That is up to all of you

I will leave this site here as long as you all want it to be here. The other site at Ning seems to be able to handle a bit more information and it is not always relying on a few people to post. This site seemed to be just sitting here doing nothing for a long time. I want to thank Shirley for helping me with this site and the Ning site. Let me know how you all feel about both sites.

The address to the new site is:
http://violains.ning.com/main/index/notAllowed?joinTarget=http%3A%2F%2Fviolains.ning.com%2F&reason=nonm&joinFlow=default

New Blogsite?

Now that Jacqui has set up<> does that mean that this one is going to be zapped, or perhaps remain in the ether for eternity, unused, unloved, abandoned like a puppy by the roadside, a cyber-tombstone to good intentions? What do I do?
(signed)
the Perpetually Peplexed Bumplet

Strings 'n Things

Hi Everybody,
Now that you have gone private, does anybody mind if I stick around? I helped set up the blog at the beginning, but Jacqui seems to have things under control at this point. Just let her know if you would rather I be gone, and she can quietly and anonymously delete me.

As to strings on my violin (yes, violin), I started out with the requisite Dominants, but have had a set of Obligatos on for about three years now. I've also tried Thomastik Reds, Evahs, and Zyex. I really liked the Zyex... a little brighter, but I swear I didn't have to tune them the entire year I had them on. So much for complaining about the strings being true!

strings

Hi, All!
Evah Pirazzi are my favorite strings. They last longer than the Eudoxa. Of course it's always such a lovely excuse to say, "My strings are no longer true." It sounds so much better than stating that my intonation, playing, etc. are on the sucky side...
Take care!

sorry... I just tried to post a photo and it didn't work. Booooooo! I hate this stuff.
JB

I'm trying to post a picture, and I don't know if I've got it right.
JB

Blog-o-Mania ! ! !

Hey Everyone!
Try logging onto this:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/viola/
Yeah... I know... how geeky can you get? But I've had fun with this Yahoo group. They pester me 2 or 3 times/day with email updates, but I don't mind, and you can opt out of that. One regular contributor is LouiseLaChance-Price who sits next to me at the Willy-Filly and who comes over to play on Sunday Afternoons, so that's all very chummy.
Anyway, once in a blue moon someone has a useful question, fielded for comment, my present fave being something on the order of "what's your opinion of Eudoxa strings". Wellsir, as a unashamed advocate of Eudoxa viola strings, you can bet I put in my 2¢ worth!
It's also a bit revealing, with respect to how Very Bent Out Of Shape people get about trivia. That can be RAWTHER tireing unless you take a broad view.

By the way... what kind of strings do you all use, and why? I first used Dominants, since they're kind of a "benchmark" baseline string, always good, never-fail. Now I use Pirastro Obligatto (sp?), which I religiously Adore for the gooey mushy sound they give to my viola. All instruments are different, of course, so a discussion of what brand might prefer is not terribly meaningful. This summer I may well be sporting all-gut Pirastro Eudoxa, just to see. I like to experiment, and I like to blame all my shortcomings on [1] the rosin, [2] the strings, [3] the price of the viola, [4] the bow, [5] the quality of bow hair, and so on, into the night.

More later,
Jim bump

Jacqui,
GOOD JOB ! ! Now I'm really psyched to inflict a YouTube on everyone, a permanent, public record of my private living-room string shennanigans with my shameless Sunday-afternoon quartet. So stand back, and turn the volume waaaayyyyyyyyyyy down. Or play a CD of a real string quartet while you're watching us.
Tonight I have to go accompany this community chorus up in Charlton MA. Oh Well... it's good money, and not horrid music, either... but I think EVERY community chorus is performing "Frostiana" this spring. That's nice, but it's high time someone wrote something ELSE! I'm not inviting you to our concert. But you all must show up for the spring concert of our Willimantic (CT) Orchestra (the Willy-Philly) to watch the little Bumplet... the Deer in the Headlights... sweat his way through the Stravinsky Pulchinella Suite and Wagner's Big Ugly Noisy Overture to Something. Also we accompany a Haydn Cello Concerto played by some local whiz-kid who won a contest. He's doing a fabulous job, too. No one's said so, but I think this kid won 2nd prize. First prize kid gets the Vienna Philharmonic; 2nd prize gets Willy-Philly. So everyone hop on a plane and fly to Willimantic, a murky, dead little mill-town that subsists almost entirely on welfare and drug deals. Charming. I'll be in a tuxedo.
Maybe I'll get Rachel to take a tiny video w/ the camera. Watch for me in the 2nd or 3rd row right, squeezed in between 5 other viola players, hideing.

