Michael League | Gimbri: Grandfather of the Bass? | Thomann
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Michael League and Julia talk about the Gimbri, also known as Sintir, a traditional Instrument played by Gnawa musicians in Morocco. Talking about how this instrument is similar and different to the bass and how bass players can get inspired by the roles and concepts of traditional bass instruments.
We use Triad-Orbit stands for our cameras, lights and mics: tho.mn/triad
Recorded and mixed with Universal Audio: tho.mn/uadx1
Monitors optimised through Sonarworks: tho.mn/sonar
Interesting bits and pieces:
0:00 Intro
0:28 Playing the Gimbri intro
0:51 Relationship between the Gimbri and Bass?
1:58 Introducing the Gimbri
4:19 How it's played, right hand technique
6:47 How it's constructed and tuned
7:48 Surprising similarities between Gnawa and Funk Bass Lines
9:44 Left hand fingering technique and microctones
13:54 Role of the Gimbri in Gnawa music
18:17 Transferring musical concepts from Gimbri to Bass
21:15 Where did Michael get the Instruments from?
23:37 Conclusions
24:03 Thanks for the talk Michael!
24:53 Outro Playing
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Пікірлер: 115
I came from a family with multiple deep Gnawa heritage and i can tell you this : You nailed it ! You are in the good way , yes you told that you still a student but trust me you are in the good way Very constructive knowledge for the world ! Hope see you again in Essaouira Gnawa festival in the future 👏👏👏🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🎸🎸
Julia is ALWAYS prepared like a true pro. More Julia 4 the People!
Thank you very much for going outside of the box . I love this music !
Julia could make a career out of interviewing musicians. She asks great questions, lets them talk and stays interestingly engaged…. Bravo!
Thomann PLEASE SHIP to Morocco !!! 🇲🇦 We love our Gembris but we need other stuff to make music 😅
Oh yes the Moroccan guimbri, the official gnawa instrument 👍🏻 If you listen carefully to some jimi Hendrix tunes, you can sort of hear the influence this genre of music gave him when he first visited "El sawira city" in morocco
We all remain being students throughout our entire lives. Today I learned a lot again. Thank you for the opportunity and for this wonderful interview, Julia
It's like a big fat friendly banjo. I feel like I already owe it a hug every time I hear it :)
Gimbri will now be available at thomann stores
Michael has a League of his own.🎸😍
Absolutely love this. Michael is a great guy and is really passionate about this instrument and the history behind it. Please make more videos like this where you show "exotic" traditional instruments.
I’m in a healing trance watching this.
i have never heard of this gimbri instrument. it is deep sounding but really is high tone so amazing! thank you julia!!!
Gnawa are medicine. And so as bass haha a very spiritual instrument indeed, largely found in my region in North Africa, and that’s true it’s played in pentatonic scales since it’s been discovered man the world is very small this music has been carried to the United States on boats with those people singing to wash away the pain and using shackles as qraqeb « the cuivre instrument with high frequency » if you listen to blues you will find a lot of gnawa in it. Sending you all the love vibes from morocco 🇲🇦 may your life be full of love and bass and melodies. ❤️🙏🏽 Ps : we headbang to this music as well, little moshpit in the living room. 😂
Thanks Micheal for introducing the Guembri and Gnawa music to the audience,will be great to meet you one day ,I am Guembri player based in the Uk.much love ❤️ good luck ,Saha🙏🏽
really good to see ML. he has been in my heart and on my mind.
Damn, there is a Zawinul Syndicate song I have always loved called 'Louange' off the Vienna Nights live album but I could never place the instrument that plays the melody. After watching this video I feel like it's got to be a gimbri. So cool.
Essaouira Morocco ❤
Big up to Michael League for sharing some much of this experience with so much respect for the Gnawa culture!
Such a cool interview. Very insightful. I learned a lot!
Great interview , learned a lot of pieces of history and technique I wasn't aware of before . He's obviously passionate about his work / art !
Great discussion and very interesting information. I'm looking forward to a Michael League book: Gnawa Gimbri lines for the Electric Bass - with backing tracks to play with!
Marcus played one of the on his album Afrodeezia a few years ago. The song is B's River. Pretty cool song! Julia, Marcus and Michael! Great trio!
I have learned so much from Michael.
Great video, thanks for sharing with us :)
Yes! I've been waiting for this Sense the last video! Lol
What a great interview Julia did with Michael. I like him so much for having moved to Spain and diving into (north) African music too. I really like the music of Bokanté too.
Great interview
Gembri is a magic instrument!!!
Did I just see you on German TV, the band in the studio of the Sportschau - Italy vs. Spain?? 😀
We should do that from now on!
OK folks I"m going to stop you at 2:30 and search Spotify for Gnawa. Hmmm found it. Damn...I'll get back to you in bit...
Miss you playing bass yourself .. But I really like the interviews & the chance to learn about music I never heard of B4 .
Holy Geezer Butler! That was rad.
