Violin sound.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Raymond, I'll send you some snow down; it's been snowing most of the day here but a lot has already melted; I might get up to a white blanket in the morning though; thanks also for your suggestion; unfortunately we've endured lots of very poor VM service over many months really getting through to us and it's only a short while ago it's finally settled down; the problem was at Virgin Media with lots of signal loss.

Thanks rob; we've been on cable for over 30 years; firstly NTL then taken over by VM so it's on fiber; if my email dropping off was down to me I'd accept it but I'm very careful as to what I view on the web aware of the problem one wrong click can cause; broadband; email & TV have all been unreliable; it's got worse over the last 6 months after years of little trouble; VM are falling over themselves attracting new customers at substantially below prices they charge loyal customers; I'm aware all such companies are doing the same so when our contract with VM is nearing the end in November we might as well switch; I once received an email when our contract was about to expire and couldn't believe the downright insult from VM; they were trying to increase our price which was well over normal and in the same email VM stated we could get similar package with other suppliers for half the price; great way to retain business. I retained a copy of this insulting email.

I don't like mobile phones in fact I detest phones of any kind and will fight against being forced into using a mobile phone; VM emailed asking what we thought of their recent technician visit and I replied the technician was excellent but their customer support was rubbish giving a zero; later I received an email giving me contact through a chat line which I accept not needing a mobile phone.

I've stated in other posts I used to be in charge of three departments at work an office in each with five phones between them on the desks; further to this I also had a pager and when two of my colleagues were off site I ended up with three pagers; in the early days of mobile phones I was given a mobile disguised as a house brick which proved useless with all the magnetic fields always around with motor testing; I hate phones having been their constant slave for so many years; I now want peace away from phones in retirement I've had enough. I'm sure most people these days would be lost what to do with two hands if mobile phones disappeared.

In order to open my emails I cleared all cookies then changed my email password; email was soon up and running and is back to normal without need to contact VM.

I've not practiced with the violin today it's much too cold to be heating the studio but I'll resume as soon as I can; energy bills are expensive and due to get more expensive; I've not bothered wandering down to the workshop either; at 75 I don't want to end up with pneumonia; our immediate neighbour has just suffered two strokes and and heart attack; it's good that he's recovered enough to be allowed back home only days ago; he's younger than I am. This cold weather will pass then I can crack on in comfort; I've meadows to rotavate having already done one I'll do the other two then I can reseed with wild flowers; the vintage petrol rotavator I'm restoring will be an easy job once I can get into the workshop then there's lots of violin practicing I'm looking forward to; another busy year ahead; I'm annoyed that I've gone to the time and trouble and my wife has spoiled me rotten in order to create and kit out a nice studio only for now the energy prices are ballistic; can't complain at least I'm warm and life is good; roll on warmer weather.

Vintage Suffolk Colt petrol mower under restoration as a hobby.

Fully restored and in running order with temporary petrol tank fitted. The original tank decided to leak after a full paint job. Brush painted unable to spray because of dire weather.

To solve the leaking petrol tank here in the foreground is its new tank. If I could play a violin as well as I can repair/restore machinery I'd be delighted but I didn't learn mechanics overnight and don't expect to learn to play a violin without lots patience and determination; I'll get there because I don't quit when I start something. As long as I keep busy I'm happy.

I've baked a ginger & currant cake this afternoon; it's better than sitting around complaining.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Winter's here with 4" snow overnight and it's the wettest heaviest snow I've ever shoveled. Getting up this morning the day started with another problem; the gas fire refused to light; no spark so on with my heavy kit and get down to the workshop to collect a new battery; the new battery was fully discharged but I'm not so easily beaten I actually collected three batteries; now there was a spark but no ignition; I could hear a spark and also gas so leave it alone until after breakfast the C/H was starting to warm up. After breakfast clear all the lumps of carbon from around the ignition area and it's fine now.

