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oh your messin with age of ultron shtuff there matey. did you see all those wires?
right about the time i started with fiddle or shortly after i went on a vst binge. a couple of them remind me of straylight in the video. output signal is one that sorta is like it. theres some presets in it that ill use every once in a while as a kinda drone percussive pad.
straylight looks very interesting. hmmm. need more info.
accessing...
computing...
🙂
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i think something like this would pair well with electric violin. endless possibilities
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@ABitRusty -
Gravity VST plugin - really nice... cha-$$$-ching! 😳
...I do have a soft spot for the moog. 😎
Don't mind the wires (as long as they are virtual!) - I kinda like to know where things come from & where they go (and CAN hide them). 🧐 VCV Rack 2 - Pro has VST3 plugin for Studio One.
Violin Thru a Modular Synth (NOT virtual) - Rob Flax with a violinatron!
Fun watching & hearing, but cha-$$$$$$$$$$$-ching!
Rob Flax has THREE exciting (to me) workshops scheduled for April's Fiddle Hell! Blues, improv & Stuff Smith - the topics.
...still looking forward to Matt Manweiler's workshop, too!
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@elcbk yeah gravity2 is expensive.. they had a sorta stripped down version for 99.00 one year and i was able to get that instead of the full versions. still has way more than id ever use.
youre correct and good point.. those are vst and the fiddle hell post on these is about modular synths like THIS
where you could come out of your violin and into it.
are you planning on getting a synth?
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@ABitRusty -
I had checked out all the the different types of physical synths available - no plans to buy one, but 'VCV Rack 2' is a virtual system... so maybe.
I like some of the Behringer synths. If I was more mobile, I might consider their analog 55 system - from nostalgic Pink Floyd to sounds I'd hear down the street while trees are trimmed & mulched! (lol)
My Akai mini play keyboard is like a little synth workstation - as close as I'll probably get.
Still like the idea of this little Artiphon Orba 2 - if I hadn't wanted a keyboard, I might've gone this route for adding some fun to my fiddling! Amazing multi-touch key & directional control with programmable presets, sampling & looping. Great price & they are constantly making improvements.
Artiphon Chorda - for a step up.
...still, nothing like a modular analog synth for bare bones control of voltage to experiment with sound!
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well that looks kind of nifty. ive not seen these.
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...I have NO will power.
Even though I don't have much room for bowing on MAEZARINE'S E string (nature of the beast) - I'm good & used to it now! It's definitely made learning some tunes by ear easier, even if I'd rather hear them played lower.
St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner! 🍀
Decided to get 'Maggies's Pancakes' down tonight (they tasted very good 😁) - hopefully in another couple days it will be easier to switch keys so I can play along with 'The Smokey Lum'. I just won't be able to play it as fast yet, but faster speed is becoming easier & more natural... been pushing some tunes & phrases faster for over a year now & it's paying off.
The Fiddlerman 'Noir' violin bow with BLACK hair has made a big difference! It lets me get better sound with a more relaxed/lighter touch when playing faster.
It's definitely a nice thrill for me to play reels faster, but they don't entice me to do anything on the electric fiddle side.
Guess it's a good thing I also have a boatload of slower tunes to play & experiment with... just learned 'John Nugent' - another O'Carolan tune, love it's got a baroque feel.
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New toys are going to be the death of me! 😵
🤔... the more I think about it, the Orba 2 might have the features/capabilities I've been hoping for in something compact (literally handheld) to use for accompaniment, but was missing in my Akai mini Play.
I'll have to see how easy it is to record/add the sounds I want. It's polyphonic (think I might be able to get a little swarm feel going) & has quite a large capacity for looping... plus the synth manipulation has me interested. Like the idea of the multi-function/directional & touch-sensitivity, too.
Need everything to sit next to me on my bed, it's TINY compact size (with GIANT capabilities) is a plus. Hope I can set things up so I don't need to use my laptop or phone during playing... that would be the icing on my cake!
AND, now have a cable I could use to boost the Orba 2 from the headphone port - should be able to plug into my Spark mini Go amp... while I do other fiddle stuff using my reg Spark mini! Could additionally use my electro-harmonix Bass 9 pedal, or ditto looper in lineup with Maezarine! (trying this name out).
