yup, clean the bow with soft cloth. just wrap the cloth around the stick and wipe it up and down. remember to clean the head/tip too, many people don't clean that part which often covered with rosins too.


scott cao violins are famous in US, but almost nobody talks about it in malaysia.

for 2k~3k, i played some synwin (singapore) that're pretty nice for the money. lower range sandner are nice too. at this price range, you're still looking at china violins, so IMHO brand doesn't really matter much.

pyramid is decent, but those RM12.50 one set are usable too. at RM50 or lower, avoid those strings that are too thick especially G string, which tends to slow down the respond, in other words, you feel like you want to dig into the strings to get a decent sound.

i played a RM1000 china made violin with that RM12.50 strings on it, still sound warm and thick. sometimes it depends on the violin...

i'm not surprised - dominant strings generally have slower respond, means the moment you start to draw the bow, it will not sound immediately, or as quick as steel strings. in return, they give more manipulation to the tonal and dynamic changes. basically, dominants are designed to replace guts, which they don't, but still feels quite close to gut strings nonetheless and have some advantages over guts.

moreover, it's the other way round - dominant is very honest strings, it will bring out the violin's character more than other strings in general, if you know what i mean. there're quite a few colleagues hate dominant strings, they'd use something else, usually more expesive like pirastro obligato or evah pirazzi. but my violin initially came with evah pirazzi, i hated it - too loud (stiff), and hard to play soft, and can't play expressively. changed to dominants, and since then experimented with other strings, still prefer dominants.

lots of world class soloist still put a set of dominants on their millions of dollars violins...



i believe isetan or jusco will have a lot of choices, if not you should head to blush! to buy some, lots of sexy ones.

ok for serious, you can guy single strings, but since strings should be changed together at once as they'll degrade after some use, so you'll get even quality across the 4 strings. try something cheaper first, no need to buy expensive strings cause it doesn't make too much of a differences between lower range strings.



RM500 will fit a eurostrings model 200, and RM1000 will fit model 300. they're pretty good for the price, but that's what i have experiences with, maybe there're better ones but i don't know.

violin and viola, although looks similar, they're entirely different when it comes to "playing them as what they are". lots of violinist thought they can play viola just like that, but the outcome is simply just playing violin with a deeper (and lower) voice. a true viola (violist) will make it sounds with a tonal character combining violin and cello (my descriptions, of course). there're a little differences in bow pressure which has a lot to do with tone production, but others basically is about the same.

when it's mati pucuk, cannot stand anymore.

seriously.

(means the bridge cannot hold straight up anymore, will bend when tuning strings cause the middle part become warped and soften...)

it's Heifetz i'm supposed, should be copy of Heifetz's guarneri del gesu violin.

search youtube about his name Jascha Heifetz and see how he plays. god-like playing, even top soloist of today will open mouth big big if they see him play in person (if he still alive lah) or his videos.

gliga? good luck on selling yours.

This post has been edited by little ice: Nov 27 2009, 11:00 AM

yup they're ok, in fact, they're better for beginners and intermediate students because of the less offensive sound like those typical chinese violins...but advance students or professionals will find them weak or too gentle...



i was a composer/arranger. basically i'm an enthusiast, but no where near expert. talk maybe can lah, but if truely demonstrate, i'm still no where near "expert"...

but if you consider professional = earn money by playing violin, then i am playing violin as a professional.

i owned and played both Gliga GAMA and Maestro before.

they're good, and bad, depends on many different aspects. generally, you don't want to spend that much money on the Maestro model, they don't worth it in general. even if you have the money for that, try to play that particular violin (or other instruments), and compare to lower models, before you buy.

in general, gligas are a little weak, but that kind of warm soft and mellow sound is what novices want, because naturally lower range violins are commonly shrill sounding to begin with. novices is in the stage of having their fresh ears to accept and getting used to the sorprano sound - shrill sounding violins are of course not the best option.

advancing players want to ask for more from their instruments. it's more than just bowing 1 kind of sound, and advancing players will want their "voice" to be heard, that's when they start to ditch such violins. things like power and projections, dymanics, focus to the sound with colours to manipulate, you'll find gligas lacking a lot in all these advance requirement. more expensive china instruments are capable to give all these, just that they usually have a rougher sound to begin with.

they're both digital, so it's 100% accurate. i guess no matter how crappy your speakers are, cannot be worst than the tiny speaker on the tuner right?

violin exam pieces? if you can go to KL, visit chamber music or euro music. you can always phone them to ask first.


