Olaf installs the God Pillar in a violin
Vložit
- čas přidán 16. 06. 2024
- Behold! The God Pillar!!
After many fan requests, I finally order and install the God Pillar. Will I have to eat my words and turn a $450 violin into a $19,000 violin? Or is it just a load of C#@p?
Master Violin Maker and Restorer Olaf Grawert tries out the God Pillar...
Be fully informed when you buy your next instrument. Get Olaf's free 7 essentials when buying an instrument report here: olafgrawertviolinstudio.com/7...
00:00 Intro
00:17 The God Pillar arrives and I talk about it
02:27 I Install the God Pillar
10:00 I try the God Pillar and compare it to the violin without the God Pillar
12:11 What I found out and Conclusion
TwoSet Violin original God Pillar video: • Stick This "God Pillar...
#myviolinmaker, #olafgrawertviolin
Website:
www.olafgrawertviolinstudio.com
Online Store:
olafgrawertviolinstudio.com/p...
Social:
/ olafgrawertviolinstudio
/ olafgrawertviolinstudio
Olaf Grawert also features in some @TwoSetViolin videos - Hudba
It didn't really make a positive sound difference, however I did notice you were floating above the ground while playing it.
Haha... Yeah that is one of the side effects I forgot to mention
@@AskOlaftheViolinmaker
They should post that on the box...lol
It's called the God Pilar because once you install it, the violin goes 'oh God why hast thou forsaken me?'
Yes
This God Pilar is obviously a "No Good Pillar😱" it became a "Cold🤧 Polar🥶", am I right!?😜 🤣🥴
*Pillar
I think he likes it
Its called the God pillar cause when you install it your violin gets sent to God
God pillar makes the violin sound like it has a cold
Excellent description. Congested was my initial impression.
That was exactly my first thought when I heard it! 👍
Yes like a stuffed congested nose voice
God pillar more like cold pillar.
sound nasalized
Olaf looks like a mad scientist on the thumbnail XD
After doing this, he is one
I am not even a violinist but I can feel the pain
The godpillar makes the violin sound like a midi violin.
I literally thought the same! Even through my phone speakers lol
My thoughts exactly.
This exactly
~Olaf plays a scale with God Pillar~ Oh, well that sounds pretty all right, maybe God Pillar isn't so bad.
~Olaf plays one note without God Pillar~ Never mind, pack it up, everyone go home, God Pillar is worse than worthless.
hah
As a DIY guy, I follow the old saying if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it.
Thanks for your videos Olaf, I'm a DIY woodworker and you showed me that all my chisels were blunt and so I learned how to sharpen them.
A blunt chisel is like singing flat and nobody likes that.
Great to hear!
Exactly... It's just so much better and neater working with sharp tools!
This feels like you turned the violin into a cyborg by installing a metal endoskeleton in it. No surprise it became so scary even to test it afterwards.
That contraption removed all the poetry from what the violin, that lignt airy extremely reacting sensitive sculpture is known to be.
Try with two God pillars or three¡!
I see why they call it a God Pilar. My first thought was, "God, what a waste."
Haha
Based on your demo, the violin was noticeably fuller sounding without the gadget than with it. (It might make a good skewer for shrimp on the barbie, though.😜)
Without the god pillar the violin sounds warmer
See i lean the other way without the pillar it sounded kinda icy to me
How is someone who's not a luthier supposed to make all those adjustments at home? Who has extra tail pieces and tailguts at home?
Exactly
"I do believe the God Pillar will affect the sound."
He thinks it'll ruin it.
"I don't think it'll improve the sound."
Polite.
Thank you for doing this so the rest of us don't have to attempt it (not that I would have, anyway, but I was very curious). I think I heard the same thing you did. It lost something in the translation... It sounded to me like there was less resonance, less soul.
Clicked at the speed of light as soon as I saw this upload. This God Pillar got a huge FLAT F 😆
even before the live, just looking at the cover, I have to say
OUCH!
The pain is immeasurable.
Oh God 😏
Its indescribable
I feel like there is probably a bigger difference when listening to the violin live than on the video, but it's obvious the God Pillar did not improve the sound. Since it's a cheap violin to start with, there was a lot of room for improvement. I also have to wonder how such a contraption might affect the violin over time. Could it cause damage? Perhaps a minor bump that wouldn't normally hurt the violin might be catastrophic if the God Pillar came loose. I agree it's definitely a gimmick that isn't worth the money.
