lwl
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Posts posted by lwl
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I've never played the Accolay, personally. But it's one of the last "student concertos" typically done before starting to do the "big concertos", so it's definitely a pretty advanced step.
Rode No. 7 is at about that level. The Mozart No. 3 (G major) is a bit easier (I did it before I did the Rode, which I believe is not much more difficult than the Accolay). The various Viotti concertos are somewhere around that level, too.
Does it need to be a concerto specifically? Various Kreisler works, some Heifetz encores, and showpieces like "Hejre Katie" and so forth are, to my knowledge, at about that level.
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quote:
Originally posted by Violinerrrz:Right on lwl, how about just a regular old stereo component you can plug into your stereo that has analog input?
Knowing that vieuxtemps is a college student, I'd rate it likely that he doesn't have enough dorm room space for a full-fledged stereo and has a boom box system instead. But I could be wrong.
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quote:Originally posted by ttk:How much computing power are we talking about ---I got a friend with a server sitting around in his bedroom.
The computing power is trivial. But you need two things that are somewhat non-trivial -- disk space (which is cheap, but you want probably 500 MB to a GB minimum to get started with, which is trivial on a dedicated server but not cheap for commercial hosting on a share platform), and bandwidth (which is not cheap any way you slice it). Figure that for reasonably fast downloads you need a minimum of a 384 kbps *upstream*, and probably want a 768 kbps or, if you can manage it, 1 Mbps+ upstream, so you can handle more than one person on a broadband connection sucking down a file at once without adversely affecting performance. That "upstream" part is important; most broadband Internet connections for consumers (cable modem and consumer DSL) have upstream speeds of only 128 kbps, even though the downstream may be as high as 3 Mbps (in the case of a cable modem).
If the Maestronet administration wanted to do this, the incremental cost would probably be nearly negligible, assuming that the existing site isn't anywhere near to maxing out its available connectivity (and it's not hosted someplace that charges by the gigabyte transferred). They'd get stuck with some administrative overhead making sure the site didn't get used for exchanging pirated MP3 files, though.
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A note on streaming media: Running a server is easy, but the issue is the quality of the media and the storage required to give multiple types of stream qualities depending on the user's connection. The quality available for streaming at dialup speeds is generally unacceptable for string music, for instance. In general, I feel the distortion of tone for encoding formats below 56 kbps is significant, and below 96 kbps it's still noticeable.
The media formats for the Mystery Violinists clips are 32 kbps and 56 kbps MP3s, which I had available for HTTP download, or, when I had it up, a Shoutcast streaming-on-demand server. Personally, I think this is a better technology for large numbers of files being served to users with wildly varying connection speeds -- 32 kbps MP3 file for streaming purposes, and for those who want to download and listen, a 96 kbps MP3 file.
I'm dubious about the probability of the survival of the free Webspace services that don't impose transfer limits and the like that are specifically designed to discourage this kind of project; it's a poor economic model for them, and as we all know now, poor business models mean out-of-business dot-coms. Consequently if a project like this is pursued on a particular free service, steps should be taken to see to it that the archive can be quickly reconstructed in the event the Web provider goes away suddenly.
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quote:Originally posted by HuangKaiVun:roman, I didn't ask lwl to post my Ernst but she did it anyway.
Better check your facts before accusing me. Quoted from http://fingerboard.maestronet.com/ubb/Foru...TML/008904.html ...
quote:Originally posted by lwl:Ugh. Geocities has a data transfer limit that you've run up against.If someone wants to email me the clip, I'll put it up without a transfer limit.
To which you replied:
quote:Originally posted by HuangKaiVun:lwl and MuOn, I'll try to get LKH to send you the sound clip.Thank you both for helping me.
Certainly looks like you *asked* for it to be posted, doesn't it?
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I'm still sitting on some submitted sound clips that I need to edit and post. Time's been a problem for me recently; hopefully life will slow down soon.
Anyway, the problem with a general large MP3 archive for Fingerboard player clips is size. A 1-minute clip at 96 kbps (somewhat below CD-quality, which is 128 kbps) takes up around 800K. This means that a typical five-minute short work is about 4 MB.
Free sites generally give you somewhere from 10 MB to 20 MB of space, plus they generally have a transfer limit that prevents more than a certain number of bytes from being downloaded over a given period of time. So that's somewhere between two and five clips, which you get limited download privileges for. Also, many free sites have specifically implemented measures to prevent users from using them as a "dumping grounds" for large media files like MP3s. So that's not a practical solution.
