January 2010

Surprising Strings & Surprising Terror

January 26, 2010 15:11

I've been battling a lot of personal issues lately, and haven't been "in love" with my violin for quite some time. I've not found any strings I like, nor any pieces that inspire me, nor any practice sessions that feel productive enough.

However, while at Shar today, I decided to take a chance, and bought some Corelli Crystal strings. I read on here that they sound dark, but sometimes dull. Well, everything on this violin sounds "too much": too loud, too resonant, too bright, too metallic, etc. So, I wanted dark and dull, by comparison.

I'm in love. I didn't particularly care for the E, so I put a Hill E on. Much better. My teacher likes it better when I play it than when he plays. This is the setup for me, lol. Doesn't sound good with anyone else.

However, a very scary thing happened when I put the Hill E on. The Hill E has excess wire at the end, and the wire scratched at the side of my scroll. I always hate it when that happens, but it's kind unavoidable sometimes. However, on this particular occasion, it CHIPPED THE INSIDE OF MY SCROLL!!! I freaked out. I immediately called my luthier. It was just a sliver thin, small piece that splintered as it fell, but it was right next to the peg. My scroll/peg box is not original, and you can discern the graphting (sp?) and the chip starts at the graphting line. I showed my professor, and he's sure it's fixable, and my luthier said to bring it in, but it's not an emergency (thank God). Hopefully, it won't be too costly, nor too major a production to repair. I have a concert next Friday (I'm taking it in this Friday) and would really like MY violin because we're playing Shostakovich 5 and I get to play the solos... Here's hoping!

Update: my luthier fixed the peg box so you can't even tell in 3 minutes. No biggie. =D I am also hating the Hill E, and will likely put my favorite (Gold Label) on.

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January 2010

Surprising Strings & Surprising Terror

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