Things might be coming together for me, after all... it's on it's way!
...still like/want to use my little Akai keyboard - just NOT while I am actually playing EV.
Oh geez, forgot I wanted to get an external mic... never ends. 🥴
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Ah-ha, YES!
The Orba 2 will allow me a GREAT, SIMPLE intro into synths... by using Artiphon 'Orbasynth', it has EIGHT modules!
THIS (to me) is what is SO COOL ABOUT SYNTHS - ways of having the wave form MORPH over time!!!
Should be close enough to a moog sound for me right now!
'Orbasynth' is a separate desktop app - sampling & other features for the Orba 2 use the 'Artiphon Connect' mobile app.
Sampling of ANY sound (including my violin, or Bugsy's cute meow) is possible with the Orba 2, but it also includes orchestral samples that are great for fattening up some accompaniment (including 'strings')!
Orba 2 is a bluetooth midi device - with FIVE hours of battery life!
...counting down the days for delivery.
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OMG!!!!
I didn't think I could be more excited than getting my 6-string violin... but my ORBA 2 WAS JUST DELIVERED & I HAVE IMMEDIATELY FALLEN IN LOVE WITH IT!!!
Sorry, not going going to show a video of myself just running my fingers all over, but they are having a field day - this is REALLY AMAZING!
Bunch of great review videos & tutorials on YT!
JUST FEELS SO RIGHT, SO INTUITIVE, to have complimentary tones & effects located across from one another in this circular fashion (instead of linear)!
The surface does NOT have rubbery pads like many drum machines have (there's no give/fingers don't press into it), means it has touch sensitivity by where you place your fingers and how long you keep a finger touching! SO RELAXING... slide effortlessly to pitch-bend into adjacent notes, or play chords with one note louder than the others!
Easy to feel the dimple in the middle for function changes, if you close your eyes!
...got to GO!!!!! NEED TO PLAY MORE (only have had it for a few minutes)!!!!
Will take me a while to learn ALL the features, plus see how I want to use it for my fiddle accompaniment!
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I have absolutely no business adding anything more to my practice & experimentation time right now... but I did learn "Maggie's Pancakes" & have it going at a good speed, but the Tannahill Weavers play it in a different key with "The Smokey Lum" (which I really have going well), so trying to get used to it with different fingerings is not easy, yet - needed a break.
"Timebomb" by Post Precious.
Came across "Timebomb" (totally by accident), it's new to 'me'. Obviously has some features in the melody & a nice driving rhythm - just learned it acoustically (by ear) on Maezarine, but it's a simple enough tune I'm going to plug her in tomorrow & see what I can do to have fun playing it along with my new electronic music 'toy'. I probably should attempt to transcribe this, maybe after Fiddle Hell.
It caught my ear with a modulation! Maybe C Phrygian (can't be Ab Major!) over to C Locrian (or maybe Ab Mixolydian), but I have to look closer because it is melancholy - definitely NOT major sounding! Think I better look more closely at what I can hear of the chords (should help), but there's a lot of my hearing the tonal center to be Ab & C - anyway, it's a scale/mode with 4 flats going to a scale/mode with 5 flats. I've ruled out Blues scales, but too late to do more tonight. 😕
At least I've played it & know all the notes to the melody now.
"Timebomb" was part of the 2019 Netflix film soundtrack for "Someone Great" (I have NOT watched the film). There's one other tune I liked on the soundtrack, but it's by Ryn Weaver - "Reasons Not to Die".
...I'll think more clearly after some 😴
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Well, guess who played most of her practice time with tremolo bow strokes on EVERYTHING, today. ...thanks, Thomas!
Actually, I have had more occasion to use tremolo recently & think I will keep at it, but it's the CAPE BRETON 'CUT' I want to end up with! 😊
Sampling sounds for use in electronic music accompaniment has been an ongoing interest for me, but this video takes the cake - think I've seen this, maybe back when I was 1st learning "Bang Your Frog On The Sofa" (which I still LOVE to play), but wasn't relevant to me at the time.
