Since you mentioned you always read the comments 😅, I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am for this channel and your content. I’ve enjoyed so much of your Historical Violin Series, your wonderful performances, and your insightful interviews/comparisons. I hope you have a wonderful day, every new video is always a treat.
Very well done, Katha. The gumption to put ourselves out there will always be rewarded with some negativity. Your willingness to take up the (poorly founded) challenge is just great. What you and Illya provide is invaluable. Keep up the good work!
I always enjoy your educational videos, and really appreciate the performance videos. I feel so lucky to live in a time where I can freely watch a channel like this. I'm very grateful for your efforts.
Your playing /violin sound great no matter the strings. It's the skill, the emotion and the inspiration (and maybe a colicky baby!) that matters the most. Thanks!
Hard times for vegetarians! There are also gut strings for double base available, and they use quite a lot of "material" of course, which may be fractionally disgusting... I once gave gut strings a try, as I had a spare viola and removed chinrest and shoulderrest to get the maximum realistic feeling possible with a non-baroque instrument. What I did not know when ordering the quite expensive gut strings was that if you want to play 415 Hz you need another strength... if you buy the "standard" they are for 44x Hz and sound a little poor when tuned low. But I got this information after the "experiment" had been over for long time and I had not been so extremely pleased about the famous "gut sound". Every few bars I had to retune. You cough - you have to retune. Someone enters with a hot cup of tea - you have to retune. In winter time you forget to care about the humidifier - all strings are broken. I've been listening to a baroque concert in a quite humid historic tunnel down under a river where a gut string of the violinist broke 2 times during a 30 minute concert. Good news was she simply was able to made a knot, as she only had one spare string with her... try to do this with synthetic or steel strings. The knot was placed at the end of the fingerboard, which looked a little concerning... So, I wonder how in the historic past it was possible to play longer pieces at all, but I'm not a professional. They must have some secret secrets for this, which could be worth a video?.
Thank you for bringing more light into that subject. When I grew up I used the "Eudoxa Olive" which sounded great but could snap quite easily. I tried most good strings over the past 60 years and E Pirazzi are great but too much metallic sounding. But if I would be you, I would try "Il Cannone Soloist", they have power, richness in sound with more overtones. And for the E string, there are many good onces, but their sound gets weak pretty soon so I come often back to the inexpensive "Hill E thick", which has a very strong clean sound and are ideal for instruments which have three powerful lower strings.
I like the Oliv silver-wound D strings, but the others are too high for my budget. I use the thickest, and have not seen any snaps. In the American South, I sub synthetics in the summer [gut stretches + does not have its best sound in high humidity] that Strueff etc. have compared to Il Cannone strings, and the demo by Tina at Shar makes me agree that I will have to try those next, as the price of my favored strings has gone up like Nvidia prices. I have read tales of the Oliv 'A' being fragile [fragile + expensive not a good combo], but the Aquila bare gut 'A' is REALLY cheap, and easy to wipe every two weeks or so with a minimal amount of almond oil when done practicing for preservation. I think the Tricolore 'G' (Beef!) has it over the Aquila 'G' (Traditional Sheep!), and will go back once my string is done, but don't tell the US distributor, he is really proud!
Very good video. I am a recent older adult learner. Have a friend that is a luthier and do a bit of work on violins. I changed the strings on the used violin I bought. It changed the sound. The E broke and the others were worn. I got some new “ practice strings” $35 range. They didn’t sound as good as the ones it came with. Turns out they were Obligatos. Bit too much money for my crappy beginner playing.
I wouldn’t assume the comment didn’t intend to say kings. There are other materials used for strings. I have Thomastik titanium core strings on some of my instruments for example.
Just curious as to how long your strings last , do you play them until they break or replace them at a certain time . I tried a set of Evah Pirazzi ,Expensive but sound great . Unfortunately twinkle little star sounds just as bad as always 😂
In my local music store, there are steel strings priced at Rand 200-00 and Rand 1000-00 per packet violin strings, why this huge price difference? It's all steel.
"...hunting bow being used as a one-stringed instrument..."... BY A COW PERSON? I think you're burying the lede here. Also I switched to Tonicas and I'm never going back. I think they are worth a try!🙂
Thanks. Very interesting as always. Slightly gross about slaughtering animals and yanking out their intestines (what animals? Did you say sheep? Didn't they use to call it cat gut - or is that tennis rackets?) and If they're not good enough for violins, are they made into sausage casing? Or perhaps viola strings? Ha
Wrong again. Oistrakh and Kogan used steel A and E strings, thus the two fine tuners. Some say they used Prim, others say Chromcor. The setup was popular in the Soviet period and is still called "Russian style." Please educate yourself.
No, they used Lenzner, made near Markneukirchen (East, after WWII) Germany (yes, a steel "A"). Mostly, their "E" strings are still world-famous (and inexpensive - "Goldbrokat") and more available than the rest of their strings. I actually have a full set on one instrument, there is a choice of gut or steel for the "A," and I use gut. (Or so I read once - according to Nate Robinson on a forum, he did switch to Prim, a company started in the '40s)
Um, why do you have to sprinkle your comments with put downs and insults? You could just make your point and leave it at that. If you want respect, that is the way to roll.
Since you mentioned you always read the comments 😅, I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am for this channel and your content. I’ve enjoyed so much of your Historical Violin Series, your wonderful performances, and your insightful interviews/comparisons. I hope you have a wonderful day, every new video is always a treat.
Very well done, Katha. The gumption to put ourselves out there will always be rewarded with some negativity. Your willingness to take up the (poorly founded) challenge is just great. What you and Illya provide is invaluable. Keep up the good work!
