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Something A La Mode

Thom — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:57:10 +0000

SomethingALaMode

I originally downloaded their cover track, A Little Bit of Feel Good (video below), from the great music site, Aurgasm. I had actually forgotten about them until just last night when putting together a play list on Itunes and rediscovered them by accident. SomethingALaMode consists of Thomas Roussel (violin) and Yannick Grandjean (cello). Both of them professionally experienced, they also work the electronics and put together something much more impressive than your average “gimmick” strings band. Unlike many other modern electronic artists, rather than using their strings as a novelty- they instead have composed some great music and programmed the synthesizers to fit around the real instruments.

Watching their promo video and listening to the album have brought me some excitement. I always enjoy something fresh and new and I’m a huge fan of the idea of an album. A major problem lately in pop and rock is that the cohesiveness and themes of albums seem to mostly be replaced with over-produced sounds lacking an original idea, all trying to be the next new hit track. In fact, I remember at the dawn of Itunes and Ipods reading of a famous female pop star who said she had no problem with the death of the album and that she would rather focus on writing one hit song instead having to write an entire album. Where is the passion in that? (P.S. if anyone can point me to who that was and possibly an article to quote that would be great )

Their self-titled album starts off with fitting introduction track; a retro synth beat, french samples, reverbed strings. From there it dives straight into Gstring, a well written dance track with some ideas reminiscent of electronic group Justice. 5AM is a chic tune that makes me think of driving around freely on a sunny day and enjoying the weather. Many of the tracks go great right into the next. Tracey’s Interlude starts off a bit dark and lamenting, transitioning into the more pleasant and 60’s French sounding Easy Loving with some possible early video game music influence sounding synth chords. As of writing this I have only listened to about the first half of the album, but I’m looking forward to the rest. This is simply more proof that you can do anything with the violin!

Purchase the CD

Purchase the digital album

Happy Birthday Vivaldi!

Thom — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:24:51 +0000

Google celebrates Vivaldi's Birthday! Read more about Vivaldi! No related posts.

Three Girls Rock Out System Of A Down’s Toxicity With VIOLINS!

Thom — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:27:11 +0000

Once more, proof that you don’t necessarily need to play classical music to rock the violin! I discovered this video while stumbling and knew that many of you would love it! These three girls do a fantastic job, I’d like to see more from them! Does anyone else have any related videos to share?

Taken from the Youtube Info:

Cover of “Toxicity” by System of a Down.

Jennifer Lynn, Electric Violin;
Christine Wu, Electric Violin;
Meytal Cohen, Drums;

String Arrangement by Jennifer Lynn.
Video editing by Jennifer Lynn.
Co-produced by Gil Baram, Jennifer Lynn and Meytal Cohen.

This is truly awesome! It looks to me like the girls are playing on Violectras. I’d be curious to see what kind of equipment they are using effects-wise!

We Were Hacked! (But We’re OK Now!) Treat Included!

Thom — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:30:11 +0000

You may have noticed either a Google warning blocking you from accessing Stringsavvy.com or just plain seeing a spam/virus installer page. According to my host this was due to an exploit in a piece of software on one of my computers. Unfortunately it did take about a week to figure out how to solve the problem and get the site running again. I apologize for any inconvenience as well as any one who may have inadvertently downloaded the spam software. Sadly, it will take Google “up to several weeks” to review and find Stringsavvy as no longer dangerous. Firefox users may have some difficulty viewing the site until that happens.

Now onto some better news:

I have just purchased a new camera, a , for lessons and other videos. I figured the best way to replace an non-functioning camera is to upgrade it! As soon as it arrives in the mail I’ll be tinkering with it and starting to put some new content together for all you great and studious violinists!

As a special treat, here is some rare behind the scenes footage; a rehearsal clip from a recent performance. The song is called Kaboke (Ka-boo-key) and is a Kurdish traditional song. This was part of set put together for a Persian Winter Solstice banquet/party. Enjoy!

Mailbag: Building Callus and Questions on Purchasing

Thom — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:50:01 +0000

Thanks for the positive feedback! It looks you liked the mailbag, so I’m going to keep the answers coming as long as you keep asking!

Fingers Hurt?

Angelsoos writes:

Hello Thom, I’ve watched many of your videos, and they have been very helpful.
I just got my Violin 5 days ago, which really thrilled me because I was assured by my family that I’d never get one. but still, after I got it, I was not allowed to get a teacher and most of them told me that I’d never learn how to play the violin. I am determined to learn it, you see….the violin to me is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen or heard. It just gives you this overwhelming feeling when you listen to it, and I will never give up till I learn it, but it is very hard to train without a teacher.
I just wanted to thank you for all your videos, although some of them were a little hard because I don’t have the book you are working on, but still, thank you for all your hard work.