Performance #2 of Amazing Grace

Well I have done it once more. I just got back from Remlap, Alabama where Kayla and I played Amazing Grace with a twist. It sounded much better than Good Friday, we had the keyboard set to cello and we had a second keyboard playing drums. I started to early and did not have the beat until a few measures into the song but it did sound better than the last time. I guess it is nerves on my part at this point, for the performance problem. I do not seem to have these problems when we practice.

Anyway here is the video clip:

Hi, Guys!
Jacqui, I'm so proud of you for playing on Good Friday! Way to go!
Easter is one of my most favorite times to play in church with my church orchestra. ( I am the viola section, thank you very much.) We have three services back to back with minimal time to grab a drink of water or use the facitilies but I do love the music and everything about the day. There's so much positive energy!
I am still really working on my intonation. I decided to go back to square one and just bought books 1-3 of Suzuki as well as the CD. Due to my parents' health, I have practiced very little in the past months so I am trying to be very simple in my time with my fiddle. Any suggestions on ways to improve intonation?
I'll miss you guys this summer!!

Permissions

I have received a request for the Blog page to be private. So I have set the page permissions to be read only by those that can post to it. Perhaps this will help in the postings to know that only the few of us will be able to read, or see what is posted.

Good Friday Performance

Well I am posting the video's from Good Friday's service. I played Dark Island by GreenBlatt & Seay by myself. Then Kayla accompanied me, on the piano, for Amazing Grace. We are both a little nervious, the church was full tonight.

I ended up using my old bow for the performance. I am not able to control the new bow on one string yet. the weight of it is a bit different than I am used to. I need to practice much more with the new bow before going public with it.

Of course the two videos are not as good as I thought they should be. The sound is not what I hear when I am playing at home. If it sounds this way to the cats, no wonder they try to stop me from playing :) Let me know what you all think, and be honest.

One more step in the right direction

I was finely able to locate a luthier here in Alabama!! I have gotten my practice bow rehaired, and also purchased a Pernambuco bow. Boy can you tell the difference when you hold and/or play with the two bows. I also found out that the bow I received, with the viola I purchased, is really a violin bow and needed allot of repair work done to it, more than just rehairing it. I opted to just order the new bow instead. The new bow is a J. LaSalle, I think it balances much better than the student bow I was using before. I even think that it makes the viola have a richer tone.

I want to warn everyone that if they haven't signed up for SKs classes, you'd better hurry. REALLY!!! I don't know how the violin classes are filling up , but the cello classes have past the bursting point and they're trying to get a 4th teacher. Meanwhile, even my own little flophouse is full some weeks, and I had to turn away a favorite guest (Alicia) for one week. BOOOOOO ! ! !
SKs is getting kinda busy and frantic, far moreso than 10 years ago, which suits some people, but not me. My "mission" there seems to be to get people to chill out, when they end up getting all panicky and bent out of shape from overactivity and just plain Trying Too Hard (which is always counterproductive).
Is anyone going to a different music "camp" also, this summer? I'd like to know what other people have experienced, since there's no earthly reason I couldn't boogie off to some exotic place for a week of viola-crimes, leaving my house in the care of someone else.
Today is the big Valentine's Day Concert w/ the Willimantic CT Orchestra. (MY orchestra!)
Probably every community orchestra in the world is giving a Valentine's concert today. We're doing Tschaikovsky "Sleeping Beauty" (next to impossible) and a set of really gooooooey 1930s love songs, accompanying an excellent small choir. These are the sort of songs that evoke vamps in fishnet, draped over white grand pianos, long cigarette holders and all the gin you can soak in. Mmmmmmmm!!!!! (I like these pieces.)
Note somewhere here for Shirley & Hummel.
jb

Maine in August

Just to let you all know I have registered to be at SummerKeys the week of August 6th. I have also been looking over a viola fiddle book and am considering doing a piece or two from it. Of course it would be great if another viola would play it with me. And as a side note there are cords for guitar to join in as well.