RM5k? you can PM me if you're interested. my friend selling a few nice violins in that price range, old and new. he only earn a little, so it's not like dealers chop you kao kao.

if you insist on buying from dealers, chamber music actually carry quite a few nice violins, as well as euro music. or head to the shop/school called "amadeus" something, few lots away from digital mall @ PJ. they carry violins from student grade to professional italian violins (RM30k~RM50k).

ah...shit happens!

don't worry, your violin appeared to be "antiqued finish", means to make the violin looks like it's old. just rub some oil (say, oils from your nose...) and dirts on that part, and it will appear as like other black spots that is everywhere on those centuries old violins due to scratches and dings that collect dirts/oils.


nope, he's an orchestra player but also private seller, you can say he's kind of like a collector. as far as i see, he's very honest with his sales, he probably mark up like 10% or something cause he don't need maintenance fees like shops and dealers. you'll never know, some dealers mark up like 120% for you to ask for discount (say, RM3000 violin selling at RM7000!).

better violins are better in:

1. richness in tone - this is an immediate quality improvements. some cheap violins can sound like tin cans, while the better ones are richer or "thicker" in sound.

2. balance on 4 strings and across the register- this is actually very difficult to get, unless you willing to spend more than RM10k. neither any of the strings are overpowering or sounded like alien to the rest, all 4 strings are well balanced. also, some violin will sound poor up above the high register.

3. dynamic range - better violin can play much softer AND much louder. how broad the range from the softest and loudest sound you can play matter a lot. a violin only can play mp to f isn't an ideal concert violin.

4. clearer and cleaner tone - the best violin has the least distortion to the sound and overtones. if you play 2 notes together (double stops), you can immediately hear this effect - clearer and cleaner tone will sound more harmonized if 2 notes are played together. another way is to play with piano (well tuned one), out of tune is so easy to detect because the sound is clear to listen, not mud-like.

5. projection - ability of how the violin can project the sound. this is related to the point above, a powerful violin that doesn't have a pure tone the sound will not travel (if you want to read more, google "phase cancelation"). a truely projecting violin doesn't need to be powerful, and personally, i prefer broad dynamic range than plain powerful violin.

6. respond - better violin simply respond better to your bow stroke. means you don't need to dig the sound out, it'll automatically rings out without much effort. however, watch out for the overly responsive violin, they can be poor on dynamic range.

7. ability to control the colour - this is one of the rare quality in violins. a truely great violin can let you play bright sound AND mellow sound that is so easy to control, or more subtle differences such as "whispering", "roaring", "luminous", "airy" etc, all from the very same violin. a lot of people think violin can only have 1 character which is bright or dark or in between.


i might have missed out some points, but that's about it.


and lastly, if you haven't play some better violins you will never know what i was talking about. you'll never know how bad a cheap student violin is, if you never play a better ones. go to shop and start to play some, you'll know it by then.

but i was speaking from experiences. believe it or not, i have a RM20k violin that can do all of the above points i mentioned.

i don't want to talk bad about other people, but fine violin sales in malaysia is indeed a big fat meat to chew on. so you rarely get honest sales. i got my violin through online, though. call me crazy, but it is as rewarding as it can be. if you have doubts, we can meet up.

some of the fine violinist today will only own 2 instrument - a fine modern setup violin (old or new), and a baroque setup violin. because a fine modern setup violin can give whatever sound a violinist can get, except baroque setup violin because it's very different so a seperate baroque violin is needed. then, in order to play repertoires from different periods, they'll use different bow instead of different violin. world class soloist will have collections of bows while they might only have 1 fine violin.

and if you have ever experienced what a fine french bow can give, you'll immediately realize you missed a whole new world of possibilities in the violin world.

then, if one want to play other genres than classical, THEN you need another violin. celtic or country fiddling, you will need something different. however, still, people like Stephane Grappelli who's the most famous jazz violinist, uses fine old italian violins which i think included a fine gagliano.

