the only way to help you is to have another violinist choose for you when you shop for a new violin.

you can find RM1000 violin sound better than RM3000 violin, and will find RM3000 violin sound worse than most RM1000 violin. you have to choose individually.

regarding choosing a violin according to grade...

let me just make a comparison by using learning to drive a car.

RM300 violin or the likes, is like driving a 30 years old car, not those vintage collector's item, those that average people can afford when they're new. very rare you'll see 30 years old car with good condition, most are pretty much junks. so when choosing RM300 range violin, if doesn't choose carefully, you'll end up problematic violin like fingerboard/bridge/soundpost or major construction problem like neck angle etc. how do you expect to learn a lot by playing a problematic violin?

then, when moved to RM1000~RM2000, it's more like a 5 years old low end cars. maybe a little problematic, but they're generally OK to drive around and you can learn the proper way of driving like proper gear shifting without choking the engine etc (the 30 years old car with bad maintenance is like no matter how good you drive you'll choke the engine).

RM2000~RM4000 range violin, it is more like a brand new but local cars. they're generally problem free, but the performance is so much you can get, at least better than old cars.

RM4000~RM10,000 violin, it's like you get imported new cars from vios to camry. needless to say, they offer much better control and driving experiences.

RM10,000~RM40,000 violins are like BMW etc, or sports car like lancer evolution or even higher performance.

RM40k~RM???k violins - you get all sorts of high performance sports car like porche ferrari or even F1 (stradivarius)...


so...do you still want to hop into a 30 years old car and continue to learn how to drive?

that's why your dad/mom only let you drive a 5~10 years old wira when you still learning to drive or just got your license.


well, like cars, when you have limited budget doesn't mean you cannot get a good condition car. some car owner take care their cars like their baby, so 5 years old car might just drive like a good new car. same with the cheapest violin, sometimes you can find a fantastic RM300 violin for the price, but the chance is very low. just like finding a 30 years old car with very good driving condition.

on the other hand, spending more doesn't mean they're 100% problem free, new car can sometimes break down like in 2 months!

if you like your violin, that's the most important.


PS: although i'm not pointing my finger at you cassie, it always puzzle me why people would think RM2000 for a violin is very expensive. think again, cheapest decent piano cost about RM4000 and nobody complain. some even choose the RM8,000 *entry* level brand new yamaha and yet they think spending RM2k~3k for violin is expensive. RM1500 violin for beginner is practically minimum, at least in my opinion...


bow is highly personal, more so than violins.

as a beginner/intermediate, you want a bow that's smooth and stable when you draw it across the strings. in low end price range, i always recommend carbon fiber bows. i love the one selling at euro music KL, RM230 but play as good as a RM800+ wooden bow. just that, carbon fiber doesn't produce "organic" sound as wooden bow does. so when it comes to professional bows, most people would prefer high quality wooden bow.


yes, the more you try, the more you learn. you'll learn what you can do with better violin that you cannot do on lesser ones.

it's interesting that, when you try up to certain price range, you won't be able to tell the difference. say, you cannot understand why people would spend RM10k for a violin while RM4k violin play so well already. it's simply because you haven't learn until the standard where you can appreciate the difference.

during the entire learning journey, you'll want a better violin (and bow) from time to time.

get fishman pickup V200 + preamp (Pro EQII or GII). RM1000 (with the Pro EQ II) included shipping directly from USA.

quater of the price of yamaha SV selling locally, double the sound quality.

still, nothing beat acoustic violin even for jazz. unless you want to plug into multi FX board, don't bother using electric violin.

if you're going to deal with feedback but don't need distortion and the likes, buy the pickup combo i mentioned, doesn't sound as good as a good mic but will solve feedback issue, and sound better than solid body electric violins.

if you use effect board, buy electric violin. buy those with at least a pickup on every strings (yamaha EV, zeta, etc). the SV isn't as clean and brilliant sounding as EV which won't work well for guitar fx board, though it's closer to acoustic sound.

