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.
Private messaging is working again.
Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
(0 votes) 
New member
Offline
So my last string, the string "G" sounds completely awful and out of tune. Someone at the music store I bought it from tuned it for me, and every string sounds wonderful aside from the G. When I play it, it sounds scratchy and whispery. Only a couple of times can I get an alright sound out of it. I've tried all kinds of pressures, and it still sounds equally awful. I rosin my bow 10 Times, up and down. Does anyone know why my string sounds terrible?
Regulars
Offline
I would try to retune the string. If the strings are new they stretch a lot, in the first weeks they can easily get out of tune. I think you are using a lot of rosin as well.
'Armed with theory, practice becomes meaningful. Through practice, theory becomes fulfilled.' - Egon von Neindorff.
Pro advisor
Regulars
Offline
Welcome to the forum! I hope you find a solution to your problem. Let us know what caused it when you get it fixed.
Do you wipe down your violin and strings to remove extra rosin each time after you play?
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
Might just be a bad string if it's not out of tune.
Are these the strings the violin came with?
Is the soundpost in about the right spot?
Is the string hitting the fingerboard?
Can you send a picture of the G string, the sound post and perhaps a sound sample?
Offline
All great ideas above. If you add Fiddlerman to Skype we can probably find time to look at it. I may or may not be able to identify the problem. Sometimes a violin just doesn't sound good on the low end or sometimes they don't sound good on the high end.
You may need a heavier tension G string or even a lighter one. In a way it does sound like you have a bad string.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Honorary advisor
Regulars
Offline
The A string on my cello always sounded weird. Buzzy, kind of, whooshey or squeaky sometimes. It was a steel wound string. I finally looked very closely at the point where the string is in contact with the bridge and saw that the wrapping on the string was broken at that point and coming unwound. I replaced the string with Pro Arte strings and now I have a much better sound.
Like Kevin and FM say, might just be a bad string.
I've learned so much from my mistakes that I've decided to make some more.
Offline
I don't know if it is me playing and not curving my fingers around all the way but I have to work on playing my G string really well...or it moans...
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
Regulars
Offline
From my own limited experience, I found most of my bad sound came from bad finger placement. Dragging a finger across 2 strings inadvertantly. Pressing the string down and pushing it sideways instead of downward pressure. Tension in my hand from gripping so hard with my thumb my arm started to fatigue and I had loss of mobility.
From listening to veteran players here and more precisely from fiddlerman video tutorials, You can compare your posture and playing mechanics. It's cheaper then buying a string and you might find out, it may not be the string, as I did.
"I find your lack of Fiddle, disturbing" - Darth Vader
Members
Offline
Is it perhaps a fairly new instrument? Sometimes even if the set-up seems fine and the strings are good, some strings or notes on a new acoustic instrument can sound a little "off" in the sense of sound quality until the instrument has been played for a while..
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
Advanced member
Offline
This conversation just solved a problem I had too! My G string has bothered me for a long time even after putting on a Zyex set. It just had a "different" muddier sound, and made worse playing in 3rd position on it. The comments here led me to look at the chin rest, which I have liked because it crosses over the tail piece and is bigger. However, it did indeed rest on the tail piece, on both sides. I switched it back to the one that came with this (an old violin, has been glued and fixed with, has a very sweet tone except for that G string problem.) And problem solved. I notice the crossover chin rest fits great on the one it came from, plenty of clearance. I might try sometime later to build up underneath it or get a different one altogether.
Fiddlrgrrl
1 Guest(s)
Strabo
ELCBK
Mouse
Fiddlerman
Jols
