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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Michael Manring| image =| caption = Michael Manring performing live at iMusicast, in Oakland, California, on September 28, 2003| image_size = 250| landscape = yes| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name =| alias = Manthing| Born = June 1960| death_date =| origin = Washington, D.C. , United States | instrument = Bass guitar | genre = Jazz , World music|World | occupation = Musician | years_active = 1975–present| label = Windham Hill Records|Windham Hill , Highstreet, Alchemy, Manthing| associated_acts =| website = http://www.manthing.com/ www.manthing.com| notable_instruments = Michael Manring (born June 1960 in Annapolis Tom Mulhern, Bass Heroes: Styles, Stories & Secrets of 30 Great Bass Players : from the Pages of Guitar Player Magazine , Backbeat Books, 1993 , ISBN 0879302747, p.26) is an American bass guitar|electric bassist from the San Francisco Bay Area , ( Northern California ).
Biography
Michael Manring was born as youngest of four children. His family lived in Norfolk, Virginia and moved to the suburbs of Washington, D.C in 1969. The Manrings were a very active family musically, providing a very fertile background for Michael's musical development. He and his brother Doug - a guitarist and drummer, later living a long time in Japan - formed a very active rhythm group still being at high school, venturing through jazz rock and Fusion (music)|fusion , playing Rock (music)|rock classics at beer parties or Pop (music)|pop standards in restaurants and at weddings. http://www.dougmanring.com/bio.htm Doug Manring Bio at Doug Manrings website. Accessed on November 22, 2007.
Manring was a pupil of bassist Peter Princiotto from Spring Hill area, Virginia. He began to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston , Massachusetts in the late 1970s, but canceled his studies in 1979 because of the heavy workload he already had, touring with several different bands like the Prog Rock band However . http://www.innerviews.org/inner/manring.html MICHAEL MANRING . Beyond genres and niches by Anil Prasad. Accessed on November 22, 2007. During his time at Berklee College he used every opportunity to play with very different musicians and bands. In the 1980s he studied and toured with Jaco Pastorius and began to develop his own style. http://www.berklee.edu/bt/141/alum_profile.html ''Alum Profile – Michael Manring '79 at Berklee College. Accessed on November 24, 2007.
In addition to a long tenure in the 1980s as house bassist for Windham Hill Records , Manring has recorded with Spastic Ink , Alex Skolnick (in the bands Skol-Patrol and Attention Deficit, also featuring Tim Alexander from Primus (band)|Primus ), Larry Kassin , Tom Darter , Steve Morse , David Cullen (Musician)|David Cullen , Alex de Grassi , Will Ackerman and many other noted musicians. He headlined his own band, Montreux (band)|Montreux , throughout the 1980s. He has been a member of Yo Miles!, Henry Kaiser (musician)|Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith 's Miles Davis tribute band, since its inception. 1994 Manring was polled Bassist Of The Year by the readers of Bass Player magazine. http://www.nomadland.com//MM041594.htm Michael Manring Interview by Matt Guthrie, April 15, 1994. Accessed on November 21, 2007. Manring's name is also tied with that of fingerstyle guitarist Michael Hedges , who was a dear friend and fellow musician. Manring toured extensively with Hedges and played on all Hedges albums except one. Manring is known as a humble and gracious live performer with a gift for improvisation with guest musicians.
Since 2005 Manring is member of the band DeMania with guitarist Alex de Grassi and percussionist Christopher Garcia .
Michael Manring remains active, touring the world for performances and clinics. He lives in Oakland, California . http://www.manthing.com/contact.htm Michael Manring Contact Info at his website. Accessed on November 22, 2007.
Music and musical influences
Because of his association with the Windham Hill label Manring often was seen as a New Age musician. He doesn't see himself as belonging to a certain style or genre and often jokes about categorising his music. His album Thonk he termed for example "... the first New Age– Death metal – Fusion (music)|Fusion –album“.
Manring has a solid musical knowledge and uses the bass as a solo instrument usually in alternate tunings, with additional possibilities and patterns invoked on the fly with lever-activated de-tuners and bridges, somewhat like a pedal steel guitar . He wants to show that the electric bass can be used in a musically rich and expressive way. Manring occasionally plays on two (or even three or four) basses at the same time during live performances. Manring is also a composer of experimental music, mixing technology and fretless bass with the sounds of kitchen implements and cardboard boxes, evidenced on his "Book of Flame" solo album.