A Great Violin Setup Book

Hi, I am looking forward to seeing you all this summer at SummerKeys, if you attend anytime from the end of July to the end of August. Being old has some advantages.

As you may remember from last year, I have a violin book addiction. I have just read a great violin setup book which I wholeheartedly recommend as it clearly answers many of my questions concerning posture, violin position, left hand, right hand, bowing, vibrato, etc. This book which was published in 2006 is entitled "Playing The Violin." It is 100 pages long and was written by Mark Rush an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona. It contains over 200 photographs illustrating optimal technique. I really like this book as it was written for adults, contains clear descriptive language, is profusely illustrated and it is applicable for beginning to advanced players. I purchased my copy online from SharMusic.com.

What you all have been waiting for, I think

It has taken me awhile to get all the pictures into a blog for you all to see. If you go to www.jacqspictures.blogspot.com you will be able to see pictures from the wedding and our cruise.

Bump said: Try This if You Dare: 2

Oh... I forgot: All of you, when you have time, tune down 1/2 step and see what you think. Of course, I shouldn't have said what my reaction was, so this spoils the objectivity of the test. Tuff.JB
January 31, 2007 2:23 PM

Bump said: Try this if you dare:

I went to a music party down outside of Boston this weekend. There were about 15 of us, and we were handed 5 out of 6 Brandenburg Conceri to play. Some of the people were real pros, others were Pooh-Bears like moi. I did... uhhh... OK. I neither distinguished nor disgraced myself. Everyone was a good sport. BUT (herein lies the crux) they were all Early Music geeks and I had to tune Down 1/2-step to A-415. I'd always thought this was malarkey... after all, if you want an Organ at 415, you just shift all the pipes one hole to the left; if you have a piano, tell everyone to take a hike, because it's no secret that THE PIANO IS ALWAYS RIGHT. But here, there were some really adept players on baroque oboe and recorders, some w/ baroque violins, bla bla bla. So I wasn't about to make waves and tell them they were all snobs, even though I'm an ARCH-SKEPTIC about Everything in Life.So I dutifully tuned down. If this were a religious experience, I'd use C.S.Lewis' phrase "Surprised by Joy". All of a sudden my viola sounded sweeter, much goooooooier, more IN TUNE, and softer under the fingers. I loved it; I was wrong all along. Now then... I want to know if there are strings I can use that will give this relaxed, laid-back sound and feel when I'm at normal, god-fearing, right-thinking, left-wing A-440. I use Pirastro Obbligato strings now, and prefer them over other strings on This viola. That's the baseline. I want more Goo, more slurp, more rubberiness.Any ideas born of experience are welcome.Oh... and the other good thing about this party, food and schmoozing aside, was that I was seated right in front of a Double-Bass Viola da Gamba (Violone) player. This was a delicious experience; it gave me this warm, snuggly, pee-in-my-pants feeling throughout the afternoon. She (the player) assured me that this was a normal reaction, nothing to be embarassed about, and no medical treatment was necessary.
January 31, 2007 2:20 PM

Hi, Guys!
I'm hoping that I am posting this correctly. I will readily admit to being a blog virgin...
Jim, Sheng and Jacqui, it was great to read your postings! Jim, I chuckled while reading about your house and music downloads. Jacqui, I do want to see wedding pictures. Sheng, good luck to you and Cindy with your studies.
We have had a really stressful past few months and I really rely on thinking of Summerkeys when I need a "happy" place. My parents are rapidly declining in health and I spend a lot of time making the 2 1/2 hour trip to Birmingham. My mother has had multiple mini-strokes that are now catching up with her and she is in rehab for speech and mobility issues. Daddy just turned 90 and is not doing well. Unfortunately, Mommy was the "healthy" one until the past few weeks... Dale is basically beginning a new company. This is a good thing but a bit unsettling.
Of course we also have the wedding coming up in May.
I have had limited time to play my viola and that really stinks! I did get to play for our middle and upper school production of Sound of Music last fall. It was really fun since I had taught most of the performers when they were pre-schoolers.
Hope all of you are well and making wonderful music!
Millie

