#Marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 81.

GOTH BOW.

I used to really get annoyed at one of my former primary care doctors for constantly badgering me about whether there was any correlation between my mood and my energy/pain levels, because there really didn't seem to be any at the time. In hindsight, I realize I was just so burnt out and traumatized back then that I was always one butterfly wing-flap away from a flareup. Hence no apparent correlation. Now, I definitely notice that what's going on in my life makes a difference. Some combination of the trip and my weird brain-rut impacted my ability to stand for practice for a week. It seems to be going away now. I had no problem standing for practice today. Despite it being pretty grueling on my arm practicing being in seventh position.

Also... did I mention I have a Goth bow? That might be helping with the serotonin levels.

It's maybe two or three grams lighter and more evenly weighted than my wood bow. The hair is very grippy and didn't require too much rosin to get started. Sound-wise, it's got a bit of a dark, earthy quality to it, which suits me just fine obvs. This is not like, a super high-end bow but it seems to be a pretty solid one and it's gonna be my default bow for now. Getting it rehaired at some point down the line is going to be... interesting but that's a problem for Future Me LOL.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

I just discovered that Baroque violinist Olivier Brault wears historybounding outfits for his performances and TBH why are we not doing this more often, fam?

Also, anyone who complains that Joshua Bell moves around too much when he plays is going to be scandalized by Brault's performance style--he takes the connection between Baroque dance and Baroque music very seriously. LOL

#very gender actually #baroque music #baroque violin #Marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 97 98! Doing a great job here... part 1.

I done goofed.

So I've been making all these little blocks and shapes out of silicone rubber for my finger and it took me all this time to realize...

Silicone doesn't stick. Anything less than a perfect fit means this stuff immediately starts sliding around which is why it's been so hard to test these for their relative effectiveness. An eraser, on the other hand, has something closer to the correct level of stick. So I'm going to need some kind of castable synthetic rubber if I want to just cast something as a single piece. The problem there is that other kinds of synthetic rubber have a waaaay shorter shelf life than silicone rubber. I'd be re-casting the prosthetic way more often. I'm thinking this is not the way I want to go, and I'd rather have a permanent frame that I can just attach pieces of urethane rubber sheet to, and replace those as necessary. Hmmmmm.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 107.

Huh. I'm going through Galamian's teaching manual and one of the things that caught my eye is his notes on finger placement to facilitate vibrato. So I've been trying to watch my finger placement and letting my form be dictated by that instead of worrying about where my elbow is or thinking too much about my thumb. I think it's helping--either that or I've just been brute-forcing my high-position practice enough that it's getting easier. Also trying to ease up on my finger pressure, which is the constant struggle of every intermediate violinist.

So yeah, basically nothing but high-position scales and shifting practice today, LOL. Honestly would like to get another hour in but I have too much to do today.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Okay, I just saw that Kenji López-Alt is doing a cooking/music show which is just a wild concept, but also... when the hell does that man even have time to practice violin? I am so envious of everyone else's time management skills. And energy levels.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 105.

Not sure if I'm going to actually, like, properly practice tonight since I have so much stuff left on my to-do list this week arrrgh. But I did some run-throughs on the violin parts I'm arranging and once again I've decided to charley-horse myself with a buncha high-position shit because God forbid a violinist play something the easy way. Sigh. Like, seriously, do we all have the brainrot about running up to the very edge of our abilities? Is that just baked into us the moment we start taking lessons?

I've also been experimenting with how to handle this shit-potato mic, since I keep blowing it out even with the gain turned all the way down. Sooo, it looks like if I cover it with two layers of a light flannel shirt, and I stand about five feet away from it, I seem to hit the best balance between not blowing out the mic 99% of the time and not sounding like I'm somewhere at the end of a long empty hall. *sigh* I will get a decent mic eventually.

ETA: oh, awesome. Beeps has now decided that the shoulder rest is a cat toy.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 104.

Welp. Benchmark time. You're now, once again, deputized to be "colleagues" so I can bitch about this.

I shoulda recorded yesterday, when my energy levels were better. My arms are so fucking tired today I really wasn't sure I was gonna make it through the play-throughs and I just kinda started brain-weaseling in my head about why in the world I'm doing this when I don't even have the stamina or the cognitive wherewithal to make it through one three-minute song anymore blah blah blah. So much of this is turning out to be a head game, I know.

You can still hear how outta control my bow hand is and honestly, I am suuuuper disappointed that I could hit the shifts yesterday but not today. But that's an accurate portrayal of just how inconsistent all of this still is for me.

I coulda tried again for another play-through but honestly I'm so done with this piece again LOL. I need to go do something that isn't requiring so much of me all at once.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 102.

Things are better today. Just like... everything generally. Although I did not push my luck beyond an hour. I have the sinking feeling that regularly pushing for 90 minutes to two hours a session is just not in the cards for me because I'm not getting much better at being able to bear it. If I want to practice more than an hour a day, I'm going to have to find a way to do multiple hour-long blocks with rest time in between.

