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Gordon Bennett
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Gordon Shumway
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November 16, 2023 - 12:42 pm
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Gordon Shumway said
Currently happy. Although I thought Oct 18th was my 5th anniversary of violin playing, as my first violin lesson was 18/10/18, but now I find I bought a book on shifting in July 2018 from Amazon, so I'm now guessing I began on about my 58th birthday, which means my 5th anniversary has been and gone.

...

Rosin = Guillaume for a long time.... 

There's a new rosin thread on VCom, but I don't want to add to it too much too soon.

My own experience is that I needed almost 5 years of violin playing before I could predict what tone I'd get from my violin before picking it up each day. Until then, like many other beginners, my tone varied from day to day, beyond my control, and I was trying different strings and different rosins. But it really is the case that, after you do a basic match of strings to violin*, your right arm is 90% responsible for the tone you create, and your vibrato for 9%. Bow and rosin contribute 1% or less between them.

*Currently my strings are still: -

G and D = Vision

A = Vision Solo (because the open Vision A sounded feeble, but that may have been my fault)

E = Prim. All bright because my violin is warm. I have Evah Pirazzis and I will try Warchal Brilliants, but unfortunately I still have a set of Tonicas and a set of Dominants to use up.

Andrew

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November 16, 2023 - 1:02 pm
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Are your Evahs green label or gold? I used to use green label on my Goronok cello when I had it. I have a set to put onto my viola when I need to change it. I loved them on the Goronok. That was the set that made the most difference on the Goronok, and they are lovely on it. 

I am hoping for the same result on my viola. If I get the same result, I might try them on my violin, but I need to be sure because they are pricey, but I don't wear them out that quickly, and the green label Evahs seemed to last a long time on the Goronok, that I played a lot. If they last longer, in the long run, might be less expensive.

Alf, do you think the climate you live in or play in, affects how different strings work, not the instrument/rosin/player combination? 

I do have Guillaume rosin. I have an issue with Guillaume in the winter. Not the playing, but it gets dusty and my eyes start getting really scratchy. I will be switching to my Fiddlershop Premium soon. That is my winter, or dry air, rosin. For now, this pattern seems to work. Took me a while to figure it out. 

Have you found much difference in your rosin with seasonal changes, or are the temps and humidity not quite so changeable where you live?

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The Bumblebee Flies!

Please ignore any typos. My typing ability on a real typewriter did not transfer to these device key pads.

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Gordon Shumway
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November 16, 2023 - 2:22 pm
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Climates are difficult - I get the impression that in the USA everyone has Aircon, in which case the climate is irrelevant.

If you do have extremes of hot/humid and cold/dry, then stick to Hill light and dark, but until you've learnt how to use your right arm, "stick" is the operative word. You'll change from day to day, so changing rosin from day to day is just too many changing variables. You'll be the problem, not your gear, until you've reached a certain standard.

Matching bright strings to a warm violin or warm strings to a bright violin and any light rosin to a hot humid climate and any dark rosin to a cold dry climate should be the basic match. Then after that all the fine tuning lies with you. You won't become Itzhak Perlman by finding exactly the right string/rosin combo.

Yes, in the UK, the climate is moderate in almost every way, so a moderate rosin like Guillaume works. I don't find it creates much dust.

My Evah Pirazzis are in a green packet.

Andrew

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November 16, 2023 - 2:50 pm
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We don't have central air in our house, 😞. Therefore, no heat pump for the cold weather. Not sure what that does exactly, but I think people with central air have them. We have dry natural gas heater heat. We do have a couple humidifiers, but use them carefully so as not to get humidity buildup in windows, so have a few few of the monitors in the house. 

Thanks for the rosin info, about changing it. I think it was discussed on the forum in depth before, but I keep forgetting it. 

I have a nice setup for my violin now. It was not so comfortable before and was getting pain in my joints on both arms and a sore neck. Pierre helped me out and it is much better now. I will be back to my violin more often after the group project. 

I do find that I am doing much better with it now that it is more comfortable. I enjoy better now, too. 

Thabks for the info and I hope you don't mind that I barged in on your blog after reading your last entry. It got me thinking. 

🐭

The Bumblebee Flies!

Please ignore any typos. My typing ability on a real typewriter did not transfer to these device key pads.