Next job is to remove the snow from the car and clear the driveway; the temperature outside today is 1C but tonight will fall to -9C next week is forecast better so I'll be happy to resume violin practice; in a couple of months this winter weather should give way to springtime then I'll suddenly burst into life trying to do everything at once. Perhaps I should have adopted winter sports than learning to play a violin.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Into the studio again yesterday evening and enjoyed a violin practice so I was happy.

Into the studio again this morning for another violin practice this time with my German acoustic violin it fitted with a Fishman V200 Piezo pickup; perhaps one day in my life I can have a clear day without problem; the cable & amp worked OK with my electric violin; now I only get sound if I touch the pickup which is loud through the amp. I gave up and played my electric violin.

The heat's on again in the studio so I'll soon wander in; it's possible the pickup to bridge connection is at fault and I feel more like having a look at it this afternoon; I was just fed up this morning starting the day with another problem. These pickups appear fragile so I've always treated it carefully. Oh hum just another day.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[rob aylestone]

Microphone for the real one and plug in the electric. The pickup on a real violin (or double bass in my case) rarely sounds nice.

One question. Do you practice playing to accompaniment - as in a track, or do you just play it on it's own? I was thinking about training your ear for the tuning? A track requires better pitch acuity, but is often easier as poor tuning tends to jump out at you?

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks rob. I think the Yamaha YEV-4 with Yamaha THR10 are very well matched and sound nice; better than the German acoustic hooked up the THR10 through the Fishman Piezo pickup.

Thanks for asking; I'm totally on my own whilst playing; I've tried playing a track but as soon as I've played it I forget it; my memory is increasingly poor hence I'm learning sight reading which is coming along better than I expected. I'm unsure about tuning my ear again memory is playing games with me; I can remember extremely well being 5 years old 70 years ago with great clarity but find it difficult to remember what I did a few minutes ago; I presume it's just an aging thing; I'm happy though to come into violins even in my late stage; it's fascinating and a wonderful hobby with challenges and a great deal to learn.

I sorted the Fishman pickup out during this afternoon's practice; a bit of 240G abrasive paper rubbed on the pickup and in the bridge slot got it fully working again; I did let it know if it decided not to play it was going in the bin; I've had enough of these constant silly problems every day; during teatime Virgin Media decided to play up again whilst we were watching a movie on YouTube with buffering for long periods of time; problems never ever let up.

Lots more snow forecast tonight and as I type it's started snowing again; whoopee bring it on.

I'm looking forward to more violin practice tomorrow possibly after snow clearing but I've only about 200' of pathway; driveway & patio so it shouldn't take long.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[rob aylestone]

Hmmmmm Remember that violins are rarely solo instruments, in fact they're very hard to play on their own. Remember what we said about how violinists match tuning when they play in an ensemble - it's vital for progression. Memory isn't important with the tracks, you play your music with them as if the track was real. It teaches you one vital thing. Almost certainly unless you are playing with a metronome clicking away, your timing will be terrible. On your own, you speed up when the notes are easy to play and slow down when they are difficult and your brain works harder. It means that you will probably not realise unless you practice doing it while listening. If you want, I could do some simple play-along tracks for the songs you are playing. You play your version of the music, but follow the beat of the track. You could even have music on the left and a click on the right so you could adjust the balance? If it would help, just let me know and I'll sort something? What's the old phrase? Rhythm is King?

 

[Retired]

Hi,

A very good point about violins being rarely a solo instrument rob; when I browse YouTube for violin solo's of Amazing Grace etc they are often accompanied by piano;



It's incredibly generous and kind of you rob not only offering so much help and suggestions in replying with posts but by going so much further to help me progress with violin playing; I truly do appreciate this and feel guilty I'm already occupying so much of your own precious time. I've tried playing with my manual metronome and it has helped with basic spacing; I've also tried to adjust my playing against Andy Williams singing Somewhere my love.

A few days ago I mentioned loss of email and although I'm suffering lots of signal loss with Virgin Media I might have clicked on a site I shouldn't have clicked on; for quite a while I've used a free site allowing YouTube to MP3 hence I've got the Andy Williams but when I tried to do the same with Ode To Joy the site had changed and like a fool I allowed cookies which normally I avoid; I'm very wary as to such sites and I'd trusted this particular site but now have deleted it.

