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I have several violins. I often have them all out and play them in whatever order I happen to want at any given time. I tend to drift around the room as I play with the instruments literally anywhere and all over. This particular day, My daughter was in and about doing what daughters to (causing me grief of course)
I had been playing as usual moving about with my eyes closed. Seeing the song I was playing in my head. I then took a step backwards and CrUnCh!!! It was a nasty gut wrenching sound. I could hear the hallow crunching sound as my foot continued through and firmly plant on the ground. My foot was now encased like a slipper. I was sick. I just looked up at the ceiling thinking "Oh Dear God, WHY??" .
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and looked to see the extent of the damage. What I saw was completely not what I had expected. I had stepped onto a bag of potato chips my daughter had left while she was programming her tablet, sitting behind me on the floor.
Somewhere in the depths of my brain, I heard God yell out .. Psych!!!
"I find your lack of Fiddle, disturbing" - Darth Vader
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My first recital. Somehow (kids?) my shoulder rest got bent. I got to the recital and it would not stay on my fiddle. It wasn't bent enough to tell visibly so I couldn't figure out why it would not stay on and kept popping off and falling on the floor. Ugh.
Opportunity is often missed because it wears suspenders and looks like hard work.
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I've been echoing this all over Fiddle Chat, but I might as well reiterate it here. My incident occurred a couple of hours before the concert, on Thursday (October 30th). Our school was having a Halloween festival that night and we were going to rehearse. I wasn't really focused, since it was the last period of the day and I was excited for the concert. When I go to unpack my case (which is one of the plastic ones with two latches on it) I usually open one latch while I'm holding it by the handle before placing it on a chair and opening the other. In my careless state, I did not notice that one latch was already open and when I opened the other latch my violin fell face down onto the linoleum from a height of about three feet.
Thud.
I stood there in shock, not believing what had just happened. One of my peers (who also happened to be the section leader) had her eyes wide open, her jaw had dropped to the floor. I picked it up, mentally praying to all the gods and goddesses in the universe that 'tis just a scratch on my violin. I turned it over in my hands and breathed a sigh of relief. At first glance, the instrument looked unscathed.
...Until my section leader pointed her finger at the obvious crack ripping through the right side of the top. I'm sure my face dropped like a deadweight. I was dreading the moment when I had to regurgitate my incident to my parents. I still managed to play at the concert that night, although my violin did sound a little "off". I still have to head to the luthier and hand it over so it can be fixed. The looks of disappointment I have gotten in the past week have been innumerable and I am also disappointed in myself.
I wish I could turn back time, but I can't. I just hope that I won't make the same mistake in the future.
That Thursday night I felt the deepest regret I have ever felt in a long time. I couldn't enjoy my concert. There was a rock in my throat, the consequences of my actions were flashing through my head like subway cars.
I don't think I'll ever forget that day, nor will I ever forget the look my mom gave me when I told her.
Regret stings.
Edit: I know my post escalated near the end, and this turned from a simple story into poetic banter. (I'm a bit of a wordsmith, I can't help it.) I just wanted this to be a lesson to everyone. Accidents do happen, but they don't have to happen. There are some things you can prevent, and this incident is one of those things. I can't go back in time, but I can learn from this and so can anyone who reads this. Violins are delicate instruments. You could one day feel the sting when a careless mistake snatches a couple grand from your wallet, but that doesn't have to happen. I don't intend to frighten anyone, I just want to give insight.
"It's bad enough I'm stuck with you and Captain Guyliner making eyes at each other."
-Regina Mills, Once Upon A Time
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@Gossamer - LOL - loved the extensive post - I get a bit "wordy" at times myself - I just love a tale recounted in the first person - brings it to life! (And I will not recount what befell my first guitar - cheap as it was for a teenager at the time - it was my pride and joy...... noooooo... too many sad memories... LOL )
Bill
- Oh, yes, and WELCOME !
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh -
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
@happyjet - indeed, lucky it was rehearsal.
@Georganne - my first recital was a blur and a sort of humiliation ... I played Twinkle with little kids and Scarborough Fair with the little kids. They just looked at me like I was a fool. Anyway.. I got through it.
@Ferret - I am so impressed to this day with your violin performance at the wedding last year.
