MY WORLD

This is my blog space where I publish thoughts and experiences I have.

Research and Development

Violin Fixtures

My father was telling me a story about a Baroque Violinist he watched perform several of the Bach Brandenburg concerti and during his dialogue he mentioned the Violinist had no fixtures on his instrument. I laughed when he said that. Side note: I have also read about J. Heifetz refer to shoulder rests as scaffolding. For many years, I have tested, made, altered, adjusted, and disposed of more chinrests and shoulder rests that I care to recall. I, personally, can appreciate a naked violin for all its natural beauty and light weight. Even though my appreciation is great, the reality is that mating the Violin (or Viola) to the human body is no simply task and one size does not fit all. What I have found it one size, fits one. After many years of research, development, and testing, I have finally produced my own chinrest and shoulder rest. Both are hand made and customized to me. After having perfected and produced these items, I can play with a relaxed posture and with more ease than ever before. I can also support the instrument horizontally without any assistance from my left hand. This serves me so well that I am now able to focus on the feel of the music and my interpretations without worrying about supporting the instrument, or worst... it slipping during a shift and me instinctively clamping it with my jaw. I am delighted to report the days of stabbing neck and shoulder pain, inaccurate shifts, playing out of tune due to inaccurate shifts, and fear before or during a performance because of troublesome shifts are FADING AWAY. When it comes to my Violin playing the "Maslow Hierarchy of needs" has taken effect and I have jumped a few layers up the pyramid. I feel like I have shortcut ten years of practicing by having the Otwell-Comfort-Fit fixtures.

Violin Compositions

Violin Concerto

For a while I have pondered the possibility of writing my own Violin concerto. I never felt as though I needed to write one as a rite of passage. Quite simply, I was intrinsically interested in writing one and as a result, it started to reveal itself to me. One day, while playing through some thematic ideas, I pulled off a nice catchy lick that seemed to spark my interest. After playing through it a several times, I jotted it down with pencil and paper and returned back to the instrument for yet another practice session. A few days later, I returned to the theme and considered elaborating on it. Fast forward six months and now here I sit with a near completed Violin concerto (w/ three movements). At the present time, it is scored for Violin and Piano. I will get around to orchestrating it at some point in the future. I don't anticipate procrastinating the orchestration process. I simply need to start chipping away at the orchestration and unfold my ideas onto a music score.

I have considered publishing my concerto but at this time I am ambivalent about doing so. This concerto was "written by me, for me" as a performance opportunity in the classical music market. If others are interested in playing it I might consider a publication. I have yet to carve out a slice and produce a public sample. I will do that at the appropriate time.

Solo and Accompanied Works

I have worked on solo violin works for many years. Recently, I have had a bit of free time to fully round out my #1 Violin Concertina. I am working to develop my desired expression of this piece and will be adding it to my full-time play list. I look forward to having this piece well under control and hope it will serve to please the audience as much as it has served to challenge and reward me.

I have also built an Offertory piece and a Slow, Yearning, Sorrowful piece. These works are accompanied by Piano and are ready for action. I do not have recorded or manuscript samples available to the public at this time. I will get around to doing it sometime in the future.

New Repertoire

I am pulling together some new popular tunes which I will play for the less formal gigs. The first iteration of these tunes will be on solo violin. Later, I will record some background chords on a classical guitar and play along with them.