Recording my own violin playing

  • Thread starter Thread starter eug_fiddler
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There was a couple of articles on all that at the old prorec.com by a guy who, iirc, wrote src algorithm code or something for a living, and that's what he said.

That's possible. But old prorec is c. 1998, and SRCs have changed since then. I can measure no difference in conversion to 44.1 whether starting at 88.2 or 96, and I don't have the latest greatest SRC.

Hey, why did you never enter the Orianthi Pet Sounds Rumble :confused:
 
IMO the way to play solo Bach on violin is to try your damndest not to be anything like a violinist - i don't mean like a machine. I mean, Bach had like 18 kids, he was a MAN you know. But, you have to get out of the linear frame of mind that violinists are trained in, and start thinking vertically in CHORDS. At least, that's what I'm striving for...

I can't have a violinist's perspective, because I can't play that thing! It doesn't help that I have meathooks and only a 3/4 scale to steal from the kids, but on a full size, I'd still suck.

Anyway, from the guitarists' POV, you have to work the opposite way, remove yourself from chords and really try to bring out the counterpoint in the middle voices.

Anyway, some of this is bound to be historical, when you have a violinist who defined a standard for half a century (or more), you have to react, whether in the same or the opposite direction. I'd venture everybody was trying to be Paganini before Heifetz, but that's just a wild guess.

It's funny when you take an instrument that is truly a machine like pipe organ, and make that expressive, and somehow a violin piece comes out the opposite.

Are you familiar with this story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Now, that is a pretty crap feed (says something about the importance of recording quality though!), but it's obviously a very different Bach than Heifetz. It's a personal, beautiful, sonorous, happy Bach. Oh, how I wish I had caught that myself, but I had already moved from DC, and that wasn't my station.

I wonder what reaction Heifetz would get? Given that DC is a strange town, talking and eye contact on the Metro is verboten, and busking is technically illegal . . . and this stop would mostly be government employees, who are good at following rules (especially the ones that govern their personal leave :D) and making sure they are adhered to . . . Would a man whose playing is a law unto itself demand their attention? Sadly, we shall never know :D
 
That's possible. But old prorec is c. 1998, and SRCs have changed since then. I can measure no difference in conversion to 44.1 whether starting at 88.2 or 96, and I don't have the latest greatest SRC.

Hey, why did you never enter the Orianthi Pet Sounds Rumble :confused:

I've been way too busy with school. I'm doing these stupid gen ed 100 series classes. Finishing up this weekend, though, until next fall.

Gonna be building the first apl CUSTOM Guitars for a paying customer!
 
I can't have a violinist's perspective, because I can't play that thing! It doesn't help that I have meathooks and only a 3/4 scale to steal from the kids, but on a full size, I'd still suck.

Anyway, from the guitarists' POV, you have to work the opposite way, remove yourself from chords and really try to bring out the counterpoint in the middle voices.

Anyway, some of this is bound to be historical, when you have a violinist who defined a standard for half a century (or more), you have to react, whether in the same or the opposite direction. I'd venture everybody was trying to be Paganini before Heifetz, but that's just a wild guess.

It's funny when you take an instrument that is truly a machine like pipe organ, and make that expressive, and somehow a violin piece comes out the opposite.

Are you familiar with this story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Now, that is a pretty crap feed (says something about the importance of recording quality though!), but it's obviously a very different Bach than Heifetz. It's a personal, beautiful, sonorous, happy Bach. Oh, how I wish I had caught that myself, but I had already moved from DC, and that wasn't my station.

I wonder what reaction Heifetz would get? Given that DC is a strange town, talking and eye contact on the Metro is verboten, and busking is technically illegal . . . and this stop would mostly be government employees, who are good at following rules (especially the ones that govern their personal leave :D) and making sure they are adhered to . . . Would a man whose playing is a law unto itself demand their attention? Sadly, we shall never know :D
The Joshua Bell thing was interesting, and didn't surprise me one bit. Not putting down Joshua Bell or anything, he's a very fine violinist. It just shows people's prejudices and preconceptions more than anything... pretty depressing actually!

Re: pipe organ being a machine, sure you have limitations just like a harpsichord in that you can't actually change the individual notes in any way, but IMO it's all timing, timing, timing... You can play an "expressive" instrument like the modern piano completely mechanically, cf. Glenn Gould (especially his later recordings..).

And the fact that you have to fight the chordal nature of the guitar to play Bach correctly, just as we have to fight the melodic nature of violin... brilliant! Basically I believe Bach's music is not written FOR any instrument, it's just pure music that can be transcribed for basically anything (apparently you can play the D minor Chaconne on marimba), and it'll still be the same music!

Whose recording do you enjoy when it comes to Chaconne transcriptions for guitar? I have not heard many, but I listened to Julian Bream's and found it to be very interesting!
 
Whose recording do you enjoy when it comes to Chaconne transcriptions for guitar? I have not heard many, but I listened to Julian Bream's and found it to be very interesting!

Actually I've never sought one out. I've heard some of the other solo violin works on guitar, but not the Chaconne. I did start to transcribe it myself, but it's incredibly difficult if not impossible to play as written. The obvious thing to do is play it on mandolin, which I also tried but I'm not too good on mandolin, so I gave that up. I have a bad habit of picking out stuff too difficult for my limited abilities :(

I spent some time years ago working on bits of the Well-Tempered Clavier for guitar, since that truly is impossible, I felt better about making compromises. But in the end, I don't really enjoy classical guitar, especially the style in which it tends to be played. I really don't like the exaggeration of tonal expression most players use. I don't like a hard nail sound either. So in the end I decided I preferred the lute, which doesn't have the problem of having to seek out a literature. I have Bach's complete lute works (score and CD), and I have no desire to hear it on guitar.

Typically for me, I bought a lute in need of repair, oh, five years ago :o and it's still waiting . . .


(If XLR is reading this, this doesn't apply to you! :o)
 

Here's a link.

LOL! Dragon's got his link filter turned on.

Anyway, look for a thread started by Lt. Boob in the Guitars Forum on the BBS that shall not be uttered here, entitled, "Whose getting the very FIRST APL Custom guitar???"
 
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