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Gordon Shumway
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November 16, 2023 - 5:22 pm
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I never really intended it as a blog to which no-one else contributes. Questions and answers are valuable to all of us.

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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Gordon Shumway said
...my schedule until mid September next year is: -

Vivaldi Autumn ...

I bought the Schirmer edition. It's horribly over-edited, so I ordered the Baerenreiter edition (and I have the Dover scores of opera 3 and 8. They are very good.).

What about IMSLP?

Yes, for my purposes, I could have gone there, but be warned there is rubbish in IMSLP.

Spot the mistake in bar 2 in these:

https://vmirror.imslp.org/file.....olinos.pdf

https://vmirror.imslp.org/file.....olo-a4.pdf

Andrew

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ELCBK
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@Gordon Shumway - 

Thanks for pointing out issues with editions of Vivaldi's "Autumn". 

Since Classical scores have been transcribed and arranged numerous times, by different people (including publishers) - how can we truly be sure of what's correct? 

Does a copyright suffice? 

I was just thinking of all the music that has been digitized, like the Digital Interactive Mozart Edition - information still passed thru human hands to make this, with possible errors.

 

The History of Music Publication is interesting. 

The earliest attempt at a printed musical copyright notice appears in the "Shir Hashirim" of Salomone Rossi (Venice, 1623) which includes a rabbinical curse on those infringing the text, written by Leon of Modena. (Wikipedia)

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AndrewH
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For a lot of pieces we can't be absolutely sure of what's correct. But the best editions are often urtext editions that attempt to recreate the composer's intent as much as possible, and come with extensive annotations disclosing their source material, all the possible ambiguities, and justifications for their decisions.

If there isn't an urtext edition, it's best to go with editions that disclose what the editor did from markings in the source material, which is often done by placing the editor's markings in parenthesis or grayscale or detailed in accompanying annotations.

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ELCBK
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AndrewH said
For a lot of pieces we can't be absolutely sure of what's correct. But the best editions are often urtext editions that attempt to recreate the composer's intent as much as possible, and come with extensive annotations disclosing their source material, all the possible ambiguities, and justifications for their decisions.

If there isn't an urtext edition, it's best to go with editions that disclose what the editor did from markings in the source material, which is often done by placing the editor's markings in parenthesis or grayscale or detailed in accompanying annotations.

 

Thank you! 

I had no idea what to look for.

🤔... if at all possible, think I'd prefer to use 2 editions of any Classical piece - 1 to learn from (with every possible bit of info marked/notated) and 1 really clean version (with the least possible markings) to perform/sightread with. 

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AndrewH
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I meant to use the word "distinguish what the editor did" than "disclose what the editor did" (forgot to change that word when I went back and changed orher phrasing) but I think the meaning got through.

Some urtext editions actually come with two copies of the piece, for exactly the purpose you've suggested. For example, the Bärenreiter urtext edition I got for the Hoffmeister viola concerto included two copies of the viola part, one with recommended fingerings/bowings and editorial notes, and one much cleaner copy. But in general, most of the annotations are on separate pages so they don't get in the way of reading the music.

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Gordon Shumway
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November 23, 2023 - 6:00 am
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Three weeks on a hard, narrow campbed at the folks' place have resulted in a pinched nerve in my left shoulder. It doesn't actually hurt (more than usual) when I play the violin, but I do get bad pins and needles in my left fingers when our orchestra plays a gig and I don't get a rest. That's probably due to practice involving constant stopping and starting, so that stamina doesn't get built up. But, with an eye on the anatomy websites, examining the shoulders for veins and arteries and nerves (if you've had an angiogram or -plasty, you'll know the sensation of the motion inside the artery in your right shoulder), I'm looking for a simple, comfortable sponge shoulder rest. Sainsbury's Basics scourers are the right thickness. Three glued together side by side with a gelpad to attach them to the violin might work. (car sponges and rubber bands are too cumbersome and not sure to be safe for the violin)

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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December 8, 2023 - 3:37 am
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Yay, I just booked fortnightly violin lessons from 1st Jan. via our conductor's wife's teaching agency. I think I know the teacher - she conducted us once, and she's a great violinist.

Andrew

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ELCBK
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@Gordon Shumway -

Hey, super nice Xmas gift for yourself! 🤗 

Can't wait to hear how it goes. 

