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Well, I'm pretty much half-way through my trip away and have been suffering SEVERE violin withdrawal symptoms. Weather has been damp with light drizzle, but too wet really to go play fiddle outside which is something I wanted to do.... Finally, today, it's a bit nicer, and I'm free till the afternoon - so my good lady and I take a hike a couple of hundred feet up a hill with Herman, my viola strung fiddle in tow. I find a viewpoint and begin some practice.
The occasional hill-walker passes by, some say nothing, some stop for a minute or two and move on (well, I am just doing small repeated fragments of practice and not really busking, so nothing in particular to listen-to...). Finally, a couple on holiday from the Netherlands stop and engage me in conversation. So I launch into a couple of my party-pieces just for them! They thank me, and leave.... I "play-them-out" with STJ and I just continue playing...
A few minutes later the gentleman re-appears with camcorder and asks if I would mind.... Now ain't that just plain cool - that is what live solo-performance is all about. I totally enjoyed doing it, and what's more important, they appreciated it. That would have been enough, but when he chose to take the trouble to come back and record me... Look at the surprise on my face when he re-appeared... This is just a fragment of the performance!
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
Regulars
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You are now famous! A hillside recording star.
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@BillyG very nice keep up the good work
Members
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Great going, Bill!
Bravo!
"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
Regulars
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the hills are alive with the sound of music
There is no shame in playing twinkle, youre playing Mozart
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Fab- U - Lous!!!!
I am so happy that you posted that.. it is so awesome...
The background story is great... the look on your face is priceless...
THAT smile and man that we all love so very dearly!!
YOU ROCK that THANG!!!
Cheers
Toni
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
Regulars
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Great job Mad, love the view too
With violins there is no fretting over the music.
Regulars
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A beautiful tune in a beautiful setting!
Regulars
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That looks like you had so much fun.. How'd did you like the acoustics?
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LOL - thanks folks ! That was done in the morning, then I had to work the back-shift (2pm - 10pm) - which I never like - but by then I really didn't care !
Ripton said
That looks like you had so much fun.. How'd did you like the acoustics?
@Ripton - hard to say - we were still below the tree-line and the surrounding undergrowth and foliage obviously dampened the sound a bit compared to the more usual room-with-walls-echo. Also, as the player with the instrument so close, it was hard to tell at the time of playing. But, from the recording (done on a very cheap SONY handy-cam, primarily intended for stills), I have to say I'm reasonably happy. Fortunately it was dead-calm with no wind-noise etc etc.
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh -
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
Regulars
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@BillyG That was so cool!!
Violinist start date - May 2013
Fiddler start date - May 2014
FIDDLE- Gift from a dear friend. A 1930-40 german copy, of a french copy of a Stradivarius. BOW - $50 carbon fiber. Strings - Dominants with E Pirastro Gold string.
Regulars
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SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > that was GREAT!!!
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I was just going to go to the backside of fiddlerman.com and give you a performance badge when I realize, you have it already and have performed on Streetjelly probably numerous times. 
Good job Bill.
Love the laugh when you see a guy coming through the path. 
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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LOL @Fiddlerman - yup I'm a StreetJelly veteran ( ! ). I posted this one just because it was "special" - SJ is largely with friends who always encourage you - and that is why, to any other readers still "uncertain" or "nervous" about doing an SJ set, it's not a competition and perfection is not expected (but when it happens, that's cool too) ! LOL
This was "special" simply because it was the first time I have played fiddle face-to-face with a live audience (other than for local friends and family) who were total strangers, and they clearly got some degree of either entertainment or pleasure from the performance... good feeling...
In truth I did have plans (and still do) to go busking this summer, but it has never happened yet due to the atrocious weather we've been having - so although the actual performance was "unexpected" - I was up-and-ready-for-it.
So, it's another small step on the path to getting-it-out-there with the fiddle - and I've only reached this point because I found http://www.fiddlerman.com and the awesome members 
here with all their help, contributions, feedback, ideas, techniques and so forth... So, thank you all for getting me on the road to live performance with the fiddle - I could not have done it in such a short time without what you have given me.
It is as much your success as mine. 
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh -
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
Regulars
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Great stuff Bill!
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It's our pleasure Bill.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Regulars
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You need to be prepared because one of these times, you'll be playing like that and someone with a fiddle with come along and join in! Then What!??
You'll be a real rock star. Ha. Good job.
Like they say, "Dance like no-one is watching", so I say, "Play like no one is listening!"
you'll do your best!
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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