Violin sound.

I must admit the reason I like the newest bass, the violin bass copy I bought, is because you don't even notice the weight! My Fender 5 string American Standard is a killer.
 
Hi,

Thanks @TalismanRich good suggestion but I'm not good at doing nothing; (y) I'm not at all into any sport thinking it to be a waste of time and effort with little to show for it; I like to go to bed at night having done something useful and of benefit to us; I well remember my first 11 years of life with terrible asthma preventing me doing so much just watching school chums so full of energy when occasionally my late mother would be up all night nursing me in front of the coal fire wondering if I'd make it to morning. 11 years lost but now I'm making up for it.

Just looking around now; how many grossly obese people there are living for food and complaining they are so fat; guys having worked all day then lazing around of an evening doing little also at weekends many just paying to watch someone kick a ball around whilst their wife/partner is doing DIY. We're all different with things we consider very important in our life and that's as it should be; I'm the way I am because of my past health issues and also my engineering background always being busy; I'm finding it very difficult indeed to not do anything; even sitting watching YouTube on TV I'm thinking about jobs/projects; violins and my studio are increasingly important to me and slowly I'm spending more time in the studio.

In little over a year I've felled and disposed of 16 huge trees; I don't have weekends off but in a strange way I do enjoy all this hard work because I can see something for it; I hope I'm not lecturing because this isn't intended we all have the same amount of time but we use it differently. I don't need sport or to use a gym the heavy work keeps my head and body fit; I'm pleased I can still climb and fell such big trees at 74 when I see so many half my age doing very little indeed. How many work hard for 50 years then retire at 65 and drop dead the day after retirement through boredom with nothing to get out of bed for their work being their life.

I'm sorry to learn both you Raymond & rob are having back problems which must severely impact on your lives; has your working life caused this. I often get out of bed feeling more tired than when I went to bed and with lots of aches but after breakfast each day it wears off then I'm fit for anything; I'm worried if I do as many of our retired neighbours do in retirement just sitting around I'll start to feel my age and quickly join them discussing the latest rounds of medication issued by the doc; so many are amazed by what I can do but it's just my way of life keeping very busy.

My future plan rob is to do both; still work hard and split this with studio time; I don't want to spend days on end learning to play my violins in the confines of my comfortable studio; I'm definitely going to spend more time in the studio but also keep very busy; if there aren't pressing jobs to do around the bungalow and gardens then I'll probably tackle another machinery restoration; it does tire me out but I've no intention of regarding retirement the time to stop doing things.

In the background I've been busy copying my favourite violin solos to my computer and I'll copy these to memory stick to play in the studio; I'm making slow but steady progress with sight reading but still a long way to go; learning different violin music scores brings in different strings and combination of notes; so far the music I'm playing doesn't involve the E string; eventually the E string will be just as important as the other three strings but it's how it works out at the moment. I do enjoy studio time even when I have a bad violin practice; violin playing will be a lifetime hobby now I've started; I'm not in a hurry but I'll find I've more time for the studio during our very long winter.

Enough for now I need to get off my backside; this morning I'm sharpening chainsaw chains then I'll service the chainsaw before putting it into retirement so both my chainsaws will be ready for work should a tree become storm damaged; I can now move on from the constant tree work but it's wonderful having just felled the huge oak; no more pigeon mess to clean up daily and the amount of light in our kitchen is amazing; no more acorns; leaves or other debris dropping daily; it's been worth the hard graft now it's one less daily chore to do. Violin practice later today.

It's just the way I am. No offense meant to anyone we're all different. :-)

Kind regards, Colin.
 
I'm sorry to learn both you Raymond & rob are having back problems which must severely impact on your lives; has your working life caused this. I
I dived off a top diving board when I was 22, and hit the water awkwardly, compressing the lower spine.
I didn't make a fuss at the time, as there's nothing you can do for backs.
I thought rest it, and see if it improves.
It has never been looked at by doctors, but I know I did permanent damage.
As I get older, if I over stretch it, the pain re-visits me (much worse than it was at the time), and I am like a cripple for 2 weeks.
So, as long as I think about how to do physical things, I can plan around it. It is ok most of the time.
I most definitely do not do routine lifting for other people.
 
I've actually taken a bit of Colin's routine. Looking through some old Cubase files, that after my file enrvyption nightmare, I'd recovered from various old hard drives - I found Phil Collin's Against All Odds - and decided to re-record it with my tenor sax, that's I;ve not played in at least four years. I decided that I could just pop the dots up on the screen, but I figured it would be good practice to play it from memory - thinking the tune in my head and making my fingers do the work. The opposite of what Colin is doing - reading the notes and remembering the fingering. I think a good mix of playing by ear and playing from the notes is quite vital really. It worked pretty well I think - and was, like Colin - it was a serious two hours of hard work.
 
