The Usual Violin Post (now with linkdump!)
I need to spend less time reading through the message boards at violinist.com, maestronet.com, and fiddleforum.com. (also thesession.org, but they seem to get slightly fewer threads.) If I did, I bet I'd get a lot more stuff done.
I'm a huge fan of these guys. Video/sound quality isn't hugely impressive, especially in the first one, and the fiddle tunes are occasionally painful, but it's still a lot of fun to watch. The sort of thing I could see myself doing, assuming I managed to find the time and motivation to learn all that stuff. And find another violinist with equal interest...
This guy is, um, batshit insane. He's actually a really good violinist, if you look him up. But I'd never seen anyone go quite this nuts before. Also, the 4-string thing during the second half is really cool. I'd actually heard of it before, but I'd forgotten. Now I'm sort of tempted to try, as long as I can find a piece that doesn't care about too many open G, D, A, or E strings played as harmony. I've got an old fiberglass bow that I don't care about, so no worries regarding doing really bad things to it.
Weird-ass Violin Patents Section:
Folding/collapsable violins:
http://www.google.com/patents?q=D249387
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT1699384&id=1ZZgAAAAEBAJ&dq=1699384
Foldable violin bow: http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT1027636&id=vlleAAAAEBAJ&dq=1027636
This one's even better. A motor-driven violin bow:
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT3138051&id=s4lnAAAAEBAJ&dq=3138051
Had some interesting ideas about bow hold (yes, I'm still trying to figure this out) that I want to try tonight, if I remember. It's also entirely possible that these won't work at all. Who knows?
I'm a huge fan of these guys. Video/sound quality isn't hugely impressive, especially in the first one, and the fiddle tunes are occasionally painful, but it's still a lot of fun to watch. The sort of thing I could see myself doing, assuming I managed to find the time and motivation to learn all that stuff. And find another violinist with equal interest...
This guy is, um, batshit insane. He's actually a really good violinist, if you look him up. But I'd never seen anyone go quite this nuts before. Also, the 4-string thing during the second half is really cool. I'd actually heard of it before, but I'd forgotten. Now I'm sort of tempted to try, as long as I can find a piece that doesn't care about too many open G, D, A, or E strings played as harmony. I've got an old fiberglass bow that I don't care about, so no worries regarding doing really bad things to it.
Weird-ass Violin Patents Section:
Folding/collapsable violins:
http://www.google.com/patents?q=D249387
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT1699384&id=1ZZgAAAAEBAJ&dq=1699384
Foldable violin bow: http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT1027636&id=vlleAAAAEBAJ&dq=1027636
This one's even better. A motor-driven violin bow:
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT3138051&id=s4lnAAAAEBAJ&dq=3138051
Had some interesting ideas about bow hold (yes, I'm still trying to figure this out) that I want to try tonight, if I remember. It's also entirely possible that these won't work at all. Who knows?