:: Art of the Bow with François Rabbath ::

A First Peek…

Here are three 5 second samples of the animation work in progress. Rabbath is demonstrating a large descending shift - notice the left hand preparation and how the elbow leads the shift. Eventually audio will be added, ripped from the live video that was shot during the motion capture and then synced to the animation. There are minor tweaks that will be made. You may notice that Rabbath’s left hand is robotic - this is on purpose for two reasons, first, to show the detail of the joints clearly, and second, we just don’t have the money to come up with a sophisticated skin look for the hand. One issue with this particular hand, however, is that it appears to have super long fingers coming all the way from the wrist. In future versions bars will be placed between the knuckle joints to help show Rabbath’s virtual palm. The second minor tweak is the kind of thing that has be bedeviling the animators in this whole process - the dance between the bass, the left hand, the bow and the body. You may notice at the tail end of the clip that the first finger of the left hand seems to dip into the fingerboard. Finding and fixing these kinds of tweaks will continue to take time.

If you would like to be contacted when the Art of the Left Hand with François Rabbath DVD is finally completed, please email me from the contact form on this page. As of the end of September much progress has been made on the Art of the Left Hand. Forty-five minutes of interviews and twelve live performances are completely finished. The lecture-demonstrations have been edited, but titles and transitions are left to be done. The biggest hurdle that currently remains is with the animation team. After nine months of work we were finally successful in overcoming the difficulties of getting the biomechanics data to export into the animation program. The animators have now competed the modeling of the three independent objects: François, the bass, and the bow. Now comes the tricky work of making the three objects work together and of refining the subtleties of François’ fingers. We are still not sure how realistic we will be able to make things look given the restrictions of the technology, but once we are able to complete a natural looking trial, then we believe things will go quickly. At this point we hope to have some 50 animated trials including 2 performances of unaccompanied movements of Bach. Please click on the thumbnails below to see images from the work in progress.

Ball State University Professor and President-Elect of the International Society of Bassists, Hans Sturm, has been awarded the Ball State University Creative Endeavor Award. Awarded in part for his work on the Art of the Bow DVD, Sturm was cited for being “the model faculty member who blends creativity in traditional modes of expression with exploration of cutting-edge pedagogy.”

Michael Fanelli wrote an in-depth enthusiastic review of the Art of the Bow in the November, 2006 issue of the American String Teacher (Vl. 56, No. 4, pg. 112). He concludes:
“The Art of the Bow is one of the most important treatises and state-of-the-art instructional audiovisual tools we have available in 2006 both for the studio and classroom. The scholarship and pedagogical theories rank with the works of Galamian, Flesch, Dounis, and Rolland. One waits in anticipation for the Art of the Left Hand.”

Michael Fanelli contributed an article in the August, 2006 ASTA Journal reviewing the bass sessions at the 2006 ASTA National Conference entitled “Bass is Up to Date in Kansas City.” He writes:

Hans Sturm, Professor of Double Bass at Ball State University, began the conference bass sessions with a lecture/demonstration of the DVD “Art of the Bow with François Rabbath.” He presented a history of his collaboration with Mr. Rabbath and the Ball State University Biomechanics Lab, which resulted in this state-of-the-art audiovisual teaching DVD on Rabbath’s pedagogical approach to learning the intricacies of bowing. The session highlighted the instructional constructs and content in six sections on the three-and-a-half-hour DVD. Sturm explained the technical challenges Rabbath had to deal with - wearing a black bodysuit covered with two hundred points of light and not letting the constraints of material interfere with his playing by creating tension or movement limitations. This presentation provided a comprehensive overview to the creation of a revolutionary technological format.

The Strad, the most highly respected magazine for the string community since 1890, ran an announcement about the new Art of the Left Hand with François Rabbath DVD in the May, 2006 issue:

BASSIST GETS ANIMATED

Syrian-French bassist François Rabbath is using state-of-the-art electronics to preserve his fingering technique for the next generation.

Rabbath has just finished filming a DVD that includes a set of 3D animations which can be rotated interactively to allow aspiring bassists to study his movements in greater detail. The motion-capture technology used to create these animations is similar to that used in films such as Lord of the Rings, tracking his movements using reflective spheres mounted on his body joints. The DVD also includes six lecture-demonstrations by Rabbath on fingerings, as well as live performances.

Hans Sturm, Professor of Double Bass at Ball State University and founder of the project, said: ‘François is a guru for many people in the bass world and he is also really into technology. Last April (2005, ed.) we were able to complete the DVD of his bow arm and this year we are working on capturing his left hand using the latest biomechanics technology.’

This warm overview of his life and work features interviews with some of his closest collaborators and former students including Frank Proto, Paul Ellison, and Patrick Neher. Here is an excerpt:

So now Rabbath is up to the fourth volume in his own series of bass method books, and he is the subject of a DVD, The Art of the Bow, which Paul Ellison of Rice University calls “revolutionary.” It employs multiple camera angles, biomechanics, and the technology of motion-capture to dissect Rabbath’s strokes. “Only Tiger Woods in the sports world until now has been able to put this sort of ‘swing doctor’ thing together,” says Ellison. “It’s the most profound teaching tool I’ve seen.”

Straight From the Heart by James Reel

The Art of the Bow and the Art of the Left Hand projects have recently received attention from national news sources.

Christian Science Monitor

USA Today

François Rabbath received the Issac Stern International Lifetime Acheivement Award at the American String Teacher’s Association 2006 Conference in Kansas City. This award has only been given 9 times in the organizations 55 year history and Rabbath is the first bassist to be so honored. Others to have won this award include Rostropovich, Suzuki, and Milstein.