the shed.

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  • To me like the hand stitching in a beautiful $5,000 hand made suit, the irregularities are what make it human and exceptional. I can get a computer generated suit at JC Penneys for $200and a riskless MIDI perfection on a smooth jazz channel.

  • Wow, well said.

    God damn, intelligent comments are few and far bloody between on YouTube these days, what a joy when you actually come across them.

  • i play bass for three years and i wanna wish i can play liek that

  • I'm a drummer and I love this

  • I'm a bass player and I love this.

  • NHoP opened the doors that Scott LaFaro showed everyone...which of course happened when McBride was a notion in his parents mind. They're all brilliant...

    Great players are great. The rest is blather

  • Niels Pedersen, you are missed. Will never forget your sense of swing when playing with Archie Shepp. And now with McBride, wow! That's all I can say.

  • What is sounding flat here? Love both these musicians, but something is flat. Maybe the basses were not tuned with each other? Cheers!

  • For another great bass duet check Stanley Clarke - Miroslav Vitous: Freedom jazz dance.

  • man this is a fantastic duet! Both these bass players are magnificent! I have a question though, would Christian be able to play even faster if he didnt lift his left hand fingers so high up when he wasn't playing? not bashing him just wonderin

  • When you are at his level I don't think it is important how high your fingers are. If he wants to play fast he will be able to.

  • what a duet christian mc bride and niels-ordsted pedersen r.i.p. niels

  • Christian McBride is just too omnipresent. he's all over the place. He's playing with Metheny, Corea, his own band, Bruce Hornsby, etc. I think a lot of bass player are just tired of hearing him. Hey, it's not his fault that he's great! Let's face it, he can do what a lot of bass players just can't do - play with imagination, clarity, and speed.

  • i'd rather say what do you like about chrstian?

  • what is this? a sudden philosphy lesson?

  • Hey its Christian Mc.Bride!

  • Yeah, since your class plays it as a duet between two basses, so you definitely have fair room for comparison.

    ...

  • see you after graduation... i'm sure there are plenty of gigs coming your way with your stellar attitude... you might want to check out a ray brown record... you dum dum

  • Christian is such an incredible soloist. so many gems hidden inside there; love that clifford brown bit around 2:50 ; ) Niels is new to me, but a great voice nonetheless... very melodic. I guess I need to do some homework on this guy!

  • Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (affectionately, NHOP) is one of the most widely respected upright players of our time. He essentially expands on Scott LeFaro's techniques and continues to baffle me every time I hear him. Most known for his work with Joe Pass. This must have been recorded shortly before he passed away. He played as long as he could (2005, I think).

  • I disagree with you OrionManMatt in now way do NHOP and Scott LaFaro Compare. Lafaro Pioneered the bass and how it was played.

  • xthelivingdreamx, I was referring to the three finger pizzicato (see "technique") and not to their particular approaches to playing as a whole. Nothing more.

  • He was on orchestraiter. If you listen to the way he really plays which is on the vanguard sessions with Bill Evans and Paul Motian, theres alot more than walking going on there. No way or how is Niels expanding on an sort of Technique that Scott LaFaro had,

  • and indeed I am a bassist who has spent many times studying and looking up to these greats. Don't really care for Christian McBride although I respect his reputation.

  • really? what dont you like about christian? just curious...

  • Niels is more like a bassist posses by a sax player.. he plays clean 251

    licks and had pioneered in the use of 3 finger pizzicato which I am still trying to work on to this day. Just thought i'd give you my two cents. Scott LaFaro is no way in hell similar to NHOP other than they are both bass greats. NHOP is more like a mix of Oscar Petersons lines and charlie parker shit goin' on.

  • Ah, thanks for reminding me about the Oscar Peterson connection. I completely forgot about that when I originally posted a response.

  • can't wait to see Christian McBride at the Liberty Jazz Festival in September! I went last year, and it was a great time! The lineup of artists is amazing, plus the view of the New York skyline is beautiful! Anyone else planning on going?

  • I can't wait to see Christian McBridge at the Liberty Jazz Festival in September!  I went last year, and it was a great time! The lineup of artists is amazing, plus the view of the New York skyline is beautiful! Anyone else planning on going?

  • Ray would have loved to see this

  • very nice ! Thanks for the upload m8

  • Eddie Gomez does the 3 finger thing too

  • P.S. One day I will figure out that NHOP three finger thing.

    P.P.S. Check out the Clark Terry Sextet Live in 1977 with NHOP, Joe Pass, Clark Terry, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, and Ronnie Scott. Plus some killer drummer I don't know.

  • Damn! Where was I when this was taking place????

  • Absolutely superb! Thank you posting it!

  • Whatever Flea and Les Claypool could school these chumps......

    You KNOW I'm joking......