It was my first ever live-stream, and it ended up being much longer and more dramatic than I originally planned! I was getting my #sarangicello tuned up and ready for last Thursday’s (03/17/22) St. Patty’s Day performance at Al Ringling Brewing co. in Baraboo, WI. Bandleader Chad Canfield, Chickpezio Nazario and I formed a trio version of the steam-punk band Vardo! Unfortunately, as I was getting things tuned up, two of my D strings broke!! Yikes! Follow me on this adventure as I battle against my temperamental sarangicello, all while explaining its unique gut string setup!
If you want to check out what Vardo has cooking, you can come see us play again at the Al Ringling Brewing Company on April 1st, from 6-8pm! Trio style with Rusty Chicken on Violin this time!
In Episode 03 and 04 of my new series “Setup Madness!” we’ll be changing from Pirastro Perpetual Soloist A & D (med) to the Jargar Superior A & D (med)! I was very excited to try this new Superior string set from Jargar because I grew up playing on Jargar’s Classic A & D strings (med). I have high hopes for their new developments in string making (and honestly think it’s a little overdue!). You’ll be listening to me make observations, noting crucial differences between the Pirastro and Jargar strings. For episode 03, I’ll still have the Pirastro Perpetual Soloist D (medium) and Cadenza G C strings (light) on my cello; and in episode 04, I’ll be switching over to Jargar’s Superior D (med) string.
Special Thanks again goes out to the Dane Arts Council for awarding me one of their 2021 ‘DANG! Arts Grants’ which funded the purchase of my new camera setup and all of its accessories! http://www.danearts.com
Episode 04: Jargar Superior D string (medium)
I’ll be taking a vacation for the next 2 weeks, so there’ll be no new ‘Setup Madness’ episodes until the end of January, next year… But! Here’s what you have to look forward to in the next few episodes!
Episode 05 will feature the Larsen original C string (heavy gauge) Episode 06 will feature the Larsen original G string (heavy gauge) Episode 07 will feature the Pirastro Passione gut G string (strong gauge) Episode 08 will feature the Pirastro Passione gut C string (strong gauge) Episode 09 will feature the Pirastro Oliv gut D string (light) Episode 10 maaaayyyy possibly feature the Pirastro Eudoxa gut A string (medium) with the Passione GC and Oliv D… we’ll just have to see…. but it looks like I’m moving back to gut….
Annnd, starting with Episode 07 you’ll finally get to see some footage from my new camera!!
Lots already filmed, as you can see, so subscribe to the “Brian Grimm’s Cello Zone” youtube channel to keep up to date when each episode as it comes out (I post on Monday or Thursday).
Hey There Cellists! I just launched Episodes 01 and 02 of my new video series “Setup Madness!” on the Brian Grimm’s Cello Zone! youtube page! My goal is to eventually put out videos on Monday and Thursday – but I need to get faster at editing my videos before I can stick to that schedule for the long haul. So even if I can’t hit my mark of two videos a week, I’ll at least only upload on those two days, for consistency’s sake.
Episode 01: Series Introduction
Don’t worry, I won’t do this much talking in all of my future videos… But, I had to introduce this particular series in the first episode so y’all know what is going on and what to look for in the future!
In Episode 01 of my new series “Setup Madness!” we’ll be listening to the sounds of Pirastro Perpetual Soloist A D (medium) strings in combination with their lighter gauge Cadenza G C strings. These strings had been on my cello for about 10 months when I recorded this C minor warm up session back in late October, 2021. I’ll be switching the strings out one by one over the next few episodes with the Jargar Superior A D (medium) and Larsen Original G C (strong). The original music you are hearing in the background while I’m talking was composed and recorded a year ago, and I had just switched to the Perpetual Soloist string set while recording for that project. So you are also hearing the sounds of the strings when they were fresh too!
Original music in the background of this video is from the “17th Unniversary Suite” and is exclusively available on my GrimmusiK Records bandcamp page:
Episode 02: Pirastro Perpetual Soloist AD and Cadenza GC Deep Dive
In Episode 02 of my new series “Setup Madness!” we’ll be listening to the sounds of Pirastro Perpetual Soloist A D (medium) strings in combination with their lighter gauge Cadenza G C strings. These strings had been on my cello for about 10 months when I recorded this C minor warm up session back in late October, 2021. I’ll be switching the strings out one by one over the next few episodes with the Jargar Superior A D (medium) and Larsen Original G C (strong). Episode 02 is essentially a more in-depth continuation of Episode 1. It’s longer with more playing and you get to hear my observations and thoughts on the strings as I go. I still play through the open strings with each bow (incase you missed that in Episode 01); after which I continue to explore, warm up, and improvise in C minor. This is not meant to be a performance, but an open window into my warmup process and thoughts on the strings as I prepare for a recording session later that day.
More “Setup Madness!” episodes are on the way soon! Let me know what you think, this is a pretty loose, open format video style. I will definitely be putting out some official review videos where I lay out my thoughts in a concise manner. This is meant to be a little more free flowing, open-session style of video.
Let me know if you have tried the Perpetual sets and what you think about them in the comments down below!
I have decided to remove all ads from this website again. I was hoping it would supply some extra income during the pandemic (since live performances had stopped…). But honestly, I hated the way it looked & I wanted to throw up everytime I saw an ad on this site. And I only made $3 over the course of the year, so fuck that. It was serving the advertisers more than it was serving me!
Anyway – I’ve got a lot more posts, updates, string reviews, videos, theater sound tracks and etc to catch you all up on. I’ll be rolling some of that out over the next few weeks and months! I haven’t been posting everything that’s been going on recently, mainly because there hasn’t been any time to sit down and craft a post or web page.
Since September, I’ve been composing, recording and performing 3 different theater scores for “We Are Proud to Present…”, “Shrapnel”, and “Before the 19th” which will be released soon as Original Soundtracks via GrimmusiK Records.
I’ve also recorded a lot of videos for a new “Setup Madness” video series that I’ll be putting up on the Brian Grimm’s Cello Zone youtube page.
Things are in the works, I’ll catch ya soon!
In the meantime, if you want to support, you can buy some of my recent albums and releases via Bandcamp
Or donate directly to me through this website!
One-Time
Monthly
Yearly
If you found my website to be helpful and want to make a one-time donation, I’d greatly appreciate it! I specifically don’t run ADs on my website, because I find that it ruins the reading experience. So, in lieu of ad revenue, consider supporting me directly!
I’m a full-time freelance musician, one of the best ways to support me is through a monthly donation!
You are my hero!
Choose an amount
¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00
¤1.50
¤3.00
¤5.00
¤35.00
¤50.00
¤100.00
Or enter a custom amount
Thank you!!!! Brian
Thank you for supporting on a regular basis, you help make this content possible! Brian