BumpStuff

Hi everyone! I think I've finally blundered my way into this Blog, and it took me all afternoon. Now Pandora's Box is wide open, so stand back. And just wait 'til I figure out how to include incriminating photos taken last summer, and here around the house. Ruth: you'll love seeing Rachel's latest pottery, and I'll try to insert some pictures later.
I spent too much of the day fixing pin-hole leaks in my plumbing. My house may Look like a fairyland Victorian cottage on the outside, but ... all ye homeowners rest assured... it's a nasty tangle inside. Nothing ever works... know the feeling? .... so writing this scree is a relief!
SO... the most important things I want to pass on right now are some websites. As you know, FreeMusicInternetDownloads are my primary addiction, and I consider myself an almost insufferable expert on the subject, even tho' I know squat.
Here are some:
1. http://transpoalto.free.fr/ a quirky site obsessed with violas, viola ensemble music. The music is spotty, sometimes really fun and cute. Good if you have 3 or four viola accomplices. (I don't!)
2. http://breizhpartitions.free.fr/en/ Bretagne folk music. Celtic folk music, but real, not the overly popular, cloying, "I wish I were Irish" manufactured stuff you hear on "Celtic Sojourn".
3. http://www.cacophonix.com/ an English site, friendly guy runs it, and sometimes there are some neat solo/duet/trio things, downloadable, suitable for beginners.
4. http://www.eecellomusic.com/ of interest to cellists mostly. Cool.
5. http://www.kantoreiarchiv.de/interinfo a GREAT source of fairly easy string ensemble music. I download a lot of their stuff for my Sunday-afternoon Quartet sessions.
6. http://www.fac-simile.org/ This has a lot of quirky stuff. But if you want the Bach Cello Suites transposed for Viola, it's here.
7. http://www.jimpix.co.uk/v/sheetmusic/ another off-the-wall British site.
8. http://www.kb.dk/elib/noder/index-en.htm This is Pure Gold, but only if you're interested in unusual, Never-Played, fairly advanced chamber music. String Quartets by Danish composers, and, also, on this site, some really REALLY cool 19th-c. Danish christmas postcards with musical attachments. WAY cool.
9. http://icking-music-archive.org/scores/Events.php The absolute Mother-Lode of free music. In order to use it, you've got to know your periods, styles and composers, or you won't know where to begin. Most of it is reasonably well-edited, considering it's free (and so you get what you pay for!). There are Thousands of things here. I check in on it daily.
10. http://music.lib.byu.edu/piva/ZeyringerNP2.htm#leit This is just to top it off: it's an incredibly dry, boreing, Teutonic list of viola music that you can't possibly get anywhere, so it's just plain Maddening!

I'll write other stuff later, but I just wanted to get this internet-download list off to everyone.
JB

more photos

Here are my faves from my camera, enjoy!

Latest news

Hope everyone's 2007 has started off well! Jacqui, when will you post photos from the wedding (and cruise?)

This is actually my first blog entry ever (even though this was my idea...) and I'm looking forward to seeing it grow! I'm sure I'll get better at it and will look into adding other neat stuff to it like music clips and video. And of course pictures (see right)

Cindy and I are trying to wrap up our doctoral work and have a few major concerts coming up. Recently I have played a few events with members from the White House Chamber Orchestra (who plays for the President) and that's been great!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's posts. Stay warm!!!

More Music

After a very busy beginning of the year, I have finally found some time to do another update.

I have ordered some different music from Greenblatt & Seay to include The Viola Fiddling Tune Book and CD and The Viola Player’s Book of Rounds. Just for a little variety, I hope to find some time to practice some of the tunes this weekend.