Silly Strings

While often used for heart-tugging effects, the violin and its cousins are actually very versatile. Here are a few fun ways people have been putting them to use lately you might not have considered.

WHY NOT THE REAL THING?

Instead of simply using a keyboard, many singers have been incorporating actual violins into the band, and not just in Country and Bluegrass music. A really raunchy fiddle solo can add southern to southern rock like no blues lick ever can. A well-trained soloist can put a lot more feeling into their break than a keyboardist can coax out of his pile of chips, and wouldn't it be cool to be the person who helped make school orchestra band geeks feel special, again? There's nothing like a real violin or cello even for a street gig-no amplification necessary, and no problems with local official types being upset if all they allow is acoustic music, and will be sticklers for that, even if you turn your keyboard down low. A lot of bands use a real stand-up bass right now, and often bowed, not just jazz plucked-great for those small gigs where people don't appreciate feeling your numbers though the seat of their pants over coffee.

WHY NOT UPDATE?

Actually, there are a few folks out there right now using pickups in their violins and playing actual hard rock music with it as a key piece of the instrumental approach the band is taking. Some artists even scramble the sound through various effects and use foot pedals as if it was an electric guitar. Have a little goof-off session sometime and get a pal who plays one of these fun instruments to do that with you on a slow afternoon, even if you are just using a microphone stand nearby, and putting fun effects on it through the soundboard like you would for vocal effects. If you can at least get a small guitar pickup into one, all the better. Some people even have found ways to put the wireless type on theirs, and make it work-sounds like a fun way to spend some time trying to tweak your own system until you got a serious arsenal of sounds to play with, just like a good lead guitarist does.

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

I do not recommend taking lighter fluid to your violin after a smoking solo and torching it onstage. You really don't want to risk taking out the entire club, since it seems most stages are wood anymore, but I'm sure you can find some really fun things to do with your mini axe that are memorable. Besides, the little dudes are just too expensive. I've seen people do the Hendrix thing and play theirs with teeth, behind their heads, or even with their feet, with and without a bow. Many using the larger critters, like cellos and basses will work a stage act into them, twirling them and their bows around between beats. Just like you would for guitar, practice in front of a mirror, and work on how you can look onstage, and practice each piece so that you can be a part of the stage show, not just someone in the background. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but if you are doing a smoking solo, why not at least learn how to pose well standing up so that you look as dynamic as the music you are rendering? If you feel more comfy just standing there, by all means, do that, but work on making your bit more fun to watch-popular music isn't the sit-down thing symphonic band is, and sheet music is generally frowned on. If you have to memorize your parts, why not memorize a little choreography while you are at it? Watch some of the pros, especially some of the people on Riverdance, any good Celtic, Bluegrass or dynamic Country band, and see how their lead fiddler handles his or her performances. After you have that part down, ham it up a lot, and make it your own. You might even soon find yourself writing pieces that utilize this wonderful sound as a key part of your sound, not just a novelty to add in from time to time.

Go To Page: 1 2