ethereal.

nice work Per....
cheers,
kev

It comes together very nicely in the second half....

Very nice! I like the sound of the cello. Not what you are normally used to hear from a cello.

I have an NS Design five-string violin on order, so you may hear some Stick/Violin music from me soon. Be afraid, be very afraid!

Cool Hannes, you're in for some fun! ) Can't wait to hear it. Mine is a five stringed NS cello and I use the strap-on kit. I had to experiment a lot to find out how to play it (very, very light on the bow and careful to not add too much vibrato) and especially how to treat it when recording line-in. The aggressive sound surprised me; it's just packed with evil mid frequencies, like those Marshall guitar players that grew up on Thin Lizzy - if you know what I mean. I don't like that nosey flavor so I ran mine through a SoundToys plugin called Devil-Loc Delux, some kind of simulation of way too overloaded analog gear, and that processing kept the NS fit in the mix without jumping out the speakers like an attacking goat. It's definitely not like a Stick that sounds great just plugging it in.

I have listened to this at least 10 times since you posted it. I really like this...

Great new sound, Per, and a different mood too. You play the Devil's cello and your Stick soars above it all. The harmony is uplifting with "rangy" chords, peering down, traversing mountain ranges. Stick 5ths against the 4ths are good for that.

Thanks for the new musical experience on a Thursday morning, Emmett.

Per,

You and I have been discussing the NS Cello on Facebook; I picked up the same model (5-string NXT, only mine is Amber-burst over flame maple) about a month ago. I studied cello for several months, back in university - that's where my love for it began.

I am finding that my years of playing The Stick have helped a lot when picking up the cello again. The 5ths. tuning is very intuitive for me. It's almost like plaing a fretless Stick! I'm still trying to wrap my brain (and fingers) around all the techniques of bowing - it all seems counterintuitive to me. Playing The Stick after a cello session seems almost elementary!

I've been spending quite some time watching movies of Jacqueline de Pré; her passion and emotive qualities sing to my soul.

For me, it is one more step back into that immersive life of music!

Take care,

Paul

I've had the same experience, Paul! The Stick finally connected my two brain halves and the effect is that a lot of other disciplines suddenly appear more easy to learn All my "pre Stick life" I've felt frustrated every time I was trying a cello, a piano or any instrument that requires juggling two spheres of focus. In hindsight I can say that wind players and guitarists should really practice independent two handed techniques to develop musicality even if their instrument of choice doesn't particularly demand mastering that.

Grandstick: how do you find the NS Design NXT 5 string cello, and how does it sound compared to the active pickup model, which is perhaps what Per has? I've played an active 5 string, and that was very nice (although I don't have a use for all the sounds available), but the NXT passive model is so much more affordable.

I have an acoustic 5 string cello and fancy getting a 5 or 6 string electric. Is yours tuned C G D A E, or F C G D A ? If the former, how does the E string sound, if the latter, how does the low F string feel and sound?

Nice sounds, Per Boysen!

Max