I suspect you're right about the catastrophic failure part. Having all the tension suddenly shift from the bar to the body would probably make it collapse on itself.
Also this whole thing is reminding me of a cigar box fiddle I made years ago - I took some design cues from banjos and ended up having a big threaded rod holding the neck to the box body and extending all the way to act as the little end pin part on the bottom where the tailgut (which was a length of steel core clothesline haha) attaches.
That fiddle was SO UNCOMFORTABLY HEAVY. Very unwieldy. It didn’t occur to me that it could’ve affected the tone in a particular way, or that it would murder my neck so bad from the weight haha.
Did you think about an aluminum rod???
I have to go to the dentist during this time but I WILL WATCH IT WHEN I AM BACK OR ELSE I WILL GO CRAZY
It's been an hour...are you back?
@Playergartoon94 Dabs lmao...they're haydn
Yeah I’m bach
Oh ha wasn’t that bad except of my horrible anxiety
@@seulgis_chapstick9093 I hope it wasn't too bad! 💕
With the god pilar I feel like the violin was at the near death
The violin sounds almost like it's got a smoker voice or something lmao
Without the pillar, the violin sounds mellower. Meaning resonance on lower mid tones frequencies. In general, a resonance around this tones are appearing in a lot of acoustic instruments. Making it a signature for acoustic sounding like instruments.
With the pillar, the violin sounds like it had been apply with plate reverberant alike sound. It has loss the mellow tone yet, emphasize more on the frequencies of higher mid tones. Making it sounding less natural and louder. Which means, the sound has more towards in your face sounding tone. The reason for this is all psychoacousticaly; the way how human ears and brain are designed to perceived sound frequencies.
I can say that this method of applying the pillar on violin can worked on certain situation with specific reason.
I've been waiting for this. Thank you Olaf
Imagine being the client with the old German instrument Olaf had to move 😂
OMG, I STILL HAVE WORK, BUT I PROMISE TO WATCH IT AFTER MY SCHEDULED CLASSES!!!
i am simultaneously terrified and intrigued
Well, the idea of this is not new: Basically you want reduce the longitudinal pressure on the top by basically taking the corpus out of the equation. The big problem here is that the small screw at the end does not provide a stable connection. Thus the rod will be able to "rattle" a bit, which creates huge issues, and the corpus is still carrying the force of the strings.
Usually what you’d want to use is a bit of timber with grain going upwards glued very well to the neckblock.
As a woodworker I am confused by the grain oging upwards?
@@polerin probably means that the grains extend in the lenghtwise-vertical direction to give you maximum stiffness.
Actually, I thought the God Pilar did add a tiny touch of sweetness to the sound and I know a very accomplished violinist who has an excellent ear and he thought so too. But, was the difference significant enough to go to the trouble of installing a God Pillar? Probably not; the improvement seems to be too negligible and the added weight to the violin is a definite deal breaker. We would like to have heard some virtuoso playing to better assess the difference in sound. The sound of your scale playing was true and even but to my ear it wasn't a sufficient test. A few dynamics would have been appreciated for a more thorough comparison. In fairness to the re-inventor this issue hasn't been truly settled as far as we are concerned.
I agree, it sounded nice and clean to my ear. I liked it. Maybe a little off of the high frequencies though.
It may not be a good idea to do that, as someone could get severely injured. Cause it could collapse & snap in the middle as there's a lot of tension as Olaf mentioned @ 8:35 - 8:47, it was also creaking {adjective:
▪︎1_making a harsh, high-pitched sound when being moved or when pressure or weight is applied.
▪︎2_showing weakness or frailty under strain. } @ 9:01 - 9:10, he also mentions that the strings could snap & fly @ 9:16 - 9:24, he also risked his safety for this experiment suggesting to wear a full face mask or motorbike helmet @ 9:49 - 9:57.
*Pillar
Ya hear that guys, the issue hasn't been settled as far as they're concerned. That's really important to us.
Sweetness is a very vague adjective.
It sounds way better normally. Definitely could tell it isn’t as good with the pillar. Great video!
