picky picky

So here's a post solely for myself and the extremely curious. Although there are some people who read this and don't post replies (lurkers), this one should be even more incomprehensible to others than previous posts.

I'm traditionally a Pirastro guy. I use their Eudoxa strings for the G, D, and A strings. They're made with braided sheep intestine wound with silver and aluminum. For the E string I use either a Pirastro gold label (medium, loop end) or a Goldbrokat 26 gauge. This violin is pretty sensitive to the tension on the E string. It does not tolerate excessive tension nor does it speak properly with too loose a string. I am currently finding that the Goldbrokat is giving me the best sound. It is a neutral yet sweet string - not too bright and with just enough edge to make the sound interesting, especially in first position. Higher positions require less bow pressure otherwise I can star to hear the high partials and harmonics distort. What I like about the Goldbrokat is how it sounds when open. It's got that nutty and dry sound like a gut one.

But anyway, as I said, I am a Pirastro guy. I absolutely love the Olivs but they're expensive. The Evah Pirazzis seem to be extremely popular but their high tension doesn't mesh with my violin. The Eudoxas offer a compromise: medium tension, medium voice. However, I am hesitant to use them at this time of the year given the humidity fluctuation. Gut is still an organic material which expands and contracts when it absorbs ambient moisture in the room. Consider the fact that the player breathes close to the strings, adding a constant variable source of less dissipated moisture. I suppose one could hold his or her breath while playing gut strings but that would be no fun.

My instrument isn't a particularly valuable one nor is it cheap. The guy who made it is currently selling his other violins for $15,000. I play on a bow I bought myself for graduation for about $4,000. Together these two things are the most valuable things I own and will own for a long time. They were big investments and I trust that they will be lifelong friends. To be technical about it, the violin was gifted to me by somebody who believed in my musical abilities in 2003. I was intending to purchase a violin by a contemporary maker and had plans to pay him bit by bit over a few years. Luckily I met the right person at the right time and it was mine to own without having spent a single penny. The bow is a different story on the other hand. That put a hole in my bank account but I needed it. All that to say that the instrument isn't some cheapie that doesn't notice changes in strings. Not to brag about it, but my instrument pretty much rocks. If it could speak it would say, "Excuse me, I'm kind of a big deal!"

I sent it through FedEx about ten months ago for its yearly checkup with its maker. I had Pirastro Obligato strings on it at the time. When I got it back the same Obligatos were on the violin and still sounded decent. At the same time I had received a free set of Evah Pirazzi strings compliments of the manufacturer in thanks for a review I wrote for them. I don't know why I took off the Obligatos and put the Pirazzis on, but I did. It was terrible. I didn't want to buy new strings so I just dealt with it until summer, when I had the cash to buy the much cheaper Thomastik Dominant strings in Hawaii. They were purchased as an interim set as the humidity of Hawaii both tarnishes the strings as well as makes me sweat, which corrodes the windings and causes string failure. I had planned to buy a new set of Obligatos when I reached Berkeley.

Three weeks ago I bought a new set of Obligatos and kept my Goldbrokat E. As soon as I put them on I realized how much better I liked the Dominants. My complaint about the Dominants was that they sounded too bright to the point of sounding superficial and "edgy". The A was fine and had a beautiful bel canto quality in the upper positions - fifth and above. The D was pretty excellent too and held up to heavy bow pressure. But the G was just awful. It never developed a full voice and sounded like a raspy whisper. At the time I changed the strings I had been preparing a Mozart duo in G Major. The strings fit the piece well. The sound was bright, cheery, accessible and golden. When I try to play the Mozart with the Obligatos I don't get that effect unless I push down hard. This causes all sorts of tension in my left forearm so my articulation suffers. When I think about it its clear that my bowing is compensating by using the upper half of the bow with plenty of pressure on the side of the forefinger. I can tell these accomodations don't work for the violin because many passages sound "choked". Indeed, I am not pleased with the sound. I haven't been excited to practice since the new strings and things must sound awful.

So the point? I am interested in going back to the Dominants but spending $60 on the Obligatos makes me want to give them even more of a chance. I can't waste that much money. On the other hand, I am very unhappy with the current playing arrangement. These strings would work well for stuff like Brahms or Beethoven or perhaps second fiddle in French impressionistic quartets. Problem is, that's not what I am doing right now. I am playing for myself, for fun, pieces of the high classical period. Haydn through Mozart. It is so difficult to get a lightness of tone with strings that demand heavy bow pressure. On top of that, the strings seem to want to play in notes by themselves. I mean that the difference between a G and a G# is pretty drastic. In the style of Mozart the leading tone is always played a bit sharp. For example, the Duo is in G Major. The leading tone is F# when in the major key. I haven't been able to raise that F# high enough to make my cadences more musical. It sounds like I am in D major or something which is so annoying. Again, maybe that would fly for Romantic literature but for Classical and Baroque (the mood I am currently in) that will not do.

The point: Man, remember that Dominants work for Mozart, Obligatos for post 1800. Obligato response is slow, Dominant is quick. Obligato has depth, Dominant has joy. Obligato is expensive, Dominant is cheap. Obligato bad, Dominant good. Simple as that, right? The interesting insight is that the Obligatos sound decent when the humidity goes below 70%. Otherwise the violin sounds like it's being played underwater. It's got no zest. It just sounds tired.

I guess it'll just have to be a snap decision: either keep the Obligatos because it is economically prudent or change to Dominants and preserve my love for the art. We shall see. I am more than willing to not eat through the weekend just so I can sound good again. Maybe I'll want to practice things other than scales at five minute intervals. Maybe I'll be able to go and start playing pieces all the way through again instead if "scrippa scrippa, screech screech, woo woo." I am sure that my neighbors will appreciate that most of all.