I'd love to try your idea rob and welcome your kind offer of supplying tracks for me to play with but only if it's not too much of an inconvenience to you because you've already gone to so much time and trouble helping me. I'm now spreading my playing between "Somewhere my love"; "Amazing Grace" and "Ode to joy" you kindly suggested; of the three I find Ode to joy the easiest. I can copy to memory stick then play back in the studio using the car radio hooked up to Sony stereo speakers; the studio laptop playback sound is very poor so I avoid using it.

After posting yesterday evening I joined my wife expecting to watch a YouTube movie and settled down;

I don't know why I complain after all I'm dogged by endless problems; 30 minutes later after initially sitting down we had a movie on TV. The first error picture shown above appeared after buffering for ages; I then switched the lot off and when we switch our TV on I think it must be steam powered it taking so long to sort itself out; old valve TV's warm up quicker and for a smart TV it sure isn't smart.

The second picture shows at power up; I've gone this route before ending up messing all the settings so switch the lot off again and onto the computer to find the bottom picture; Virgin Media used to be excellent and we've been loyal customers for the best part of 35 years but if this carries on until November when our current contract expires it will be the end of a beautiful friendship; Virgin Media and all the other problems every dasy are driving me mad; am I just being selfish having worked hard in industry to deserve full retirement now wanting to please myself learning to play my violins.

Once again rob my sincerest thanks for all your generous help; please bear in mind violin playing will never be more than a wonderful hobby to me; I love the notes I can produce and believe I've progressed to the point my tunes can be recognized. I've got violin music playing as I type.

The studio should have warmed up so I'll wander in and try to wear my violins out.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[rob aylestone]

My broadband has been cut off! Air Broadband have gone bust, so thousands of people just switched off and Vodafone who I have now signed with can't sort it till the 28th. I'll have a look at the music you have been using and see if I can sort something.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I'm sorry to learn of your hassle rob; two weeks without broadband is a long time when it's needed all the time for emails etc; our Virgin Media has been winding us up more with buffering during YouTube movies; I'd brick our telly if we didn't have YouTube because normal TV is mostly rubbish either sport or a gun being waved around. Good luck I hope it gets sorted out sooner for you.

Please don't put yourself out too much you've already done so much to help me as has Raymond; whenever suits you rob is a bonus to me and I wish I could return help. All my problems aren't violin playing but are getting in the way of my violin playing hence I keep mentioning just how much trouble I'm enduring just in order to get studio time. I've enjoyed a very good violin practice this morning playing both acoustic and electric violins from three scores; at first I was very poor but soon settled in and enjoyed myself.

This afternoon I defrosted the freezer and baked a cherry cake so all in all an excellent day and because it's been a warmer day most of the snow has disappeared; I hope to have two violin practices tomorrow but we'll see what lies ahead.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[TalismanRich]

Rob, that really stinks about AirBB. I guess I should feel lucky having a pretty reliable service via the cable TV provider, although it just seems to get more and more pricey! I remember back in 2017 when Google Fiber came into the city with their Gigafiber service. They tried using a shallow 2" deep trench in the streets for their cable. That was a disaster, as the sealant they used to fill the trench would came loose, leaving exposed cable and nice rubbery ropes flopping around on the streets. After less than a year, they decided to pull out of the contract with the city cutting access to about 11,000 people. So they left us with about a 2x2 inch trench on a bunch of city streets. It ended up costing Google about $4 million to leave to cover the cost of the city repaving those streets.

