23rd May

23rd May: a special day.

I went out with Sophia today, for a celebration. After 3 years of acquaintance, and 2 years of dating, we're still together.

I believe it says a fair amount about our devotion; most relationships I hear of last less than a month. Some can be measured in just days, in fact.

We bought a little special something today, to commemorate the occasion, as a symbol. And therefore, let us strive to keep this relationship strong and alive.

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I got sick and tired of the E string on my violin the past week. The set of strings on my violin was a complete Dominant string set. The G, D and A strings sounded great: rich and with great overtones; I had no complaints there. Nevertheless, the E string had problems in satisfying my desire for a warm and soft tone. The harshness was just plain horrible. Its quality does not match the rest of the set, and apparently there is a large proportion of violinists who feel the same way.

Today, I went to the Esplanade, and chanced on a shop specializing in violins. I've forgotten the shop name, but that isn't really the issue here; the thing is, I decided to inquire about whether they stocked E strings or not. Unfortunately, they didn't stock the Jargar E string, which I'd heard plenty of wonderful reviews about; virtually all of them unanimously declared the Jargar Forte as the undisputed perfect match for the Dominants of the lower registers. I'm not really surprised they don't have it, for apparently production of these strings are somewhat sporadic, and they quickly go out of stock.

My next instinct was to try the Obligato/Eudoxa strings, but I realized these two sets were rather more expensive than I was able to pay. According to reviews, they are the only synthetic strings that sound closest to gut strings (which generally have beautifully complex overtones with a warm and gentle sound). I quickly zoomed in on the Evah Pirazzi E string: less than 10 dollars, and I hadn't heard much bad things about it.

When I went home, I changed the E string, and swiftly realized several things.

1. The string had BLOODY HIGH TENSION. It was hell to press it down onto the surface of the fingerboard in higher positions. If it doesn't stretch and settle in a few days I am going to cut my finger on it sooner or later.

2. The string is quite stable. It's easy to tune. However it does possess a rather metallic sound, which unfortunately bears resemblance to the Dominant's sound that I was trying so hard to get rid of. Bugger. I hope that it'll produce a better tone in a few days.

3. The presence of the E string has changed the tone of my violin. Now the G and D strings sound deeper with a good tone. Certainly an improvement.

Nevertheless, I will try Obligatos next. I will save up for it.