Michael Manring

Michael Manring 2011

Michael Manring (born June 1960 in Washington, DC ) is an electric bass player from the San Francisco Bay Area (Northern California ).

Life

Michael Manring was the youngest of four siblings. His family lived in Norfolk , Virginia and moved to suburbs of Washington, DC in 1969. The Manrings were a musically and artistically active family. His brother Doug - a guitarist and drummer - formed a rhythm group with him in high school, they played jazz rock , rock and pop at parties and wedding receptions.

Manring was a student of bassist Peter Princiotto. He also toured with Jaco Pastorius in the mid-1980s and began to develop his own style. Manring studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston , Massachusetts in the late 1970s , but graduated in 1979 to tour with various bands.

In the 1980s Manring was represented on numerous records of the American label Windham Hill Records . Manring played bass in his own band Montreux and with the bands Spastic Ink , Skol-Patrol , Wadada Leo Smith's Miles Davis tribute band Yo Miles! and attention deficit . He accompanied Alex Skolnick , Larry Kassin , Tom Darter , Steve Morse , David Cullen , Alex de Grassi , Will Ackerman , Henry Kaiser and other musicians. With Michael Hedges in particular , he played on almost all of his albums from the mid-1980s until his death in 1997, often as the only guest musician.

In 1994 the readers of the trade magazine Bass Player voted him bassist of the year.

Since 2005, Manring has been a member of the DeMania band, which consists of guitarist Alex de Grassi and percussionist Christopher Garcia . In November Michael Manring toured Hungary for the first time at the invitation of the Hungarian guitarist Sándor Szabó . In addition to Manring and Szabó, the German bassist Ralf Gauck was also on tour. Due to the three very bass-frequented instruments, the tour was called "The Power of the Deep".

Michael Manring lives in Oakland , California .

Style of play and musical influences

Because of his association with the Windham Hill label, Manring has often been referred to as a new age musician . His album Thonk he describes as "the first new-age death metal - fusion album". Originally a jazz bassist, Manring expanded his musical horizons in many different directions over the years.

Manring has a solid musical knowledge and understands the electric bass as a solo instrument. He wants to show that the electric bass is a vital and expressive instrument and uses the possibilities that the electric bass offers through special extensions and effects such as loop station and e-bow . During some performances he plays some pieces on two to four electric basses at the same time. In addition to these shows, however, he is a multifaceted, talented composer of well thought-out solo bass compositions and experimental music. On his solo album Book of Flame , he combines technology and the fretless bass with the sound of household appliances or cardboard boxes.

His playing technique is virtuoso, he uses numerous open moods , the slapping techniques inherent in the bass and the tapping techniques more commonly found on the guitar . In general, he often uses the bass musically like an electric guitar . Mostly he plays fretless bass, which offers a variety of possibilities to change the tone and pitch just like an acoustic bass. Manring is rhythmically very versatile and often uses polyrhythms . He is said to do things on bass that "have never been done before, that are almost impossible and that are illegal in most states".

Manring almost always puts his virtuosity at the service of music. In some pieces, however, he puts them in the foreground, creates true thunderstorms of sound and, in a paradoxical way, nevertheless transports a meaningful musical statement. His joy in playing and his love of music can be felt at any time and has been unbroken for almost three decades.

Technical equipment

Manring plays a bass made by Zon Guitars , the so-called Zon Hyperbass , an unusual, flexible instrument that Manring designed together with Joseph Zon. Special mechanisms and a special bridge allow each individual string as well as all four strings to be retuned simultaneously using small levers, a system that is similar to that of the trans-trem guitar. The impetus for this development came from the increasingly frequent retuning of the bass for open moods, which Manring initially performed between the individual pieces. When he got the idea to change the tuning of the bass during the piece, he did it the conventional way by turning the mechanics. However, this approach is very limited, so he came up with the idea of ​​realizing this possibility by technically changing the bass. First he had a Music Man Sting Ray Bass modified before he designed the Hyperbass with Zon. The hyperbass has normal Bartolini pickups that take each string individually and lead it out to the amplifier, as well as four Fishman transducers that are built into the body of the bass and mixed together to form a signal.

In addition to the hyperbass, Manring uses a number of other bass guitars. The following models are listed on his website:

• Zon Legacy Elite Special fretless, nickname "Bub"
• Homemade Jazz Bass-style fretless
• Zon Michael Manring Hyperbass
• Zon Custom Fretless, nicknamed "Junior" or "Son of Bub"
• Larrivee 5-string fretless acoustic bass guitar
• MusicMan Stingray fretless with particularly thin strings
• Paroutaud Music Laboratories 5-string fretless Infinite Sustain prototype
• PRS fretless
• Riverhead Unicorn fretless
• Riverhead Unicorn fretted bass
• Zon prototype headless fretted bass, nickname "Vinny"
• Zon Legacy Elite 6-string fretless
• Zon prototype Legacy 10-string bass (5 × 2).

