Fiddlerman

Catskill Cultural Center Saved, and Renewed, Thanks to a Fiddler’s Tune

KindaScratchy — Tue, 14 May 2013 01:12:38 +0000

From the New York Times:

Jay Ungar and Molly Mason playing “Ashokan Farewell” at the Ashokan Center.

OLIVEBRIDGE, N.Y. — On a spring Sunday in the Catskill Mountains, Jay Ungar, a fiddler wearing a black vest and hiking boots, and his wife, Molly Mason, playing guitar, stood on a stage in a barnlike performance hall that did not exist a year ago. “Can you stand to hear this tune one more time?” he asked the audience.

NewsBeat: Paganini to Prince: Daniel Bernard Roumain makes violin cool

KindaScratchy — Wed, 01 May 2013 00:43:48 +0000

From the Kansas City Star:

No delusions here. Daniel Bernard Roumain knows what most kids think about the violin.

“Not very cool, not very cool at all,” he said once to a group of high school musicians. “Bass guitar, cool. Drum kit, cool. Electric guitar, cool. When I was growing up — violin? Not cool.”

Yet Roumain, in Kansas City this week to work with young musicians, knows the instrument he’s been playing since he was 5 can conjure Prince or Paganini.

NewsBeat: A violinist’s view on “A Late Quartet”

KindaScratchy — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:38:09 +0000

From The Guardian:

Christopher Walken in A Late Quartet

If Yaron Zilberman’s film, A Late Quartet, can’t make Christopher Walken and company look like real string players, at least it understands the dynamics of a quartet. It’s very difficult to make an actor look as if they can really play a string instrument.

NewsBeat: Violin Rap Freestyle Video: Mateo Alan And Violinist David Wong Put Everyone To Shame (VIDEO)

KindaScratchy — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:57:57 +0000

From the Huffington Post:

There is nothing we love more than an impressive freestyle throw down, except perhaps an impressive freestyle throw down accompanied by a classical instrument. The unlikely combo of rap and violin is causing quite a stir online recently, with an infectiously catchy chance duet quickly gaining viral traction on Reddit.

NewsBeat: That Stradivari violin is talking in Italian!

KindaScratchy — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:56:50 +0000

From NBC News:

The 1704 “Betts” Stradivari violin was crafted by Antonio Stradivari, an Italian manufacturer of string instruments. Of the estimated 1,000 violins originally crafted by Stradivari, about 650 still exist. New research suggests these instruments mimic the vowel sounds of the female soprano voice.

Virtuosos who describe the singing voice of a violin may be on to something. The great violin makers, such as Stradivari and Guarneri, may have designed violins to mimic the human voice, new research suggests. The research, described in the current issue of Savart Journal, found the violin produced several vowel sounds, including the Italian “i” and “e” sounds and several vowel sounds from French and English.

Meet “Worldfiddler” from Fiddlerman’s “Fiddle Talk” forum

Fiddlerman — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 03:52:44 +0000

Join the forum discussion on this post

Wordfiddler from Fiddlerman.com

• Please begin by telling us anything you would like to about yourself. Age, place of birth, residence, etc.
Well, as for my age, I’m kinda like not 21 any more, although I feel it I was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but now living in Southampton, England.

• What made you decide to play the violin?
Well, I started learning guitar at 14, then heard Earl Scruggs play the 5-string banjo. That changed my musical life! I took up the 5-string banjo, and learned all the Flatt and Scruggs tunes. On those same records, I heard the amazing bluegrass fiddling of people like Paul Warren, then later on, from players like Kenny Baker.
That was when I decided to learn the fiddle.

• How long have you been playing the violin?
About 40 years.

• How often do you play? How long are your practice sessions?
I play every day / evening, usually for about half an hour.

• In your opinion, what’s your proficiency on the violin?
Fairly good. Not as skilled as some professional orchestral or symphony players, but at a reasonably high level by most measurements.

• Your greatest personal experience with playing?
Not in front a of large audience, or anything like that. It was playing a regular gig with an excellent guitarist, who was able to accompany all of my compositions.

• What other instruments do you play?
Guitar and 5-string banjo, plus a little piano too.

• What does music mean to you?
A lot! I play, write music, listen to music a lot too. I still play in public, even if the financial rewards are not great.

• What or who has been your greatest influence?
Well, for fiddling, people like Kenny Baker, Darol Anger, Casey Driessen and Mark O’Connor. For the more classical style, Itzak Perlman, L.Shankar (Indian), Tom Wright and Jean-Luc Ponty (jazz).

• What are your goals for playing violin? Short and long.
Well, to get friendly with loads of chicks who love my music, and would love to keep me in the style to which I’s like to become accustomed. But really … in the short term, have enough time to be able to make some decent CDs of my playing and compositions, and long-term, to do pretty much the same, but with teaching material to cover all of the styles I like to play.

• What type of violin training?
Well, self-taught from 15-29, then 5 years of heavy-duty classical lessons with an excellent teacher and player. It’s probably his influence that comes out most in my playing.

• How do you warm up?
I fall asleep in the sauna for an hour or two … but really, for left hand, just some Sevcik exercises from book one – usually exercise 5. For bow work, I step through Paganini’s Moto Perpetuo at about 120 bpm. If there’s one piece that will sharpen up your bowing, it’s that!

