How low can you go

The octave strings arrived today, and they don't sound half-bad through my little Ashdown 10W bass amp. Had to open up the peg holes* and cut wider grooves in the bridge, and after trying them out went back and re-shaped the bridge to give it more curve.

The Sensicores are on the Cecilio and I'm still thinking about moving the Alphayue's to the Pfetchner...and the pellet with the poison's in the chalice from the palace.

I'll tell you this, though; even a chin-cello is a workout! You've got to really grind that bow in on the lower strings. And fret with a firmer grip, too. Good thing I've been working those muscles on the steel strings of a folk guitar.

Working on "Concerning Hobbits" now with the penny whistle. Not just because it's popular, I hasten to add. Although the plethora of samples and instructional videos doesn't hurt. But because I've got sheet music that writes out all the ornaments; every grace note, every slide. Because what I'm after here is getting into my fingers and my brain the idioms of tin whistle playing.

Terminator is going more slowly. I've been under the weather, the weather has been over the top, and as a result I've mostly been working or sleeping, not doing music. I've got a new idea on the piece, though. I'm going to give up on trying to mimic the original, and am doing a free interpretation of the basic elements.

Three reasons. One is what's the use of doing a cover on folk instrument if you are going to hide their identity with electronic processing? Another is I literally could not perform some of the parts I wanted and I decided I was against faking it with editing. Last is I want to learn more about arranging in a Celtic/Folk/pop style, more than I want to learn how to copy what Brad Fiedel could do with 80's synthesizers.



*getting down into the guts of the pegbox on the Cecilio has helped me grasp just how (relatively) cheap and shoddy the construction is, from materials to fit to final finish. My other violin is a 1970's German-made student violin constructed in vast quantities for the school trade and from $400 to $600 on the used market today. But every bit, from the fit of the pegs to the material of the bridge is almost beyond comparison.

So I'm getting new insights into the instrument-shaped object. I am still on the fence about ISO's, and there isn't a single simple answer. I can't disagree with the objections made about cheap instruments, but I also have to stick an oar in and say that there are companies like Cecilio and Roosebeck and there are people who, if not for them, wouldn't have an instrument at all.

Myself among that list.