Been hoping for this video for a long time, thanks Olaf!
Olaf is the best. His advice is so straight and honest: "Just buy a better instrument"
I’m SO GLAD this video happened. I wanted to know so bad. Thanks!
Also you should mail it to Brett and Eddy for them to do a reaction video to! I’m sure they’d have a very entertaining response
Exactly what I thought! I call it losing the undertones. Fullness of sound is lost. Kinda like a baritone singing in falsetto. Pitches are good but timbre is changed. I think it hurts the sound.
The editing gets better and better each video I love it
To me (a person without perfect pitch and without any musical training) the one with the rod sounds sharper or higher pitched, and I personally don't like the sound it makes 😅
Not being able to recognize if something is sharper is called being tone deaf
I'm so excited but also anxious
You could've invited two set to join you since it was their idea (via zoom maybe)
I think they did do a zoom call with him
@@gus.teacher you're absolutely correct, thanks :)
Yeah , it sounds as the instrument lost some of the it's depth and dynamics. It reminds me of electric guitar/acoustic comparison played acoustically. It would be interesting to see if adding more weight or rigid material as carbon fiber could gain more sustain?
Wait, I was thinking this is the violin version of a sustain pedal
I can definitely see it being useful for reducing the warping of the instrument due to changes in humidity and temperature, but it's one of those things where you're making an improvement, but at what cost? It definitely sounds a bit less hollow and resonant with the pillar installed.
yea I agree, the sound feels pretty tense instead of more vibrant without the God Pillar
I also gotta add I love those blue frames you're sporting there Olaf!
The thing is, even if it did sound sort of OK, surely the extra weight is a big drawback if you are going to be playing for extended periods?
Thanks for the informative video, Olaf! I could hear the loss of sound quality right away, so when you said you thought the rod was having a negative impact on the sound, I had to agree completely. Keep up the good work!
Agreed, it takes a professional to put these things to the test and he did exactly that.
I’ve been waiting for this!!
I've been waiting for this for a loooooooooooo(x100)ooong time!!!!
I could hear the extra resonance for sure. Almost like reverb gone wrong
That was a curious experiment!
Would be interesting to see John Devereux's bar featured in a future video, but i'd imagine those violins, and especially with a bar remaining are quire rare.
(To compensate, there a nice series of photos and a description on the Australian Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences website).
I believe I may have one in my collection. It’s got a post crack on the back of the instrument so I’m trying to raise some money to have it repaired. I will say the instrument is loud as all get out though!
I liked it. I thought it was much more focused. I put an oak dowel through an ES-175 I made and it trimmed out the design's tubbiness nicely. It's a valid principle. A birch dowel on a viola or cello could be the right thing to firm up a cheaper instrument.
I am watching this Premiere at work...
In the brass world, one of the reasons why we introduce more mass to certain parts of the horn is to purposefully change the tone. Typically, adding more mass creates a stronger fundamental sound with less-noticeable harmonic overtones. Conversely, lighter-weight horns typically have stronger overtones and can sound brighter. A particular type of music might call for a certain type of sound, so it's not unusual for a trumpet player, for example, to have several horns in their collection in addition to a wide collection of mouthpieces.
Before listening to the result, this is my guess - I think it will dampen the high frequencies the most, which means if a violin is screechy it could do some good (but better to adjust the soundpost in that case), if it already has a good quality tone it will just become duller.
Edit: After listening - it became duller, but more on the G-string than the E-string which wasn't what I expected.
I didn't hear much difference tbh, also it seemed that w/o god pillar test the bow strokes are slower, in that case contact may be better and make for a bit more resonant sound imo. I'm not an expert but that's my observation. I'm just slightly surprised it didn't change it as much as I would have expected.
i love how the god pillar almost doesnt make difference but the ad says *_wow its going to cure your instrument you are going to sound like a god after this_*
Subscribed. I'm not a musician but consider you did a good job in this vid and deserve to grow.
This kind of reminds me of this weird double stacked bass bar that was installed on a really inexpensive viola in a luthier shop where I used to work. it actually sounded AWESOME. I’m not sure why it worked but there was a huge difference between the same viola models with a conventional bass bar.
Information on this? Perhaps it has a future!
