Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.
Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
(48 votes) 
Regulars
Offline
ELCBK said
@Gordon Shumway -Have you been trying to record yourself anymore - even for practice?
No, I only spend 3 days a week in the flat. And the new A string is still breaking in, but I'll try something today.
How come I'm now a king (2000 posts) and you're not a queen? Ha, serves you right for living in a republic!
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
Bad day yesterday. new version of Audacity and the recording levels seemed very low, so I spent the afternoon doing soundchecks at a distance and blind. I've got the mics in front of and above the violin for detail, but I don't know if I like the Focusrite's input volume controls - on max there's a lot of signal clipping, and on 3 O'Clock they are too quiet, and the ambience swamps the detail. I'm starting to suspect a better option is to buy an iPad and put it on automatic mode (I used to love manual SLR cameras, but all I have nowadays is a pocket digital that spends all its time in auto mode, and I just point and click). But also maybe it's about the mics hating diffidence. And partly the other 'alf's boxroom has better acoustics than my living room - I can tell that with my ears.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
@Gordon Shumway -
Have you picked up an iPad? Look at the 2021's - good price?
I haven't tried recording with my Alienware laptop, but did use it for zoom participation at last April's Fiddle Hell workshops - seemed really good, but my phone is just easier to use.
Whatever mic set up you used in your OP sounded good - even with all the outdoor distractions.
🤔... great to see that you've been crowned "KING" - congratulations!
Regulars
Offline
Gordon Shumway said
Bad day yesterday. new version of Audacity and the recording levels seemed very low, so I spent the afternoon doing soundchecks at a distance and blind. I've got the mics in front of and above the violin for detail, but I don't know if I like the Focusrite's input volume controls - on max there's a lot of signal clipping, and on 3 O'Clock they are too quiet, and the ambience swamps the detail. I'm starting to suspect a better option is to buy an iPad and put it on automatic mode (I used to love manual SLR cameras, but all I have nowadays is a pocket digital that spends all its time in auto mode, and I just point and click). But also maybe it's about the mics hating diffidence. And partly the other 'alf's boxroom has better acoustics than my living room - I can tell that with my ears.
if theyre dynamic mics, unless you get an inline type "cloudlifter" or other type of additional preamp, the level will be very low. BUT...inside of audacity or any daw there will be some type of gain plugin that you can boost the signal which is digital at that point.
If they are condenser mics they probably require phantom power in case you overlooked that.
i think anything above say 12:00 on an interfaces input gain knob isnt needed. signal should be somewhere around -20 to -12 on the digital monitor thing. from there you can use software to increase inside of daw.
Regulars
Offline
ELCBK said
🤔... great to see that you've been crowned "KING" - congratulations!
But what does it mean? I asked once before, but perhaps no-one understood my question. I thought it was part of the posting count, but you've posted more than me and you don't have any rank. I joked it might be a Republican way of saying I was British.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
ABitRusty said
if theyre dynamic mics, unless you get an inline type "cloudlifter" or other type of additional preamp, the level will be very low. BUT...inside of audacity or any daw there will be some type of gain plugin that you can boost the signal which is digital at that point.If they are condenser mics they probably require phantom power in case you overlooked that.
i think anything above say 12:00 on an interfaces input gain knob isnt needed. signal should be somewhere around -20 to -12 on the digital monitor thing. from there you can use software to increase inside of daw.
I'm using a couple of large diaphragm condensers (Shure and AKG). Obviously I've got phantom power on - there'd be zero signal otherwise. OK, I'll try some recordings at lower input levels and see what happens.
Gordon Shumway said
I'm starting to suspect a better option is to buy an iPad and put it on automatic mode (I used to love manual SLR cameras, but all I have nowadays is a pocket digital that spends all its time in auto mode, and I just point and click).
Or the Tascam DP008EX might be fun. I have a friend who often records his uke. I asked him how he did it.he replied "I get my teenage daughter to point her tablet at me and press go"
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
@Gordon Shumway said:
I have a friend who often records his uke. I asked him how he did it.he replied "I get my teenage daughter to point her tablet at me and press go"
There ya go!
My Brother gave me a "UBeesize" Bluetooth remote shutter for video & photos on iPads, iPhones and Android. I haven't used it yet. You can find it on Amazon.
@JohnG -
Is that what you use for a remote?
Regulars
Offline
Nope, but similar. Mine is Wireless Camera Remote Shutter for Smartphones (2 Pack), zttopo. Compatible with iPhone/Android Cell Phone. Two for $7.63.
The old curmudgeon!
Regulars
Offline
This morning I have replaced my Dominants with Visions on my Breton, and I have applied peg dope to all my pegs. It's a Wittner Ultra tailpiece with four fine tuners, but sometimes one wants to unscrew them - after they have been screwed in most of the way - and then readjust the pegs, and they had been sticking quite a lot.
I changed strings because orchestra timetable makes mid July and mid December the best times to do it. I'm curious to discover if the Visions will make my violin project more than the Dominants did.
If you buy Visions, you get a little sachet with the E string that contains a spare ball, in case you have a loop string, and you get two little nylon sheaths. This is very nice. Although both strings are made by Thomastik, you don't get that with Dominants (just one sheath), which is annoying. If need be, you can use the spare sheath on your A string (e.g. on my Gewa the bridge slot may be a little deep there).
