Posted by fiddlepogo on Sunday, July 21, 2013
I think I'm mostly used to synthetic core strings now- as far as PLAYING on them.
What I'm NOT used to is the constant tuning!!! I have a set of Zyex on Booker, my main fiddle. I hardly EVER had to tune that thing with Prims on it! And the string had first been put on Stinky some time ago, then taken off, and put on Booker last spring, and I think maybe they are about worn out as far as tone... but they are STILL stretching!
I also don't think I'm done tweaking the fiddle for synthetics.... it's like the synthetics don't shake the top as much, so they don't shake the soundpost as much, so the sound doesn't get transmitted to the back as much. So I'm tweaking again! This time I'm mostly polishing with a clean coffee filter and focusing on "orange peel"- the bumpy effect caused by a sprayed on finish. (Which all of my Knilling 4KF's have and what puts them in the "high end of student rental fiddles" category!) I'm focusing on the areas where the orange peel is particularly noticeable, figuring that part got too much spray and the extra mass is dampening that area.
Carthy is continuing to sound good. I mostly keep it tuned Baroque- GbDbAbEb, and while it sounds fine on Old Time tunes, the sound really inspires me to play some jigs and gets me rolling on Irish tunes. It has Pirastro Tonicas on it, and I think some of Carthy's tonal improvement is due to them, so Booker may get them next string change.
Carthy seems to be getting the nod more and more for gigs- I'll play the hoedowns on Booker first, then shift to Carthy for the Irish tunes and waltzes.
Stinky is....well.... neglected. I'm beginning wonder if having 3 fiddles is really right for me. It seems like every since I started playing again, I've mostly had 3, and one always gets neglected.
It's not really fiddle related, but I'm continuing to think I need to learn to play chords on guitar left handed so I can strum guitar and sing. I'm a singer as well as an instrument, and have been singing with guitar since I was fourteen, and I MISS it!
I can play and change between E, A, and D fairly easily, G takes more doing, C is problematic, and anything with the pinky is not likely to happen!
The weird thing is that sometimes when I've played left handed, I think I've had interference with my fiddling, like my left hand doesn't want to do the fingering thing after having strummed. But I don't think it's going to get to a total shutdown thing, and I HOPE I'll learn to shift back and forth. I still play electric lead guitar right-handed, because I use these wimpy extra light gauge strings! It's not a new thing, I've always preferred them since getting serious about electric guitar as an adult- they allow me to bend notes more easily and do lots of barre chords without tiring.
I'm having more and more memory lapses. Hey, I'll be 61 in a few days. The other night, instead of putting the cat food in the fridge, I put the cat food in the MICROWAVE as if it were the fridge! I didn't discover it until the next morning and had to toss the cat food! I've always been absentminded, but that takes the cake!
I also completely forget to take my cell phone with me today- left it on the charger!
And I probably already mentioned some of these things in previous blogs.... didn't I????
3 comments on “Various and Sundry Stuff... Synthetics, Orange Peel, Owning Multiple Fiddles, Learning Lefty Guitar”
Humbled by this instrument Says:
Tuesday, July 23, 2013 @10:09:38 PM
One of my professors told us to do this to help with our memory and mental acuity, "Always..." wait...hmmm..."Never..." Hmmmph.
sophiabrugman Says:
Friday, July 26, 2013 @6:54:50 PM
as I wait ,,, haha, for a great sound,,, someone sent this to me,, thought you might enjoy the read,,,, o great scientific one!!!
violinist.com/blog/princetonvi...37/14838/
fiddlepogo Says:
Monday, July 29, 2013 @7:40:35 AM
Not so great, not so scientific...
Yeah, a good read, but they are aiming for people that actually have MONEY!
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