Fogbow

Who Is Ellen Alaverdyan?

Ellen Alaverdyan is a nine-year-old bass player from Las Vegas, Nevada. Ellen has only been playing the bass for one year, yet her impressive riffs show talent way beyond her years.

According to Ellen’s father, Ellen has been musical from a young age. She has also tried instruments such as the ukelele, piano, and drums, although she never quite found her passion for them.

Ellen’s father, who is predominantly a guitarist, allowed Ellen to play his bass, and she has fallen in love with it ever since. Ellen’s father has also assisted her in learning the bass and has guided her with what to play.

Ellen now has a YouTube channel, EllenPlaysBass, where she shares covers of songs that she has learnt on the bass. From The Beatles to Black Sabbath, Ellen has her own unique style and isn’t afraid to share it with the world.

Foggy wrote: ↑Sun Dec 18, 2022 1:03 pm Wait, this isn't about bass fishin'?

Ellen Alaverdyan is a nine-year-old bass

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sun Dec 18, 2022 7:05 pm I added musical notes to encourage possible viewers to sing or hum the VERY POPULAR song as they read the thread's title. I am not fishing for thanks, though.

Why Do Live Music Audiences Suck Right Now?

Unhinged behaviour is everywhere, and that includes screaming “mommy” mid-song and demanding musicians take a BeReal.
by Tatum Van Dam
01 December 2022, 9:15am

After two years of postponed gigs, cancelled festivals and “Zoom performances”, live music is finally back in our lives. Glastonbury actually happened. Phoebe Bridgers did a whole tour! Paramore have been playing “Misery Business” once again. 

But has live music really returned to pre-pandemic levels? Because, by the looks of things online, gig-going has become kind of… chaotic recently. Audience members heckling artists with crude comments, people playing games on their phones mid-performance for TikTok clout, fans bombarding artists with objects (yes, literal objects) – unhinged behaviour at live shows seems to have become commonplace. Expected, even. So what gives? 

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact reason why respectfully enjoying a performance has been replaced with shouting phrases like “hit the slay button!” or “spit in my mouth!” during an intimate acoustic set, but internet culture might be a good place to start. Social media has created a space for artists to directly connect with their fans, but it can also enable – and foster – the growth of one-sided, parasocial relationships appearing in the form of calling Mitski “Mommy!” as she sings about heartbreak and emotional pain.

Once this behaviour is recorded and posted online, it gains life of its own as an internet trend and snowballs from there. “One thing that I've noticed at concerts a lot is people playing games in the middle of the show, and lifting it up for everyone to see,” says Michala Zappitelli, who works in Artist Relations and Fan Engagement at the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. “And then it's on TikTok the next day. And then, of course, it goes viral. So everyone else thinks it's funny and wants to do it, too. Five years ago, no one would have done this at a concert.”  

Zappitelli’s observation is indicative of a culture obsessed with captured content and curated experiences. In September, a fan's phone was handed to Harry Styles mid-show so that he could take a BeReal. While one lucky BeReal-er is sitting in the internet hall of fame, this expectation puts artists in a tricky position, whereby the focus isn't on the show itself.

“I have a lot of artist friends who have talked about the difficulties of performing more recently with fans insisting on them taking their BeReal photo or taking a selfie with the crowd on the fan’s camera,” says 22-year-old indie artist j solomon. “I do often think about how I would respond to a phone or camera getting thrown onstage.” 

j solomon's worries aren't unfounded. Phones and filming at shows have become a contentious issue as of late. In a now-deleted statement posted on Twitter, Mitski kindly encouraged her fans to put their phones away during her concerts and stay present in the moment. And we’ve all seen how Steve Lacy responded when a camera got thrown at him: by pausing his performance to forcibly smash it before walking off. Perhaps Lacy’s camera smashing is symbolic of a much larger issue: a frustration with a generation whose hive mind mentality is fuelled by a “main character” mindset, and the artists who are tiring of it. 

Equally, while viral songs like Doja Cat’s “Say So” or K CAMP’s “Renegade” might get people revved up online, it's worth investigating how they're received IRL. Over the summer months, it was reported that audience members at Beach House gigs kept leaving after hearing viral TikTok smash “Space Song”. Another clip on TikTok shows a recent Omar Apollo gig, where crowd members remained seated until he played “Evergreen”. Another clip shows Steve Lacy clapping back at his crowd for only knowing the words to the chorus of “Bad Habit” (sidebar: At this point I am convinced that Lacy is being held against his will to complete his tour)

John Thomas8 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 17, 2023 8:43 pm

John Thomas8 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:33 am This little feller has a voice, wow:

https: //youtu.be/lyekSI_4Qlc

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:19 am Hubby, who has a nice baritone and dreamed of being a “Pip” for Gladys Knight, loves bass singers. I have forwarded to him the many videos just posted.

John Thomas8 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:33 am This little feller has a voice, wow:

John Thomas8 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:33 am This little feller has a voice, wow:

northland10 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 17, 2023 2:07 pm Shifting to a bass that is not steel strings but a bit more fibrous.

I was sometimes sort of able to get to a Bb (i.e. b-flat below the staff) in my college days but while I can still pul a D and sometimes a C, aging has caused my baritoneness to assert itself, and I have lost resonance in the low areas. However, being a bass/baritone, at least I won't be like my tenor college choir director who told us basses to shape (crescendo and decrescendo) that low b-flat line we had for 4 measures in some piece. Um. sure, no problem. We'll just ignore the fact that it is there or not there. Shaping was not in the cards.