I would check out some acoustic guitar/mandolin luthier forums as those instruments sounds are heavily dependant on their bracings and people nowadays still design different bracings patterns so maybe someone has an idea as to why it sounds that way
Good job Thanks
Olaf, could you please do a video we’re you make a violin using one of those DIY kits?
Love your videos!
In a sense this seems like almost trying to replicate what one would get from a capo on a stringed guitar instrument. In a guitars case the main advantage of using a capo. Is that it lets the guitarist play in different keys.
While still using first position open string chorus forms. Which have a more droning and fully resident tone. However important distinction worth noting here. Is that they're used to change the pitch of opening strings.
All without adjusting the tuning keys. This means in a sense that the pitch of the fretted notes does not change. Only the pitch of the open unfretted strings. So the pitch as well as the timbre of the strings is affected.
Thus imparting the tonality of instruments with shorter scales. In the case of this so-called God key. It seems to only hurt the tonality of the violin without providing any advantage to the instrument. :/
Olaf called it before installation, it reduces vibration throughout the instrument resulting in compressed notes.
It also reduces and disrupts resonance which defeats the natural harmonics of the case causing unnatural overtones.
Oh YEAH!!! I was waiting for this!!! 😆😆😆😆
with the god pillar, it really does sound like there is something stuck up the violin! i'm don't know much about "sound science" but I can tell that it is missing some resonance for sure, although it would probably be harder to tell without the comparison. I was wondering what violin you were sacrificing for this experiment, is it one of your own, is it a cheaper violin?
Well I'm glad nothing exploded, cracked or caught alight. The ad was so sketchy, 'it will increase the value up to 990 000' 🤣
I"m a relatively new viewer, but an old Amateur Radio operator so have a working knowledge of frequency. and in my opinion anything you put into a cavity of a violin. viola etc. will impede the resonance of it. hell I sometimes think that the thickness of a sound post. bass bar, and even the thickness of cleats supporting a repaired glued crack can alter the chamber resonance and frequency of sound. To me that's what makes the beauty of the builder come out. what he has done to the "Chamber" to make the beautiful sounds it does. alter the chamber you , change the music in my mind and its a simple one when it comes to music. not a trained musician. but love listening to classical music most of my life (now near 80)what i"m watching and the expertise I see in each view. thanks for sharing. ECF
It sounds almost tinny on the A and E strings, kind of like the sound a cheap set of strings causes with the God Pilar in it, the deeper voice of the G and D strings has a strange "void" and it definitely doesn't hum as richly, I'd like to see it tested with an audio analyser, this might answer more questions as to what this thing is doing to the sound.
From what I can see in the instructions it is intended to balance the tension of the strings and reduce the bending force applied to the body of the instrument. I don't think it is necessary. The body of a string instrument is remarkably strong. Ironically, all the compromises and things that go into the design and function of a violin are what make a violin sound the way it does. eg. If there wasn't a need for 'C' bouts to accommodate the bow, would the violin sound as good as it does? I am inclined to think it wouldn't.
OK. You've convinced me! I'll never think about trying it myself. :)
Actually, there was an electric violin some years ago that had a flat belly & a bar or more correctly, a tube (much like the tubular end pin spike of a cello) above the belly which would have essentially done the same thing, if I remember correctly. A pretty ugly idea though.
Great video!
While this modification seems to be a waste of money, it's always interesting to see how instruments evolve over the years and that it's full of trial and error. What some "traditionalists" don't realize is that there's a world of difference between modern instruments and historically accurate instruments and things will continue to change.
I agree. I can't see them putting one of these in the Kochanski Guarnari del Gesu somehow.. 👍
I agree, the low end is lost with it. Never heard of that before and I am glad my violin/viola don't have one and are not getting touched!
Have you seen the Transacoustic guitars? They honestly make guitars sound more expensive by an order of magnitude. I'd love to see an adaptation for violin tested and demonstrated.
This Man is an Artist-craftsman, I am compelled to subscribe 👩🎨👨🎨🖼🎻🎨
Interesting - really hard to know without hearing dynamics. The violin is already dampened as a resonator by the sound post, I would certainly say that it would potentially take years to really hear if it makes a positive difference or not, the whole box would have to realign, and "learn" to resonate differently. My issue is that Metal
/ expands very different to temperature changes 😲
Extra resonance for sure! Upsetting. Maybe would help for a proper bad like homemade violin or something!