@Tyberius ... oh boy... bag O chips.... Yikes.
Wow.. wow.. Welcome @Gossamer. What a story indeed.
I try to be really "present" in my actions when dealing with my violin. I tend to have accidents happening when I am multitasking and my mind is in a few different directions.
I also have this new founded Klutzy thing that happened to me as I near the BIG 50.
I have actually been playing the violin and walking to let the dog out and ran into the wall or hit the glass door. Bad judgement on my part. No violin has been harmed yet. Having a violin jammed into my neck has been my penalty for not talking the time to stop playing and tend to things in a proper fashion.
Great topic.. fun.. and kind of scary.
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
Honorary tenured advisor
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@Gossamer, that's a total bummer. I hope it can be fixed to your satisfaction. Just remember that kind of thing happens. David Garret, crushed his a $1M+ violin when he fell.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright
Member
@Fiddlerman
Here are some images that I took on my phone. My camera isn't very good, so these images don't do it any justice honestly. It's the best I could do at midnight under some annoyingly bright fluorescent light bulbs. Although the crack seems insignificant in these images, in reality it is very noticeable and very intimidating. Some of them are surface cracks, but the main one went all the way through and buckled beneath the bridge. (I don't know how to post images so I provided direct links to them...an inconvenience to you, I'm sure. Sorry about that.)
http://oi59.tinypic.com/15g5fnm.jpg
Just a top view of the middle portion of the crack. There are some micro-fissures running off of the f holes that are not visible in this image.
http://oi62.tinypic.com/117y1qw.jpg
The portion of the damage that runs up along the fingerboard.
http://oi60.tinypic.com/oifxd.jpg
The portion of the damage that runs up along the tailpiece.
http://oi58.tinypic.com/3537djn.jpg
http://oi58.tinypic.com/2yk1fo4.jpg
Where it buckled beneath the bridge, causing the most damage. This dislodged my soundpost and broke part of my bridge.
http://oi59.tinypic.com/2yo1xjd.jpg
Foot of bridge is broken off because of the crack.
Now, it's already morning (12:04 AM). I better be catching up on my Z's. This is irrelevant to the original post (sorry) but does anyone have an idea on how much this will cost (I know it's hard to judge from my blurry pictures).
Also, this website is awesome and helpful. I really need to knock down the vibrato and that's mainly what I'm here for. I've been here before but this time I plan to be more involved in the community and all. Everyone here seems so nice.
"It's bad enough I'm stuck with you and Captain Guyliner making eyes at each other."
-Regina Mills, Once Upon A Time
Every time I read the account of David Garrett falling on his violin my heart just about stops. I liked that version.
I had always thought it was a Strad that he fell upon. So that cleared it up for me.
I am glad he is alive and the violin is repaired. I can't imagine what it would be like to be sitting there next to it completely smashed. After all the time it took him to pay for it. Wow.
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
Honorary tenured advisor
Regulars
Gossamer said
@FiddlermanIt cost around a $1000, not a very expensive violin, but I'm assuming the repairs will cost a lot of money.
@Gossamer, I know you must feel terrible about it and I guess $1,000 is not a lot in terms of what fiddles can cost, still 1k bucks is far from chump change for many parents to pay for. What do your parents say about all of this?
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright
Advanced member
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Gossamer,
Sorry to hear of your damage to your fiddle, Don't know where your located but an individual I found repairing violins is a Greg Ludlow he owns 1st chair string repair his address is 8027 W Nickel plate court, Mulberry IN. 46058 Phone # 765-418-0768.
It appears his prices are quite reasonable he charged me $6.00 to glue a seam back together and $29.00 to fit a bridge and he even polished the violin to boot he is a very personable individual. He also quoted removing the top of the violin repairing a spot on the side that's damaged for $46.00 which I thought was more than reasonable.
He has pictures on facebook of a repair he did on a violin that an 80 lb weight was dropped on it and according the owner it played and sounded fine.
Food for thought,
Mark
Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.
Albert Sammons
Advanced member
I think Gossamer stole the show. Nothing I have ever had happen I was playing was that bad!
When I played sax in marching band though, I did have a situation where octave key came loose on the middle of the field and fell off. Made it very difficult to get the low notes for the rest of the performance.
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