Justin Lee on Violinist.com

Musings of an Amateur Violinist: Married to your Violin yet?

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:45:34 GMT

I must say, I have some personal bias and national pride when it comes down to my favourite violinist that I & rsquo;ve yet listened to. & nbsp; If you & rsquo;re read my blog before, it & rsquo;ll come to no surprise that it & rsquo;s James Ehnes. & nbsp; He & rsquo;s Canadian, born around the same time as me.

I read right here on our own V.com & rsquo;s interview with him about the stories surrounding his various violins. & nbsp; His quest for his first master instrument, a Riccardo Antoniazzi - just seemed like being in the right place at the right time. & nbsp; You can also feel the struggle and heartbreak on his quest for his current violin, the 1715 Marsick Strad.

http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20093/9819/

Also in this interview, the book & ldquo;The Violin Maker & rdquo; was introduced & ndash; James was asked about modern luthiers and whether he could find a modern instrument to replace his Strad. & nbsp; He & rsquo;s yet to find one, but I & rsquo;m sure he & rsquo;d play it if he did. & nbsp; Incidentally, the book is an awesome read!!

Today, I was doing some reading about another favourite violinist of mine, Hilary Hahn. & nbsp; Also in a V.com interview & ndash; she speaks about her Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume copy of Paganini & rsquo;s Guarneri del Ges & ugrave; Cannone. & nbsp; In it, she speaks about her relationship with her violin as something of a marriage. & nbsp; Each complementing the other, and when the match is perfect & ndash; sparks fly. & nbsp; She doubts she & rsquo;ll ever replace it.

http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/200710/7691/

As for my own violin currently, it & rsquo;s an Eastman Strings 2007 VL305. & nbsp; As someone who set aside the violin for 15+ years, it & rsquo;s a good instrument that suits my short and mid term goals. & nbsp; I haven & rsquo;t gone so far as to name it yet, but we & rsquo;re starting our relationship together. & nbsp; Who knows, maybe it will open up to be the violin that I & rsquo;ll play for the rest of my life. & nbsp; Or I may chance to come across that & ldquo;dream & rdquo; violin that will make the latent Paganini within my soul stir.

I must say though, after reading from some of our many luthier members here on V.com, I & rsquo;d love to be able to even just play on a contemporary master instrument, just to see what I & rsquo;m missing out on. & nbsp; If I could ever afford one, I & rsquo;d love to have a modern master instrument made for me.

As for my long term goals, I & rsquo;ve pretty much set my mind to being able to play my favourites from Bach & rsquo;s Sonatas and Partitas before I'm 40 (Ciaconna from Partita #2, and Andante from Sonata #2 are some of the most exquisite music ever written for solo violin). & nbsp; I have ~5 years to try to reach this goal.

If you have been so lucky as to find that & ldquo;marriage & rdquo; with your violin, I & rsquo;d love to hear your story too.
& nbsp;

Everyone knows the Ciaconna well, but here is the Andante. & nbsp; Couldn't find James, so I present Hilary. & nbsp;:)

Musings of an Amateur Violinist: I brought home a new violin!!

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:37:11 GMT

So today I drove down to a nice luthier with whom I've been getting to know. & nbsp; He's taken the time out of his busy schedule to explain things like & quot;violin setup & quot; and made comparions between the models that I've been deciding on. & nbsp; He's almost a 2 hour trek from where I live, where there are a number of other violin shops. & nbsp; But, I just felt more comfortable despite the distance.

I sat down and tried out 2 different Andreas Eastman VL305 models today. & nbsp; I must say, the review by Strings magazine, and the positive feedback I read about on V.com was definitely on the ball. & nbsp; Visually, the instrument is stunning to look at. & nbsp; The varnish is applied beautifully, and there is a slight antique quality to it. & nbsp; The grain in the wood for both the front and back are magnificent. & nbsp; It came setup with boxwood fittings, fine tuner on the E-string. & nbsp; I must say I had reservations about the boxwood, but looking at it now, the violin does really look great with them. & nbsp; Both violins came with Piastro Violino synthetics.

If I were to choose some words to describe the sound they would be: & nbsp; Airy, fairly balanced with some dark qualities. & nbsp; Very clear and lush sounding. & nbsp; Definitely good projection qualities, and it sounded quite open for such a new violin.

After trying the second one out which sounded somewhat similar, I had my mind pretty much set on the first one. & nbsp; It just sounded more to my liking... & nbsp; Excellent advise to try out as many violins as you can by the way. & nbsp; All other violins that I have tried out in this price range don't even come close to this fiddle.