Colin, I've been following this thread since the beginning, but I really can't offer any help. I know nothing about playing the violin or reading music, but I admire your perseverance! But you're in good hands.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

In the first lockdown, I signed up for Vodafone fibre broadband, which turned out not to be fibre, so I came to my senses on installation day and cancelled it.
They then took £279 from my bank account, which they were not entitled to, and made me wade through treacle for many weeks to get it refunded.
I will never trust Vodafone with my bank account again.
City Fibre dug up our streets 2 years ago (around 2 feet deep), and I have just signed up with one of their customers Giganet, who put a card through my door recently.
One week to go.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks TalismanRich; it's nice to know you're showing an interest; for the first 16 months all I could do was complain due to the many interruptions preventing me getting into the studio it was driving me mad and progress was extremely slow; things are at last picking up hopefully I'm now on top of storm damage trees having felled so many; heat damage causing subsidence which I repaired and the many other problems encountered but I'm still here determined as ever to learn to play my violins. Yes indeed I'm in good hands especially with rob & Raymond's generous continued support; I wish I could help other members giving something back but at least I can post about my violin adventure from a dinosaur's point of view. I'm unsure if it's perseverance or just being too stupid not to know when to quit when I start something. Violins are now a big part of my life.

It appears Raymond you; rob and I don't enjoy much success with broadband suppliers; what a typical story of Vodafone; most big companies promise everything and often as a new customer around half price of VM just to get us onboard then treat us like dirt; you'll be pleased to be clear of Vodafone at last Raymond and not recommend Vodafone to anyone; I'm taking notice and Vodafone won't see me as a new customer.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/cityfibre.com

Very mixed reviews regarding Cityfibre; here's one you'll find interesting Raymond involving Vodafone;

For many weeks we had Cityfibre digging up our local lane causing traffic chaos but these are modern times of ever increasing electronics; it was a nuisance but given the problems we've been suffering with VM I thought when Cityfibre is up and running by November when our VM contract ends I'd seriously consider switching from VM to Cityfibre but I'm rather puzzled as to why there is a Cityfibre; Cityfibre is just another link in the chain surely if Cityfibre can uphold all their promises why can't suppliers who supply direct like VM offer the same level of service; I've a feeling regarding Cityfibre at the moment being a pretty new company in time as people join them they too will end up like VM unable to cope.

I'm not totally against VM in fact over the last 30+ years we've enjoyed trouble free reliable service and neither my wife nor I are happy dealing with an unknown company; when our contract is nearing its end I'll spend time gathering best deals then see what deal VM comes up with; high quality of reliable service is more important to us than saving a bit of money but we'll also be watching Cityfibre progress.

We're now in a silly position of having so many energy companies all stating how cheap they are but why do people have to switch; surely all these companies can't be cheaper than each other and just because there are so many have they actually pushed energy prices up; one big company has greater buying power than lots of small companies. Just for interest I'll quote a friend; when I can fill a Jerry can with electric I'll buy an electric vehicle; now aged 75 I feel the whole world to be upside down.

Good luck Raymond with Cityfibre and also good luck rob I hope you get your broadband problem sorted sooner than later.

Back to the plot; I was rudely awakened in the early hours this morning with wind trying to remove our bungalow from the valley side also very heavy rain trying to float it away; the exposed bungalow front was receiving a power wash. Only a few bits of snow remain. Today I plan to enjoy two violin practices. I'm going to adopt your excellent advice rob and dispense using the Fishman pickup on my acoustic violin and use my Rode mic instead; the pickup was a good idea at first but it's just another dangling cable; I'll post how I get on.

I enjoyed watching a number of violin players very early before shopping this morning playing Amazing Grace and they were Amazing; I can only aspire to such an high degree of violin control but I'm going to try my best. I've just scoffed a lump of cherry cake and a mug of decaf tea now I feel a violin coming on.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[rob aylestone]

Ten miles north, we've got people who no longer have a house on the cliffs, but rather the remains of one on the beach. There's a WW2 radar station teetering on the edge, south, and the Britannia Pier in Yarmouth has water under the end for the first time in 20 years, so I suppose my broadband woes are nothing. It seems Vodafone have to get me going by treating me as a new customerto fibre as AIrBB have made all the staff redundant, so they cannot simply relinquish the lines to a new supplier. Nobody is there. Same with phone numbers, taking them over needs the current supplier to relinquish them. I'm sitting in the studio at the office but I have no link to home, and home is where the network drives are - so no music, no documents, no shared data of any kind. 16Tb of data I cannot get to. I have a web access app, and I really thought that this was a cloud storage of some kind, but it isn't - just a portal to the real drives, so I can't connect. Because the speed I got on fibre was about 800 and a bit, I never actually realised the data was actually all coming from home, I just figured recent files were held in memory 'somewhere'. Clearly, not.

