_goodtimez
Well-known
My sister is a violin maker and repair women. She's worked on a few Strads and she sent me that video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1by4dB4azY&feature=player_embedded
I thought it had nothing to do with photography but I remembered my sister is using a Leica M6 and then I thought that the whole thing, the way the violin players talk about their violin could just be identical to the way some talk about their Leica and photography, its all about passion and small details.
Very interesting and inspiring for the photographer I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1by4dB4azY&feature=player_embedded
I thought it had nothing to do with photography but I remembered my sister is using a Leica M6 and then I thought that the whole thing, the way the violin players talk about their violin could just be identical to the way some talk about their Leica and photography, its all about passion and small details.
Very interesting and inspiring for the photographer I think.
peter_n
Veteran
However the camera is much more of a tool than a Cremonese violin like a Guarneri or any violin for that matter because they're all so different from each other. Leica MP bodies are more or less the same. I had the good fortune to hear Joshua Bell in concert at Tanglewood a few days ago and his Stradivarius sounded excellent. 
redisburning
Well-known
any properly brilliant tool has a personality.
I have a certain Parker 51 that has just the most fickle nib in the whole world but when it's right it's just out of this world.
I have a certain Parker 51 that has just the most fickle nib in the whole world but when it's right it's just out of this world.
Thardy
Veteran
I would think that Leica lenses might be a good comparison to what was discussed in the video. But then a virtuoso photographer might feel the same way about his Leica camera.
Does your sister (the violin maker) have a website?
Does your sister (the violin maker) have a website?
charjohncarter
Veteran
Craftsmanship is craftsmanship, whether in the old Cremora, in early Celtic England, or at the Leica plant. And some people, like your sister, just know.
gho
Well-known
Hmm, somewhere I read an article about a blind listening test of several violins, including a Stradivari. As far as I remember, the Stradivari did not stand out and the effect of the impression of Stradivaris as being superior was rather attributed to the connotations associated with the instrument than to the acoustic qualities.
Ah, here it is:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/01/02/1114999109.abstract
Ah, here it is:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/01/02/1114999109.abstract
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
mdarnton
Well-known
Thardy
Veteran
That video was really about the players gushing over the instruments, not how the instrument sounded to others.
mdarnton
Well-known
No, I was referring to the "what players prefer in a hotel room in 30 minutes" article, as opposed to what players prefer on stage, for their lifetime..
stratcat
Well-known
Ahh ... the 'Leica glow' syndrome exists in the musical world too!
But of course! Just ask a player about his '59 Gibson Les Paul or '57 Stratocaster; or why does he keep that ultra-expensive set of NOS Sylvania "Coke Bottle" 6L6 vacuum tubes for his amp.
I know, after all I'm a "Strat cat"
Heck, some players (Eric Johnson comes to mind) even require their effects pedals to be fed by carbon 9 volt batteries because it gives the best sound!
Sounds similar to all the body, lens, film, developer, sensor, etc talk around here, doesn't it?
Just like great photographers can take great pictures regardless of the camera, a great player will get his/her sound on any guitar and amp. I remember reading an article where Jon Bon Jovi tells how he once heard Jeff Beck play 'Where Where You?' in a crappy transistor practice amp backstage in a concert... and it sounded as amazing as the studio recording; or B.B. King saying that his sound is in 'his fingers'.
redisburning
Well-known
the new instruments were all north of 20k, hardly something you can go into a guitar center and buy.
more comparable to a custom Deardorf than a Leica, Keith.
but, if you have any left over Leica stuff I'd be happy to trade some of my OM gear for it, lol.
@stratcat I dont know man I can tell the difference between my guitar straight into my amp and with a pedal in between. MiM strat into a 1974x though, hardly a King's ransom in terms of price. truth be told though, my strat is one of the loudest electric guitars I've ever played acoustically, easily smashing most les pauls and PRS customs. always have wanted a Mayer strat though, lovely necks on those. my neck is a real boat that I sanded the finish off of.
more comparable to a custom Deardorf than a Leica, Keith.
but, if you have any left over Leica stuff I'd be happy to trade some of my OM gear for it, lol.
@stratcat I dont know man I can tell the difference between my guitar straight into my amp and with a pedal in between. MiM strat into a 1974x though, hardly a King's ransom in terms of price. truth be told though, my strat is one of the loudest electric guitars I've ever played acoustically, easily smashing most les pauls and PRS customs. always have wanted a Mayer strat though, lovely necks on those. my neck is a real boat that I sanded the finish off of.
Vics
Veteran
In a small way, I feel that way about my 1960 Gibson Byrdland guitar. I've been playing it for fifty years and it still delivers every time I ask it to do something new. Maybe my collapsible 'cron is a bit like that. It keeps surprising me, too.
Thanks for posting this film.
Thanks for posting this film.
charjohncarter
Veteran
Ok, I'll somewhat agree with you. I have a Gibson, too. But a Guarneri violin? I've also played the guitar for over fifty years, so maybe I'm like a guy in Italy or Austria in the 1500's, and just think it is beautiful. Maybe, today like an Apple computer is beautiful (or some kind of pod/pad).
stratcat
Well-known
Oh, absolutely! I agree with you, there is a difference in sound and feel to each instrument.
I just think that what Garry Winogrand said in an interview once about "The camera does not matter, I shoot Leicas because that's what I like" and B.B. King saying "My sound is in my fingers" is fundamentally the same thing.
I'd definitely like to see a pic of that sanded-off strat of yours
That's a beautiful guitar you have there, congratulations!
stratcat
Well-known
Well, a (probably very) rough equivalent to a Guarneri would be Peter Greene's 1959 Les Paul, which he entrusted to Gary Moore. I wonder where that guitar is now that he passed away...
Just to be clear, I'm not comparing the value (if that is even possible) of a '57 Strat with that of a Stradivarius; I'm just comparing the mystique they hold
cheers!
Vics
Veteran
That's why I said "In a small way..."
redisburning
Well-known
Well, a (probably very) rough equivalent to a Guarneri would be Peter Greene's 1959 Les Paul, which he entrusted to Gary Moore. I wonder where that guitar is now that he passed away...
Just to be clear, I'm not comparing the value (if that is even possible) of a '57 Strat with that of a Stradivarius; I'm just comparing the mystique they hold
cheers!
Moore sold it when he had to cancel his tour due to illness.
it had been badly damaged in a car crash too; that guitar saw a lot of pain with Peter Green's mental illness and Moore's health.
I love the music of both of them.
and my neck doesnt look special, it's the same as any MiM neck except that the neck is a lot less shiny; I didnt go all the way to the wood, I just roughed it up a bit so it wasn't slick as ****.
zauhar
Veteran
"We asked 21 experienced violinists to compare violins by Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu with high-quality new instruments. The resulting preferences were based on the violinists’ individual experiences of playing the instruments under double-blind conditions in a room with relatively dry acoustics."
"Double blind" means the players had to literally be blindfolded while they played (or be in darkness), they couldn't see the instrument. How disorienting was that?
What is meant by "dry acoustics" - designed to make everything sound like the same sh-t?
Everyone should feel free to love their Stradivarius or their Leica, and not be made a fool.
Randy
"Double blind" means the players had to literally be blindfolded while they played (or be in darkness), they couldn't see the instrument. How disorienting was that?
What is meant by "dry acoustics" - designed to make everything sound like the same sh-t?
Everyone should feel free to love their Stradivarius or their Leica, and not be made a fool.
Randy
naruto
GASitis.. finally cured?
So, much does a Strad design go for? I have one from 1940, based on a 1905 Stradivari design.