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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: Wrong question… posted by David Aiken on April 4, 2007 at 13:44:46:
"Violins and other musical instruments don't reproduce music, they are used to make music. How an instrument sounds depends on how it is played. Good instruments do a number of things better than poorer instruments: they offer a wider range of tonal shadings, they offer a wider dynamic range, they project sound better, they are easier to play than really bad instruments but this particular difference should disappear relatively quickly as the quality of the instrument improves."Actually David, from personal experience I can tell you that this is not the case. Professional violinists hate to be with an inferior instrument because it GREATLY limits what they can do with the sound. It is like asking Gary Kasparov to play chess without some pieces (I was told he played a match once starting a pawn down as a handicap and afterwards swore never to do it again because it was too distressing) or asking a painter to compose a work with only 8 colors in his palette.
According to my ex, the Strad she played on for about 7 months was one of the hardest instruments that she had played, not because it was harder to get good sound, in fact there are many instruments no matter how well played will not sound as good as a Strad even merely competently played, but because the palette is so broad it takes time and talent to master.
She once had three top class instruments to try out: A Stradivarius (and a good example of the breed from the early 1720s), a Guarneri del Gesu (not the best but still world class sound), and a Guadinini (wonderful from about the same period). The sound of the three couldn't have been more different (it was measurable as well and we did it just for fun), The strad was bold and rich with extreme powers of projection. The Guarneri sounded powerful as well but very dark by comparison with comparatively less upper octave energy (this playing the very same notes in the same way). Finally, the Guad was light and airy and quite beautiful sounding but lacking the projection capabilities of the other two, making it better suited to chamber music.
In fact the cheap violins all sounded more similar rather than different. They all sounded more or less like hollow boxes of wood with vibrating strings than what these masterpieces sounded like. No matter how well they were played the beauty of the music was diminished. Musicians go mad to play top instruments because it can literally make or break an audition or concert. Its like riding in the Tour de France on a bike with one wheel!!
"In the end, a Stradivarius may produce a different sound simply because of the way the player feels about it,"
No, it sounds different because it IS different and shockingly better and more powerful sounding than most other violins...the difference in the hands of a professional is not subtle.
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Follow Ups
- Re: Wrong question… - morricab 15:20:14 04/04/07 (3)
- I've read that elsewhere.... - JimL 17:59:36 04/04/07 (0)
- OK, I won't disagree… - David Aiken 16:05:50 04/04/07 (1)
- Re: OK, I won't disagree… - morricab 16:17:41 04/06/07 (0)
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