Throat Notes
...might have weird dreams now. 🤣 "Watch out Bugsy & Madmartigan!"
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I plan on sharing something worthwhile here later, but while I'm contemplating how to spend practice time today - thought I'd share a 'senior moment'.
Is today March 22nd? ...feeling a little confused.
Kevin took this photo an hour ago (right after he cleaned the car off) & it's been snowing harder ever since - like someone dumped out a HUGE bundle of white goose down (even more snow, now)!
So much for my diet (and SPRING), it's HOT COCOA TIME!
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Still in a bit of a funk - frustration with craziness in my life sucks the creativity right out of me. In the meantime, fiddling keeps me sane.
Humidity has been unusually high for us this Winter & Spring - thought it might be time to try the lighter rosin I got in my sample set of 3 'Lonesome Pine' rosins by Tad Marks. It's definitely 'Smooth' - great name, but it's probably unfair to do any evaluation when I think my strings need to be changed. I've been VERY happy with the 'Original' Lonesome Pine rosin... never did feel the need to try the 'Dark'.
Noticed I'm not quite getting what I want out of my strings - once I start feeling like I need to clean them with alcohol... it's time to change them. I learned from my little experiment last Summer - it just didn't really help to try to extend their playability for an extra month, or so. I've been using my current set of strings for 5 full months, guess that will be it.
Always loved the Pirastro 'Gold Label' E string, but kinda like the mellow Larson E that came with 'Maezarine'. I have more new Pirastro E's, so will use one, but I have had issues with them discoloring in the past... will see if I have a Larsen stashed away incase I decide to change it.
To blend my 6 strings, I use Vision F & C, then Rondo G, D & A (Pirastro 'Gold Label' E). I REALLY like the Thomastik Rondo strings - if they made a C & low F for Violin, I'd eat'm up!
I've spent 5 months now with 'Maezarine' - hadn't used an E string in a very long time & it's taken me a good while to get used to it on this particular instrument. The restricted way I have to play to keep all my pain issues at bay is a challenge, and I still think the bridge could be modified to help play easier on the E string, but 6-strings it is & I embrace it... never looking back!
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I had a heck of a time changing strings, yesterday!
The overly wide pegbox on my 6-string Violin is really becoming a pain in the 🤬!
I posted a photo quite a while back, not sure if I pointed out the extensions used to make the geared pegs long enough to fit. The darn pegs are still VERY hard to disengage & the end (that's not supposed to move) tried to come right out of the hole when I tried to tighten the strings. I ended up having to crank them in counter clockwise to get the ends seated tight in the pegbox - before threading each new string (winding while disengaged) then pushed in & tightened the last tiny bit. Next time, think I'll just apply some GLUE! ...again, NEVER had issues with the geared pegs on my other instruments, but I'll learn to live with this - one way or another.
Anyway, it felt worth it - Maezarine sounds ALIVE, again... or resuscitated.
Just won't know if this is really over until the strings settle. 🥴
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Not sure it was such a great idea for me to learn how to use any apps - has me looking at too much cool stuff.
I shouldn't be surprised, but I didn't know there was a Tin Whistle/Flute/Bagpipe midi controller! WARBL2 just came out - bluetooth!
It doesn't make sound itself, so you can listen with headphones, or phone/tablet - practice or record. Once connected to the app - it still needs air pressure, by mouth or bag, but easily switches between instruments on the app! Costs less than real bagpipes!
I remember when Kevin & I tried to get a decent sound out of a practice chanter, years ago. 😖🤣 Maybe there's hope for us, yet... I really like bagpipes!
Reality CHECK: jeez, I already have my HANDS FULL of toys! 😞
...still like the fiddle best.
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Forgot to mention I was able to give myself a little pat-on-the-back the other day.
For THE FIRST TIME EVER... picked up my 6-string Violin (Maezarine), ran my thumb across the strings & heard it was not in tune - so, WITHOUT CHECKING AGAINST A TUNER (OR FINGERED NOTE), I just tightened up the the 4 middle strings different amounts to what I thought sounded right (the low F & high E strings sounded fine).
NAILED IT!!!
...only took me 5 years to have any confidence. 🥴
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