Of the various bass amplifiers that Manring uses, the SWR Mo 'Bass amplifier should be highlighted, a multi-effect bass analog amplifier .

Discography

Albums under your own name

• 1986 Unusual Weather ( Windham Hill Records )
• 1989 Toward The Center Of The Night (Windham Hill)
• 1991 Drastic Measures (Windham Hill)
• 1994 Thonk (High Street)
• 1995 Up Close 21 (Windham Hill / High Street Records / Boston Acoustic)
• 1998 The Book of Flame (Alchemy Records)
• 2005 Soliloquy (Manthing Music)

Collaborations

with Michael Hedges

• 1981 Breakfast In The Field (Windham Hill)
• 1984 Aerial Boundaries (Windham Hill)
• 1986 Watching My Life Go By (Open Air)
• 1987 Live On The Double Planet (Windham Hill)
• 1990 Taproot (Windham Hill)
• 1996 Oracle (Windham Hill)
• 1999 Torched (Windham Hill)
• 2000 Michael Hedges - The Best Of Michael Hedges (Windham Hill)
• 2001 Beyond Boundaries - Guitar Solos (Windham Hill)
• 2003 Platinum & Gold Collection (RCA Victor)
• 2006 Pure Michael Hedges (RCA)

with Montreux

• 1985 Chiaroscuro (Windham Hill)
• 1987 Sign Language (Windham Hill)
• 1989 Let Them Say (Windham Hill)

with John Gorka

• 1991 Jack's Crows (High Street)
• 1992 Temporary Road (High Street)
• 1994 Out of the Valley (High Street)
• 1996 Between Five and Seven (High Street)
• 1998 After Yesterday (Red House)
• 2001 Company You Keep (Red House)
• 2006 Writing in the Margins (Red House)

with Paolo Giordano

• 1994 Paolo Giordano (Step Musique / New Sounds)
• 2000 Kid in a Toy Shop (Step Musique / New Sounds)

with Turtle String Island Quartet

• 1995 By the Fireside (Windham Hill)

with attention deficit

• 1998 Attention Deficit ( Magna Carta )
• 2001 The Idiot King (Magna Carta)

with Yo Miles

• 1998 Yo Miles! (Shanachie)
• 2004 Sky Garden ( Cuneiform )
• 2005 Upriver (Cuneiform)

with Sadhappy

• 1998 Good Day Bad Dream (Periscope Recordings)
• 2005 Outerspaces (Periscope Recordings)

with Scott McGill and Vic Stevens

• 2001 Addition By Subtraction (Free Electric Sound)
• 2003 Controlled By Radar (Free Electric Sound)
• 2006 What We Do (Free Electric Sound)

with Larry Kassin and Tom Darter

• 2001 Scatter (MKD Music)

with David Cullen

• 2001 Equilibré (Solid Air Records)

with human factor

• 2002 Human Factor (Human Factor)

with At War With Self

• 2005 Torn Between Dimensions (Free Electric Sound)

with DeMania

• 2006 DeMania (Tropo Records)

with Jeff Dodd

• 2007 Falling Awake (Aesthetic Records)