PS: if you happened to be inspired by dennis lau, he used yamaha EV-204...

unless you go for lower range gliga, don't buy the higher range. they're marked up sky high here in malaysia, though.

yitamusic is about the typical chinese violin, which you'll get anywhere in malaysia, in all sorts of brands. they're all chinese made, so they don't differ much. you'll have much better luck choosing a good chinese violin than gliga between RM1000 to RM2000 range.

yup, due to the mellow and gentle sound. not suitable for performance use, though, the sound is usually on the weak side, people might have problem hearing you.

pickup wise, i've been very happy with V200 as far as sound goes, although going down to G string you'll always get that piezo pickup weird sound. price tag expensive? if you compare to electric violin, cheapest i've seen is RM2000+-, but the V200 sound much better (also depends on your violin), and the V200 + Pro-EQII i bought last time is RM1000+- plus that time was RM3.82 US-->RM exchange rate, you can definitely get it cheaper now. get directly from US, much cheaper than local.

haven't heard about yamaha pickup, but they're more or less the same, they're still piezo pickup which doesn't make much of a difference. i just had a look on it, fishman pickup definitely the easiest to install/remove, than the yamaha VNP. take note that, if you stick something on the bridge, it'll going to ack like a mute if you want play acoustically.

euro music moved to jalan imbi, it's now neighbours of CK music/Ultimate music/JS Music.

i just searched the price, sad news is, they bump the price for the v-200 pickup, but good news is, the lowered the price of the pro EQII, so good news is, the price is roughly the same as what i paid last time, in US$.

seems like fishman really control their price, V200 is $149 and Pro EQII is $99 everywhere. so you just survey for the lowest shipping charge and you're all set.

even if they charge $50 for shipping which is quite expensive already, $300 after conversion rate still slightly less than RM1000, if you can find shipping lower than $50 you pay much less.

go to time square, let's say you're standing in front of krispy kreme, facing AMODA or imbi plaza (got Asus Royal Club that one), head to your right and pass the junction, you'll come to a open carpark, followed by shop lots, then immediately you'll see CK music on your right, euro music is just few lots next to it, above an art gallery.

hmm.

my teacher never correct my bowing problem, and i never ask him. if the mistake is obvious to you, you can always correct yourself. the tutor might not be so strict on certain things, it doesn't mean the tutor is any bad. at least, when you ask the tutor, then only the tutor will correct the posture, is better than saying "you're fine don't worry".

depends on teacher and student.

to me, it's easy. at least compared with woodwinds and brass, it's easier.

i will give a different tonal character to the violin if using dominant string on cheaper student violin, but will not give you extra quality. tone is fuller, rounder, but noticeable softer on some violin if you switch from steel to dominant.

rosins are cheap to invest, you can buy one and try, if don't like it you can try the other one. personally i use dominant and the dominant rosin works fine and problem free. pirastro goldflex has good grip and bite, but you'll see more rosin dust collecting on the violin more often. oliv/evah pirazzi is very sticky rosin, which may or may not work well. jade rosin i think similar to the goldflex, more grip and crisp bite, but more rosin dust.

for most steel strings violin, paganini (RM10~RM20, small rectangle red plastic case) rosin is plenty. but that said, a RM40 rosin cake can last you 5~10 years given you don't drop that thing and broken into pieces...

euro music?

they open everyday, maybe except public holidays. call them to confirm.

it's not the figerglass that i recommend, it's the carbon fiber, RM230...

no brand, but it's from china...

kremona? probably just re-branded violins. i've seen quite a few brands but you can definitely tell they're from the same factory...

and you have to test them individually to tell if they're any good. violins can be really good and really bad and everything in between from the same price range...

you'll not get anything other than china made, especially under RM1000.

labels are just labels, nowadays even german RM4000 violins are half china made half finish in german (or not even german!).

you know, even branded stuffs are mostly made in china...

This post has been edited by little ice: Jun 19 2010, 01:17 AM

FOM shoulder rest, going for RM30~RM40 depends on location. it's the KUN imitation that has been selling for years.

talking about D string root position?

it's normal to glide that way, and no problem if you're playing seperate bow. if you need to slur all that, use 2nd position, 1st finger on f natural, 2/F#, 3/G, 4/G#. it's another fingering for chromatic scales other than the easier finger gliding.

i tried flute, saxaphone, trumpet.

compared to those, violin was an instant love. i can play something decent right away, but i can't for winds/brass.

you have to love the instrument, don't let people tell you which is easier or suitable, only you will know which one.

practically, they're F and C.

theoretically, they're valid, because of some rules in written music.

ok, say, the most simple scale, C major.

C D E F G A B C

they're all unique letter word, right?


so let's move just 1 semitone up, C# major.

C# D# E# F# G# A# B# C#

get what i mean? they still have to be unique letter words. it'll weird to write:

C# D# F F# G A C C#


nothing special, it's "rules".

just like, you know "except" and "accept" sound the same, but you have to write them differently to show different meaning.

because there're only 12 notes, at least it's what has been done in classical music (there're quarter tone tuning, but i won't go deep into that).

imagine if you try to put in 14 notes, and spread them out within an octave. you'll get all kinds of weird sound and major will not sound major anymore, minor will not sound minor, and every other thing.

it's like A~Z, you can't alter anything, it's been set that way. it's rules. it's its nature.