On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 08:08:06 +0000, Orchid XP v7 wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
> 
>> You played violin?  That's cool. :-)
>> 
>> Did you just take lessons in school, or private lessons, or self-study?
> 
> All students at my school were required to learn violin and recorder.
> But then the music teacher retired, and the music lessens stopped.
> Eventually they found a replacement, but we only learned how to play
> electronic keyboard [or rather, how to call up the autobacking]. Oh, and
> guitar. Ever heard a Persian guy sing "Amazing Grace"? That song is
> boring at the best of times...

Interesting; I was going to say that I had never heard of a school doing 
that, but we were required to learn recorder, autoharp, and to sing in 
the choir.

> Interesting fact: When *you* play a violin, it sounds nothing like what
> you hear on the TV. It sounds like somebody dragging a strip of horse
> hair over a cheese wire. (Which, actually, is what it is.) I always
> assumed my violin was just naff. But then one day the teacher is, like,
> "no no Andrew, that F is flat. Give me that!" She takes my violin and
> plays what I had just been playing. Except it sounds amazing.
>
> Um, OK. So it's *me* that's naff. :-|

No, it just takes practice - years of practice - to get good sound out of 
an instrument (doesn't matter what).  I can make my violin make horrible 
sounds as well - it has to do with getting the right pressure and speed 
of the bow across the strings - too much pressure and not enough speed, 
and it sounds exactly like you described.

There also is a factor of the instrument itself as well; each instrument 
has different tonal factors.  In my case, I had some work done on it a 
few years back, and the people doing the work dripped varnish inside the 
instrument and have very solidly attached the sound post to the top face 
of the instrument.  Going to cost about $400 to get it fixed, and it's 
unplayable in the condition it's in (the E string makes a horrible, 
horrible screeching sound whenever played).  And of course the guys who 
did the work have since gone out of business.

Jim

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