Hi,

WOW Raymond what a way to hurt your back; once you do injure something like your back it remains with you as you know only too well and is very quick to remind you too. I wouldn't have survived diving off a top board because I can't swim.

Thanks rob; well done I bet you enjoyed it. I've just come out of the studio having enjoyed a violin practice; I'm still sight reading but as I practice more and more my fingers like yours are remembering notes to play and slowly taking control; remembering is difficult for me but if I stick with a tune and keep playing it then it starts to become familiar and my playing hence improves too not having to concentrate so fiercely.

Four chainsaw chains now sharpened; each of the chainsaws now has a sharp chain and a spare putting the tree work to bed at last letting me relax and move on; it's been nice in the studio not having a job hanging over me; my arms still ache a bit but it's wearing off.

Kind regards, Colin.
 
Hi,

Two violin practices today. My memory is terrible; I've tried and tried to remember which way around on the G string the "B" & "C" notes are whilst sight reading but it's driven me mad; just these two notes; it's like I've got a severe memory block on these; the harder I tried the more frustrated I became; problem now solved; I've given in and marked these two on the music score. Life's too short to be tormented like this.

I've now got a nice small selection of music scores to practice from which I'm sure will prove interesting. :-)

Kind regards, Colin.
 
Hi,

WOW two excellent violin practices this morning and more to come shortly today. I'm finally caught up on all the heavy work around home even the car is now ready for its MOT & service on Wednesday; I had the wheels off yesterday and it's been washed; polished and cleaned out. Surely I can't find more work to do.

For the first time I was totally relaxed as I played; I could concentrate better too and my aches and pains are much reduced; I'm feeling better and it sounds better; I think my violin is starting to like me. I'm about to load more violin solo's onto memory stick ; things are coming together. (y)

Kind regards, Colin.

UPDATE:

Many thanks for this you posted on another thread rob;

1688998352314.png

I've now got the free Davinci Resolve 18.5 version; it took quite a while to download so must be a big program; I've just had a quick look and it appears to be very impressive indeed; Audacity I already have and this was a much quicker download. Now I've more studio time available I can play around; so much to learn though.

Kind regards, Colin.
 
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I had a look at the BlackMagic, and it does look good. I have installed a free video editer called OpenShot, but it does not seem to offer a 'zooming in to 1 frame' feature, which I need to properly synch a multi-tracked audio file to the video. I plan to install BlackMagic.
 
Hi,

It looks like rob's started something by tipping us off regarding DaVinci Resolve; my version is 18.5 Raymond.

What a lovely start to this morning; I've just enjoyed a nice violin practice without the slightest stress being totally relaxed; the new strings on my Yamaha YEV-104 are settling in well only needing slight tuning. It's all now coming together at last; Somewhere My Love; Ode To Joy; Amazing Grace; Only Fools Rush In and Scarborough Fair. Not full scores but a very good start indeed and now I'm feeling more comfortable with sight reading so can take on new tunes playing very slowly at first until muscle control starts to take over; all very interesting indeed.

Back on topic as to Violin Sound my initial playing I thought was poor not sounding nice but now as I'm gaining more experience things like bow pressure and speed are proving so important; just bow pressure makes a huge difference to sound quality from light sounding nice to heavy sounding harsh; I'm not pushing myself too much most practices are between 30 minutes and an hour but occasionally I'll play for longer depending how things are going. I'm now managing household chores and maintenance better too; I like to get into the studio straight after breakfast then I can enjoy one decent practice each day but I also am starting to enjoy more practices each day even if only for twenty minutes or so.

Kind regards, Colin.
 
Glad to hear it is going well, Colin.
I chose to go for the older stable version 18.1.4, because the 1.5 version is still being tested (by users), and may have bugs.
If it proves good, I've got nothing against paying for the full version. We'll see how it goes.

I haven't touched my cello for a few years, but it comes out now and then.
My left hand is used to guitars, so that is a transferable skill, to the cello.
You get a sweeter sound when bowing away from the bridge, and a much graunchier sound when bowing near the bridge.
 
Hi,

Thanks Raymond I've now got a smile on my face.

I downloaded the free 18.5 version of DaVinci; I'm sure I'll never fully use or even understand it but if it has bugs surely with my luck I'll quickly find them.

