Now here's a challenge for the music lover. Listen to three violins and pick out the cheapo student violin, the really nice orchestral violin, and the gift from heaven - a Stradivarius.

Just give a listen and see if you hear the difference.

There really is a difference between the three instruments and anyone should be able to hear it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/musi ... l-ear.html

The cheep one was easy, the other two I did need to listen to for a bit, but got them right in the end. The old German one was good, the cheep one was harsh.

River

Dave (imported) wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2013 8:21 pm Now here's a challenge for the music lover. Listen to three violins and pick out the cheapo student violin, the really nice orchestral violin, and the gift from heaven - a Stradivarius.

Just give a listen and see if you hear the difference.

There really is a difference between the three instruments and anyone should be able to hear it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/musi ... l-ear.html

For someone with a 40% hearing loss, I pegged them all easily. Amazing difference between the 18th century German and the 17th Century Stradivarius.

I've heard very good violins and some bad ones in concert.

Years ago, a violinist made a guest appearance and for some reason I can't remember he had to use a poor quality violin. I recognized the sounds that lesser quality violin made and recognized them on these recordings. It was a shame because he was a fantastic soloist. You'd know his name if I typed it but that wouldn't be fair or nice.

FOr anyone taking this tiny challenge, please believe me when I say that certain violins also have specific tonal qualities -- much like hearing the difference between two sopranos or two tenors when they sing the same aria. Even popular singers. All of us can hear the difference between Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick or any two singers with the same range. Even Elvis interpreters don't sound like the original.

The last thing I am going to say is that for many years I could tell a recording by Itzak Perlman because his violin was a Guarneri and had a sweet, gorgeous, wonderful tonal quality. It helped that I was a Perlman fan and listened to all his recordings. He's since changed violins (I don't know why - because he wanted too, I guess) and every so often I hear another violinist playing that Guarneri and I can tell the difference between styles, too. IT's like hearing two pop singers or bands cover the same song. There is always a difference between singers or groups.

One of the reasons I never liked pop music is because there was always someone in the band who was slightly out of tune with the others. Its like scraping fingernails on a blackboard.

You are so right about stiles and such, the three tenors singing together and singing the same song and you could tell without looking who Pavarotti was, as well as Domingo and Carreras, but Pavarotti was a light year about the rest.

River

Wasn't too difficult. One was downright shrill and flat-sounding (sounds like the violin that I own, unfortunately... :p), one was a bit deeper but still with just a touch of shrillness to it, and the other one was like absolute butter to the ears, with a deep, rich sound and gorgeous resonating harmonics.

I heard my first strat played on Countdown with Keith Olbermann of all places. At least its the first I heard knowingly and by itself. Even on basic cable news, it was an amazing sound. I finally UNDERSTOOD what it meant to hear a real Stradivarius. I was astonished, impressed, and just blown away by the sounds it made.

What happens when the violins and string quartets are LIVE and in a concert hall is that the better violins fill the hall with sound. Q lone violinist stands in the middle of the stage and plays music that isn't small (tiny) and is pleasing, not shrill or forced or over amped artificially loud.

Singers do this all the time. We know when we hear a soft voice over amplified. We know when a singer is trying to hard to let the person in the last row hear them. And when they are good, the tone and projection is there and a natural voice fills the room and satisfies the ear.

This is why we want to hear live performances and enjoy them.