PS: regarding your first point, yes come and listen to my violin. thick and juicy, but buttery smooth sound. richness is one thing, tone quality is another. maybe you haven't heard those smooth sounding violin before.


speaking of handmade violins today, you cannot generalize any of the country they made from. for examples, china violins can beat european made violins in the same price range, up to maybe RM15k range, however that is also not always.

in other words, if you cannot appreciate the differences, then just buy accordingly. put it in other words, buy something that you think it's good. very good violins can be really difficult for beginners to play, because they can be tricky to bring out the full potential, and might actually being unhelpful in the learning progress because you suffer a lot. on the other hand, cheaper student violin might give you less controls, but they can be easier to play. so you can focus on something more basic. then from there, after you advanced, you will want something better, THEN only you buy another violin. take your time, things like this cannot be rushed.

i give you another example, you just learned how to drive a car, suddenly give you ferrari, you dare to drive or not? even if you dare, if you get the car to bang here and there, you don't feel heart pain don't you?

This post has been edited by little ice: Dec 13 2009, 01:25 PM

i suggest you to openly ask your question here, so if there's anyone who has the same problem can look at the discussions.

unless you want to meet me up personally, and need help from me, drop me a PM with your requests.



i got nothing to add, but you seems to be quite sensitive when people responding your statements...

nevermind...

aiyo i didn't mean that lah. what i meant was it seems that you're a little nervous when i responded to your statements and opinions, but i think that was pretty small matter, so don't worry about it.

and no offense taken! peace~

i only played in amateur orchestra a few times, a very small orchestra. never join any real orchestra though.

not a bad idea but what are the chances to get everybody together and play?

and...where??

what you're trying to achieve is to acquire "perfect pitch". seriously, that is not something that can be trained. i don't have perfect pitch, and i don't find myself missing anything. heck, even perfect pitch can play out of tune without even knowing they did so.

do NOT practice with a tuner. practice with the markings on the fingerboard first. then learn to get fimilar with the sound you hear, in a way how a note is related to another.

normally i give my students a few practice sheets that i written myself.

every teacher has their own way of teaching this, you can always ask your teacher how to overcome this.



it depends on your finger thickness. i find if play strings too near to each other i'll be very frustrated to play bach pieces.

it's all about personal preferences. you can always have a luthier who know how to make a proper string groove and spacing, have the strings spaced closer to each other.

bowing is another issue, the curve on the bridge has to be properly shaped so they're not too curved, nor too shallow that your bow will touch other strings very easily.

oops, i was answering BelowAverage's post wrongly.

if you're talking about string heights, sometimes it's just as simple as reshape the bridge. but sometimes it's more than that - neck angle drop which require a neck reset, maybe as expensive as buying a new student violin. it might be a bad fingerboard shaping too, a new fingerboard is also not cheap.

so have a lutheir to check it, best bring it down to singapore if yours is expensive violin (RM5000 and above). if not, maybe luthiers in KL should do a good job on fixing it.


PS: don't worry about perfect pitch. many musicians and composers in the past didn't have perfect pitch, including Paganini (if my guess is correct, based on how he tune his violin). so why bother if you have or not?

This post has been edited by little ice: Jan 11 2010, 08:59 PM

relative pitch is that one can relate a note from another notes, but cannot tell the exact name of the notes because relative pitch musicians cannot "remember" the exact pitch.

they can play back the same song in all 12 keys, but they can't tell you what is the original key they have listened to without any references.


definitely not your violin teacher. it need proper height reduction (means cutting some wood off) and the curve of the bridge isn't simply done without knowledges, as well as the string spacings which need to be redone after the shaping.

euro music, early music venture, carimen dolce, 3 also got in house luthiers. i recommend euro music or early music venture.