Writing the *software* to handle this kind of thing is relatively trivial, though some level of human review of uploads is still necessary in order to prevent the site from becoming a general MP3 exchange (and to avoid becoming liable for copyright violations). Of course, free sites don't give you the level of control needed to implement that kind of site. (If someone wants to provide a good site -- plenty of disk space, unlimited bandwidth -- I will be happy to supply the software.)
However, realistically, if you have sound clips that you want to post to the world, you're best off getting your own website (probably a low-end commercial account if you expect a lot of downloads), and putting your clips there, and just posting the URL.
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quote:Originally posted by DR. S:I never talked to any adult who plays the violin who complains that their parents made them practice too much, but many have complained that they wish they have practiced more.
There's the catch -- you're talking to the ones who are still playing.
Talk to the ones who quit, and you might hear quite a different story.
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For the second, I assume she can still prop the instrument up into playing position with her left hand? Good time to work on open strings and bowing technique.
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quote:Originally posted by Alyosha:the pieces we're playing are way too hard! (imagine a HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRA performing Beethoven's 5th, Dvorak's New World...
That doesn't sound particularly out of range for a high school orchestra. (Yes, I'm speaking of an individual high school, not of a youth symphony, where such works would be easily within range of the players' abilities.)
Of course, the quality of players varies a lot from high school to high school. I'd say I had a medium-to-fairly-good high school orchestra. We did real repertoire -- Beethoven 5th and the Dvorak "New World", yes, and Brahms 1st, the Mozart Requiem, Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and other "big works". And it even sounded pretty good.
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My solution to the Kun's rubber feet was to ditch the Kun for a Viva La Musica, which I highly recommend if you haven't tried it. Similar shape and feel, better construction and stays on the instrument much better.
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My parents nagged me to practice, and it really didn't work, except that possibly it meant that I practiced at least a *little*, as opposed to not at all.
Ironically, it wasn't until I moved out that I got the urge to practice, and did so regularly.
My parents did not let me quit my violin lessons, but they did let me quit piano. I'm grateful that I got to quit the piano lessons, which I loathed (though I ended up having to take lessons later anyway). I wish I were a competent pianist, but quitting was probably the right decision, there. Conversely, I'm grateful that my parents made me continue to take lessons. (I wanted to play, but didn't want the lessons or the practice.)
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I would do direct analog input to CD write, if you have software that lets you do this (there's probably something out there that can). But you can expect some quality loss, depending on how good your sound card is.
If you want to record a lot of LPs onto CD, you're better off with a standalone CD writer, in my opinion.
Aiwa makes a nice boombox system that has dual tape decks, a three-CD changer, radio, and CD-R/CD-RW writer, for $300.
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I was a Suzuki kid. I learned to read notes almost immediately (while I was still going through the preliminary "learn to hold the instrument" period) -- but for at least six months, I never had to read notes *while* playing the instrument. (Note flash cards and other such drills.)
I started playing in that Suzuki program's string orchestra by the time I was six. I remember playing the simplified Brandenburg No. 3 arrangement that's the staple of junior high school string orchestra repertoire.
As a player, I am naturally more reliant upon my ear than I am upon the notes; that's just the way my brain works. But I think I read notes at least as well as purely traditionally-trained players at my level.
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I think of the "best teachers" as the ones who maximize the student's abilities -- both now, and in the future ("teaching them how to teach themselves").
My best teachers have been people who were themselves extremely well-taught.
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The sheet music is bizarrely unavailable outside of Hong Kong, it seems. (Even my sister, in Singapore, reports being unable to obtain a copy.)
I love the concerto, but it's not Great Music by any means.
I have Nihizashi's recording on Naxos, which is quite fine, but I first heard this in the Vanessa Mae rendition (which I actually don't object to).
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A handful of names, which is by no means even vaguely complete...
Dorothy DeLay
Hyo Kang
Robert Lipsett
Victor Danchenko
Zvi Zeitlin
Sally Thomas
David Cerone
Roland and Almita Vamos
In Europe, add Zakhar Bron (and no doubt many others).
(It's not like the names of the great teachers are a secret, c'mon, folks.)
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I've got a Bobelock 1017 which I'm happy with; it's got a ton of internal storage (three big pockets). Downside is, it's quite heavy (seven pounds base weight).
