A rich combination of sounds and rhythms from around the planet were something Renaud Garcia-Fons wanted to create when he started playing his five-stringed double bass.
Garcia-Fons, along with guitarist Kiko Ruiz and percussionist Pascal Rollando, will present his effort when in a performance at 5:30 p.m. in Pruis Hall.
The style of Garcia-Fons's music and his techniques on the double bass are among the reasons Patrick O'Hara, double bass performance graduate student, and his bass-playing friends are attending the concert.
"[The] concert is going to be unbelievable," he said. "It's going to be a one-time opportunity for many on campus to see him."
O'Hara said he learned about Garcia-Fons about six years ago. He called Garcia-Fons a popular musician and YouTube sensation.
Garcia-Fons, winner of the 2009 International Society of Bassist Soloist Award, started playing the double bass when he was 16 years old, but he always sought to play a different kind of music other than just classical or jazz.
"I don't know if I chose the double bass or if it was the double bass that chose me," he said. "There was this occasion I had the opportunity to try the double bass of a friend for a few minutes. I immediately fell in love."
Garcia-Fons said although he started playing classical music, he listened to other kinds of music and started to believe that he could do more than just accompany other instruments. He learned new techniques under the influence of double bass player François Rabbath, a pioneer of the instrument.
"When I was a student, I didn't like to be closed into my style, like in a box," he said. "[My music is like] trying to find the kind of voice, it's something that comes from heart, my soul, my taste."
After 10 years of playing his instrument, Garcia-Fons decided to add a fifth string to his double bass. He said after many years of research and after hearing it, he knew he had found a way to give himself freedom to play and express himself.
"I think this instrument is quite new, quite new with pioneers on this instrument," he said. "We improve the technique of the instrument and we also open the field of the music that we play."
Hans Sturm, who was Rabbath's student, met Garcia-Fons in France years ago. While organizing the 2007 Society of Bassists' international convention, Sturm invited Garcia-Fons to play. Two years later, Garcia-Fons won an award as the best soloist player from the organization.
The audience can expect a variety of technique, melodies and rhythms tonight from Garcia-Fons' trio, Sturm said.
"He has all of the subtlety of a classical player. He makes beautiful phrases," he said. "But he has tremendous virtuosity. He can play anything he can imagine on the instrument, and he imagines a lot."
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