Michael Manring

Michael Manring (born June 27, 1960) is an American bass guitarist from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Biography

Michael Manring was born in Annapolis, Maryland,Tom Mulhern, ''Bass Heroes: Styles, Stories & Secrets of 30 Great Bass Players : from the Pages of Guitar Player Magazine'', Backbeat Books, 1993, , p.26 as the 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 while in high school, venturing through jazz rock and fusion, playing rock classics at beer parties or pop standards in restaurants and at weddings.

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.''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.''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), Larry Kassin, Tom Darter, Steve Morse, David Cullen, Alex de Grassi, Will Ackerman and many other noted musicians. He headlined his own band, Montreux, throughout the 1980s. He has been a member of Yo Miles!, Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith's Miles Davis tribute band, since its inception. In 1994 Manring was polled ''Bassist of the Year'' by the readers of ''Bass Player'' magazine.''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. Manring remains active, touring the world for performances and clinics. He lives in Oakland, California. In 2020 he has collaborated with the Art of Peace global project, composed and arranged by Mehran Alirezaei.

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–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 polyrhythms. 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.". A unique technique employed by Manring is utilising Hipshot D tuners to change the tuning of one or more strings over 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. 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 pickups for every string and four Fishman transducers 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:

* Zon Legacy Elite Special fretless, aka "Bub"
* Homemade Jazz Bass-style fretless
* Zon Michael Manring Hyperbass
* Zon Custom Fretless, aka "Junior" or "Son of Bub"
* Larrivee 5-string fretless acoustic bass guitar
* MusicMan Stingray fretless
* Paroutaud Music Laboratories 5-string fretless ''Infinite Sustain'' prototype
* PRS fretless
* Riverhead Unicorn fretless
* Riverhead Unicorn fretted bass
* Zon prototype headless fretted bass, aka "Vinny"
* Zon Legacy Elite 6-string fretless
* Zon prototype Legacy 10-string bass (5 x 2).

Manring uses Markbass amplifiers and EBow/PlusBow.

Discography

Solo

* 1986 ''Unusual Weather'' (Windham Hill)
* 1989 ''Toward the Center of the Night'' (Windham Hill)
* 1991 ''Drastic Measures'' (Windham Hill)
* 1994 ''Thonk'' (High Street)
* 1995 ''Up Close 21'' (Windham Hill/High Street/Boston Acoustic)
* 1998 ''The Book of Flame'' (Alchemy)
* 2005 ''Soliloquy'' (Manthing)
* 2020 ''Small Moments'' (Manthing)

Collaborations

; with Michael Hedges
* 1981 '' Breakfast in the Field'' (Windham Hill)
* 1984 '' Aerial Boundaries'' (Windham Hill)
* 1986 '' Watching My Life Go By'' (Open Air)
* 1987 ''Live on the Double Planet'' (Windham Hill)
* 1990 ''Taproot'' (Windham Hill)
* 1996 ''Oracle'' (Windham Hill)
* 1999 '' Torched'' (Windham Hill)
* 2000 ''Michael Hedges – The Best of Michael Hedges'' (Windham Hill)
* 2001 ''Beyond Boundaries – Guitar Solos'' (Windham Hill)
* 2003 ''Platinum & Gold Collection'' (RCA Victor)
* 2006 ''Pure Michael Hedges'' (RCA)

; with Calum Graham
* 2016 ''Farewell'' (Studio AD/TL Studios)

; with Danny Heines
* 2001 ''What Worlds They Bring'' (Vadadisc)

; with Alex Skolnick
* 1997 ''The Skol-Patrol'' (Pluto-Bound)

; with Montreux
* 1985 ''Chiaroscuro'' (Windham Hill)
* 1987 ''Sign Language'' (Windham Hill)
* 1989 ''Let Them Say'' (Windham Hill)

; with Jim Stinnett and Grant Stinnett
* 2008 ''Project M'' (Stinnett)
* 2009 ''Dance of the Bottom Feeders'' (Stinnett)
* 2011 ''Welcome to Our Clef'' (Stinnett)
* 2012 ''Convergencia'' (Stinnett)

; with John Gorka
* 1991 ''Jack's Crows'' (High Street)
* 1992 ''Temporary Road'' (High Street)
* 1994 ''Out of the Valley'' (High Street)
* 1996 ''Between Five and Seven'' (High Street)
* 1998 ''After Yesterday'' (Red House)
* 2001 ''Company You Keep'' (Red House)
* 2006 ''Writing in the Margins'' (Red House)