I've also got one of Bein & Fushi's Hill-style suspension cases; I don't know who the "real" case manufacturer is, but it's held up through a decade and a half of abuse. The blanket over the instrument attaches to the case with velcro, which I find useful, as I tend to forget and leave it out. (Also, having it attached means that it lies nicely flat against the instrument and doesn't move, whereas I find with the detached Bobelock blanket, it moves and bunches up and must be arranged just right in order to make the case close properly.) Again, the drawback is that it's heavy.
My teacher uses a lightweight dart-shaped suspension case, even for her rather expensive violin; she says that she rode subways everywhere in her student days and wanted the lightest thing possible, and has never since gone back to heavy cases.
If I could have anything, it'd probably be the Musafia Ultraleggero lightweight case.
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I played for twelve years, quit for nine, picked it back up. I figure I backslid a couple of years in terms of technique and I still don't feel like I've completely recovered (almost two years later now) but that's probably just a function of practice time.
I found that patiently rebuilding my basics, being careful not to play too long (can't demand the same amount from one's muscles), proved a pretty good route. Single-position finger exercises to build strength and agility and accuracy in the fingers. Shifting exercises (Sevcik op. 8 is good) to methodically rebuild a sense of the fingerboard. Bowing basics (Casorti is good) to rebuild obedience of the right hand. Intonation exercises (from Fischer's "Basics") and scales to retrain the ear to hear fine gradations of pitch and to solidify the fingerboard sense.
I suspect that if you put in some solid practice time, you'll probably recover enough technique to resume where you left off in three to six months -- you haven't taken that much time off.
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One of the Bartok string quartets -- I forget which -- has a snappy little pizzicato movement which makes a fun encore (at least for the audience, I've never played it).
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I think high general intelligence is helpful to a player, certainly. IQ tests on top professional symphony musicians show that they have the lowest IQs of similarly accomplished professionals (when compared to scientists with Ph.D.s, to CEOs, and so forth), but as a whole they still have IQs that are two standard deviations above the norm (around 130, if I recall correctly).
High general intelligence certainly also helps a player juggle music as well as other required life activities, like schoolwork.
Some element of being considered "talented" means learning quickly, and developing a flexible framework around what one has learned so that alterations can be made easily. No doubt general intelligence is a factor in this.
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I'm sure that our basic physical make-up does affect how good of a player we eventually become, though I think intelligence and memory probably play just as big of a part.
However, I think that, assuming that those less naturally well-adapted for the instrument are willing to put in more practice hours, that these distinctions apply at the *professional* level of play -- they determine whether you become Maxim Vengerov or just Joe Local Symphony Violinist.
Distinctions must also be made between things that are *innate* and things that are *taught*. The bow hold is *taught*; certainly a wrong one will eventually hinder progress unless it is corrected. Correct playing posture is *taught*; poor posture will also hinder progress (quite quickly, too). Speed of reflexes, sensitivity of the ear, and the like can be trained but are subject to the body's physical limits. The thickness of the finger pads, length of the fingers and arms, etc. are unchangeable physical make-up.
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quote:Originally posted by Oldbear:Good question about Kreisler! He tried to pass off a number of his compositions as "newly discovered" works of Vivaldi, Bach, and others. So did he secretly copyright them anyway? I dunno.
He did copyright the works. He claimed he was "arranging" such works, which counts as an original work that you can copyright. (You can't publish your own arrangement of a work under copyright, though -- but of course these supposed "old master" works wouldn't have been copyrighted anyway.)
Similarly, while a work like the Mozart 4th concerto is not covered by copyright, specific editions of it are.
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I am; I just haven't had much time to actually deal with getting the sound clips up recently. Keep sending them, though; I'll deal with the backlog when I get some free hours.
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I've got a similar problem.
You might consider switching to a string brand with greater durability; I find that I can keep Obligatos longer on my violin than EPs, for instance, since while the volume diminishes and the ring isn't quite as there as the string wears out, it doesn't degenerate as sharply.
Also, rather than changing the whole set at once, replace individual strings when they wear out. In particular, you might find that more frequent replacements of the E and G will allow you to keep the D and A longer.
And buy your strings when they go on sale! You can save quite a bit that way.
The Red Violin
in The Fingerboard
Posted
It's a fictional instrument.