What other hobbies [past or present] do you have?

my babies...

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StratMan said:
my babies...

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That's quite a trio of fingerboards. Do you have any preferences? Is the Les Paul's ebony, btw? I never felt quite comfortable with maple, but that's probably because I've played for 40 years on ebony, I am used to that feel. Rosewood I do like but maple... eh, not quite my cuppa.
 
Mastropiero said:
Hugh Bean was head of strings when I got there, Sept 2000. Perhaps the most sought after teacher in the violin department was Felix Andrievsky, whom I studied my first year with. We were not a good match so I decided to go in another direction with Ani Schnarch, former pupil of his. Best professional decision I ever made, along with quitting my first orchestra to auditipn for my current one.

Felix is still there, as well as Ani, Itzak Rashkovsky, Madeleine Mitchell, Natalia Boyarsky, Mark Messenger and Yossi Zivoni. These are the ones I knew that are still teching there, I'd have to go have a look at the 2000 RCM booklet, that I probably still have somewhere, to see who else was there.

Was Julia Champion working in the secretary while you were there? I imagine yes, since she was about 273 years old back in 2000.




Well, no instrument has a comfortable. natural grip, not to mention the postures we must adopt, you know that full well.

When I got injured they told me one particular arm movement that could affect me in a negative way. Well, that's a movement that I probably make two or three hundred times in a slow morning.

In any case, nowadays we are more aware of the dangers and we watch much better the way we seat, our posture..... Back in the days orchestra musicians would play until their arms fell.
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Heh :ROFLMAO: I had completely forgotten about Julia Champion, I thought she must have been 273 years old then, so she must have been nearly 293 when you were there. :D I had a quick look at the current line-up, but I didn't expect to see any names familiar other than by reputation. I hit paydirt first off with the Old Bean, which happened by way of an introduction from Yehudi Menuhin who had given me some tuition. (Though I was never at his school.) Yehudi gave me a lot of help with the posture/relaxation bugbears that always dog strings players, and saved me a lot of pain later on. It was he who persuaded me that it would be a good idea to get rid of that shoulder-rest, and he was totally right.

Funnily enough, the first thing to go with my arthritis was the bowing, which hit me hard, since I prided myself on being able to get a great sound from just about any fiddle. Then the LH pizz went completely, and I realised I'd have to find something else to do. Previous memories nonetheless... :love:
 
Mastropiero said:
That's quite a trio of fingerboards. Do you have any preferences? Is the Les Paul's ebony, btw? I never felt quite comfortable with maple, but that's probably because I've played for 40 years on ebony, I am used to that feel. Rosewood I do like but maple... eh, not quite my cuppa.
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Nah the Les Paul fretboard is Rosewood, looks ebony though doesn't it.. the only ebony neck I have in guitars is the Yamaha the rest all Rosewood.. I do have two bouzoukia with ebony also.

I like both ebony and Rosewood cos they give that more natural feel, hard to say which i like more but the ebony does feel a little more slick..

I still enjoy playing on the finished maple neck for something different
 
Mastropiero said:
That's quite a trio of fingerboards. Do you have any preferences? Is the Les Paul's ebony, btw? I never felt quite comfortable with maple, but that's probably because I've played for 40 years on ebony, I am used to that feel. Rosewood I do like but maple... eh, not quite my cuppa.
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But you have maple behind your fingerboard, do you not? ;)
 
Gargravarr said:
Yehudi gave me a lot of help with the posture/relaxation bugbears that always dog strings players, and saved me a lot of pain later on. It was he who persuaded me that it would be a good idea to get rid of that shoulder-rest, and he was totally right.
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Great stuff you meeting the old man 😍😍😍.

Far from me to argue with one of the all time greatest, but I do think removing the shoulder rest is not a fix-all solution, it is very much dependant on the fiddler's physionomy. I did try it but when you have a giraffe's neck, as I do, it becomes near impossible.

But it's not just the neck. The shape of the shoulder, the way you rotate it, your own technique....

Then again, the dude's been dead for twenty years and still knows more about the instrument than I will ever do. What's important is that it worked for you.

Gargravarr said:
Funnily enough, the first thing to go with my arthritis was the bowing, which hit me hard, since I prided myself on being able to get a great sound from just about any fiddle.
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My kind of guy. Sound is EVERYTHING. Technique, that you can acquire. Sound, well.... It can be worked on but for me, you've either got it or you don't.
 
StratMan said:
BDO at the showgrounds... yeah that was a kick ass concert, so much energy. Heaps cool you got to meet them, how did you find them? down to earth? and more importantly did you go backstage for some fun? :)
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Het just out of Rehab in 04 so def no fun backstage...same these day - they are all family men who need their sleep 😁

The crew on the other hand...
 