On to the bow. & nbsp; I first tried out a few wood bows while he went to fetch some carbon fibre bows. & nbsp; Feel, weight, balance. & nbsp; All things to be considered. & nbsp; One Pernambucco bow felt very right in my hands. & nbsp; Oh yes!! & nbsp; The carbon fibre ones now!! & nbsp; (As an aside: & nbsp; the last time I purchased a violin, a carbon fibre bow would still have been something in the realm of NASA contractor's access only so I was very excited to try them out.) & nbsp; I tried out a few different Cadenza models (also from Eastman Strings). & nbsp; I settled on a mid-range bow, the & quot;Artist & quot; model. & nbsp; It had a nice balance and I felt most controlled with it. & nbsp; A very close 2nd was the & quot;Silver & quot; model which felt lighter and more nimble, but I had to be a little careful with it. & nbsp; I could definitely have bought this one too in a heartbeat, but only had the budget for one bow.

Violin and bow decided on, I quickly finished up with my case selection (I decided on a Duralite C155H Elegante-Clima - it has a built in humidifier and hygrometer, extra accessory pocket, string tube) - made my purchase and set off home.

Dusted off some old study books - OH MY AM I RUSTY. & nbsp; I guess 15 years of non-play can do that do ya huh? & nbsp; :)

Some things I have in my mind to do are: & nbsp; Experiment with the tried and tested combo of Dominant G-D-A + Piastro Gold Label E and put them up against the newer Piastro Evah Pirazzi strings. & nbsp; I think they could complement the sound of this instrument very nicely, but I'm apprehensive a little of the higher tension. & nbsp; I'd appreciate some comments on users of both strings. & nbsp; Not really interested in trying other combinations so thanks in advance if you have other suggestions.

Before all that though, I need set some goals for myself - and then get a practicing!

Musings of an Amateur Violinist: Renewed Love of Music and the quest for a new violin!!

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:51:48 GMT

One day, while searching for some of my favourite classical music on Youtube, I came across some videos of James Ehnes.� The raw, yet mature sound of his Strad.� The precision of his notes.� Before, my artists of choice were Midori and Sarah Chang.� BANG�� I was hit with the music bug, and I began searching for more.� My love of classical music began to resurface once again, and I longed to play the violin once more.

15 years ago was the last time I had picked up a violin.� I began my violin studies in school, grade 4 taking after my older brother who also played violin in school.� I played throughout my secondary schooling ending up sitting first chair, co-concertmaster and playing violin concerto solos by Bach and Vivaldi.� I studied briefly at the Royal Conservatory of Music, but time and financial constraints meant I had to stop.� Along the way, my violin (an older French model, labelled Medio Fino) took quite the beating.� A non-essential part of the top piece broke off leaving exposed wood.� My bow didn�t fare too well either, having been crushed by a careless classmate who stepped on it while we were about to step on stage at a music festival.

After graduating from high school, my post secondary studies and then my career became my priority � and I set aside my amateur violin ambitions.

Cut to the present, where after listening to James Ehnes play � I set off in search of more of his music.� I borrowed everything of his that I could find at the library.� I dusted off the classical CD collection that sat un-played for these many years.� It wasn�t enough.� I had to hold and play a violin again.� The smell of rosin in the air as my bow moved across the strings�� The calluses on the fingertips of my left hand...� Even that semi-hickey looking thing on the left side of your neck�� I wanted to experience that all over again. And not just for a good grade in music class, or in preparation for the regular slew of school concerts and music festivals.� Just simply, for the love of the violin.

Then, by chance I discovered Violinist.com.� I see everyone calls it V.com.� Wow, information overload.� I set off on my quest to re-learn everything violin again.� There were all these adjectives to describe the various qualities of an instrument.� Also, there was the multitude in string choices that can greatly affect the sound and temperament of one�s fiddle.� Then the violins themselves...� Which to look at � which one to buy?� I felt like I was putting together specs for a new computer.

I visited every local violin shop that I remembered and played on so many violins.� Lesson #1 that I discovered about searching for a new violins @ V.com � PLAY AS MANY AS YOU CAN.� I spent countless hours of research, looking for a violin that is:� consistent, good value for money, excellent sound and projection.� I think I�ve decided on an Andreas Eastman VL305.� For a bow, carbon fibre looks to be my best bet for my budget.� Not sure which model it will be, but I�m leaning towards Eastman Strings� Cadenza line.

I�m headed down to the luthier this coming Monday to try out a few 305s, and hopefully come home with a new violin!!

After I dust off some old repertoire and getting back into the swing of things, I�m gonna be looking for some advice on which way my musical adventures will take me.� I�m so excited!!� More to come when I bring home a new fiddle.
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