I just recorded the sounds of my various fiddles and played Shortenin' Bread on all of them (except Ebay fiddle #2, which is not quite in tune yet.) I will have to upload it here via my netbook (dial-up would take far too long) because you wouldn't believe the difference in tones. Even if you just count the regular fiddles and leave out the travel fiddle, they sound so different!
The blue fiddle sounds terrible, in my opinion. The squeakiness is not all me after all. The Anton Breton fiddle sounds pretty good. Ebay fiddle #1 sounds really nice, but is a totally different tone than the Anton Breton fiddle, which is lower in tone. My travel fiddle sounds like itself, and it's getting smoother.
The blue fiddle sounds terrible, in my opinion. The squeakiness is not all me after all. The Anton Breton fiddle sounds pretty good. Ebay fiddle #1 sounds really nice, but is a totally different tone than the Anton Breton fiddle, which is lower in tone. My travel fiddle sounds like itself, and it's getting smoother.
Comments
So far, the transitions between the D and A strings are my most difficult problem, as well as just hitting ONE string. And the squeaking still happens, just not as much.
I'm attending a folk jam (just to watch!) at the local Barnes & Noble in a couple of weeks and the week after that, I'll be attending a family reunion (hubby's) in Wytheville, VA, where (I'm told) one of the relatives will probably bring his fiddle and play mountain music for us! And we'll be at a place on Cripple Creek. I can't wait! The lovely Appalachians and a fiddler to learn from...woo hoo!
I like the idea of learning the song slow first and then speeding up. I will have to try that!
Hope the jam is fun! I wish we had something like that locally here. And the reunion sounds great too. Have a nice time! :)