Timeline for Do orchestral string instruments need a pause before con sordino?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| May 12, 2017 at 7:23 | history | edited | guidot | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
typo fixed
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| May 12, 2017 at 2:20 | comment | added | user19146 | @MichaelSeifert most modern mutes are moulded soft rubber, or plastic. In Berlioz's time they would have been made from wood, usually ebony, and clip on top of the bridge, like a modern "practice mute". Violin mutes are too small to put on the floor and pick up quickly - the same size as an average coin. | |
| May 12, 2017 at 2:18 | comment | added | Michael Seifert | @alephzero: Fair enough; I wasn't sure how much mute technology had changed since Berlioz's day. But as a trombone player, I am all too familiar with the need to awkwardly balance a mute on my lap when a thoughtless composer doesn't give me enough time to remove it and put it down carefully. | |
| May 12, 2017 at 2:15 | comment | added | user19146 | Remember Berlioz was writing about 150-year-old mute designs that simply clipped on top of the bridge. He was right that they are quicker to remove than to put on (to remove it, just pull), but only if you don't care where the mute ended up afterwards, because it wasn't attached to the violin or anything else! If you need it quickly later, balancing a mute on your knee while playing isn't as easy as having it permanently attached to the strings behind the bridge. And balancing it on the music rest doesn't work if you need to turn a page. | |
| May 12, 2017 at 1:40 | comment | added | Walter | I thought there might be some written guidelines somewhere, but as always Google failed to find it for me. From what I gather from your and @alephzero’s reply below, a minimum of five–six seconds seems enough for expert players to slide a mute into position. At any rate, it’s clear you can’t just switch to playing sordino in the midst of a frenzied sequence, so my question has been answered. Thanks. | |
| May 12, 2017 at 1:38 | vote | accept | Walter | ||
| May 12, 2017 at 1:38 | vote | accept | Walter | ||
| May 12, 2017 at 1:38 | |||||
| May 12, 2017 at 1:06 | history | answered | Michael Seifert | CC BY-SA 3.0 |