Julia is not only a amazingly talented bassist but she also can play bass while riding a unicycle . No joke! There's video on KZread. Julia I just love ya like crazy. Austrian amazing! Bass is beautiful.
@hagegesamuel
3 жыл бұрын
Really?! I play bass and harmonica and ride a unicycle too! I never tried playing bass on it. Harmonica yes of course :)
Saha 💙
When Michael played "Hamuda" (hope I spelled it right) it sounded a lot like some Cuban bassists. Once I saw Cachao live and what he was playing was pretty similar. If you don't know who Cachao was you MUST listen to him!
Interesting a lot
I actually have one, bought in Morocco, supposedly from the same shop Robert Plant bought some instruments, but who knows if that's true - cool instrument though, not that I really know how to play it.
Julia has a really pretty voice . I wonder if she sings on top of playing bass ?
The gimbri is also a descendant of the ngoni, a relative of the akontir, the ancestor of the banjo. In fact, many gimbri to this day have the short treble drone string on top. Also, the concept of a high percussive drone is also found in the irish bouzouki, which was developed from the greek bouzouki by a musical culture that had access to banjos (through american influence), although in that case it's a non-reentrant tuning and the strings are all the same length and all fingered. As for being the ancestor of the electric bass, that may be true in role (and even then not really, the gimbri is closer to a 3oud in function within its music) but there clearly isn't any direct line, since the electric bass is a mix of upright bowed bass and guitar, and the upright bowed bass is itself a mix of violin and viola da gamba families (fretless and high tension like the violin, by fourths and with low shoulders like the viola da gambe)
Michael seems like a really nice guy .
@ThomannsGuitarsBasses
3 жыл бұрын
Hi Ben, yes he is! :-) // Cheers, Julia
Best advertisement I’ve ever been recommended!
I’ m proud as an Algerian to see the influence of this instrument on an other genras historically, especially played by one of my favourite bass players, in a show hosted by Julia 🤩
@nordenrhazali2696
Жыл бұрын
Gnawa is moroccan friend.
@khalildjemouai6871
Жыл бұрын
@@nordenrhazali2696 No, it's north african، originaly from soudan, go back and read thé history of african music.
@badreddineelfiche3056
Жыл бұрын
@@khalildjemouai6871 gnawa is moroccan wtf are you talking about
@badreddineelfiche3056
Жыл бұрын
@@khalildjemouai6871 brought to Morocco from sub-Saharan Africa not north africa
@badreddineelfiche3056
Жыл бұрын
@@khalildjemouai6871 😂😂😂 UNESCO Lists Moroccan Gnawa as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity gnawa is moroccan only calm down hhhh correct your informations
So impressive coming from a western dude. So digging it
Nice J thx
We call it "Hajhuj" it modtly is used in Gnawi musicians that we call Gnawa
Saha koyo
Luv tagnawit (gnawa) I usually play it on guitar bass strings tuned to dgd. Hope thormann start selling gimbris si I can order one.
20:29 this is capeverdean batuku!
I wish I knew where I could get a gimbri, I’ve been in love with the sound since cowboy bebop’s ost musawe
Does anybody have some recommendations for Gnawa music? Like a Top 5 of things(albums or tracks) to listen to?
Julia 4 the people
just curious , what kind of pickup do you use for this instrument?
Just saw you on ard Sportschau. How cool is that 🤘🎸
@fidelbene7730
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, me too! Congrats on the gig
@reizo20
3 жыл бұрын
Me too. Never expected to see you there. Glückwunsch!
Nice! I still use an acoustic 5 string which sounds best to me. No picks are how it should always be taught and played
Lesser Artists borrow, great Artists steal - Pablo Picasso
@philipmcadam5339
3 жыл бұрын
Be great.
The gimbri exists in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia
@badreddineelfiche3056
Жыл бұрын
Nope its moroccan istrument used in moroccan gnawa
@badreddineelfiche3056
Жыл бұрын
Even if he is in Algeria, he is originally from Morocco
Hello! If you want to hear this instrument played by a musician from Essaouira, check this on YT: BANIYA - Mohamed Khabba Trio
I think the appropriation discussion in art is a bit over complicated... to me its simple: you experience something, its resonates with you, it inspires you and you will - to some degree - include into your own art. And since you are telling stories anyway, you can just be completely open, where you have it from: Give the credit. Its only really stealing if either it becomes your whole act or if you pretend it was your invention. everything else is just a shared and collaborative forward movement and in same way only art is capable of. oh and btw: what a lovely instrument - I first heard it played by Marcus Miller in Montreux - Bs River :)
That tuning sounds like a part of the instrumental part in "Autobahn" by Kraftwerk.
The sintir seems to be much more akin to a banjo than a bass, which makes sense seeing as the banjo came from Africa
Ok so, if I take this to a luthier, how low can he get the action on one of these beauties? Because I'm forming this Russian funk band and my costume is a voodoo witch Doctor, I'm goinh to be called Dr Zulu Phonk, I've written my the 1st song called " get down power to the brothers of funk the man cant hold me down im funktastic" and I've decided on one of these over a Hofner! Also do they come with pick ups? Can I put a seymour duncan in it and what tunners would you recommend I was thinking some Schallers.
