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March 02, 2009
Do it yourself string quartet
I've been working on this idea ever since I bought my first violin. I saw a viola in a pawn shop, good price. I snagged it, and really enjoy my attempts to play it, even if my cat does not. The idea struck me: all I need now is a cello, and I can overdub string quartets!Then, it finally happened: the student Glaesel 4/4 cello, originally marked $499, was languishing in a corner of the shop, marked down to $250. Someone had stolen the bridge, and it sat in the corner several more months with the strings hanging loosely. Then: marked for CLEARANCE! $75! I retrieved it from the corner, laid it on the front counter, re-looped the tailpiece (which had fallen off) to the bottom peg, and began tightening the strings enough to where they would not fall off.
The guy got off the phone finally, and came over. "I've got $63 dollars cash," I began, intending to at least do a layaway to hold the item, but the guy said "Sold!" and fixed the price to where with tax, it came to exactly $63 dollars.
Now it's just a matter of getting a bridge, a bow, and I'll be ready to do my own avant-garde string quartet pieces. You know, it's like James "Blood" Ulmer said, "I started playing jazz when I got a "jazz" guitar, refering laughingly to his Gibson L-5. Same thing here; the string family gives you "classical credibility". Now I can begin creating "art music" which might pass for the real thing.
Originally from Everyone's Blog Posts - NetNewMusic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Mar 2, 2009 at 12:21 PM