; with Paolo Giordano
* 1994 ''Paolo Giordano'' (Step Musique/New Sounds)
* 2000 ''Kid in a Toy Shop'' (Step Musique/New Sounds)

; with Turtle Island String Quartet
* 1995 ''By the Fireside'' (Windham Hill)

; with Attention Deficit
* 1998 ''Attention Deficit'' (Magna Carta)
* 2001 ''The Idiot King'' (Magna Carta)

; with Jeff Loomis
* 2008 ''Zero Order Phase'' (Century Media)

; with Yo Miles
* 1998 ''Yo Miles!'' ( Shanachie)
* 2004 ''Sky Garden'' (Cuneiform)
* 2005 ''Upriver'' (Cuneiform)

; with Sadhappy
* 1998 ''Good Day Bad Dream'' (Periscope)
* 2005 ''Outerspaces'' (Periscope)

; with Norm Stockton
* 2009 Tea in the Typhoon (Stocktones)

; with Scott McGill and Vic Stevens
* 2001 ''Addition by Subtraction'' (Free Electric Sound)
* 2003 ''Controlled by Radar'' (Free Electric Sound)
* 2006 ''What We Do'' (Free Electric Sound)

; with Larry Kassin and Tom Darter
* 2001 ''Scatter'' (MKD Music)

; with David Cullen
* 2001 ''Equilibré'' (Solid Air)

; with Human Factor
* 2002 ''Human Factor'' (Human Factor)

; with Euro Groove Department
* 2005 ''Optical Illusion''

; with At War With Self
* 2005 '' Torn Between Dimensions'' (Free Electric Sound)

; with DeMania
* 2006 ''DeMania'' (Tropo)

; with Jonni Lightfoot
*2006 "BLU" (DreamAttik Productions)

; with Jeff Dodd
* 2007 ''Falling Awake'' (Aesthetic)

; with Jeff Titus
* 2007 ''Wood Dragon'' (Musician101 Music)
* 2011 ''What We Don't Know'' (Jeff Titus Music)

; with Brad Hoyt and Jeff Titus
* 2013 ''Restive Nocture'' (Harp Guitar Music)

; with Jim Matheos
* 1999 '' Away with Words''

; with Yves Carbonne and Dominique Di Piazza
* 2005 ''Carbonne – Di Piazza – Manring''

; with Justin King (as King West Manring Vamos)
* 2008 ''I-XII''

; with Cyril Achard
* 2008 ''A Place in Time''

; with Sándor Szabó
* 2010 ''Inner Smile'' (Indie Europe/Zoom)

; with Lukas Ligeti
* 2011 ''Pattern Time'' ( Innova)

; with Terror Syndrome
* 2008 ''Terror Syndrome''

; with Kevin Kastning
*2013 "In Winter" (Greydisc Records)

; with Shambhu
* 2010 "Sacred Love" (Acoustic Shine)
* 2016 "Soothe" (Acoustic Shine)

; with Marco Maggiore
* 2014 ''PassWords'' (M81Productions)

; with Tim Jordan Kirtan
* 2015 ''Heart and Spirit'' (Dharmapala Records)

; with Vectrexcentricity
* 2016 ''Lifelike Boy Android'' (H(i)nds(i)ght)

; with Gianfranco Continenza
* 2013 ''Dusting the Time'' (Videoradio, VRCD 000844)
* 2019 ''Vertical Horizons'' (Never Sleeping Records, NS 001)

