10-16-2016, 05:07 PM
As a fiddle player myself, this is a question that I'm hoping to find an answer to as well, now I am unable to play.
First, the instrument is the same whatever music is played on it. 'Fiddle' is just a nickname.
As Otto says, there are many different styles of traditional fiddle playing, and they all have their own distinctive sound, so you should try to decide what you're aiming at a bit more closely and listen to some examples to get a feel for the phrasing and decoration. It is all in the decoration. I'd be happy to help further if you like.
I suspect most people think no further than either 'Irish/ Celtic' or 'American /Bluegrass'. Think of the band playing at Frodo's party in Lord of the Rings. A fake Celtic style (and completely wrong if you believe that Tolkien's Shire represents rural England.)
I've tried using GPO solo violin for a tune of mine, ( https://soundcloud.com/kev-adams-4/calli...rabbits-01 ) but I'm not convinced by it, even though I can write in the sorts of decoration and intonation I would have used myself. There's so much that goes on with the bow at all stages of making a note and moving to the next one that it is very difficult to make it sound authentic.
By the way, I recently bought the new Orange Tree Mandolin and it is excellent ( I used to play mando as well). I wrote to congratulate them and asked about the possibilty of doing a fiddle ; this was the reply:
>Wow, thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate it! I'd love to sample a fiddle--it would definitely be a challenge, since the instrument is capable of so much expression. We're working on a cello library for pop/rock, so that will let us test some of the technology that could potentially be used for a fiddle library in the future as well.
First, the instrument is the same whatever music is played on it. 'Fiddle' is just a nickname.
As Otto says, there are many different styles of traditional fiddle playing, and they all have their own distinctive sound, so you should try to decide what you're aiming at a bit more closely and listen to some examples to get a feel for the phrasing and decoration. It is all in the decoration. I'd be happy to help further if you like.
I suspect most people think no further than either 'Irish/ Celtic' or 'American /Bluegrass'. Think of the band playing at Frodo's party in Lord of the Rings. A fake Celtic style (and completely wrong if you believe that Tolkien's Shire represents rural England.)
I've tried using GPO solo violin for a tune of mine, ( https://soundcloud.com/kev-adams-4/calli...rabbits-01 ) but I'm not convinced by it, even though I can write in the sorts of decoration and intonation I would have used myself. There's so much that goes on with the bow at all stages of making a note and moving to the next one that it is very difficult to make it sound authentic.
By the way, I recently bought the new Orange Tree Mandolin and it is excellent ( I used to play mando as well). I wrote to congratulate them and asked about the possibilty of doing a fiddle ; this was the reply:
>Wow, thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate it! I'd love to sample a fiddle--it would definitely be a challenge, since the instrument is capable of so much expression. We're working on a cello library for pop/rock, so that will let us test some of the technology that could potentially be used for a fiddle library in the future as well.
