15th annual Double Bass Masterclass in Germany

15th annual Double Bass Masterclass in Germany

By Andreas BennetzenNo Comments

The masterclass line-up is ready!

We are ready with the faculty for the Mittenwald International Double Bass Masterclass 2020.

This is the 15th time we invite double bass players of all levels from around the world to join us for a week of double bass studies in the German Alps.

We are very excited about having the great Szymon Marciniak with us this year as the special guest teacher.

Faculty group

Professor Jeff Bradetich – classical double bass

Szymon Marciniak – classical duble bass

Andreas Bennetzen(Andy Benz) – cross over and live-looping

Alex Bayer – jazz

Alexis Scharff – classical double bass

and physiotherapist, Angela Gebler

More info and photos from participants

Please visit our Facebook Group with lots of photos and videos from the previous years uploaded by the students.

Registration

You can register online by following this link.

Online Registration

Or you can send an email to info@andreasbennetzen.dk if you want to learn more or want to register by mail

The story of the masterclass

Since it´s foundation in 2005, professor Jeff Bradetich has held a Double Bass Camp every summer in Mittenwald together with Andreas Bennetzen.

Jeff Bradetich is a double bass professor at the University of North Texas and a world famous classical music performer.
Andreas Bennetzen is a leading, classically trained cross-over bassist and composer.

—Highlights include—

-Multi-level teaching
-Solo lessons
-Intense technical training
-Orchestral training
-Attention and room for your personal needs
-Basses that you can borrow for FREE
-A nice friendly learning environment
-Highly experienced faculty
-Focus on your development
-Concerts, workshops and insight into the world of double bass making in company with famous double bass maker Michael Krahmer Pöllmann.

Mittenwald is a historic town situated in the Bavarian Alps 938 meters up the Karwendelspitz-  this area has always had excellent wood for building instruments and is the home of the Pöllmann double basses.

The town is also a popular tourist attraction so it´s full of cosy restaurants, hotels and bavarian good spirits.

 

Andy Benz – Høker Session#3

By Andreas BennetzenNo Comments

Totally live and uncut in Christiania

The crew from Freetown Sound Division approached me with the idea of recording a medley of 2 tracks for the Høker Session series. Høker is an old danish word originally meaning a person who sells food and drinks from a small stand.

In this context it refers to the pretty good beer named “Høker Bajer” brewed at Hancock Brewery

The concept of the Høker Sessions is that it should be 100% live and a one-take shot in the W.C.Fields club in Christiania.

I really liked the concept and the crew behind the idea, so when they asked me to do a session for them I gladly agreed and so we went ahead and made this video.

I am playing 2 tracks. In the first track I am using Live-Looping and it is a track that I made up on the spot, showcasing some of the elements I am working on at the moment. Elements such as making the kick by tapping on the bridge. Using breaks to build up tracks. Keeping it simple to get closer to the sound of electronic music genres like trance and minimalistic techno. I like to call it acoustic techno, but I will try not to label it too much. It is very much the Andy Benz sound.

The second track is Kick it! from the album Disciples. This track is performed with a backtrack that I play from my iPad and RME Babyface soundcard and a solo on top. In my opinion allowing for the best of both worlds with the backtrack being very dynamic with break downs and buildups and the live double bass giving it the improvised element.

If you like to watch more videos from my hand go to my YouTube Channel or have a look right here on this Webpage.

The video was filmed by the amazing Mark From Denmark

Concept by Kasper Boll & Freetown Sound Division

Music edited and mastered by Andreas Bennetzen

Andy Benz – HØKER SESSION #3

Watch Andy Benz conjure up a blizzard of bass in HØKER SESSION #3. Listen to many, many more great tracks by following these links:Bandcamphttps://andybenz.bandcamp.com/Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/3n2mZfOeqLrJ1YGqWG1gNOApple Musichttps://music.apple.com/bn/album/disciples/1088968243

Slået op af Andy Benz i Fredag den 1. november 2019

BASS 2018 in LUCCA

By Andreas BennetzenNo Comments

This summer saw the great city of Lucca host the BASS 2018 Double bass convention. 

I was fortunate enough to recieve an invitation to play at BASS 2018 and with the generous support of D´Addario Orchestral and Yamaha Instruments I had the funds to travel there, play a concert and also give a lecture on Live-Looping.

Silent bass showroom

It was a great event and despite only being there for a few days I saw many interesting and very inspiring performances  and met many good friends. I can highly recommend participating in the bi-annual double bass convention of BASS EUROPE

Meeting friends at BASS 2018
Danielle Roccato at BASS 2018

As is normal for me I played a full program of my own compositions from my 2 Andy Benz albums. Music created for and with the electric upright bass. If you have not heard my music yet I invite you to check it out on my BANDCAMP PAGE

Henrica Fagerlund at BASS 2018 trying my Yamaha Silent bass and Line 6 POD

There were many bassplayers there. A great mix of professionals, students and amateurs. You also have all the bass makers-bow makers-string makers. Yes, basically all you need to have a fantastic time with only bass, bass and more bass. Nobody looks at you in a wrong way if you find yourself talking about double bass for the entire day. Well maybe it is even expected from you.

The article below is a review by professor in psychology, Mads Hermansen of some of the performances that took place incuding my solo-performance. He is an amateur bass player with a lot of insight into modern bassplaying. If you want to read the part about my performance then scroll down to page 6. It is in danish.

I want to use this oppotunity to give a big thank you to Jimmi Roger Pedersen  for organizing this with the rest of the BASSEUROPE team!

BASS2018LUCCA_Resume_MadsH

 

Flyer for the Double Bass Camp 2018 is ready

Flyer for the Double Bass Camp 2018 is ready

By Andreas BennetzenNo Comments

We are ready with the line-up for the Mittenwald International Double Bass Masterclass 2018. We have a great teaching group again this year I am pretty excited about having the super talented Dominik Wagner with us this year.