The Dominant A string still wasn't settled (after 6 weeks?), and it's a shame I couldn't have kept it on longer to see if it snapped in the way the last one did. I wonder if anyone else is having this problem with Dominants (did I read of a rumour that they have gone downhill?) and/or Thomastik strings.
I'll spend the weekend breaking them in and report back on Wednesday-ish.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
Gordon Shumway said
the other 'alf's boxroom has better acoustics than my living room - I can tell that with my ears.
However, the tinnitus is a warning signal that practising in a small, acoustically live room, may damage your hearing. I've switched to practising in the spare large bedroom.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
Gordon Shumway said
I'll spend the weekend breaking them in and report back on Wednesday-ish.
Err, then came the 40-in-the shade heatwave, which made me disinclined to play the violin. Watch this space! So far all I can say is that pitch-wise, Visions seem to be very fast to settle.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
I ordered a Samsung Galaxy A7 tablet. It got lost/stolen in the post, so I got a refund. I'll wait a while in case it turns up out of the blue and then try again.
Further to my experiences restringing the Breton and the Gewa, I have made the following assumption: -
Put Dominants on your violin and, tension aside, decide which of the four quadrants in the Shar or Fiddlerman charts describes your sound.
The Breton is definitely warm and broad (SW quadrant) and doesn't project well in a hall. So I chose strings in the opposite (NE) quadrant - focussed/brilliant - Visions. Next I will try Vision Solos.
The Gewa (I suspect like most cheap factory violins) was Brilliant (I don't know if broad or direct, but most of the strings in the SW quadrant are gut, which I don't want), and by chance I had the Zyexes which are warm. They sounded like mud on the Breton, they are great on the Gewa.
On their own both violins sound good, although in direct comparison their weaknesses are more easily detectable. The Gewa's bass is nice on its own, but weak in comparison to the Breton's. So I strive for better quality bass when I bow.
The Breton isn't happy when I play an open A. I don't want to mix and match string sets, but I may have a look at other A strings.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
ELCBK said
@Gordon Shumway -Have you been trying to record yourself anymore - even for practice?
The bad news - I ordered a Samsung Tab A7 and it got lost in the post. (final edit - now I've read my previous post and see I said that before, lol. In addition Emily's question was page 1. I thought it was the last post in the thread)
The good news - I ordered a Samsung Tab A8 and it didn't get lost in the post.
The bad news - I don't know how to connect external mics.
So I'm practising using it (it doesn't have a big disc, so every recording I make has to be uploaded to my laptop then deleted, and finding the recycling bin can be tricky, as it's my first ever android device, and I'm lost if I can't rightclick), but I'm only in the flat 2 days a week, so it's taking time - today I have to go to hospital (just blood tests) and then the launderette, then tomorrow I'm away again.
I'm planning things I'd like to record. One thing is this Bach cantata - our orchestra is using half a dozen short chorales as warm-up exercises. They are trickier than they sound, as I find most are best played in 2nd position. This means most gets played on the G and D strings, which is good, but intonation can be tricky. Also this one (if you can hear the 2nd violins) has a legato phrase on the upbow (unless you cheat) which is tricky (it has to be maintained as far as the frog without sounding like a car skidding on gravel). So I'll leave this youtube link here as a reminder (although I do have a private blog where I could draft stuff).
BWV 184.5 - listen at 17:25 and wait for bar 4: -
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
While I remember, I'll leave this link here too.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
If you want me to check out a link, I need to know what it is/what it's about, first.
Regulars
Offline
Wikipedia is relatively harmless - it's just a list of all of the BWV with descriptions.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
Ugh, I just recorded my first video on my Samsung A8 tablet and it's 1.5GB. I'm pretty sure if I try to upload that, I'll get the error message "Say WHAAAAAAAAT?"
I guess I'll try it low def (it needs re-doing anyway, as it's rubbish), as long as the audio isn't also low def. You don't need to see my stubble, do you?
OK, I managed to get a 400MB version onto youtube. I'm surprised, as I don't have an account and don't intend to give them money, lol!
(those of you who use youtube regularly, can you summarise the rules for me?)
And here it is - scary and exciting at the same time. I should have published it on Halloween! Remember folks, clear your throat before pressing "record".
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
Regulars
Offline
@Gordon Shumway -
I'm speechless!
I'll have to watch this again after the initial shock wears off -
just to make sure I didn't miss anything! 🤗
Excellent explanation!!!
AWESOME 1st VIDEO!
THANK YOU!
Btw, I don't have any special YouTube account - I just save "private" (lol) videos.
- Emily
Regulars
Offline
Before I post any more, I must stress that I am not trying to teach - I'm giving my pov, often one that I have merely assumed, and am inviting criticism. I've only had about a dozen lessons in the last 4 years, although I am also drawing on my experience of 7 or so years of weekly piano lessons in the 70s.
A problem with that video is I play everything too quickly. With hindsight I should have played slower and better. Otoh, that would make the video so long that it would take up too much space. In future I'll try to plan videos so that they are half the size.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
3 Guest(s)
Mouse
Fiddlerman
ELCBK