Phunk said:
No.. not a bbq'er.. I need to somehow feel different and special. 'adder of smoke to meat' sounds better.
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BBQ meant in the proper way as a consummate professional!
 
Mastropiero said:
Great stuff you meeting the old man 😍😍😍.

Far from me to argue with one of the all time greatest, but I do think removing the shoulder rest is not a fix-all solution, it is very much dependant on the fiddler's physionomy. I did try it but when you have a giraffe's neck, as I do, it becomes near impossible.

But it's not just the neck. The shape of the shoulder, the way you rotate it, your own technique....

Then again, the dude's been dead for twenty years and still knows more about the instrument than I will ever do. What's important is that it worked for you.



My kind of guy. Sound is EVERYTHING. Technique, that you can acquire. Sound, well.... It can be worked on but for me, you've either got it or you don't.
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Yehudi's technique was already getting a little wobbly by the time I knew him, but he definitely knew his stuff, having learnt much of it the hard way. He was a great teacher. He used to demonstrate with his ancient Strad hanging, seemingly precariously, from between his chin and collarbone without any support from his left hand, which seemed strange to me until I nailed getting the balance right, and I suddenly just got it. But then, my neck is probably no longer than his.

There was a time when you used to be able to identify nearly all the great soloists by their tone and delivery. Nowadays they often seem to be very much alike, though they all have to be tremendous athletes on a technical level even to make it into college. (A pet rant of mine, sorry :rolleyes:) For instance, the first time I saw "Fiddler On The Roof" I recognised Isaac Stern's sound immediately. :love: I still treasure Yehudi's recordings of the Bach S&Ps when he was still a teenager. He sounds like a gypsy, because that was his musical heritage...
 
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Gargravarr said:
Yehudi's technique was already getting a little wobbly by the time I knew him, but he definitely knew his stuff, having learnt much of it the hard way. He was a great teacher. He used to demonstrate with his ancient Strad hanging, seemingly precariously, from between his chin and collarbone without any support from his left hand, which seemed strange to me until I nailed getting the balance right, and I suddenly just got it. But then, my neck is probably no longer than his.

There was a time when you used to be able to identify nearly all the great soloists by their tone and delivery. Nowadays they often seem to be very much alike, though they all have to be tremendous athletes on a technical level even to make it into college. (A pet rant of mine, sorry :rolleyes:) For instance, the first time I saw "Fiddler On The Roof" I recognised Isaac Stern's sound immediately. :love: I still treasure Yehudi's recordings of the Bach S&Ps when he was still a teenager. He sounds like a gypsy, because that was his musical heritage...
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Agreed. Will carry on via PM. 😃
 
Mastropiero said:
Agreed. Will carry on via PM. 😃
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Go ahead and have your PM chat - but it was fascinating even as a non-musical person [tone deaf and have no rhythm according to my kids] to watch you chat with such obvious passion and enthusiasm about the vagaries of a world I've had no experience of! Thanks for sharing some insights into that world both you and @Gargravarr !
 
Mark1966 said:
Go ahead and have your PM chat - but it was fascinating even as a non-musical person [tone deaf and have no rhythm according to my kids] to watch you chat with such obvious passion and enthusiasm about the vagaries of a world I've had no experience of! Thanks for sharing some insights into that world both you and @Gargravarr !
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No worries, I just thought it'd be more apropriate to go private rather than further hijacking the thread. 😅
 
Ive always enjoyed my woodwork, love playing on the lathe but sadly had to sell it off when we moved interstate, now in a bigger place and plan to get back into it again.
Have recently (the last year or 2) gotten into a bit of hydroponics and gardening and a bit of fermentation for food like vinegar and the sort.
Always wanted to do blacksmithing and also would like to try the whole distillery thing a go.

Bit jealous with some of the instruments i see on the go, ive never been able to play much apart from my babys shaker😂
 
Mark1966 said:
I failed recorder in primary school
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When I moved primary schools, the new one had compulsory recorder lessons. Because I never was taught how to play it at my first school, I just had to sit in the class and listen to everybody else as it was too late to teach me. I think that's what the US used on their Guantanamo Bay inmates when they found that waterboarding wasn't getting the job done.
 
Nanook said:
When I moved primary schools, the new one had compulsory recorder lessons. Because I never was taught how to play it at my first school, I just had to sit in the class and listen to everybody else as it was too late to teach me. I think that's what the US used on their Guantanamo Bay inmates when they found that waterboarding wasn't getting the job done.
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If only you were in the USA where you could assert your 8th Amendment rights -

“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
 
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