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@Gordon Shumway sounds good, hope you'll tell us!

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Gordon Shumway
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Unfortunately that teacher is fully booked, but they've got another one 0.8 miles from me.

Since orchestra is now over for Christmas I swapped my strings. After 18 months of Visions (but Vision Solo A and Prim E, I think it was), I put on a full set of Evah Pirazzis. I don't think I like them as much as the Visions.

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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Disaster!

After a year of confidence in my tone and boasting about it, I put on Evah Pirazzis and hate them. My confidence is nil and I've got a lesson booked for Feb 8th. 

Today I took the EPs off after only two weeks and have put on Warchal Brilliant Vintage instead. If they don't do it for me, I'm going back to Visions and I'm not messing about changing string brand any more, ever! (although Infeld Blue might be worth a try)

I'm at my flat without an earplug in my left ear, which may be making a difference, but I didn't even like the EPs with an earplug in.

Andrew

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January 5, 2024 - 9:18 am
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Strings are strange. Evah green or gold. I had Evah Green on my Goronok cello when Imhad it. Beautiful. 

I was given a set of Dominant Pros for my current cello. I really like them. Years ago I had the Dominant Pros, different set, on the Andrew Schroeder Cello, they were terrible. That Schroeder cello had a differently shaped body. It was narrower at the bout area, but protruded outward more. Would not fit the hard cell cases. I was a little hesitant with them on my current cello, but so gar, so good. Been about a week. 

Don't let the strings mess you up, Alf. You have come too far. All the way from Melmac!

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The Bumblebee Flies!

Please ignore any typos. My typing ability on a real typewriter did not transfer to these device key pads.

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ABitRusty
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"..Today I took the EPs off after only two weeks and have put on Warchal Brilliant Vintage instead. If they don't do it for me, I'm going back to Visions and I'm not messing about changing string brand any more, ever! (although Infeld Blue might be worth a try)

lol.. i love it!  

Im taking youre having some fun with gear talk there.  Its difficult to avoid the next best thing when it comes to strings..rosin.. BOWS..I have story about that if i get courage to divuldge.. etc...

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Gordon Shumway
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January 11, 2024 - 4:04 am
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I am often to be heard complaining that there is no comfortable combination of chin and shoulder rest.

My first chinrest was the usual Guarneri, as with 99% of beginners.

I didn't like it. I bought a Hill Guarneri. Didn't like it.

A new violin came with a Teka which was comfortable for a while, but then I replaced it with an ultra-high Teka because I wanted the violin closer to my shoulder.

Then I bought a Berber, which was OK for a while.

Now I am using the Hill Guarneri again and I like it a lot, as it's the one that extends farthest to the left, and I can't play the bass strings unless I am over the top of them.

Sheesh!

(the shoulder rest is a Wolf Secondo, before you ask. I hadn't been enjoying that either, but it's ok with the Hill)

==========================================

Incidentally, some of you may have noticed that all my chinrests are centre-mounted. This is deliberate - resonance patterns reveal nodes in the centre, so in theory a centre-mounted chinrest will have least effect on the top's resonance.

However, the people who measure these patterns seem to have done it with tops not glued to the sides of the violin, as once glued the resonance pattern must have a node all around the top.

Andrew

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January 11, 2024 - 10:52 am
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Ah, the setup

. That was actually very interesting about your set up. 

I finally have one on my violin I like. It is a chinrest Stevedorf gave me years ago and the Fiddlerman wooden shoulder rest. I believe is is a Vermeer chinrest.

I have not found a good set up for my viola, yet. I should see if I can find a Vermeer viola chin rest. I haven't looked yet. Luckily, I don't need one for my cello. 

I wonder if your needs change as you go along because, maybe, we change how we hold the violin/viola, bow it, finger, it, etc. I thought I had a good setup for my viola and violin and then about a year ago, it changed. It is about that time, that I noticed I felt like Imhad improved more than usual, but, I also started getting a sore wrist, arm and slightly sore neck, after playing for the same amount of time. I think I changed how I was holding and/or bowing, but could be wrong. My violin is fine now, but I still need to figure out the viola.

🐭

The Bumblebee Flies!

Please ignore any typos. My typing ability on a real typewriter did not transfer to these device key pads.

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