String players are used to intonating their pitch by ear relative to other pitches they are playing, however when you take up a fretted instrument, pitch becomes absolute. This takes the guess work out of finger placement on the fingerboard, but without properly intonating, you’ll find even well-tuned open strings impossible to play in tune on across strings and up the fingerboard! Read the rest of this entry »
How to’s
Sound Design Tips for School Orchestras
developed by Scott Laird and Julie Lyonn Lieberman for the Bollywood Strings Project
I. Sound design for acoustic orchestra with electric violin (step by step instructions)
II. Sound design for acoustic orchestra and audio accompaniment
III. Special Effects
IV. Glossary of Terms
For these setups, you will need some or all of the following equipment:
- Amplifier or PA system
- Effects processor (optional)
- Preamp or mixer (optional)
- Audio cable(s)
- Extension chord Read the rest of this entry »
How to Use Looping and Loop Pedals to Practice, Perform, Teach and Improve Musicianship
by Christian Howes (re-blogged with permission — click here to view original post)
Music tip – “How To Use Looping and Loop Pedals”
I received a question…from a Creative Strings Academy member about “how to use looping and loop pedals” to practice and develop more music in his life. Here is his question and my answer below:
“I was wondering if a looper of some kind could help fill in the gaps for me as a bassist. As I understand it, I see you building tunes for the ground up. You lay down a bass track, then some comping and maybe some harmony and then practice jammin’ with the loops. Can you do that with jazz standards as well?
Thanks again for the inspiration and ideas. I know I would need some kind of bass pick up and…?”
My (short) answer:
Read the rest of this entry »
‘Playing Outside the Box’ with Daniel Bernard Roumain
We were pleased and honored to once again have composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) in our shop on November 15th, this time for a streaming webcast workshop called “Playing Outside the Box with Amplification and Effects”. DBR covered a lot of ground in his talk and had the opportunity to use some equipment in our shop that really impressed him. You can view the full recorded webcast here.
Read the rest of this entry »
Bridgid Bibbens at EVS
April 4, 2012 at Electric Violin Shop
With the spring storms and late notice keeping people away, the staff of Electric Violin Shop and Bridgid Bibbens got a rare chance to hang out and talk. The workshop turned into a roundtable about our favorite things – electric violins, amplification, and effects pedals. We captured some moments on video, and think you will find them helpful on various topics.
How Can I Tune My Violin Like a Guitar?
By Ted Hardin
Any guitarist who has heard Jimmy Page draw a bow across the strings of his Les Paul in the Led Zeppelin song “Dazed and Confused” has wondered about the possibilities of trading their pick for a stick. The promise of seemingly infinite variation of string attack and virtually limitless sustain was solely the dominion of those who played classical strings before that particular moment in music history, and ever since then guitarists have wanted a better way to emulate the sound of a violin.
Here is the Electric Violin Shop conversion for a six string violin to be strung like a guitar and still have close to proper string tension. Some of the strings end up having greater than normal tension, and some less, but all are close enough to be safe for the instrument and still provide good tone. Read the rest of this entry »
How to turn your violin (or viola) into a ‘chin cello’
Now, we all know that most violinists chose their instrument in part because they cherish the singing high melody you can play way up on the E string, and that violists chose their instrument because they got confused on instrument picking day…I’m sorry — couldn’t resist. At any rate, most of us high strings players are generally pretty comfortable and satisfied in our respective tessiture. But from time to time, at least I and I’m sure most of you, have wondered what it would be like to dig into that low cello C string and rumble the stage a bit, though we violinists (1st violinists, especially) would never admit jealousy of another string instrument aloud. We at Electric Violin Shop would like to save high string players the potential embarrassment of being caught sampling a cello after rehearsal — hey, we’ve all done it once — by letting you know that your own violin (or viola) can rumble the low notes. And those J.S. Bach cello suites you’ve been searching for a violin transcription of? Well, polish up your bass clef reading and play them at pitch! How, you ask? Well, there are two fun, easy ways… Read the rest of this entry »
An Innovative Recording Method
EVS customer and NS Design NXT bassist Grant Emerson recently shared with us an mp3 of his band Delta Rae‘s song “Deliver.” [Listen to "Deliver" here] I was struck by the “acoustic authenticity” of his arco bass tone, so much so that I felt compelled to inquire about his recording method. We at Electric Violin Shop are already aware of just how great the NS Design NXT-series basses sound, especially for passive instruments, but there was something additionally special about Grant’s almost cellistic bowed tone. Grant was kind enough to accommodate my curiosity with his explanation of an even more unique and innovative recording method than I imagined.
Amplification vs. Sound Reinforcement
Great Tone At Any Volume
by Blaise Kielar
OK, I must confess I’ve got a license plate that reads PLAY LOUD. And, one advantage of loud is that it tends to inspire creative dancing. However, I am not a fan of too-loud concerts. If attending a rock show, I’ll wear earplugs that filter anything above a comfortable decibel level. My favorite events are those that approximate unamplified musicians in a place with great acoustics. As more string players go electric, how do we preserve the tone we love?
Worry-free Fishman Pickup Installation
Karen Galvin
How do you reassure the Assistant Concertmaster of the North Carolina Symphony that her violin will not be harmed by a temporary pickup for a rock show? In the case of Karen Galvin, she came into our shop and EVS founder Blaise Kielar showed her how to install a Fishman V-100 transducer in such a way that nothing touched the wood of her precious instrument. She was so well heard in rehearsal that Blaise took one to the show for the viola of Katie Wyatt. Read the rest of this entry »
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