Julia, this is not the right place to post but I just watched both Earth Wind and Fire videos and you are such a fantastic player. But how do you learn these songs so quickly and how do you remember them?
@ThomannsGuitarsBasses
3 жыл бұрын
Hi John, most of the time I learn the bass lines by ear :) // Cheers, Julia
@johnviolette5511
3 жыл бұрын
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses that's awesome. I'm lucky if I get the root notes and a few colorful licks every now and then.
Is that the same instrument at the start of downgrade desert by Igorr?
@konstantinosmparmpounis6464
3 жыл бұрын
I don't know but isn't that supposed to be middle eastern
@boldsquid8940
3 жыл бұрын
@@konstantinosmparmpounis6464 Interesting
REMEMBER: ALL MUSIC IS THE SAME. LISTEN CLOSELY AND FOR LONG ENOUGH AND IT WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY OBVIOUS!!!! EDIT: THIS IS A GOOD THING!
What I knew prior to this video hosted by Julia (and her expert skills as an interviewer) with Michael as a most engaging guest: I was vaguely aware of a stringed, melodic bass instrument used in certain North African folk music. I was told it was called a Sintir, a member of the Lute family. That was the extent of my knowledge. What I learned: Apparently the Gimbri is another name for the Sintir and it’s used in traditional Gnawa music, a genre I’d never heard of before. It’s made of wood, camel hide and genuine animal gut strings along with some functional metal furniture. It performs three, separate and distinct roles simultaneously in the hands of a skilled player. It’s played both with a grooving accompaniment and in unison with the sole vocalist (depending on the part of the song performed at the moment); it’s accompanied by only one other instrument, a metallic castanet-like instrument (that I did know about), that I know as the Garageb. I didn’t know how or where the Garageb was utilized until now. There’s more I learned but these are the highlights. Thank you Julia and Micheal. One question, with some background context: It’s a fretless instrument, so it’s not necessarily predetermined as to the intervallic sensibilities of the playable notes. Most of what I heard Michael playing seemed fairly Western, with the 12 note diatonic base and a 7-note, major scale set of intervals. I did pick up on the microtonal aspects and would have not known this was deliberate unless Michael had indicated as such. Was Micheal deliberately playing with a familiar set of Western sounding intervals for us or is the traditional Gnawa music intervallic set that close to the Western system, whether it has just naturally developed that way or having been influenced** by European music? **The influence I’m thinking of is when the Moors (from Morocco) and Spaniards/Portuguese, somewhat peacefully, coinhabited the Iberian peninsula up until about five or six centuries ago. Michael’s brother, being an ethnomusicologist, might have the answer to my question.
@JasperKloek
Жыл бұрын
Interesting question! My guess would be the answer is a bit of each of those.
Nice job on the origin story. You usually have to beat the correct information out of people about how something changed from Point A to B due to wars, colonization, migration, or integration.
Noice😂👍🏾👌🏾
I believe that music is original to Africa . That make me believe also, that the Garden of Eden must also be in Africa .
:)
Marcus Miller played Guenbri in a concert or a documentary.
didn't you find someone from Gnawa? the guy doesn't represent Gnawa even though he plays, just as a matter of recognition to the music genre, imagine I talk to an american about Spanish music... respect though
It’s not sentir guys it’s guimbri :)
Interesting interview Julia. Michael caught the essence of the guimbri and explains very well. Currently in gnawa land, it inspired me to resample your interview kzread.info/dash/bejne/n42om62qmKfAlqg.html and make it a 3 part gnawa trance song. First with acoustic samples, then finding the link with samba before getting into the trance. What do you think?
😶🙃
It's Marroccan grounds
Gambri gnaws you are welcome
...which also is where banjo comes from. yoiks
Research topic for Davie504 around the world
Better than playing ganbri abd Rahman baco team al ghiawan
That was really cold to watch in here. Thank you both for your time but put not together.
Why don't we use music to help cure sick people in our western cultures? Music has the power to get through to a person's inner self, to their soul. It lifts your mood, it makes you feel better, it's a positive force for good. We all know this instinctively, we feel it at concerts. It is music making us feel good. I have seen the change music can make to a room full of dementia sufferers when tambourines and triangles are handed out. When the music starts it awakens something inside them, they join in. It lifts their mood. It's a real tangible thing. We should use music in hospitals to help relieve stress and anxiety and to promote quicker healing.
Gnawa is purely moroccan, nothing to have with algeria. Yes, they play it, but it is originated from morocco.
Davie 504 would say:" Epic !.. but- this- is- not- B A S S, ..SLAP !
@szrnkabela
3 жыл бұрын
Actually, Michael is slappin the i strument the whole time!
Moroccan not algerian, Gnawa music with guelbri exist only in Morocco 👍♥️🌹🇲🇦
think homie is on acid
they ought to be interviewing Julia instead ... she is way more interesting and less smug