listening to music; old school.....

I have been doing a lot of that this week as my cello needs more time at the Luthier to repair multiple open seams. Apparently this is quite common with Chinese cellos here. I hope to have it back by the weekend.

I have always enjoyed listening to music, even as a kid I preferred the stereo to the TV. As a result I have a sort of crazy stereo.

This is where it begins, yes a working record player. I grew up with records and still have many of them. I also continue to purchase those of interest to me, especially older classical recordings. Records do what no other playback format can, (except master tapes), sound real, IF you keep your records and cartridge clean. A cd or a mp3 is digital, 1& 0's, and does not sound as natural to me most of the time.
I do have lots of cds, and enjoy listening to them as well. As VERY few modern classical recordings come out on lp today.


These are my crazy horn speakers that are quite large but sound wonderful. The best thing is that they can be powered by low power amp. Low power means better sound most of the time, as long as your speakers are efficient. When I put on a recording of the Bach cello suites they sound just like a cello, they even vibrate like one. A friend helped me make them. They are called the Bigfun horns.

See, even the cats love low power tube amps! this particular one puts out a whopping 750 milliwatts. And I have to really turn up the volume to clip them. I know, pretty nuts.

there are two more of these full of records!

Only one day at the Luthier.

I took my cello to my favorite luthier in the Denver area today. He said i could have i back tomorrow! That is nice surprise as the other guys around town would have said two weeks.

He is also makes violins, viola , and cello's, my teacher almost bought one of his cellos last fall, it was wonderful. Based off of a Goffriller model, and cost as much as a new Subaru, if i could afford i would have bought it. He said he liked my cello, but said it will likely not be the last open seam he fixes on it, since it was newly made in China, and I live in Denver. He thought the set up was quite good, well made and liked the Ruggeri model it is based off of.

Anyway its nice to not have to wait a long time cause my loner is bear to play. I do need to practice on the orch music this week, and we don't meet. I want to have made some real progress by the following week. Our concert is not till May, but i want to be prepared.

Contrapunctus 9 kills my cello...

So thur morning before going to work i was getting in some practice on the most difficult piece we are doing in the orch, Bach Contrapunctas 9. I'm sawing away, and i hear this loud crack, d string goes way flat and my cello sounds really weird.
Upon further inspection that evening i found a open seam right near the endpin block. Well now i know what that sounds like. Hopefully this doesn't happen often. I keep it in a humidified room but have been carting it around to various places lately, since joining the
university orch. I'm borrowing a old cello from my teacher but it's not my fave, and hard to play, but better than nothing.

The whole orchestra thing seems to be getting a little bit more comfortable, even though i screw up all the time. It took me about 4 trials the other night to come it at just the right time.... sigh. Good thing everyone is supportive and helpful, otherwise i'd probably just quit.
I still need lots of practice on the material, this was made clear by Conducter who knows my teacher, said after wed rehersal," show those to M , I know she'll know what to do."
sigh.....i thought that was kinda funny.

I have been trying to practice the real fast passages very slow, as is recommended by so many teachers including my own. It is hard but i am making a concerned effort to slow down! Get it right then increase the tempo, and use only a short bow stroke.