Hello,

so how do you decide what violin strings to use?. Taking advice from a teacher or fellow player seems to be the most popular, but it seems most people seem to stick to Dominants around here, possibly changing the E string for something else but not much more.

Reading about all the different strings available and the different tones they can produce really peaks my daughters interest but experimenting can soon get expensive especially as it could take a while to find the right ones for you - maybe better to stick to what you know do you think????

There isn't really an easy (or inexpensive!) answer to this. It's not necessarily better to stick to what you know. I know quite a number of players who use dominants, but am only myself using them for the first time - and not liking them at all. Even one of my adult students comments on how scratchy they sound on my violin. My plan at present is to try one or two others (perhaps obligatos) and then return to helicores (a lovely smooth sound) unless I have found something better in the meantime. Every violin / player / style of playing is different and I don't think it's possible to generalise about a multi-faceted question like strings. But possibly a luthier would be able to give you an idea of what might work best on your violin.

When I bought my violin the assistant said that he would put on dominat strings. Apparently they are a popular vhoice and are good quality, while not costing the earth . I agreed becuase I know a lot about violin but not about strings!

a replacement string and fitting cost me £7.70 from the same store in London.

To be honest, unless your daughter is playing on a very high quality instrument with an excellent professional set up, the difference in tone will be minimal - even in the case of playing on a great instrument, the sound difference still won't be huge.

If there's something she doesn't like in her sound, she'll get more results if she takes it to a luthier and explains how she wants it to sound - they can do amazing things with set up (bridge height, soundpost placement etc.) - this also has the advantage that the luthier will pick the best strings for the new set up too.

If she can fit her own strings it's cheaper too

I'd agree - Dominants are supposed to have a mellower tone, but the difference isn't huuuge.

Thanks for the advice.

My daughter usually uses a Dominant mix, she has tried Pirastro Eudoxa but these cost about 40 - 45 pounds a set compared with 25 pounds for the Dominants. So at present she has Dominants and a Eudoxa E string which sounds pretty good.

The reason I ask is that she is going to audition for various Conservatoire this autumn and wants to obviously produce the best sound she can and thought that a better mix of strings could help but the variety available is pretty staggering. So I guess she'll stick to what she knows and work from there.

The change in tone from a different string brand will make absolutely no difference to her audition - they all produce a good sound if you play right on them, afterwards there are just tiny little nuances (this one is a little more brilliant, this one is a bit darker) but most people in the audience won't be able to tell the difference.

The sound comes from her, not the strings - I'm sure she'll do just fine!

Do let us know how she gets on.

Allan

I put a set of Optima "Starlight" strings on my daughter's new violin. It was a vast improvement over the ones that came with it. They were also considerably cheaper than the Thomastik "Dominant" strings.

I've decided to try a few different varieties of strings whenever we need new ones, so I can hear what the differences is, but I supposed a string changes it's characteristics with time and use, so simply replacing an old one with a new one of the same type should still sound better.

As you mention the 'strings that it came with' I'm assuming that they were the factory strings. ANYTHING would have sounded better than that!

You're quite right too about strings changing with use, so even a lesser string that is new will sound better than a better string that is old.

As rosfrog says, the difference in sound between brands won't be huge - and yes, newer is better, almost regardless of price or quality!

I don't know how long before an audition people normally put new strings on - maybe up to a week, less if you are practicing for really huge amounts of time each day, but at least allow 2 full days before performance??? (That is, very, very new strings that need constant tuning may be fine for an experienced professional but could be offputting for a younger player?)

However, it is worth listening to each string and seeing if the whole set sounds balanced in volume and general tone. If one sounds a lot weaker, it could be something other than the brand of string though - tipped-over bridge, rattly soundpost, etc. Took ages to figure out why the A-string sounded "dull", turned out to be the bridge...

However, the "no difference" argument goes out the window for e-strings, I think! Especially for auditions, where you are likely to be playing flashy stuff. A gold e-string is not that expensive, and is likely to be more reliable and sound better than a more basic e-string.

If I ahd an audition/exam/solo in a concert, I'd change one a week, strating with G 4 weeks before. Just personal reference though, I don't liek changing them all at once and I like having time to play them in

Before audition, grade exam etc. I always replace strings on my daughters violins a week prior, this is usually sufficient enough time for strings to play in and settle.

Re string choice, Dominant, Pro-arte and Tonica strings tend to suit the majority of instruments for an affordable string choice, but think switching to Evah (bright and powerful) or Obligato (a little warmer than Evahs I've found) give a richer tone and have found on a number of instruments, give a noticeable increase in volume, which benefits for solo performances.

If she's still really not happy with the tone it may be worth looking at bows - they're more crucial really.But that's pretty drastic if it's just small details.

I sohuld probably replace my D and G, they've been on for a while now...

I definitely agree that making setup of the violin is very important. However, if all is set up properly, the best way to improve or change sound is going to be trying different strings. New soundposts and bridges, along with soundpost adjustments, can change and improve sound drastically, however so can different types of strings.

Dominants, being a low pressure string are not going to be as loud or projecting as Evah Pirazzi which put more pressure on the instrument. The same loudness may not even be achievable by adjusting the soundpost to find a tighter fit. The sound quality varies A LOT depending on what string you are using. The strings are really where the sound is initially created with the violin then amplifying it. Sort of like when various people speak into a mic. It may be the same loudspeaker however each person speaking into the mic will sound different.

With that said, you need to know what kind of sound you're looking for. Coming from Dominants, most strings are going to project better than them. Below I've listed a few string types and general impressions I've had using them, as well as, links to get them at the lowest prices.

Pirastro Evah Pirazzi- very loud string with quite a bit of brashness to the sound. It does project well but I prefer the sound of VTS.

Thomastik Vision Titanium Solo- very projecting string but with a much cleaner tone than Pirazzi. I personally used these before switching to Passione.

Pirastro Obligato- similar structure to Pirazzi with good projection, however a warmer sound than either of the above. I personally prefer either of the above or below as I think they project better.

Pirastro Passione- modern gut core string. Amazingly good projection and very beautiful tone. I do have to warn though that they do not behave like any of the above strings due to their non synthetic nature. Even when using methods to break the strings in faster I still had to play on them a week before they became pitch stable. You do still have to tune them more often than synthetics but for me, the sound is worth it.

That still leaves E strings. All of the E strings in the above set are excellent sounding. (not like the Dominant E) I prefer using a Passione Heavy Gauge E string with a medium Passione A, D, G. I get more volume and projection with the heavier gauge and the sound not as thin and piercing. The Passione Heavy is still very manageable to play on however and doesn't require getting used to. It's particular nice for solo Bach when you have chords with open E strings; it blends much better.

Another good all around E is the famous Pirasto Gold Label aka. Wondertone. Very easy to play on and with a pleasing tone. I just can't dig into it like I can with the Passione, and it does sound a little thinner.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions just let me know, or you could also contact IUStrings.com. They are very good with getting back to you quickly.

-Emmanuel