I rotated in Kreutzer #9 for warm ups and quickly tapped out because it was tiring out my left hand LOL. I think until I finally record another benchmark I'm just gonna do E major scales in various positions as my warm-up. LOL I can't wait to put "Salut" away again but I always end up procrastinating on deciding what I'll do next. I thought "Valse Triste" would be next but it turns out I'm going to have a real fun time trying to match up the MIDI piano accompaniment to the violin part for that ugggggghhhh.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 100.

I must shamefacedly tell you that on Day 100, of all days, I have not been able to practice. I am very, very out of it today and after how badly practice went yesterday I just don't think I have the cognitive whatsit for proper practice today. I'm not sure if we're still even on for a benchmark recording tomorrow given all this.

Clearly I overdid it on Friday. I knew I was pushing it but I didn't realize just how badly.

My bad.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 85.

*laughing*

This was not the most brilliant deadline to give myself. I'm having trouble with a consistent hand-form for the high positions sul D. Uggggghhhh. Real trial by fire here after changing so many things at once. I'm about to annoy the shit out of my neighbors tomorrow (like I haven't already annoyed the shit outta them today...).

Still having a problem with my fingers getting stiff when my hands get cold. I've ordered an electric hand warmer for starters, but I'm going to have to figure out how to dress slightly too warm for comfort when I practice without impeding my arm movement.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 80. Managed to stand for practice today! Yay.

Maybe this has something to do with it: I got my new chinrest this morning so I got to test drive it for practice. It's the Holstein Freedom, which looked like it was pretty much exactly what I wanted in a chinrest: way less weight, complete barrier between my chin and the tailpiece, and a solid thing for my jawline to grip to keep Dolce from falling off my shoulder. Yeah, so far this feels like the correct decision. I'm having an easier time with the heroic shifts and high positions and Dolce is staying put. But! This has changed the angle of my violin just enough that my right hand is going to need a hot minute to adjust. There was a giant rosin streak along the C-bout to attest to my disorientation. Phbbbbt.

Also... yeah I bought the Goth bow. I mean... especially at that price, how could I not buy the Goth bow. Haven't had a chance to rosin it up yet but soooon. I now have enough bows that I need to consider getting a 4-bow case, especially since I might be getting a viola bow for Umbra eventually. I've put the Incredibows in Umbra's case for now since they have synthetic hair but they barely fit. Yeah, I've been dropping a lot of cash on this hobby lately but in fairness this is like, 20 years of deferred upgrades happening all at once.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 76.

And yet, I persist. I know I keep saying I need to be more patient and curious, but I keep saying it because I keep having to remind myself.

I also think I'm going to get a new chinrest and a new shoulder rest after all. This whole year is about testing stuff out and seeing what works, and I need to stop being a neurotic mess about needing shoulder support and just fuckin' play for a while.

Also pulled Umbra's case out just to check on her and... guess who has a Dermestid infestation. *screams* The bow in there is pretty much dehaired (whatever, it's a cheap Glasser bow) and there's larval molts all over. Also Umbra has some kind of... white mold all over her? *more screaming* The mold seems to wipe off at least but oh God I've let her turn into a salami and she's been living with bugs. Tomorrow both the case and Umbra will be getting some bright indirect sunlight. I have cedar balls and oil I can put in there afterwards.

I'd forgotten I already took the chinrest off of her too. I guess I'll add another one to the cart, LOL.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 69 (nice).

Not gonna lie, I'm kinda sad that I can't do anything to celebrate teh funni number because God help me, I am forever a twelve-year-old child at heart.

Kind of having a love-hate relationship with the unhinged musical idea right now. I'm so sick of having it on loop in my head; I can't tell if that's because it's actually catchy or because I'm way too fixated on it.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 56.

I'm going to try practicing again in the evening. I had to fight my constantly detuning A string so much I really didn't get a chance to concentrate and I'm annoyed.

Having grown up in San Francisco where we didn't have to deal with things like a severe lack of humidity or actual cold temperatures I'm just not used to all this weather business. Even when I get a humidistat for the studio I can't help but wonder how much of a pain in the ass it'll be to switch to synthetic strings, let alone... gut.

#personal #marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

I don't need an all-black bow.

Do I want one? KINDA.

#my aesthetic is entirely predictable #Marve won't shut up about violin

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Day 52.

Trying to portion out time for each thing I'm working on and it's very unsatisfying. It's just gonna have to be this way until I can build up my stamina again.

My shoulder rest foam continues to settle. The balance is off in a new and different way and Dolce is dragging my shirt down to the depths. Again. We'll figure this shit out eventually.

Not much to report today other than holy geeze, I really need some better way of keeping my hands warm during practice in the winter. Sticking them in warm water for a bit helps but I can't be doing this all the time when I start extending my practice hours. Should I get an electric hand warmer or something?

#personal #Marve won't shut up about violin