When I first joined a metal band as a violin player, I had grand illusions of headbanging in the windmill fashion a la Amon Amarth, until I realized that a violin, unlike a guitar, is held up by your chin and hence makes the art of headbanging considerably more difficult. So how does a violinist in a metal band headbang, or move in general, when they are on stage? I think this would be better explained by showing you examples than having you read my writing about it, but here's just a few quick tips before I get on with the videos:
1. Move your body as a whole to give the illusion that you are headbanging instead of actually moving your head separately.
2. As a violinist, you probably won't be playing during every part of every song, so headbang when you're not playing.
3. Beware of long hair getting on your violin strings after you headbang, or else you may try to bow over your own hair and your instrument will not make any noise.
4. Folk metal violinists have the option of "dancey" footwork during upbeat and festive songs, which usually works quite well.
5. Power stance is always a good thing.
6. And then there are the electric violins with shoulder straps, like the Stingray or Flying V types, which will allow for freer head movements.
And without further ado...
Examples:
Meri from Eluveitie is a good example of points 2 and 4:
Rose Noire, a gothic darkwave duet from Japan has good stage movements and headbanging that would also work in a gothic metal band as well:
And then there's Michael Schulmann, who showcases pretty much all the movement possibilities the shoulder strap violin has to offer:
Comments or suggestions? Please comment below!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
News - Korpiklaani Violinist Interview
Q: When and how did you start playing the violin?
A: My father owned a violin. He played it when he was young, but not anymore when I was a kid. There was always music in our house, my parents loved music and listened it all the time. When I was about 6 or 7 years old I started to play violin. At that age I was drawn strongly to classical music. I really loved it, and Bach was my absolute favorite composer. I played classical violin until I became around 13, by then I realized that for me something was missing. Improvisation! Due to the academic teaching of classical music improvisation vanished, at least during the last, say, 50 years.
I started to experiment with several other musical genres and to listen to all kinds of music. One of my big favorites was, and still is, Jethro Tull. I wanted to play on my violin what Ian Anderson played on his flute. This band was one of the biggest inspirations for me.
In 1998 I went to New York to study improvisation, and ended up in the jazz-department. I admired the American avant-garde composer John Zorn, who was one of the founders of Painkiller, a band who played a mix of avant-garde jazz and grind core. Since those days I am trying to find unconventional ways of using conventional instruments. Maybe ten years ago I started with my Shamanviolin project. I play the melodies of the authentic shaman songs from Siberia on my violin, and play the rhythm of the shaman drums by stamping my feet with ankle bells. Herein lies the beauty of the arctic music; you usually play it when you are alone, and have total freedom of expression. Nowadays there are far too few people who do solo performances.
Q: If you feel that way, why did you join Korpiklaani?
A: Well, Jonne asked me. ( Laughs) No, of course that’s not all. My arctic realm has a strong link to Jonne’s living in Lapland, tending reindeer, and his shaman background. Sometimes things come together so nicely. Some time ago I heard that Korpiklaani was looking for a violin player, and I gave that a thought. But at that time I was occupied with other projects, among them a theatre play about the indigenous Khanty people from Siberia. So it was no option. Now, that project has ended, and I was doing only compositional work. I missed the actual playing and therefore I accepted when I was asked. With Korpiklaani I’ll get the opportunity to play a lot, and face new challenges. Maybe we can join our creativity and do some interesting things together, like joiking together with Jonne. But at first I have to learn the Korpiklaani history. This band feels good to me, they know what they are doing. Besides all this, I like their humor, their joy, the combination of metal and folk elements, and the wild things they do on stage.
Q: You’ve said you like their sense of humor, is humor important to you?
A: Humor is very important to me. Finnish people are said to be so melancholic, but that is not as bad as others think it is; we don’t take that all so serious ourselves. Our melancholy is often mixed with humor. I think that our link to nature causes this melancholy; because we have lived so closely to nature we sense the madness of the modern world more deeply. We have to balance between a holistic (natural) life, and the madness of modern society.
I grew up near Helsinki. But every summer our family spent 3 months on a small wooden sailboat. Often we did not see a living soul for weeks. We lived a fully nomadic life during these months, and that was absolutely great. My parents taught me the respect for nature and how to live in the nature without leaving a trace. It’s quite the opposite from the way most people live. Even in Finland we have lost most of the forests in natural state.
Q: You are a shaman. What does it mean to you?
A: One of the basic principals in shamanism is knowing that everyone is the creator of their own world. Our perception of the world shapes our experiences and eventually creates our life events too. I think that most of the people in the west are living from the feeling of being a victim. A victim for bad health, bad politicians, corporations or whatever. But in reality we should step out of that role and take a full responsibility of our own lives. The more you take responsibility, the freer you become. Our society doesn’t teach people to be themselves anymore and many of us have lost the power to live that way. But it has been so for only about 150 years. It’s not that long compared to the 20 000 years of shamanism.