Compilations

; Windham Hill
* 1982 ''An Evening with Windham Hill Live''
* 1985 ''Windham Hill – Winter''
* 1985 ''Windham Hill Sampler '86 ''
* 1985 ''Windham Hill Sampler '85''
* 1986 ''A Winter's Solstice II''
* 1989 ''Windham Hill Radio Sampler I''
* 1990 ''Windham Hill – The First Ten Years''
* 1990 ''A Winter's Solstice III''
* 1990 ''Restore the Shore''
* 1991 ''Windham Hill Sampler '92''
* 1991 ''Windham Hill Guitar Sampler II''
* 1993 ''A Winter's Solstice IV''
* 1995 ''Heal the Bay''
* 1996 ''Sanctuary – 20 Years of Windham Hill''
* 1996 ''Redbook Relaxers – Daybreak''
* 1996 ''Redbook Relaxers – Dreamscape''
* 1996 ''Carols of Christmas''
* 1997 ''Summer Solstice – A Windham Hill Collection''
* 1997 ''Redbook Relaxers – Lullabies''
* 1997 ''Redbook Relaxers – Dinner Party''
* 1997 ''Redbook Relaxers – Between Friends''
* 1997 ''Redbook Relaxers – After Hours''
* 1997 ''Redbook Relaxers – Piano Reflections''
* 1998 ''Thanksgiving – A Windham Hill Collection''
* 1998 ''Yoga Zone – Music for Yoga Practice''
* 1998 ''Conversations with God II''
* 1999 ''Sun Dance – Summer Solstice III''
* 2000 ''Windham Hill Classics – Morning''
* 2000 ''Windham Hill Classics – Journeys''
* 2000 ''Windham Hill Classics – Harvest''
* 2000 ''Windham Hill Classics – Angels''
* 2000 ''The Mozart Variations''
* 2002 ''Spirit of Life''
* 2003 ''Windham Hill Chill II''
* 2003 ''Prayer – A Windham Hill Collection''
* 2003 ''Adagio – A Windham Hill Collection''
* 2003 ''A Winter's Solstice V''
* 2003 ''A Windham Hill Wedding Album''
* 2004 ''Winter Wonderland – A Windham Hill Collection''
* 2004 ''Lullaby – A Windham Hill Collection''
* 2005 ''A Quiet Revolution – 30 Years of Windham Hill''
* 2005 ''Essential Winter's Solstice''

; BMG
* 1997 ''Twilight Jazz''
* 1997 ''Meditation – Revive''
* 1997 ''Candlelight Moments – Romantic Moments''
* 1997 ''Candlelight Moments – Meditative Moments''
* 1998 ''Moonlight Reflections''
* 1998 ''Quiet Moods – Romantic Reflections''
* 1998 ''Quiet Moods – Meditative Moments''
* 2000 ''New Age Christmas''
* 2000 ''Awake''
* 2000 ''Yoga – Energy''
* 2000 ''Yoga – Balance Energy and Strength''
* 2001 ''Meditation – Relax Restore and Revive''
* 2002 ''Meditation – Renew''
* 2002 ''Meditation – Relax''

; Other labels
* 1994 ''We Sing to Open Ears'' (High Street)
* 1996 ''Different Mozart'' (Philips)
* 1997 ''Heritage'' (Polygram )
* 1997 ''A Very Green Christmas'' (Seventh Wave)
* 1999 ''Moonlight Moments'' (Columbia River)
* 1999 ''Soundscape – New Age Reflections'' (Delta/BMG)
* 1999 ''Bass Talk, Vol. 6'' (Hot Wire)
* 1999 ''Bass Day '98'' (Hudson Music)
* 2000 ''Dreamscape'' (Delta)
* 2003 ''Guitar Harvest I'' (Solid Air)
* 2004 ''Healing Garden – The Art of Relaxation'' (Madacy)
* 2005 ''Brazil Duets'' (Adventure Music)
* 2006 ''Woodsongs: An Acoustic Guitar Collection'' (New Land Music)
* 2010 ''The Quantum Activist Soundtrack'' (Bluedot Productions)

Video

* 1996 ''Bass Essentials'' (Hot Licks)
* 1998 ''The Artist’s Profile: Michael Manring'' (Ecliptic productions)
* 1998 ''Bass Day '98'' (Hudson Music)
* 2000 ''Michael Manring: Instructional Bass'' (Video, Hal Leonard)
* 2008 ''Michael Manring: Resonances'' (DVD, Resonance Prod LLC/Michael Manring)
* 2009 ''The Quantum Activist'' Documentary Soundtrack (Bluedot Productions)

References

External links

*
Ask Steve Lawson and Michael Manring
forum at TalkBass.com
Solo Bass Night
A recurring Bay Area, California solo bass show featuring Michael Manring
Official Peter Princiotto websiteBassist Michael Manring, an Interview With Editor Jake KotMichael Manring: A Review of the May 2009 Portland OR Concert, 8/01/2009Michael Manring Interview with Blogger Tommy Landry, 2011

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manring, Michael
New-age musicians
Chamber jazz bass guitarists
Berklee College of Music alumni
Living people
1960 births
Windham Hill Records artists
People from Annapolis, Maryland
Guitarists from Washington, D.C.
Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
Musicians from Norfolk, Virginia
20th-century American bass guitarists
Guitarists from California
Montreux (band) members
At War with Self members