I may as well go home and at least get on with some tracks. Not much I can do here really?

 

[Retired]

Hi,

That's really bad news rob I sympathize with you. We've seen on the news how homes are falling into the sea on the East coast; eventually at the rate the sea is claiming land there won't be a mainland. How typical councils never have available funds to sort it out. There's always someone worse off but it doesn't help you; jobs & businesses lost; nearby in Meadowhall the huge M&S store is to close where will it all end; industry is in free fall.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-64938849

Once you do regain broadband can you quickly make up for lost time; I hope you've not lost any important data or files and everything can be fully accessed once you get sorted out. Good luck it must be worrying for you; keep busy.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

That is pretty bad, having your home smashed up by the council, just in case it falls over the cliff.
I'd be inclined to dig out the whole plot, and put down granite foundations below sea level.
Then I'd acquire an Island home, in due course.

City Fibre do not sell directly to the public, but through middle men like Vodafone, and my Giganet.
I read about some Giganet complaints before I signed, such as City Fibre don't turn up on the installation day, so I expect to be flexible.
One customer complained that they repeatedly couldn't lay the cable because the front garden was paved over. He could have dug up the paving slabs himself,
to make it easy for City Fibre, and then re-layed them.
One good point about Giganet apparently is they have real people to take your call.
I shall let you know more when I'm an expert.

 

[TAE]

I'm nosy so just clicked on TAE's MP3's and played a number finding them interesting.


Kind regards, Colin.

So I practiced with Gina Romantini yesterday and picked her brain....

Below is her secret weapon and she uses it wherever she plays. She used to bring pedal boards and all kind of crap but now that's what in her bag. She uses the Dual because she uses two violins one tuned down. You'd be fine with the single. She gets an excellent tone, probably a combo of nice violins and the experience at getting the setting right. Pretty cool but expensive little mixer / DI box.

 

[TAE]

removed the wall flowers video.......Better example of her sound here...

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Good idea Raymond; better still don't buy near the coast. I think the sound of the waves and seagulls would put me off living near the sea. I wonder how long Giganet will use humans in call centers before they adopt robots who send text messages to landlines the way VM do. I hope it works out for you because I too am interested in Cityfibre.

Thanks TAE for the preamp tip and video it's a while since my wonderful wife spoiled me because I've got everything I want but she's just treated me to this;

I'll report back when it arrives and I've tried it out.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[TAE]

Hi,

Good idea Raymond; better still don't buy near the coast. I think the sound of the waves and seagulls would put me off living near the sea. I wonder how long Giganet will use humans in call centers before they adopt robots who send text messages to landlines the way VM do. I hope it works out for you because I too am interested in Cityfibre.

Thanks TAE for the preamp tip and video it's a while since my wonderful wife spoiled me because I've got everything I want but she's just treated me to this;

View attachment 126938

I'll report back when it arrives and I've tried it out.

Kind regards, Colin.

Cool hope it gets ya closer to the holy grail....

 

[rob aylestone]

The trouble really is that perching a house on the edge of a cliff with a nice long garden is kind of what people do. The snag is that under the houses is just sand, so nibble away at the bottom of the cliff and the top falls down. The wind and the sea just dig it out - sometimes 20 feet in one heavy storm. We have the most expensive holiday centre just uop the coast. The owner did his own defences and copped it from the local council. What happens is that if you make one stretch secure, the current then eats away somewhere else. Near me we have one stretch where the beach is vanishing at a crazy rate, but a mile away, the new beach is now half a mile into the sea. Further North, Gt Yarmouth built a new harbour. The change to the currents meant within a couple of years, all the breakwater groynes south were invisible, the sand having risen over them. It now has a prom, that doesn't get wet like it did ten years before, and now goes out 100m, then drops to the sea 3ft below. Our coast is really strange.