# Purple violin causes problems in school orchestra



## Lunasong

Beginning 11 year old violinist is forbidden from playing her own instrument in class.










http://www.elpasotimes.com/newmexic...iolation-tibbetts-orchestra-wont-allow-purple
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-school-purple-violin-20120912,0,6370815.story
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/camille-cruz-tibbetts-mid_n_1879185.html (read the comments, they are very good)


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## mamascarlatti

Lunasong said:


> Beginning 11 year old violinist is forbidden from playing her own instrument in class.
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> http://www.elpasotimes.com/newmexic...iolation-tibbetts-orchestra-wont-allow-purple
> http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-school-purple-violin-20120912,0,6370815.story
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/camille-cruz-tibbetts-mid_n_1879185.html (read the comments, they are very good)


My experience with oddly coloured violins (which my kids always want to try in the shop) is that they sound uniformly awful.

Did you see the bit about her teaching herself the violin at home? Sounds ominous for future listeners.


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## Lunasong

Yes. I feel there was entirely too much emphasis on the point that the instrument was purple, and too little on that it was a low-quality instrument which could not hold tuning.

ps since when does Axl Rose play guitar? This was a horrible analogy.


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## Krummhorn

I personally support the educators view on the inferior instrument. The concept here is to give students the _best _opportunities and chances for learning/playing any instrument. Educators _know_ what is out there, instrument wise, and are usually the best ones to contact _before_ parents or grandparents simply go out and buy a $50 instrument ... one tends to get what they pay for.

Granted, the average family can't afford a $400 student instrument - that is why schools offer the rental option, which I see serves two purposes: 1) makes a good instrument available to the student to properly learn to play, nd 2) rental options are far cheaper than shelling out cash for a good instrument only to find the child has lost interest and regret the investment.

We cannot compare cars with violins ... there are really great _cheap_ cars out there ... there are also really _expensive_ cars that become total crap after a few years. Band and Orchestra instruments are a much different matter - inferior materials and manufacturing methods render awful sound and are a nightmare to tune for the student, leaving the child disappointed and often giving up out of frustration and thinking that all violins are just like that, which is so untrue - but in a child's mind, things are often very simple, cut and dried ... frustration equals defeat, imho.

There were great arguments in favor of the educator ... the ones against are, imho, uninformed and have not devoted their lives to classical music, yes even to 7th grade musicians. As students, we all had to start somewhere ... the first impressions of a new instrument become lasting impressions.

Ok, being a professional musician myself, I have the ability to make a really crappy pipe organ sound like the Mormon Tab organ ... but that is because I have the knowledge and 50+ years of working experience to make this happen. A new pipe organ student in the same scenario would become irritated because _this or that_ pipe or stop isn't working correctly, and this or that sounds awful ... and they would quit thinking that this is what all pipe organs sound like. First impressions are lasting impressions, imho.

Kh ♫♫


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## Op47

Krummhorn said:


> I have the ability to make a really crappy pipe organ sound like the Mormon Tab organ ...


But could you make the Mormon Tab organ sound like a Cavaille Coll or a Silberman or a Schnitger or a Willis?


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## Jaws

Lunasong said:


> Beginning 11 year old violinist is forbidden from playing her own instrument in class.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.elpasotimes.com/newmexic...iolation-tibbetts-orchestra-wont-allow-purple
> http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-school-purple-violin-20120912,0,6370815.story
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/camille-cruz-tibbetts-mid_n_1879185.html (read the comments, they are very good)


These violins are often not made from decent wood, and many are pressed into shape. Under the colour any kind of wood could have been used, and I think often is. I blame the grandmother for not asking advice before buying something that she clearly knew nothing about.


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## matsoljare

Racism shows its gross face again.


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## Jaws

matsoljare said:


> Racism shows its gross face again.


Does this refer to the purple colour or the violin?


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## Lunasong

^^I think so, because it's different. It's definitely a novelty instrument. You can buy this as a 4/4 violin complete with bow and case for $79.


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## Jaws

*A set of strings*



Lunasong said:


> ^^I think so, because it's different. It's definitely a novelty instrument. You can buy this as a 4/4 violin complete with bow and case for $79.


That is probably about the same price as a decent set of violin strings. I wonder what sort of strings it has on it, not to mention what the bow is made out of?


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## Krummhorn

Op47 said:


> But could you make the Mormon Tab organ sound like a Cavaille Coll or a Silberman or a Schnitger or a Willis?


Of course not ... and it's not the same ... The point was that I have the ability to make an _inferior_ pipe organ sound much better than it was ... there is absolutely nothing inferior about the Mormon Tab - it stands upon its own credibility and can't be compared to any other.

Kh ♫♫


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## Op47

I wasn't talking about the Mormon Tab Organ, I was talking about your irrelevant and ludicrous suggestion that you could make something else sound like it. I have no more heard the Mormon Tab Organ than you have heard that violin.


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## PetrB

the painted violins are cheap crap, the worst woods, and the paint / lacquer further dulls any resonance from the thing. It is a pity the youth, or her parents, did not know better and fell for this cosmetic horror enough to actually pay anything for it. 

They are 'violin shaped objects' which young teen (females especially) are horribly prone to want and buy.

The instrument IS more likely worse sounding than any of the more 'regular looking' cheap violins in the ensemble, and it is a ghastly visual standout.

So, sorry, but at this age when kids are still in love with blue plastic ponies with pink hair, they have to be more 'adult' in their choice of purchasing an instrument.

If you know a child / tween / teen who Just Must Have one of these monstrosities - urge them instead to dye their hair purple, and let them wear very bright clothing... those tastes and appetites will modulate or change entirely, and they are less costly and less permanent reminders of a very temporary phase affecting 'taste.'


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## D'Addario

Not to be a violin snob, but the quality of the instrument really, REALLY, matters when a child is learning. A poorly made instrument is highly discouraging and makes it more difficult to learn the instrument - as if it wasn't hard enough! 

If there was a great sounding rainbow sparkly violin, I would be the first to buy it! Unfortunately, it's a pretty safe bet to say that a colored stringed instrument is probably going to sound like a toy.


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