For some reason, the god pillar made it sound so...midi.
This video was made 2 years ago today. Happy birthday
i think that may help on an pick up and amp set up it may help with feedback noise but not for a classical stand point because u loose sound
I want Hubert Dunsley's hairstyle sooo badly!
I didn't find it made of a difference. I will say that from the recording it seems like it might be lessening some of the sympathetic string resonance. That's such a small difference and can be down to a bunch of different factors (other instruments in the room during tests, room position, humidity/temp, playing style, minor bridge/tail piece differences).
God... Twoset need to react to this!!!!
I think it loses the "wood" resonance or response tones. Middle mostly. Thx love the channel
I think I would need to play it myself in order to truly understand any differences (e.g., responsiveness, dynamic range, tone color). I couldn't tell much by listening to a couple scales played on this video. The god pillar certainly didn't seem to do the violin any good, and so regardless of the cost, it doesn't seem like the god pillar is worth the investment.
It is easy to measure using a spectrum analyser. Just a quicky on a SA ap on my phone shows Olaf is right about the softer mids. a spike at 2 kHz is around 10dB softer, and the whole spectrum between 2 and 4 kHz is about 5-10dB softer. I have no violin knowledge, my work is electronics and for most involving measurement gear. Using my ears, a violin sound a bit "nasal/hollowish" and that is for most gone with the godpillar, it now sounds more like a solid body electrical violin.
Yup , exactly. That whoooom deep sound is lost
this feels exciting, scary and dirty at the same time..... good thing Olaf is so funny, reassuringly calm and a true professional to guide us through...
the sound with godpillar somewhat reminds me of practicing with a mute on - only, the mute seems to take away some of the scratchy noises too, while the godpillar lets us still enjoy them and still sounds nasal. ☺️
The moment we have been waiting for.
agree... loses variance in tone thoughout the note. thankyou for doing this
This is the mysterious violin in tromba marina Vivaldi wrote a few pieces for :D
Olaf, the real God 🤩😍
Thank you!!
I've been looking forward to this, I was so excited. Now I'm disappointed, I hoped for a huge change. 🤪
Anyway, Olaf is a man who keeps his promises! ❤
I've been waiting for this video.
I'm not letting rods near my instruments.
Oh yes, I've been waiting for THIS.
Podrias grabar el sonido y probar un analizador de espectro para ver el cambio en la resonancia
Please do also a blind test with one of the 2setviolin playing the instrument and a similar one, the other 2SV saying if it was with the GP or not
Hm, just changing the tailgut length could have a significant effect on the sound all by itself.
I feel as though this may be more useful for unorthofox octave violins. As you at some brilliance is lost but the extra resonance may make an octave violin more playable acoustically.
What’s an octave violin
Use a virtual card for online purchases.. it's a one time use cc number,,a lot of credit cards have this option
The new version of the ad now has olaf holding the god pillar, further adding to the legitimacy of the product.
They played him like a fiddle!
J Grace
Hi, my questions today, are for Olaf---
If I put one of my violins in storage, is it better to leave the strings tightened, or to loosen them??
Also, can a Violin with a crack going beneath an F hole to the violin edge, be fixed??
Thank you for your answers!!!
The god pillar made the sound more 'scattered'? strings usually sound very fluid like a liquid. the pillar made it feel more like coarse sand than a liquid
what do you think about and have you ever installed mechanical tuning pegs (witner or perfection) maybe do a video on installing them in your cheap violin (your $100 violin)just to show us. Thanks for your vids, bye!
I've installed Whittner pegs in quite a few instruments and they work well. If normal pegs are fitted really well they can be very smooth, but not quite as easy as the Whittner pegs.
Personally I'm passionate about players having it as easy as possible and staying injury free, so they can really help... Especially people that don't have strong hands.
to be honest just attaching a piezo element to the bridge makes a bigger difference. i'd be mildly curious how the God Pilar would affect the pizzicato sound, ie. the sustain.
it also affects your bowing technique - you seem to have less "bloom" with it, and more aggressive attack.