Fiddle Blog #1

I'm in my fifties. When I was 26 I decided to take up classical violin. I got a Glaesel student violin and took lessons for eight months. Interestingly, while I practiced hard I had no real goal, a must for success. I always liked my violin and since I had no violin to compare it to, I thought no wrong with it. But after twenty years I decided to sell it. I wasn't playing it and had no reason to play it.
With my interest in Irish music, a GDAE-tuned Irish tenor banjo was lent to me. I had gotten Enda Scahill's wonderful books last Christmas and now I could explore the instrument. I was surprised at how easy a fifths-tuned instrument came to me, perhaps from the lessons on the violin all those years ago. It dawned on me that I now had a reason and a goal that I could persue on the violin, so of course, I needed instant gratification. So I was telling Rick Galloway, a local singer-songwriter and former music store owner that I was interested in playing the fiddle. Rick had an old fiddle that he didn't want and gave it to me.

The violin was really a VSO (violin-shaped object) and it was 3/4 size (the size usually for ten year olds.) I played it for a month and realized that I was adjusting the muscle memory of my fingers to play in pitch (muscle memory is important when there are no frets to guide your fingers.) The small neck was also hurting my big hands. This violin is proof that if you want to see if your kid will want to play a violin, rent a higher quality one. If your kid has a desire and you don't want them to play a violin, get this one!

With my wife's blessing I rented an Eastman VL80 from my local music store chain. Buying one over the Internet is cheap and easy, but supporting local stores and getting the hands-on service is a far better option. Violins are the exception to the addage "You get what you pay for." They can be as low as $49 and as high as in the millions of dollars. University scholarships demand that your violin cannot cost less than $7,000 whether or not it sounds good. Symphonies the same except the minimum is $15,000. One violinist said that he's played an $800 violin that sounded better than many Stradivaris. Factors that determine the value of a violin are not solely based on the sound.

There is a reason a violin is classified a "student model." It has to do with response. A violin that responds to the player's intent is far harder for a beginner to control. With that said, a violin that costs between $250 and $2,500 is likely to completely satisfy the common musician, especially if it's the fiddle and not a Paganini concerto that is in interest. The term VSO stems from the very cheap instruments that are hard to tune and keep tuned and have no response to a setup. Setups can cost $200 and if the instrument is less than that, it's not worth the attempt.

On to the Eastman. The VL80 is the lowest in the Eastman line but there is little to complain about. The top is made of spruce and the ribs and back are made from quilted maple. The violin was hand crafted and the finish is in spirit varnish. The fittings are all ebony. It comes with a K. Holtz fiberglass bow and a case made for destructive kids. It also came with Eastman rosin but I decided to use my Hill dark rosin instead.

Those are what I found out from ads; now here's what I noticed: The fingerboard is scooped nicely. The pegs really tune and hold the tune. There are four fine tuners but only the E string is necessary, like finer violins. The Depiau Supereur bridge, although the D-grade model, is nicely trimmed and has the music store name stamped on it. It came with Thomastik Dominant strings. The violin is very light, a true sign of quality. These things tell me I made a good choice. This violin is better than the Glasel I once owned. Not bad for a violin made in China! The setup is as good as it gets.

The only things I didn't like as much were the strings and the finish. Dominant strings are the most common string used. They sound good, but usually when the E string is substituted with a better string. The E string on this instrument needs to be better. It's not that the strings are bad, though. The overall brightness of the violin just makes these the wrong strings. Either steel or gut strings would definitely darken the sound, but synthetic strings will always last longer so I will get a set of Pirastro Obligatos for Christmas. (Edit: since it's been a few weeks since I wrote this, the Dominants have mellowed nicely. I put a different E string so now, no strings for Christmas.) The varnish finish reminds me of nitrocellulose laquer. Nitro laquer is great for guitars but not for violins. This is not laquer but I think a thinner coating would have been better.

More to come after I've played it for a while...

A Quick Note...

I still exist. March to November has brought about many changes to my musical goals. But the basic goal is still the same: Irish Traditional Music. Since March I've been taking bodhran lessons with a local teacher, and have started playing Irish tenor banjo and fiddle. My right index finger has joint pain issues that affect my flute playing, so I have suspended my goals for that instrument. The tin whistle is still being played and I'm on my way to playing ten tunes, which I'll record in the near future.

My violin rental is being journaled. I have written a piece for the blog and I'll post it next.

Musical Goals for 2013

It's been way too long since I last posted here. Here are random snippets of my current status:

 

I've been trying to focus on where I want to direct my music. I've improved upon my tin whistle skills and am working on ornamentation. I'm also focusing on common note patterns in Irish music that is slowing me down from playing at session speed.

 

I got a mountain dulcimer for Christmas and have learned some key chords at different inversions for at least playing tunes in D or G. My goal is to play counter-melodies against a whistle or a flute. 

 

I plan to start learning the Irish tunes I choose on the flute, tin whistle, plectrum banjo, mountain dulcimer and guitar. I have tin whistles in different keys for playing tunes outside of D and G but the guitar and banjo are the only two chromatic instruments I play.

 

The Irish sessions I play in are run by a banjo player who plays Irish dances and they require playing in all keys. The guitar will be the primary instrument for playing in the sessions, but I'm leaning some of the tune sets on the whistle and as I improve on my embouchure and speed on the flute, I will adapt it too.

 

My wife got me great books for Christmas. The Grey Larsen books are the most valuable for learning. His and Enda Scahill's banjo books are the best for understanding ornamentations for all of my instruments. Lesl Harker's books of Mike Rafferty tunes are a great reference to a great flutist. Hammy Hamilton is such a good flute maker, player and writer that his book "The Irish Flute Player's Handbook" is a valuable addition. I have the books that will take me where I want to go. In fact, I

dropped membership from Blayne Chastain's great flute and whistle tutorial website because between these books and the book of sessions tunes, I have enough to progress at a good pace. 

 

For melodic playing - Tin Whistle, Flute, Banjo
For counter-melodies - Mountain Dulcimer
For rhythm playing - Guitar, Bodhran (asked for one for my birthday.)

 

I have plans to write songs and place Irish tunes into them. This will allow me to bring the electric guitar and bass into the mix. I've started to work with Garage Band on my Mac and iPad to record my music.

 

2013 Goals:

1. Successfully integrate Irish traditional music into a more rock-like format (without sounding like the popular Irish-punk sound.)

2. Produce at least one YouTube video of the result.

3. Work out a Christmas set for doing shows with a local singer/songwriter.

 

The Clubsiders exist (still) but the band will be lower on my priority list. Let's see if the band exists by year's end.

 

Welcome to 2013.