Collections

at Windham Hill

• 1982 An Evening with Windham Hill Live (Windham Hill)
• 1985 Windham Hill - Winter (Windham Hill)
• 1985 Windham Hill Sampler '86 (Windham Hill)
• 1985 Windham Hill Sampler '85 (Windham Hill)
• 1986 A Winter's Solstice II (Windham Hill)
• 1989 Windham Hill Radio Sampler I (Windham Hill)
• 1990 Windham Hill - The First Ten Years (Windham Hill)
• 1990 A Winter's Solstice III (Windham Hill)
• 1990 Restore the Shore (Windham Hill)
• 1991 Windham Hill Sampler '92 (Windham Hill)
• 1991 Windham Hill Guitar Sampler II (Windham Hill)
• 1993 A Winter's Solstice IV (Windham Hill)
• 1995 Heal the Bay (Windham Hill)
• 1996 Sanctuary - 20 Years of Windham Hill (Windham Hill)
• 1996 Redbook Relaxers - Daybreak (Windham Hill)
• 1996 Redbook Relaxers - Dreamscape (Windham Hill)
• 1996 Carols of Christmas (Windham Hill)
• 1997 Summer Solstice - A Windham Hill Collection (Windham Hill)
• 1997 Redbook Relaxers - Lullabies (Windham Hill)
• 1997 Redbook Relaxers - Dinner Party (Windham Hill)
• 1997 Redbook Relaxers - Between Friends (Windham Hill)
• 1997 Redbook Relaxers - After Hours (Windham Hill)
• 1997 Redbook Relaxers - Piano Reflections (Windham Hill)
• 1998 Thanksgiving - A Windham Hill Collection (Windham Hill)
• 1998 Yoga Zone - Music for Yoga Practice (Windham Hill)
• 1998 Conversations with God II (Windham Hill)
• 1999 Sun Dance - Summer Solstice III (Windham Hill)
• 2000 Windham Hill Classics - Morning (Windham Hill)
• 2000 Windham Hill Classics - Journeys (Windham Hill)
• 2000 Windham Hill Classics - Harvest (Windham Hill)
• 2000 Windham Hill Classics - Angels (Windham Hill)
• 2000 The Mozart Variations (Windham Hill)
• 2002 Spirit of Life (Windham Hill)
• 2003 Windham Hill Chill II (Windham Hill)
• 2003 Prayer - A Windham Hill Collection (Windham Hill)
• 2003 Adagio - A Windham Hill Collection (Windham Hill)
• 2003 A Winter's Solstice V (Windham Hill)
• 2003 A Windham Hill Wedding Album (Windham Hill)
• 2004 Winter Wonderland - A Windham Hill Collection (Windham Hill)
• 2004 Lullaby - A Windham Hill Collection (Windham Hill)
• 2005 A Quiet Revolution - 30 Years of Windham Hill (Windham Hill)
• 2005 Essential Winter's Solstice (Windham Hill)

at BMG

• 1997 Twilight Jazz (BMG)
• 1997 Meditation - Revive (BMG)
• 1997 Candlelight Moments - Romantic Moments (BMG)
• 1997 Candlelight Moments - Meditative Moments (BMG)
• 1998 Moonlight Reflections (BMG)
• 1998 Quiet Moods - Romantic Reflections (BMG)
• 1998 Quiet Moods - Meditative Moments (BMG)
• 2000 New Age Christmas (BMG)
• 2000 Awake (BMG)
• 2000 Yoga - Energy (BMG)
• 2000 Yoga - Balance Energy and Strength (BMG)
• 2001 Meditation - Relax Restore and Revive (BMG)
• 2002 Meditation - Renew (BMG)
• 2002 Meditation - Relax (BMG)

with different labels

• 1994 We Sing to Open Ears (High Street Records)
• 1996 Different Mozart (Philips)
• 1997 Heritage (Polygram)
• 1997 A Very Green Christmas (Seventh Wave)
• 1999 Moonlight Moments (Columbia River)
• 1999 Soundscape - New Age Reflections (Delta / BMG)
• 1999 Bass Talk, Vol. 6 (Hot Wire)
• 1999 Bass Day '98 (Hudson Music)
• 2000 Dreamscape (Delta)
• 2003 Guitar Harvest I (Solid Air)
• 2004 Healing Garden - The Art of Relaxation (Madacy)
• 2005 Brazil Duets (Adventure Music)

DVD, video

• 1996 Bass Essentials (Hot Licks)
• 1998 The Artist's Profile: Michael Manring (ecliptic productions)
• 1998 Bass Day '98 DVD (Hudson Music)
• 2000 Michael Manring: Instructional Bass (Video, Hal Leonard)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Doug Manring Bio , biography of Michael Manring's brother on his website (en.). URL: Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 24, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 22, 2007. 
2. ^ Alum Profile - Michael Manring '79 , Manring's biography at Berklee College (en.). URL: http://www.berklee.edu/bt/141/alum_profile.html . Retrieved November 24, 2007.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} MICHAEL MANRING. Beyond genres and niches by Anil Prasad (en.). URL: http://www.innerviews.org/inner/manring.html . Retrieved November 22, 2007.
4. ↑ Michael Manring Interview by Matt Guthrie, April 15, 1994 (en). URL: http://www.nomadland.com//MM041594.htm . Retrieved November 21, 2007.
5. ↑ John Gorka about Michael Manring: "... does things on the electric bass that haven't been done before, are nearly impossible, and (are) illegal in most states." CD-Baby Review of the CD Soliloquy . URL: http://cdbaby.com/cd/manthing . Retrieved November 22, 2007.
6. ↑ Hyperbass , description on the website of Zon Guitars (en.). URL: Archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 10, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 24, 2007. 

Web links

• The Undead # 73 - Michael Hedges and Michael Manring. WNYC - New York Public Radio, New Sounds. Interview with Michael Manring and Michael Hedges with some pieces of music, October 10, 1987
• Works by and about Michael Manring in the catalog of the German National Library