Q: I’ve heard you get into trance when you are playing the ‘Shamanviolin’, can you tell something about that?
A: Through studying the authentic shaman songs I started to learn the authentic way of performing them as well. It is an active trance, which is purifying and healing, and not just to me, but also to some people in my audience. This active trance feels like some sort of uplifted concentration, and is different from a passive trance that is often reached in meditation through relaxation. In this trance state people find a deeper connection to who they are deep down, and afterwards they feel more appreciative towards who they are themselves.
Link to original interview
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Alestorm
The violin parts feature folk melodies, I don't know what national origin the typical Hollywood piratey/seafaring music from the 18th century was from, but it sounds exactly as you would imagine pirate music to sound like. It's played on an acoustic violin by session musicians only, and they do not have a live violinist.
Official Site: alestorm.net/
Facebook: facebook.com/alestormband
Recommended Songs: "Keelhauled," "Back Through Time"
"Keelhauled" :
"Back Through Time":
Picture from: [1]
Thursday, October 20, 2011
A -Anonymous Confederate Ensemble- - "Black Butterfly"
I randomly found this video while browsing on Youtube today, and thought I'd share it with you guys, and also apologize for my lack of posts recently ^_^*
This song is by the band A -Anonymous Confederate Ensemble- (Also known as "A(ACE)," or "A(エース)") from Japan, a group that is part of the visual kei scene.
They combine so many genres in their music it's hard to narrow them down to one genre - I've heard them combine jazz fusion, gothic symphonic, hard rock, and classic metal influences all in one song before - but as far as a description of this song goes, it's heavy, features rock vocals, both guitar and violin solos, and their violin player, Rookie, is playing an electric violin and is INCREDIBLY talented!
This song "Black Butterfly" is their newest single.
Hope you enjoy!This song "Black Butterfly" is their newest single.
Official site: http://a-rock.jp/
~~~~Edit: So I guess "Black Butterfly" is a semi-cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman," and their other song, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis," is a cover of the Evangelion Theme song. They're not a cover band, but let's face it, covers are awesome and a good way to get publicity. Yeah!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
News - Embers Viola Player Passes Away
Nine Katechis, former violist for ambient black metal band Embers, passed away in July due to medical complications associated with a relapse into a heroin addiction. 
The band is releasing a remixed and remastered version of the song "Awakening," that she had recorded with them, as a bonus track on their newest album.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Tengwar
Who doesn't love a good Tolkien band? Tengwar, named after the Elvish alphabet, is an excellent folk metal band from Argentina that combines lyrics about Lord of the Rings with intricate celtic fiddle playing, obscure medieval instruments, and metal. When I listened to the song "A Long Expected Fading" and heard the grunting vocals belt out "My precious..." I knew I was hooked. Their lyrics are mostly in English, but some songs are sung in what I believe is one of the Elvish languages. The music features a male singer, guitars, bass, drum, violin, Galician bagpipes, recorders, mandolin, bodhran, Iberian lute, hurdy-gurdy, flute, and crumhorn. Crumhorn! (If you've never heard of a crumhorn before, watch this video). Tengwar is an excellent band, with sophisticated song writing and great musicianship, but what stood out to me the most was the violin playing - they have possibly the best celtic fiddling I've ever heard featured in folk metal!
Tengwar's first 2 albums are available for free download on their official site, so go give them a listen!
Official Site: tengwar.com.ar
Myspace: myspace.com/tengwarfolkspace
Reverbnation: reverbnation.com/tengwarofficial
Recommended Songs: "In the Land of the Golden Trees," "Snow and Defeat," "Namarie," "A Long Expected Fading," "The Pilgrim's Gone"
"Snow and Defeat":
"Namarie":
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Moi Dix Mois
Moi Dix Mois is a solo project of Mana, the iconic Japanese guitarist and fashion designer. He became legendary for the theatric nature of his former band, Malice Mizer, and his feminine gothic aesthetic. The music of Moi Dix Mois strives to defy categorization, but can loosely be described as symphonic gothic black metal. The signature Moi Dix Mois sound is the harpsichord and church organ keyboard patches, and operatic baritone voices blended with harsh grunting.
They feature violins on the album Nocturnal Opera, and the violins are played by session musicians Yuichiro Goto on "Monophobia" and "Vestige," and Yuki Ishimaru on "Shadows Temple." I love the way these violins sound - they have a sweet and very expressive feel, with crescendos, lots of vibrato, and glissandos.
Recommended Songs: "Shadows Temple," "Metaphysical" (no violin), "Monophobia," "Vestige"
Official Site: http://moidixmois.net/
"Shadows Temple" :
Resources: [1]
Picture scanned by: http://moidixmois.altervista.org/
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