Are Stradivarius Violins Better Than Modern Violins?
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- In this video, Joel Kennedy explores the legendary quality of Stradivarius violins, comparing them to modern instruments. He also shares a personal story about a trip to New York with his daughter to see if the Stradivarius still truly reigns supreme.
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My fiddle teacher is also a fiddle maker. He was telling me after he learned I did my own varnished job on my violin. I also told him how I did it and he congratulated me. I put the varnish which was actually an oil-based varnish made in Ireland on by hand. I did not use a brush. Neither did I use a spray machine. And I waited for each layer to dry before I put another layer on but my first coat which was a primer coat I actually used Tru oil which is a mixture of tung oil and linseed oil. I put about three or four coats all together. I'm sorry I got off course the thing he was telling me is that if you put your violin up to a speaker of your stereo and play music to it while you're not playing it it will increase the crystallization process of your varnish hence making your violin sound better. And I do this and I find that this works. I told a person I know who plays the cello to do the same and she thought I was daft. But I'm telling you folks try it it works. The instruments need vibration in the vibration they need to get it from is music. I usually play classical music to my instruments. I will also put in a pop for the teacher. His name is Bruce wurst. If you want to buy a fine violin check this man out. He was teaching at music Masters in Scottsdale Arizona.
Yeah, it's true. There are devices that you can buy to sit on a bridge of an instrument and vibrate at different frequencies and this process opens up instruments for sure.
I have a modern violin that I commissioned back in 2021. It has definitely improved in sound quality over the years. I've also gotten better as a player, so it feels like there's a lot sound continuously being unlocked.
Interestingly enough, I've used antique bows with it, and they reveal a lot of sound potential that it's capable of. That in itself is a whole new world to talk about.
Thanks for the video!
Hmmm.... interesting point. Many people fail to realize or consider how much a bow will change the quality of your sound. 👍
Guitar company's have a way of aging wood through a certain process so they get the aged character earlier with reducing the amount of moisture in the wood. This tends to give a slightly warmer sound. I wounder if violin makers can do the same thing
Yes, I believe you are referring to "kiln-dried" wood. As a general rule, we can buy wood that has been kiln-dried or naturally dried and we have learned that naturally dried is always better for violins. The kiln dried method generally works in the short term but in the longer term, the wood usually has issues. The violins can have a tendency to come apart etc. It may not be as important with guitars, since the wood is more symmetrical. I don't really know but I know that the complex carving of the violins top and back generally don't do well with kiln drying. Pretty much all of the very cheap violins you'll find on Amazon are kiln-dried. This is a much less expensive and faster method but often yields disastrous results long term unfortunately.
The Stratovarius wasn't all that great according to Nicolo Paganini. He preferred to play the Guarnerius violin instead. Then again, i really doubt that the Stradivarius could've handled his chaotic Caprices.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
🤪
Pretty cool looking watch collection!
Haha, ya....I have an addiction. That's just the tip of the iceberg... 😬
I´m playing a about 120-125 years old 7/8 size Thibouville-Lamy. ( Adult player whit small hands)
It probably sounds pretty good!
still crazy that we don't know much of "why" the older instruments sounds better because if we did we would then just make new instruments that sounds just as good... perhaps maybe aging plays a roll and it's hard to artificially age something... maybe I should create a robot that plays instruments 24/7 so that we can make them sound better faster...
Not all Strad sounds better than modern violins. Some Strad sounds like student violins!
Thanks a lot 👍
Always glad to offer my opinion! 😝
Some modern violins actually sound as good as Stradivarius violin!
True!
Who is this guy?
Great care was put into each instrument to maximize the master players expressive voice. Comparing the changeable play setup and discounting that "it does sound better". Not sure what the point is? Or is it that nothings worth 50m unless youre a billionare master violinist?
I suppose the primary point is that modern master makers are able to produce more functional, more consistent violins than the old Masters because they have the advantage of time and experience. The older makers experimented quite a lot and that would explain a lot of their inconsistency with their violins as well. However, the modern makers can't really compete with time. So when you take the best of the old makers and the best of the modern makers, the old makers violins will end up being better instruments. Of course, extremely few people in this world have access to those instruments. Only the top players basically. 😢
Strad is the best violin
By "modern" do you mean a $10,000.00 violin can be better than an older violin? Do you have a violin in mind that you sell that a man without a lot of money can purchase that would sound very professional and would be around $10,000 to $20,000.00? Or would one have to pay a minimum of, say, $60,000.00 to get a world-class modern violin made in 2023ish?
By the way, your daughter looks beautiful attesting to the truth that the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. Kudos to you and your wife 🙂
From my personal experience, it's quite possible to get a violin in the $30k+ range that is "new(ish)" that'll give the older violins a real run for their money. Of course, this is a gross generalization, as there are plenty of great violins for less and some bad ones in the higher range but that's what I've seen in terms of averages. Or to say it simply, to be a contender against the far more expensive Italian instruments, you'll usually have to be in the 30k + range with a modern violin.
@@KennedyViolins thanks for the great information.