Just getting back into playing again after some hand surgery, and I have acquired a Stentor Conservatoire fiddle. However to my ears it sounds fairly strident and brittle. I have just strung it with Tonicas on it at the moment, and I’m wondering if there is a consensus of opinion regarding strings to tone down a bright fiddle. Thanks
Corelli Crystals have been shown to sweeten up that exact model! They are a bit warmer and lower tension.
You might consider taking it to a luthier to get the soundpost moved. A millimetre can make a mile of difference.
I tried Corelli Crystals on my fiddle, but struggled at times to get a good sound out of them, but when I did I loved the way they sounded. If my technique was better, it probably would have been easier, but I would certainly add my endorsement to giving them a try.
“You might consider taking it to a luthier to get the soundpost moved. A millimetre can make a mile of difference.”
This.
Best if you can find a luthier who will let you play it until the soundpost is in that fiddle’s sweet spot. The post may also need a slight tweak to refit it properly in the new spot.
My fiddle is raspy and harsh with the soundpost within the normal parameters. But move it 1.5 mm toward the treble side of the bridge and its voice becomes rich and warm, fully resonant, regardless of what strings I put on it.
In my experience, Tonicas are pretty sedate strings. I agree with CreadurMawnOrganig about having the sound post checked by a good fiddle tech.
In addition to the soundpost comments above, I’ve also heard it said that a thicker bridge can also produce a mellower sound. Don’t quote me on that though - ask a luthier.
Also, worth double checking whether it really is all the strings that sound harsh. Perhaps it’s actually just the E or the E and the A. Worth recording yourself and listening back for some objectivity.
Technique-wise: longer bow strokes, less pressure and cleaner fingering will help. Fingering more precisely has made a real difference to me recently. I always thought that scratchiness began and ended with the bowing hand, but recently I’ve clocked just how many of those extraneous in-between-note noises were my left hand catching a bit of the adjacent string, just for nanosecond, when moving across strings.
Thanks all, some food for thought there! I’ll try the string route first, as it’ll probably be kinder on my limited income.
“ just strung it with Tonicas” as in “only just” or “just” = no big deal.
If they’re recent I’d play them for a bit and see if they calm down (or you get used to it.)
How do they sound to a listener rather than the player?
One thing I’ve come to realise about violins is that what you the player hear is not what others hear. Strads are notorious for this, being almost unpleasant to play, yet projecting beautifully, and at a more realistic level I’ve often seen instruments that play very differently to how they sound. It’s good to take advice from someone who can hear you play.
Calum: “… what you the player hear is not what others hear … take advice from someone who can hear you play.”
Yes, this!
How long have you been playing, did you play fiddle before the surgery, and if so how long was the break? If you are just starting out on violin or have had a long break I wouldn’t do anything just yet. It always takes a little while and a lot of practice to ‘dial in’ your bow technique and get the best tone. Anything you do to the violin now may have a detrimental effect in the long run when your bowing has adapted.
But if you are confident you are bowing as well as you can then yes, take it to a luthier: it may need a little adjustment to the soundpost or bridge: changes to the sound post move it between sounding ‘boxy’ and ‘rich’, changes to the bridge move it between ‘mellow’ and ‘bright’. As a stop-gap work-around, if your problem is just with the E string or E and A, a little square of thin leather (about 4mm across, 1/2mm thick) inserted between string and bridge can dull things down, or adding a little weight (usually in the form of a bit of Blu-Tak or Plasticene) to the top half of the bridge will dull it across the full range.
My experience with a lower end harsh Chinese fiddle (about $500) is that the setup doesn’t remove the harshness. I took it to two luthiers and tried several strings with infeld red ($$$) being recommended. It was still too bright. I replaced it with an antique violin.
One thing that did help: play with an orchestral mute. They cost a couple dollars and really tone it down.