If your weather is like ours today then a good excuse to knock the dust off your cello and become reacquainted with it; go for it. :-)

My violin soon lets me know if I get too near the bridge with the bow it sounds awful. This morning I've been playing my Yamaha YEV-104 and I also pulled my German acoustic violin from it's case this is fitted with a pickup. What a huge difference in sound; I'm so used to playing the Yamaha the German sounds really strange and with brand new Stagg strings fitted has lots of ringing and sounds tinny which is picked up as I used the Tascam for recording; I also need to find the sweet place to stand the Rode mic; it's getting really interesting now I can relax in the studio and I'm noticing so much more.

Kind regards, Colin.
 
Hi,

A while since I posted; the reason being my bad luck won't leave me alone. Just over two weeks ago our C/H boiler wouldn't turn off. No problem just call in a service guy to sort the problem out and as the yearly service was imminent have the service done at the same time. In came service guy #1 he serviced the boiler but then found a fault with the thermostat asking if it had new batteries installed; he played around with the thermostat and boiler controls then made a quick exit now the boiler was working.

Trying to turn the boiler off using the thermostat once again it refused to turn off; on another forum I was advised to replace the thermostat and receiver the forum member stating it was a direct replacement so £50 later I'd installed the new thermostat taking a lot of care to follow the connections. No it was still the same and pointless calling the unskilled #1 guy back so service guy #2 was called in; this time the boiler had already been serviced so I fully explained the problem; he too played around with the boiler settings and thermostat getting the boiler working and he departed saying any more problems call him back in.

Trying to turn the boiler off the problem was still here by which time I's sussed out how to play with the controls but it meant visiting the workshop getting wet due to the constant rain; the thermostat still wasn't working. Did I call in guy #2 again; no I didn't he too appeared unskilled.

These two guys were independents from the Internet.

I then filled in a repair form online this at "OVO" very quickly I received a phone call from OVO asking what the problem was so having explained he'd get back to me. It was service guy #3 who phoned a couple of hours later and a same day appointment was booked but this guy had two jobs before us would it be OK to come the following afternoon; yest it would because it wasn't urgent; he arrived at 4pm; this time a service guy who really knew his stuff; he didn't just start messing with the controls and thermostat instead he got his nose into the boiler manual for a few minutes then started checking wiring and connections he used a "jumper" on the low voltage connections; the thermostat I'd carefully installed wasn't a direct replacement after all; the high voltage L & N of course were fine but the other three low voltage connections were different; the original used 1 & 3 this new unit used 1 & 2 I've worked with electrics for many years but got well and truly caught out and I put my hand up.

Now the thermostat was communicating he went through all the settings but there was another fault he discovered; one and a quarter hours later everything was working perfectly. OVO were brilliant and I received the £111 bill this morning which was paid immediately.

I owned up to my mistake but why didn't the first two know how to sort this out after all they were supposed to be professionals with C/H but proved useless apart from the first who only serviced the boiler but was lost in sorting the problem out.

just over two weeks ago I also bought 2 x 5L of Bilt Hamber rustproofing for our car; 1L of thinner material for spraying into cavities like inside of cills and doors and 5L for the chassis this being thicker material. . When the Bilt arrived so did the monsoon and it's still raining I've not seen the car dry since.

In-between all this I've struggled as usual to get studio time; two years into owning a violin and still struggling to play it although I now pop into the studio whenever I can for short practices; yesterday I enjoyed three practices and already enjoyed a practice this morning. I've not given up and never will; if I live long enough I might actually get some quality time in the studio.

Kind regards, Colin.
 
To turn off the C/H boiler in an emergency, I'd switch off the electric to it, and switch off the gas at the meter.
It transpired that the 'Qualified Gas Engineer' who installed my new boiler was not actualy qualified to do so, and was an electrician, subcontracted by the gas installation company. I opted for an external frost sensor, but the boiler pump turns on and off automatically during the middle of summer. I doubt whether it was installed correctly.
Hope you get some luck soon, Colin.
 
Having to run the boiler this time of the year... It's hard to comprehend!

It's 30C right now, and I'm getting ready to go set up a PA system for a night's jam session. Sunny and comfortable! It should all be over in about 6 hours. By then it will have cooled off nicely.
 
Hi,

Thanks Raymond; yes in an emergency I'd immediately turn off the gas at the supply but the boiler was working fine just the controls;/programs being messed up; going to bed at night I'd pop down to the workshop first and switch the boiler off then first thing each morning pop down again to switch it on; doing this meant we had some control over it but it was a downright nuisance. The C/H is now working perfectly again; it's been a bit chilly each morning so we've had the C/H on which is normal for summer here in Yorkshire; the rain has finally quit which is a bonus. You appear to have had cowboys in too; there are so many warnings regarding gas safety and rightly too so why are these boiler cowboys not monitored?

