Well.. not quite, but ran out of decent violins to use this week! Sure, I probably could have gotten away with using a crappy factory violin for the symphony orchestra, but it is pretty unprofessional, and even if it isn't my main thing, I should take it seriously.

So, back up a couple of days, when I realised that this symphony orchestra project was incoming, and that I would need a high pitch violin strung up with metal strings for the orchestra. I have two main violins, one at high pitches 430/440/466 Hz and the other one strung for 415/392 pitches. Both of which are string with gut, both wound and naked gut... When I need a 440Hz violin for the modern symphony orchestra, I take the higher pitch one and restring it with these cheese graters! Along with the fine tuner on the top e string.

I don't really like playing on these strings, there is much less in the way of contact with the bow... but this is what modern players play on, so I need to fit in. Anyway, halfway through stringing the instrument, I realised that I also had another concert during the week that would need that exact same violin with gut pitched at 430Hz.

Ooooopsss.s.... so, I was short a decent violin at the higher pitch. I thought about restringing my baroque violin (the lower pitched one), but it doesn't usually work well...

So, a bit of a panic messaging around to see if I could borrow a violin for the symphony project. And thankfully, a local luthier said that I could use one of his violins... one that he had made as well! That is the one in the case, flanked by my two violins (the high one on the left, and the lower one on the right).

I did leave messages with a few other players to see if it would be possible to borrow an instrument... and all of them did eventually get back to me to say that it would be okay... so, I know that if I'm in this bind for the future, I will have options! Or... I do have this set of sonatas that require 15 different tunings for the whole cycle... perhaps, that will now be possible!

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