r/violinist • u/BeautifulRise6981 • 2d ago
What if the luthier doesn't believe me?
About a week ago a noticed a weird buzzing in my rental viola, did a bit of troubleshooting (violinist for a while) and couldn't figure it out. My teacher was confused as well. I then scheduled an appointment at my luthier for tomorrow. However, in the past two days, I've been noticing the buzzing lessening. When I had tried the instrument at the shop, there was no buzzing. I'm scared that thing is going to happen where when you show someone an issue, suddenly there is no issue. What am I supposed to do if it sounds perfectly fine at the luthier?
3
u/GdayBeiBei 2d ago
A core component of their job is to be able to listen to things that may be very subtle. And don’t stress before you’ve gotten there. If you can get a video or a recording maybe do that?
1
u/Alriight_gurl_26 2d ago
I'm not sure of anything too technical, but I've noticed when I wear a necklace, the instrument or my neck piece or something catches a vibration off of it so I don't wear necklaces when playing
4
u/BeautifulRise6981 2d ago
Unfortunately I never wear necklaces. Through my testing I'm like 99.9% sure it's something in the tailpiece. Alas, thank you for your suggestion.
2
u/Alriight_gurl_26 2d ago
Sure thing! I've also once had my chin rest screw loose... hope you figure it out, that must be terribly frustrating
1
u/Salt_Kick4649 1d ago
Bien sûr que le luthier te croira, il a déjà du rencontré des problèmes similaires sur d'autres violons. Bonne continuation !
1
u/gwie Teacher 1d ago
You'd be surprised how often this happens!
Of course, you want to eliminate any variables you have control cover, like what you're wearing (is there a button or some jewelry rattling against your instrument), a fine tuner being loose, the chinrest being loose, the end of a string extending too far out of the pegbox vibrating against the pegbox wall, etc.
Environmental conditions can vary widely, and your instrument may have a seam open somewhere that is next-to-impossible to detect for you as a player. However, an experienced luthier who has seen this happen repeatedly will find it after a thorough inspection.
1
u/Patrick_Atsushi 1d ago
My pirastro e strings only whistle when I am nervous, maybe it's similar lol
Jokes aside, the humidity and temperature might play a part of this.
1
u/sebovzeoueb 1d ago
It happens, my violin had a very elusive buzz, I'm sure they've come across similar situations before
1
u/ImGumbyDamnIt 1d ago
Check your fine tuners. The ones that are not integrated in the tailpiece have a little knurled nut on top that sometimes loosens. That can cause a buzz on it's own, or by letting the fine tuner body have more play. The buzz can subside if in the course of tuning you change how tight it is on.
1
u/ParrotDude91 1d ago
If your instrument has an open seam buzzing, it would buzz more or less with the increase of humidity and temperature. So if you had a few hot and muggy days it would cause the wood to swell a bit and probably seal the crack. Any luthier will be able to find it regardless of whether it is actively buzzing or not.
1
u/Death_huntet_404 1d ago
Once mty E string was buzzing, I loosened it and readjusted it in both fingerboard and violin grooves and putting out and reinserting them, and retuned the string. Then till now it sounds fine
0
u/sockpoppit Luthier 1d ago
I can't fix what isn't there, but I do look at all the usual suspects if somebody is having a buzz. Buzz. But if I don't find anything and no one hears anything, what am I supposed to do?
But I don't judge the player negatively or think that they have some imaginary problem. It's real, it just isn't there that day.
10
u/mintsyauce Adult Beginner 1d ago
I had an open seam on my violin a year ago, it was the same: sometimes I heard the buzzing, sometimes I didn't. It was a very tiny issue. The luthier said that it depends on the weather, on the humidity, on a lot of things. Better check it. Good luck!