Depending on the call, Perrine's bass strings and brass valves either anchored the deep bottom line or paraded the carnival second line.

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With the left rabbit ear twisted down so it touched the thick steel strings of their red electric bass, they were able to tune in to a local broadcast.

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Watson, whose mother sang around the house and whose father was a banjo player and vocalist who led the singing at their Baptist church, was a fingerstyle player who used a thumbpick for bass and a fingerpick for the treble strings -- a "two-finger" style that was self-taught.

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Piano keys each have three strings that, when struck by a felt-covered hammer, make a musical sound. (The exceptions are the bass keys, which have either two strings or one.) Pressing the soft pedal shifts the hammers so only two of the three strings are touched, giving the piano a much softer tone.

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We went from the original instrumentation of strings and a handful of winds to a rocking jazz rhythm section consisting of Hammond B3 organ, gospel piano, drums, electric guitar, Fender bass and acoustic bass, five saxophones, full brass, strings, timpani and percussion.

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Glass varies the music by contrasting fast notes played by low strings with longer notes for higher strings and then complements each with a shifting bass line.

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