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Art
of the Left Hand DVD
_______________________
Immediately
following the release of the Art of the Bow DVD in
the summer of 2005 François announced his desire to
produce a DVD featuring his technique for the left
hand. While many the basic concepts of this technique
have now become relatively commonplace - such as
starting beginning bassists in the middle of the
neck, using the harmonics to define left hand
positions, and pivoting to reach more than a whole
step in a single position - he wanted to demonstrate
the depth of his left hand technique with all of the
subtlety and the detail that a DVD using biomechanics
animation could provide.
Why, some have asked, does one need to use
biomechanics to show the intricacies of Rabbath's
left hand - one can see what he is doing clearly from
straight video? The simplest answer is that once a
biomechanics model has been captured, then it is
possible to view the motion of the arm and fingers
from angles that are not possible to catch with
conventional video cameras. For instance, in the Art
of the Bow DVD, a set of animations demonstrates the
motion of the bow as if the viewer is looking through
François' back - a kind of mirror effect.
The issues surrounding a left hand DVD however are
far more complex. The bow and the bones of the bow
arm are each straight and move in a more or less
limited plane. One can predict the range of motion,
despite the intricacies, with relative ease and a
basic skeleton of a bass is all that is required to
see the motion of the right arm. The left hand,
however, moves in a much complex range of motions;
large motions up and down the neck of the instrument,
as well as quite small and intricate motions within a
single position. Furthermore, observing the world of
the left hand requires a left hand that interacts
with the physical details of a bass.
The bow DVD utilized the animation derived directly
from the biomechanics data - within the same
software. However, the left hand DVD requires a
virtual bass, bow and François with some detail
interacting together. The biomechanics data has been
handed over to Ball State's animators in what is
known as the VIA Lab. Because this process is so new,
there is quite a bit of trial and error involved in
the process and this has required an extensive amount
of time. A virtual "cartoon" version of François,
bass, and bow had to be created. They needed to be
designed to fit the skeleton of the biomechanics
marker set and finally, all three elements must be
able to dance together convincingly.
Please feel free to explore the link below to see
some of the pictures and video as the project has
been unfolding.
Dr.
Hans Sturm
Ball State University
April, 2009