P.S: May I please ask you a question? You know how you press on the string with your fingers to produce numerous notes? Well it really hurts my fingers when I do that. Is that supposed to happen or am I doing something wrong?
Thank you again for your time.

Hello Angelsoos,

That is awesome that you want to do whatever it takes to learn! The violin brings me a lot of joy as well! I found that if I wake up early to play a little before work, my mood through the day is significantly better than if I just woke up and went to work like normal.

On the topic of your fingers on the strings- Your fingertips may hurt a little in the beginning, especially if this is your first instrument. This is because your fingers are needing to build callus (hardened skin). Every now and then I noodle around on the guitar. The first time I ever did, the round wound strings along with the frets were super rough on my fingers, and they felt like they were on fire! Your skin may take a little bit of time, just don’t overdo it. I would watch to make sure you aren’t pushing down too hard. You need only to apply enough pressure so that the strings are touching the fingerboard. Any harder than that is simply wasted energy, and probably harmful to your hand! Good luck, and I recommend getting the book, it will make things much easier for you!

I hope that helps!

What should I be shopping for?

I had two questions on this topic, so I figured I could combine them into one:

Katie writes:

Hello,
How important is having an expensive or high quality bow? Does the bow really affect the sound the violin makes so much that you shouldn’t use a cheapo? I have a cheap one and someone told me that my playing would sound better with something as simple as buying a more expensive bow. ok, thanks!

Anonymous writes:

I’m buying an electric violin. What are the things that should I buy/check when I buy? I think I should have:
1. Violin

2. Bow. Any advise how to chose a good bow? I heard we cannot touch the hair to make sure no oil from our hand doesn’t goes into it, is that true? and you know why? let say I accidentally touch the hair, what would be happen? it won’t produce sound nicely because of slippery? can we just apply rosin again and it back to normal?

3. Case. I think soft case should be OK right?

4. Rosin. What is the good rosin which suitable for both electric and acoustic string? Any advise how to choose/brand maybe?

5. Cleaner. How often you clean your violin? I heard that we should clean the rosin that felt into our violin after every play. Can we use same cleaner to clean electric and acoustic? or depend on finishing?

Thank you.

Great Questions!

More often than not, a student violin will come in what is called a “violin outfit.” This means that at the very least your package will contain a violin, bow, and case. If you are purchasing a more advanced acoustic or an electric violin, more often than not you will just be getting a violin and therefore will need to shop for the other accessories.

When looking for bows, beginner student bows will range from $30-$50. Generally they will be made of fiberglass and synthetic hair. Many violinists prefer the sound and feel of real horse hair on their bows. The material can vary from carbon fiber to pernambuco or even snakewood. I currently play with a Coda Aspire (carbon fiber bow). The Aspire model is no longer in production but it is probably about equal to the Coda Prodigy. While a better bow may sound and respond better, you really shouldn’t be looking to spend a whole lot on your first bow. I first learned on a cheap fiberglass bow just like everyone else I know. After you have been playing for a while you will begin to learn different bowing techniques and find you have a preference for a certain type of bow. That preference may end up being different from what you currently have, so start with a less expensive bow and move up from there!

It is true that you should not touch the hairs with your fingers. Our fingers secrete a natural oil that when rubbed on the hair will detract rosin and attract dirt. So avoid touching the hairs as much as possible!

Some people feel comfortable carrying their violins around in a soft case. By soft case I am referring to what is called a “gig bag.” A gig bag is just a soft nylon bag in the shape of the instrument. I personally don’t feel comfortable with these and I use a hard case. Hard cases can have both soft and hard exteriors, but the difference is that they will have injected hardened foam and other materials to help keep your violin safe against bumping, falling, and even changes in temperature and humidity (to an extent!). Never leave your violin out in the car on a hot day or a cold day. Either extreme can damage your instrument!

Rosin is yet another thing that doesn’t matter too much in the beginning, but as you mature in your playing your tastes will develop for your own preferences. I currently use Tartini rosin which is believe is now being sold under the name of Andrea. In high school I used a hypo-allergenic rosin called Clarity Rosin. Another Rosin I found was popular while searching through some rosin enthusiast forums was Motrya Rosin. A type of rosin won’t make a difference on acoustic vs. electric.

I usually use a regular polish cloth to clean my instrument. a quick wipe of the strings and the wood underneath to catch rosin dust is all you need!

Hope that helps!

-Thom

Thanks for the great questions, you guys rock! If you like the idea of this “mailbag” please let me know in the comments below! Also feel free to add me on twitter or register with the site.

Mailbag: Violin Pickups and Acoustic Vs. Electric?

