Has Vanessa-Mae fallen out of love with her electric violin?

[Benji]

I've been noticing a trend with the latest concerts Vanessa-Mae had performed: She has used her electric violin less and less. At first, this could easily be attributed to her promotion of her latest album, Choreography. All the pieces were recorded with her Guadagnini, and performed as such.

However, even with her previous pop pieces, she's starting to use her Guadagnini more. The most obvious example is Toccata & Fugue. During her pop tour, she always performs it with her electric violin. Now, she uses her Guadagnini. Another surprise is 'Red Hot', again, always performed with her ZETA, now, she uses her Guadagnini. Then came with the charity concert in Prague, where she played "Retro", again, using her acoustic violin instead of the electric as she did on the Storm on World Tour.

Now understand, this is NOT a complaint. I, for one, am glad she's using her acoustic violin more. From a violinist' perspective, the electric violin's only advantage is amplification. From a tonal standpoint, it's 'soulless', especially compared to her fine 247-year-old Guadagnini. Also, the electric violin is quite unforgiving and then some. Some notes played come out scratchy or not at all, not because the player is inadequate, but because electric violins are not as responsive to bow movement compared to acoustic violins.

It's interesting to note, nonetheless. A simple answer might be that Vanessa has found a pickup during the last few years that works very well, largely negating the need for amplification that an electric violin provides. Also, her use of the electric violin (during the first few years of her pop career) was for image reasons too. I'm sure her management thought that her use of a stylish electric violin that the ZETA is may arouse interest in the violin itself. However, Vanessa has garnered international acclaim, and is probably one of the top 5 most famous instrumentalists in the world. To that end, there's no longer a reason to 'show off' by using an electric violin. Most people know her by reputation now.

What do you guys think?

[eva03]

Interesting information on violins Benji.

I think she still uses the acoustic violin maybe because:

1. The Choreography era which is classical music-inspired has not ended yet.

2. To avoid technical glitches related to electric violin encountered in her previous concerts.

[VanessaMaeFan18]

i saw that prauge video clips and the time to use the electric violin, she didnt. i was in a way, shocked. when she played storm on her acoustic violin, i was like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. why? why has she not use her electric violin? hmm...

[foreverred]

...is not soulless!

I can understand that if Vanessa-Mae prefers a violin with a more classical touch and organic, resonating feel to its tone, that she would use her acoustic violin, which is equipped with a small mic (the brand of which I STILL cannot figure out!) that draws the sound from the bass-side f-hole of the violin.

However, I heartily disagree that the electric violin, and more specifically the Zeta Jazz Fusion violin that has become known for its use by Vanessa-Mae and Jean-Luc Ponty, is soulless.

It takes good equalization on the part of sound people who KNOW how to process the sound of an electric violin to give it a full tone, as well as a bit of effects such as reverb or delay, but once this is done, it has a wonderful feel.

I've never really seen Vanessa-Mae use the electric violin to its full potential (wah wah, distortions, chorus, looping), and to be honest, learning how to use effects boxes takes more than someone just plugging them in and telling you to punch them with your foot. You have to personally spend time to get to know the effects and the instrument's sound - something which I don't think she's cared to pursue because she's more well-versed on the acoustic.

In addition, Mike Batt himself confessed that her producers wanted to present her as more "poppy", and while he fancied her to start using MIDI effects on her Zeta Jazz violin (it's actually a MIDI electric violin!), her producers were just going for the look, and ended up using a track of her acoustic performance even at media performances where she was presented with her Zeta violin.

I personally don't prefer to use the acoustic violin because I'm more of an electric player, so I view Vanessa-Mae as the opposite to this, and honestly I think her intonation and skill is far better on the Guadagnini.

I'm glad she's gone back to her roots because I think she's sounding the best she has in a long time.