I agree Rich; who needs a boiler in summer; outside it warms up around dinner time but inside it gets chilly; at times we use the high efficiency gas fire; one thing's certain we're going to keep warm no matter the cost.

I hope your jam session went well.

Once again I'm catching up after hospital and surgery appointments; five and an half hours Saturdays hospital visit full morning yesterday running to and from the surgery also the pharmacy; my lovely wife isn't at all well and I'll do absolutely anything to put her first and make life easier for her; I'm helping out more with household chores but unfortunately violin practice is now way down the list although I do practice each day even if only for twenty minutes. Learning to play a violin has been problematic ever since I put my hands on a violin but I'll not give up trying whenever I can.

Now we have a short dry period? I want to rustproof the car before winter sets in; the car won't be fully dry yet but I can make a start getting everything ready; if I'm stuck I'll use my heat gun to dry areas out before applying the rust proofing material but it all robs me of time; I'd have the car professionally rust proofed but because my wife is unwell I need the car full time; my life is one big corkscrew but I'll carry on.

Kind regards, Colin.
 
I'm intrigued by the rust-proofing. I had not realised it was still a thing with modern vehicles. A bit of research seems to not help - Rust Proofing new vehicles has been an option for years now, but there's a 50/50 split on if it is worth it. The AA state most new vehicles have been adequately rust proofed for a long time now, other sources say it's still worth it?
 
Hi,

Yes Rob it's controversial but given our dire Yorkshire climate where our Skoda Yeti is a submersible a lot of the year due to rainfall it seems to be wet for months on end so any protection I can give it must be worthwhile; it hasn't rained for a couple of days but each morning it has still been soaking wet not by rain but by dew and it makes me wonder what it's like in areas I can't see like inside of door bottoms or cills.

I do check drain holes at the bottom of cills also under the wiper blades to ensure they are clean and open. I recently changed wheels front to back and was surprised to see so much rust on the suspension arms/linkages; I'd rather pay money now preventing rust rather than paying a lot more later for welding and paint spraying.

One thing worth mentioning is safety if working under a car; never ever work with the car only supported on a jack buy a pair of axle stands these aren't expensive through eBay and could save your life; I've just bought a pair of axle stands; I sold my heavy industrial axle stands years ago because we started to trade our car in every two or three years for a brand new car but modern cars are all clones of each other having more and more electronic gizmos to eventually go wrong; our Skoda Yeti is a beauty and has street presence; I've also just bought a new trolley jack so now I have two trolley jacks that I'll use to jack up the full side of the car allowing both wheels to be removed but with the axle stands in place I don't want to be crushed; jacking a car up in the wrong place under the cill is asking for expensive damage; check the owners manual.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/threads/violin-sound.418295/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204220137688

I've enjoyed two violin practices today; I keep trying.

Kind regards, Colin.
 
Hi,

I've just enjoyed a very nice relaxing violin practice after an hard day rustproofing the car.

Rust proofing_0003.JPG
A pleasant surprise rob after removing the wing liner; no rust under it and still with factory rust proofing doing its job.

Rust proofing_0008.JPG
Here's what happens even at seven years old and it needs treating sooner than later before the rust spreads.


Rust proofing_0011.JPG
Here's the wing liner which gave me no end of fun removing it having found all nineteen T25 Torx screws and a great deal more fun refitting it.

Rust proofing_0013.JPG
I spent hours on this one wing area today; it's pointless rushing a job like this having spent around £100 on rustproofing materials; I sprayed a lot on using compressor and spray gun but also used a brush to catch areas missed by the spray gun; what a truly dirty job; wire brushes; scrapers and coarse abrasive paper were used to remove loose rust.

Rust proofing_0017.JPG
I'm very pleased indeed with the Bilt Hamber; here's one wing completed and liner replaced; three more to go but now I've done one the others should be a lot quicker.

I'm spread very thin regarding jobs taking up so much of my time; once the car is rust proofed no doubt another big job will quickly follow but I'm also doing more household work to help my wonderful wife who is unwell; cutting grass and trimming hedges is also another regular job; it never lets up but I still manage to enjoy violin practices in-between everyday living; I'd much rather be over busy than bored in front of the TV all day and all night; it will soon be winter here again and I'll be able to spend more time in the studio.

Looking at this rob it might pay to check your car for rust?

Kind regards, Colin.
 
I've never done this to a car. I've never had a car longer than 10 years. They usually do ok up to that point.
We have salty sea air here, but that doesn't seem to make any difference.
During storms, the sea can get blown over the harbour wall, and flood one of the roads. You occasionally have to drive through sea water.
Looks like you've done a good job there, Colin.
 
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