Thom — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:23:44 +0000

The other day I was answering a question in my inbox, and I felt that many of these questions that you are asking can help other people universally! I got permission to re-post some of the most recent questions here. I would like to make you all aware of a privacy policy I just put up. I really don’t use your information for anything at all. Wordpress requires an email address to post comments, but I don’t ever look at what the email addresses are, and certainly never give them to anyone else!

What the policy includes is some things I found I should put up – including how advertisements and affiliate websites may track what you click on. Mostly so that they can give credit . I may be adding more to the policy as I read more about what is important to put in them, as I didn’t want to just throw a bunch of mumbo jumbo that didn’t make sense or isn’t related. The most important thing I wanted to include was that I wanted to make sure I could share more of your awesome questions with other readers! If any of you out there are experienced let me know what I should be adding!

And now on to the questions!

Question on pickups

A quick question,

With all the pickups out there how can I pick the right one? It has my head swimming. Do I go with Fish-man, L.R. Bags? I guess you get my point. Here is other issue: no teacher, no music store within about 50 miles. That’s why I came to you. I like the format of your lessons can’t wait to see it offered as a CD set I’ll be one of many to have it ( hint hint )
Thanks and blessings to you

musically,
Randy

Hello, Randy!

Though I haven’t had the opportunity to play extensively with too many pickups, L.R. Baggs does seem to be one of the most popular. Several violinists I have spoken to on the topic, including the late Johnny Frigo, use and swear by it. Overall a pickup such as the L.R. Baggs will require a new bridge and often times a fitting for a 1/4″ instrument jack (to be plugged into an amplifer). This means constantly having a wire and extra piece of hardware on your instrument. For a little bit cheaper of a price and from what I think is a great sound, you can get The Band from Headway Electronics. It is a piece that wraps around your instrument with Velcro and picks up sound from the body of your instrument. That means you can attach and detach it whenever you please! It sounds fantastic and very rarely ever gives feedback (as long as you are running a clean channel, no distortion pedals!)

Either one of these may require a pre-amp as well to add some strength to the tone and volume. You can get a Fishman PRO-EQ II Preamp/EQ for about $100 on Amazon, and it features 3 band equalizer, volume, and tone sliders.

I hope that helps!

-Thom

Electric Versus. Acoustic?

Hi Thom,

You have great video lessons for violin and I’m glad to found your channel. I have no background in music. I’m planning to learn violin by my self using your video, but I want to buy a Yamaha sv150 because it won’t disturb other people, the other reason is I’m a bit shy if people heard my bad violin sound.

Suzuki violin book 1 said that student should listen to the recordings of the music they are currently studying for musical sensitivity purpose.

My question is, if the recorded sound was acoustic violin and I use a silent violin, is that would effecting my sensitivity? (you know, like “Is this the correct sound?” when i play it). how big diffrent between acoustic and silent violin?

You also mention to use an acoustic violin for beginner if I’m not mistaken.

Thanks,
Vivan.

Hello, Vivan!

Thank you! I am glad you are liking the videos and the site! The question of electric vs. acoustic is a popular one, and while you may be looking for different purposes an acoustic overall is a better place to start. You’ll want to look for a violin outfit (a violin outfit will include case and bow). Keep in mind that an electric will also require an amplifier if you ever want to perform for more than on person. Many electrics, such as the Yamaha, also do not come with a bow.

Learning on an instrument, the basics will be pretty much the same, but on major things such as tone production I feel you may suffer a little bit on an electric instrument versus an acoustic. While Yamaha is an awesome violin (I have the SV-200 myself), and the SV-150 you are looking at does come with all sorts of goodies, I also think that some of these goodies may be designed for slightly more advanced players. Also, you may be getting a much nicer sounding acoustic instrument for the same price. Pairing it up with a pickup such as The Band will allow you to amplify that same acoustic instrument. Plus, having other people hear you may just push you to work on tone that much more!

While I do definitely lean towards an acoustic for beginners, I hope that I offered some good information to help you make a better informed decision. Let me know which one you end up picking!

-Thom

Thanks for the great questions, you guys rock! If you like the idea of this “mailbag” please let me know in the comments below! Also feel free to add me on twitter or register with the site.

Being a Musician Improves Your Hearing!

Thom — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:38:41 +0000

Mark at Parttimemusician.com linked an interesting article from National Public Radio relating playing music to hearing ability.

Another cool study showing the growth of our most incredible muscle- the brain! Apparently musicians will hear and distinguish sounds better because the brain, having had more exposure, will have more tools to interpret with. This includes discerning specific sounds as well as hearing very minor variances in pitch! Start working that muscle and play some music!