He is a technical virtuoso, generally using his bass in very different ways. Mostly he plays a fretless bass, which gives him ample possibilities to change tone and pitch just like on acoustic bass. Manring is rhythmically very versatile and often uses polyrhythm s. He's said to do "... things on the electric bass that haven’t been done before, are nearly impossible, and (are) illegal in most states.". http://cdbaby.com/cd/manthing CD-Baby review of CD Soliloquy . Accessed on November 22, 2007. A very special technique used by Manring is the tuning change of single or several strings in the course of playing a piece.
Equipment
Manring plays a custom bass by Zon Guitars , the so-called Zon Hyperbass , a very flexible instrument, which was developed by Joseph Zon and Manring. http://www.zonguitars.com/zonguitars/Hyperbass.html Hyperbass , website of Zon Guitars . Accessed on November 24, 2007. Special tuning pegs and a special bridge allow instantaneous tuning change of single strings as well as of all strings simultaneously by the action of several tiny levers, a system like that of the TransTrem guitar. The development of this special model was caused by Manring's use of open tunings. When Manring began changing tunings during pieces by turning the pegs while playing, he soon realised the limitations of this approach. First he tried to overcome these limitations by changing a normal Music Man Sting Ray Bass, but then began to develop the Hyperbass with Zon. The Hyperbass has Bartolini Pickup (music technology)|pickups for every string and four Fishman Transducer for the body signals of the instruments.
Apart from the Hyperbass, Manring uses a whole fleet of instruments. A listing at his website gives the following models: http://www.manthing.com/tunings.htm Michael Manring's tunings. Accessed on November 22, 2007.
Manring uses several bass amplifiers, among others the ''SWR Mo' Bass amp, a multi effect bass amp.
Discography
collected from http://www.amazon.com Michael Manring'' at Amazon. Search on November 24, 2007. http://www.jorgepescara.com.br/html/13.pt.htm Michael Manring's biography by Jorge Pescara (br.). Accessed on November 24, 2007. http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/artist/artist.cgi? ARTISTID=343181 John Gorka , Musicmatch Guide. Accessed on November 24, 2007. http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/artist/artist.cgi? ARTISTID=352749 Michael Manring , Musicmatch Guide. Accessed on November 25, 2007. and http://www.bsnpubs.com/aandm/windhamhill.html Windham Hill album discography. Accessed on November 24, 2007.
Original work
1986 Unusual Weather (Windham Hill)
1989 Toward the Center of the Night (Windham Hill)
1991 Drastic Measures (Windham Hill)
1994 Thonk (Highstreet)
1995 Up Close 21 (Windham Hill / High Street Records / Boston Acoustic)
2005 Carbonne - Di Piazza - Manring http://www.carbonne-dipiazza-manring.com/ Carbonne - Di Piazza - Manring. Album recorded in February 2005. Accessed on May 25, 2009.
; with Justin King (guitarist)|Justin King (as King West Manring Vamos)
2006 "Woodsongs: An Acoustic Guitar Collection" (New Land Music)
2010 "The Quantum Activist Soundtrack" (Bluedot Productions)
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)
2009 The Quantum Activist Documentary Soundtrack (Bluedot Productions)
References
External links
Official website|1= http://www.manthing.com
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/forumdisplay.php? f=42 Ask Steve Lawson and Michael Manring forum at TalkBass.com
http://www.solobassnight.com/ Solo Bass Night A recurring Bay Area, California solo bass show featuring Michael Manring
http://www.peterprinciotto.com/ Official Peter Princiotto website
http://www.liraproductions.com/dmg/index.htm - the official DEMANIA site
http://www.bass-musician-magazine.com/General/bass-musician-magazine-detail.asp? year=2009& month=8& article-id=717801051 Bassist Michael Manring, an Interview With Editor Jake Kot
http://www.bass-musician-magazine.com/General/bass-musician-magazine-detail.asp? year=2009& month=8& article-id=517801237 Michael Manring: A Review of the May 2009 Portland OR Concert, 8/01/2009
http://fretlessbassguitarsite.com/2011/01/michael-manring-interview/ Michael Manring Interview with Blogger Tommy Landry, 2011
Persondata | NAME = Manring, Michael | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1960 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Manring, Michael Category:American bass guitarists Category:New Age musicians Category:Chamber jazz bass guitarists Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Living people Category:1960 births Category:Windham Hill Records artists