• What is your favorite type of music?
Actually, good solid rock music – Little Feat, Frank Zappa, plus Ry Cooder. For fiddle type stuff, I love the bluegrass styles of people like Mark O’Connor, Kenny Baker, and for the more progressive / alternative styles, Darol Anger, Casey Driessen. With classical, I tend to like the miniatures rather that the concertos. Itzak Perlman, Salvatore Accardo or Ilya Kahler for Paganini Caprices, Jascha Heifetz for the Bach solo sonatas, Henryk Szeryng for Locatelli and Bartok’s 6 Romanian Dances.

• What is your favorite piece of music? Why?
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint Saens – hard to say why, probably the strong weaving melody all the way through it.

• What are your 2 favorite things to do other than playing violin?
Well, I like working with computers, using music software and recording too. I’m also interested in the philosophy of religious belief, and all that goes with it.

• Do you come from a musical family? If so please tell us about them.
Well, no musical relatives as far as I know … so it’s just me that’s odd

• Are you a member of any orchestra?
No, but I have played with a few local orchestras in my earlier days.

• Do you ever perform publicly?
Not so much now, but I used to gig a lot, playing mostly Irish fiddle stuff. I teach too – I’ve been an instructor at the Groton Fiddle Hell in MA from 2007-2010. I get far-reaching requests for tuition from players of all abilities and playing standards

Jim’s 5-string fiddle.

• Would you please share with us information about your violin and bow and if you have several please tell us about them as well.
Well, I have a KC Strings 5STAR Pro (5-string violin), and an Arcus M4 bow which is great! I also have a lightweight pernambuco with a hex stick, which I use occasionally. I’ve have several 4-string violins over the years, but I’m really hooked on the 5-string, and the extra range suits my compositions.

NewsBeat: Titanic violin authenticated as genuine

KindaScratchy — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:08:54 +0000

From ABC News:

This violin, which was played aboard the Titanic, was authenticated as genuine.

A battery of forensics tests has determined that a violin found in a British man’s attic is the instrument that was used by the bandmaster of the Titanic to play, according to lore, “Nearer My God to Thee” during the ship’s last moments.

NewsBeat: 3D Printed Violin Ready To Drop A Tune

KindaScratchy — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:36:17 +0000

From ubergizmo.com:

3D printing seems to be in the news as of late, and apart from obvious hobbyist escapades and medical purposes, you can also make use of 3D printing to roll out something totally different – case in point, this 3D printed violin that costs approximately $12 of capital to churn out, where it relies on a combination of paper, 3D printed parts, as well as cheap wire, resulting in an instrument which is crude to look at, but easy on the ears. Granted, this will definitely be far from a Stradivarius, but to have it make sweet music? That is definitely one huge step forward.

Watch the video…

Fiddlerman’s International Pachelbel’s Canon Group Project

Fiddlerman — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 03:59:21 +0000

Any violinist or violist no matter what your level, is invited to learn the parts and participate in the Fiddlerman’s international Pachelbel’s Canon group youtube project. All the parts for the project are available for download below. Your videos will be due sometime around the 13th of May.
Participating members will record themselves individually using this click track and send the files to Fiddlerman who will create a memorable combined youtube video that you can share with all your friends and loved ones.

Download the appropriate part or parts and learn them as well as you can. Participate in learning together with other members if you like via our forum. Post demo’s of yourself for critique, feedback, or just for the heck of it.

Record yourself using the click track in ear (not audible on the recording) and SPREND the file to pierre@fiddlerman.com (Do not email any files, they will be too big)
Deadline for turning in the audio or video files is not entirely decided. Please spread the word. The more the merrier.

If you don’t wish to be seen just record and send audio. Fiddlerman will mix the parts first then add the video. Sending your video gives Fiddlerman.com the rights to use the video as seen fit for a youtube project.

Demo tutorials of the violin parts by Fiddlerman soon to come.

Pachelbel’s Canon PDF sheet-music parts:

Violin

Viola

Click Track

Pachelbel’s Canon – Click track

Midi files from Finale file

MP3 files from Finale file

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Section 9

Section 10

Section 11

Section 12

Section 13

Section 14

Section 15

Section 16

Pachelbel Canon Section 1

Pachelbel Canon Section 2

Pachelbel Canon Section 3

Pachelbel Canon Section 4

Pachelbel Canon Section 5

Pachelbel Canon Section 6

Pachelbel Canon Section 7

Pachelbel Canon Section 8

Pachelbel Canon Section 9

Pachelbel Canon Section 10

Pachelbel Canon Section 11

Pachelbel Canon Section 12

Pachelbel Canon Section 13

Pachelbel Canon Section 14

Pachelbel Canon Section 16

Pachelbel Canon Section 15

See previous projects:

Christmas Project 2012

Ghostbusters Project

Bile Em Cabbage Down Project

He’s a Pirate Project

Christmas Project 2011

NewsBeat: Violin maker takes a bow

KindaScratchy — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:33:17 +0000

From PostStar.com (Glen Falls, NY):

Geoffrey Ovington hand carves a scroll end that will hold the pegbox of a viola he is working on in his Shushan studio. (LINDSEY HOLLENBAUGH — lhollenbaugh@poststar.com)

It’s hard to imagine Geoffrey Ovington’s Shushan studio was once a dairy barn filled with hay bales. It’s even harder to believe this building is a workshop where he produces world-class stringed instruments — there are no wood shavings scattered about or sawdust, no blueprints or patterns piled on tables, and no detectable odor of varnish anywhere.