One of Ken's "Loveri" model French bows on the way

[Jeff Moote]

Originally Posted by Basschair

Hey Charles,

I'm wondering what you think about how your bow sounds in the upper registers (4th and up)?

I hope you don't mind if I answer this too, since you posted that without seeing that I too have picked up one of these bows.

Aside from the fact that I much prefer white hair for solo repertoire (which is most of what I would be playing in 4th pos. and up), I find this bow sounds great. Much better than my other bow which was lighter, and often sounded "thin" in that register. For the orchestra passages that do reach up there, I think it will be great. If my situation dictated, I'd get the bow haired in white and I'm sure it would sing.

[Basschair]

Originally Posted by Jeff Moote

I hope you don't mind if I answer this too, since you posted that without seeing that I too have picked up one of these bows.

Aside from the fact that I much prefer white hair for solo repertoire (which is most of what I would be playing in 4th pos. and up), I find this bow sounds great. Much better than my other bow which was lighter, and often sounded "thin" in that register. For the orchestra passages that do reach up there, I think it will be great. If my situation dictated, I'd get the bow haired in white and I'm sure it would sing.

I don't mind at all!

So, you prefer a heavier bow with light hair for the solo upper-register stuff? I hadn't thought so much about it needing to be heavy, but at least more rigid so that it doesn't bounce unless I absolutely want it to....

[Jeff Moote]

Originally Posted by Basschair

I don't mind at all!

So, you prefer a heavier bow with light hair for the solo upper-register stuff? I hadn't thought so much about it needing to be heavy, but at least more rigid so that it doesn't bounce unless I absolutely want it to....

Well, that's a good point too...
My KSB is actually rather flexible - more so than the lighter one I sold.

I don't know that a stiff bow is necessarily going to be less bouncy though. I don't have enough experience to really say.

[Chasarms]

Originally Posted by Basschair

Hey Charles,

I'm wondering what you think about how your bow sounds in the upper registers (4th and up)?

Funny, spent about 30-40 minutes with one of my TP warm up-practice routines last night with the new bow. My teacher showed it to me. You improvise a short (one or two measure) phrase in hP, 1st or second, then immediately jump to TP and repeat the same phrase, one, two or three octaves higher in time. It's nothing amazing, but it does get you thinking and acting in TP.

I still struggle with TP arco, so to blame it on the bow is like blaming the rod for missing the fish.

With the high stuff, it has it's pluses and minuses.

One very good thing about this bow, in TP or otherwise, is that it locks up really well. Almost immediately, I was getting ultra-clean starts more consistently with it than I ever have.

The bow is more shrill than my other bow. It doesn't dampen the higher overtones like the Meinel. But, at this point, I think that may be good thing. I think the Meinel tends to hide some big holes in my arco playing that need to be taken care of in another way. (I tend to be lazy shifting into TP and often don't get the hair down on the bridge for cleaner crosses and clearer tone.)

But, it is shrill without being overly harsh. My bass is a little bright anyway. I have no quarrels with the way it sounds. I think more intonation work and a more sound TP vibrato would go a lot further to improve my upper register sound than a different bow!!

Plus, I think I need to expand my repertoire to include more TP challenges, do more multi-octave scales and arpeggios in my routine. I have pretty much ran from them screaming up to this point. I really haven't taken that leap like I know I need to.

Also, I am still struggling a little with my hold, as the short frog is a little different than anything I am accustomed to. Have to ever played a frog this short?

All that said, I REALLY like this stick. It is as nice as the Tom Owen bow that I owned. I loved that bow also, but it was heavier and too much money for me to have in a bow.

[Basschair]

There's really no doubt in my mind that my Loveri is a great bow. It's more about the hair with me. The sound is excellent in the lower positions: it's got a lot of guts to it.

When I started playing upright, I studied Rabbath method with Barry Green, so we pretty much jumped right into thumb position. I'm not a big old pro at it, but I can get good sounds with my other bows (light hair). The Loveri's hair perhaps grips just a bit too much for me, which ends up stiffling the vibrato (in thumb position). Then I end up exaggerating it to compensate, and it all goes to poop.

I'm considering buying another and rehairing it for a salt/pepper setup, or perhaps straight unbleached light so that I can have that one for the soloistic work. Of course, I could just be making this all up so that I can justify getting another bow