Click Here for the article! Thanks, Mark!

Put The Glass Down! (Getting Around Frustrations)

Thom — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:18:20 +0000

I was teaching one of my students and noticed he had a habit of tensing up and making noise on his instrument every time he had made a mistake. Sometimes he would lose control in his playing, and he would respond by ultimately losing control of his temper!

I used to do this myself at a young age. I distinctly remember at age twelve having trouble learning a megaman song (playing by ear) and growing so frustrated that I swung my bow down at my clothes hamper. My composite bow sliced right through the plastic hamper, totaling it!

Another time, at age fifteen, I was working hard on audition music, Once again, I grew frustrated and this time took my violin, threw it into it’s case, and gave it a push. I popped the fingerboard RIGHT off the neck! Boy did I feel stupid! Had I just kept my cool everything would have been fine. I ended up having to spend five hours worth of my income on paying a luthier (violin maker) to properly sand and re-glue the fingerboard down.

Since then I learned that practice makes permanent, and what you do before, during, and after playing is all part of the pattern your brain will get used to running. This includes temper trantrums!

Here is a story I am across several months ago. I’m not sure who the originator is, or if there even is one on record.

“Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it.
He held it up for all to see & asked the students,’ How much do you think this glass weighs?’
‘50gms!’ …. ‘100gms!’ …..’125gms’ …..the students answered.
‘I really don’t know unless I weigh it,’ said the professor, ‘but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?’

‘Nothing’ the students said.
‘Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?’ the professor asked.
‘Your arm would begin to ache’ said one of the students.
‘You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?’
‘Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to hospital for sure!’ ventured another student & all the students laughed.

‘Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?’ asked the professor.
‘No’
‘Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?’ The students were puzzled.
‘Put the glass down!’ said one of the students.

‘Exactly!’ said the professor.’ Life’s problems are something like this.

Hold it for a few minutes in your head & they seem OK. Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache. Hold it even longer & they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything. It’s important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT to ‘put them down’ at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh & strong & can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!’”

Sometimes we let frustrations and problems get the best of us. It can be a hard passage in our music, a particular technique, or it could be something completely unrelated to music but just a problem in our lives. There are two ways to handle these situations:

Respond to the situation with tension, anger, and frustation
Take a deep breath, walk away, or do something else to relieve the tension

Which way do you think will wield more positive results?

When I was very young, probably four or five years old, I would rent video games and then throw a fit when they were too hard! This continued as I grew older until I had discovered a secret technique at ten years of age while playing Cruisin’ USA or Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64. Sometimes I would run into the problem of being unable to win a particular race no matter how hard I tried. I would feel the anger and frustration well up inside me as I would shout “Why can’t I beat this level?”

It was then that I figured out that I could walk away and distract myself for a minutes with another activity. After I had calmed down I would return to the game and usually DESTROY the competition within the first or second attempt!

The professor in the story speaks of the long term effects of “holding onto” the glass, but even in the short term the weight can effect your mood and performance. When you feel yourself losing your cool, try putting down the glass. When you return to whatever it was that was affecting you, you may find that you are now in control of the situation rather than the other way around!

Have you found this to be something you need to work on? Feel free to share below!

Alexander Markov Rocks Paganini

Thom — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:19:46 +0000

Incredible! This was shared with me by one of my friends who happens to be studying guitar performance. I actually prefer some of his theme variations over than of Jascha Heifetz! I noticed his left hand pizzicato (2:54) especially was a very different take than what I had heard before, and apparently Wikipedia agrees:

“Markov was born in Moscow and studied violin with his father, concert violinist Albert Markov. By the time he was eight years old, he was appearing as a soloist with orchestras and performing double concertos with his father. Markov emigrated to the U.S. with his parents and received his United States citizenship in 1982. He made his New York debut recital at Carnegie Hall and appeared with Christoph Eschenbach conducting the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall. He is known for his recording of Paganini’s 24 Caprices for solo violin, and is especially notorious for his interpretation of the left-hand pizzicato section of the 24th Caprice.” – Wiki

Oh, and is it just me or does Markov (in this video) kind of look like Saturday Night Live cast member Andy Samberg?

Igudesman and Joo?

Thom — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:23:28 +0000

Pianist and Violinist combo work here with an orchestra to perform Ennio Morricone’s Fistful of Dollars. Fantastic arrangement with some wicked violin solos! If you have never heard of Igudesman and Joo- check out some of their comedy bits below:

I first stumbled upon these guys a couple years ago and really enjoyed their videos. A modern day Victor Borge perhaps? (Victor Borge Below). This shows yet another example to the wide span of musical opportunities! You don’t have to be “uptight” and play in an orchestra to do something fun with music! Enjoy the videos!