I always enjoy your educational videos, and really appreciate the performance videos. I feel so lucky to live in a time where I can freely watch a channel like this. I'm very grateful for your efforts.
I think this chanel is special😊
Your playing /violin sound great no matter the strings. It's the skill, the emotion and the inspiration (and maybe a colicky baby!) that matters the most. Thanks!
Hard times for vegetarians!
There are also gut strings for double base available, and they use quite a lot of "material" of course, which may be fractionally disgusting...
I once gave gut strings a try, as I had a spare viola and removed chinrest and shoulderrest to get the maximum realistic feeling possible with a non-baroque instrument. What I did not know when ordering the quite expensive gut strings was that if you want to play 415 Hz you need another strength... if you buy the "standard" they are for 44x Hz and sound a little poor when tuned low. But I got this information after the "experiment" had been over for long time and I had not been so extremely pleased about the famous "gut sound". Every few bars I had to retune. You cough - you have to retune. Someone enters with a hot cup of tea - you have to retune. In winter time you forget to care about the humidifier - all strings are broken. I've been listening to a baroque concert in a quite humid historic tunnel down under a river where a gut string of the violinist broke 2 times during a 30 minute concert. Good news was she simply was able to made a knot, as she only had one spare string with her... try to do this with synthetic or steel strings. The knot was placed at the end of the fingerboard, which looked a little concerning...
So, I wonder how in the historic past it was possible to play longer pieces at all, but I'm not a professional. They must have some secret secrets for this, which could be worth a video?.
I didn't know most professionals use synthetic or composite strings, I just assumed they used steel. Thanks for making this great video🙂
Probably a lot of folk-fiddle professionals use steel
Always a treat to watch and listen to your videos. Keep them coming.
Thank you for bringing more light into that subject. When I grew up I used the "Eudoxa Olive" which sounded great but could snap quite easily. I tried most good strings over the past 60 years and E Pirazzi are great but too much metallic sounding. But if I would be you, I would try "Il Cannone Soloist", they have power, richness in sound with more overtones. And for the E string, there are many good onces, but their sound gets weak pretty soon so I come often back to the inexpensive "Hill E thick", which has a very strong clean sound and are ideal for instruments which have three powerful lower strings.
I like the Oliv silver-wound D strings, but the others are too high for my budget. I use the thickest, and have not seen any snaps. In the American South, I sub synthetics in the summer [gut stretches + does not have its best sound in high humidity] that Strueff etc. have compared to Il Cannone strings, and the demo by Tina at Shar makes me agree that I will have to try those next, as the price of my favored strings has gone up like Nvidia prices. I have read tales of the Oliv 'A' being fragile [fragile + expensive not a good combo], but the Aquila bare gut 'A' is REALLY cheap, and easy to wipe every two weeks or so with a minimal amount of almond oil when done practicing for preservation. I think the Tricolore 'G' (Beef!) has it over the Aquila 'G' (Traditional Sheep!), and will go back once my string is done, but don't tell the US distributor, he is really proud!
Something you might want to cover is the Bridge , do you have yours made for you ? You could cover how they are made and fitted to the Violin etc
Very good video. I am a recent older adult learner. Have a friend that is a luthier and do a bit of work on violins. I changed the strings on the used violin I bought. It changed the sound. The E broke and the others were worn. I got some new “ practice strings” $35 range. They didn’t sound as good as the ones it came with. Turns out they were Obligatos. Bit too much money for my crappy beginner playing.
What do you think about opening up the sound of new instruments? is there something that helps besides playing a lot?
I wouldn’t assume the comment didn’t intend to say kings. There are other materials used for strings. I have Thomastik titanium core strings on some of my instruments for example.
Just curious as to how long your strings last , do you play them until they break or replace them at a certain time . I tried a set of Evah Pirazzi ,Expensive but sound great . Unfortunately twinkle little star sounds just as bad as always 😂
In my local music store, there are steel strings priced at Rand 200-00 and Rand 1000-00 per packet violin strings, why this huge price difference? It's all steel.
"...hunting bow being used as a one-stringed instrument..."... BY A COW PERSON? I think you're burying the lede here. Also I switched to Tonicas and I'm never going back. I think they are worth a try!🙂
Nasty comments. Thatwas funny.
But don't think a Juilliard-graduate violinist does not have opinions about strings!
Thanks. Very interesting as always. Slightly gross about slaughtering animals and yanking out their intestines (what animals? Did you say sheep? Didn't they use to call it cat gut - or is that tennis rackets?) and If they're not good enough for violins, are they made into sausage casing? Or perhaps viola strings? Ha
sheep and cow
I just use synthetic strings.. steel strings are for guitars, and these days, we don't need to be murderous to produce violin strings.
2000 years of storage - yeah, but probably not a GOOD sound.
Wrong again. Oistrakh and Kogan used steel A and E strings, thus the two fine tuners. Some say they used Prim, others say Chromcor. The setup was popular in the Soviet period and is still called "Russian style." Please educate yourself.
First, get civilized. Then, offer opinions.
No, they used Lenzner, made near Markneukirchen (East, after WWII) Germany (yes, a steel "A"). Mostly, their "E" strings are still world-famous (and inexpensive - "Goldbrokat") and more available than the rest of their strings. I actually have a full set on one instrument, there is a choice of gut or steel for the "A," and I use gut. (Or so I read once - according to Nate Robinson on a forum, he did switch to Prim, a company started in the '40s)
@ thanks for confirming that Oistrakh and Kogan weren’t “boycotting” steel strings. This woman spews pure ignorance of the most simple of things!
@ also, do you have a source for your assertion that they used goldbrokat? All of mine say Prim.
Um, why do you have to sprinkle your comments with put downs and insults? You could just make your point and leave it at that. If you want respect, that is the way to roll.