Yesterday we went to the Sound Post (Canadian and slightly-over priced as it may be) and selected two violins for trial period.
The first, Matt (the guy who usually helps us) said we should be profoundly interested in (not those exact words, but pretty darn close). It's a German violin, made this year, by a man named Bonsch. Apparently, he doesn't usually sell under some certain conditions- I fail to recall what they were- but the Sound Post is special and got a few of them in. Point taken; we're lucky, sound post reigns supreme, we pledge allegiance, &co &co. (I love tSP, really, and I love their selection of wiolins, and their staff are really quite friendly, and hold an infinitious cup to the knowledge of the staff of Long & McQuade. But. Pretty much anyone does.
The second violin was just found in their workshop and one of the co-owners happened to be stringing it, whether or not it was for us, and suggested we try it out (talk about service. I wouldn't have thought to go searching through wood shavings to look for a violin I'd be forced to string on the spot.) This violin was also German made, by a Wilhelm Thomas Laura. They bought it at an auction, though they spent more on it than they're actually getting back, due to the required repairs. It was made in 1912. And it's German, which I am really liking. (I'm sensing a tendency towards German violins and Aryan philosophy. Lately, all good things come from Germany)
Violin one had an appealing sound at first. In fact, the vibrations seemed to permeate the entire room so that your fillers would rattle.. not that I HAVE fillers.. or at the very least, your eardrum, which I suppose isn't the BEST thing? Playing in the lower positions on this violin is perfect, especially on the G String. However, as I start to move up, I find like a lot of it's promise kind of disappears. Not to mention, the sound actually comes out as being constricted at some points.
The second violin, which is really the point of comparison to the first, has a huge ringing quality- I almost wonder, too much? When doing string crossings (Bach unaccompanied style) on the lower strings, I sensed a lot of ringing Gs that I didn't appreciate. Hopefully they can alter or change the bridge to fix that, as I feel that the strings are very close together. At least a fifth of a mm :p. In comparison to the other violin, however, the sound volume makes no qualms about getting out there; all the strings are ringing, and the sound quality itself is actually quite pleasant for classical and baroque pieces. Brahms sounds all right, but I haven't played enough romantic pieces to get a good grip on it's..er.. sap quality? This one is 3,300... compared to the first one, at 4,500. I'm worried that 3,300 isn't enough to spend. Because the German violin maker doesn't have any history or background, they couldn't mark up the price reasonably.
What would Jerzcy say? Pft. What is he, God?
I said wiolins and more, so here's the rest:
More..!
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4 comments:
you have a blog!!!!!!!!! exclamation much!!!!!! YA BABY
thank you for making my blog life worth it.
<3
ow and my knee started randomly hurting. i miss you?
YAY! The sound post!!! whoohoo. I love them.
Yeppers-Those Germans are pretty cool -- My cello is German made but it somehow ended up in France where the SP got it at an auction.
Don't you just love violin shopping? heehee -- I loved it at first (except it was cello shopping) but then after trying my 14th cello i was ready to .....well.... you know...stop.
So yep -- did you tell them that I said hello? -- I was thinking, probably the only people who would know who I was would be Andrew and Allister -- And actually maybe they wouldn't. Well if your ever there again and your dealing with Andrew you can tell him that you are friends with the cello player who just bought the Accord starwarsy stormtrooper looking case...Then he will probably think you are crazy.... and that will be that. Who is Matt by the way? Is he the guy with the beard?
Haha --Romantic sap quality!! so true so true.... Although I'm playing some Brahms and it's not very sappy at all. He was one of those, you know, tortured souls from that era...
So....Any explaination on "Wiolins" ? or should I even be asking....
Well -- This comment is so long I don't this it qualifies as a comment --- consider it a reply to your e-mail cause I'm too lazy to actually cut and paste this to an e-mail... or maybe a sub-blog. Can I sub-blog on your blog? Is there such a thing? Anyways -- I really should stop talking.
T'was dandy seeing you again today.... Love you!
This is Hannah *Belvedere* by the way.... Just incase you didn't figure that out...
I had to think about it, you know. But I figured it out. You didn't sound like Hannah S. I didn't say hello to Andrew, though next time I guess I have any excuse (starwarsy, storm-trooper looking case? I envy. And I bet you know, I have no problem with making a witless fool of myself! I embrace the opportunity!) Matt, looks-like-an-indie guy with the beard, but I bet he isn't. I would have given him your salutations, but right before I considered it, he says, "Sorry, what's you're last name again?" And I plunked the violins down on the floor and said, "Why do I BOTHER doing business with you flap-jack-for-a-brain bimbiciles! (new word)" and you can sub-blog on my blog any time, it makes me feel less guilty for being all "blah blah blah BLAAH!" on everyone else's blog. I also embrace that.
and...wiolins.. as in, wiolence on telewision. ask aves. :p
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