Welcome! This group is inspired by the original Scratch String Orchestra. Since that forum was abandoned, and nobody recreated it, it is now on this forum. In case you have been directly linked to here and haven't read the title, this is a String Orchestra. We also have a website. See below.

Current piece(s):
Violinata & Capriccio

We welcome all intermediate to advanced string players, and I am sure that at least a few members will be able to help provide tips and teach beginners. Our site is at this link.

Skill reference
I've decided to use suzuki books as a reference, simply because they're popular
Suzuki Books 1-3: beginner
Suzuki Books 4-6: intermediate
Suzuki Books 7-10: advanced

News:
Our First Concert For our first concer, everyone will get to play their own thing. Sort of like a showcase because of the massive file size, the project that contains the music will only be available at dropbox.
Introducing the “Supporter” title Don't play an instrument, but still want to help out? Put a link to this forum in your signature, tell us, and you'll get benefits such as: Getting notified early when new recordings are out, being listed as a supporter on our site, etc.

Join Now!
Joining is easy! Just fill out the form below. You can also sign up via https://sites.google.com/rvusdstudent.org/scratch-string-orchestra
Username:
Instrument (violin, viola, cello, or bass):
Skill Level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced):
Other (anything else you'd like to say):
Hardest piece you've ever played:

For example, if I wanted to join, this is how I would fill out the form (accurate):
Username: 1132262
Instrument (violin, viola, cello, or bass): Violin
Skill Level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced): Advanced
Other (anything else you'd like to say):
Hardest piece you've ever played: The ciaconna from Bach's partita n. 2 in D Minor

How we Will Decide on Pieces
To decide on pieces, I will first suggest three pieces based on the skill of members and the size of the orchestra. We may occasionally have solos. After I suggest those pieces, we will hold a vote, during which members will be able to vote and suggest new pieces. In the case of a drawed vote, a randomly chosen member will be able to choose the piece.

History

Jan 23, 2019, four minutes after midnight: this idea popped into my head
Jan 27, 2019: two new members
Feb 10, 2019: more members

Members

Violin:

• 1132262 (advanced)
  

• lightspeedmind134 (intermediate)
  

• AngelStar3 (advanced)
  

• Annahil
  

• Velociraptorbluejf
  

• coder-annika
  

• Amazeheartsoflove
  

Viola:

• Siu-pei
  

Cello:

• MistreyTurtle96
  

Bass:

• PokeNova
  

Bump.

1132262 wrote:

Bump.

Bump.

1132262 wrote:

1132262 wrote:

Bump.

Bump.

Bump.

Username: lightspeedmind134
Instrument (violin, viola, cello, or bass): violin
Skill Level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced): intermediate
Other (anything else you'd like to say):
Hardest piece you've ever played: Russian Sailor's Dance by Reinhold Gliere (of course, not as fast as professional orchestras :>)

Username: Angelstar3
instrument: Violin
Skill level: I don't use Suzuki, but I am in the advanced orchestra in my music program!
Hardest piece: Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 by J.S. Bach

Angelstar3 wrote:

Username: Angelstar3
instrument: Violin
Skill level: I don't use Suzuki, but I am in the advanced orchestra in my music program!
Hardest piece: Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 by J.S. Bach

Accepted! (By the way: I don't really use suzuki either anymore.)

Accepted! (Lightspeedmind134)

So, this is a pretty small string orchestra. I hope it expands. However, in the meantime, if have a few suggestions as to what we can play. (They are all violin trios.)

• Three Sonatinas by Ignaz Lachner
  

• Capriccio No. 1 for 3 Violins by Friedrich Hermann
  

• Violinata for 3 Violins in E minor by Cato Cleis
  

Please contact me if you have any suggestions.
We will vote for wich piece to play. For the long pieces, I recommend that we record one movement at a time.

You may be wondering why I chose these strange and unheard of pieces? What's a violinata anyways? The answer is, quite simply, because they seemed cool. Apparently, violinata is a synonym of sviolinata, wich is a synonym of fawning, which is a synonym of flattery. Who even runs Wiktionary? Oh yeah, “members of the community.” According to some person on yahoo answers, a violinata is:

A piece for violin. It is also used to name a technique called used by Puccini, long known but never as well utilized by other composers, to emphasize his melody. The orchestra frequently announces the melody unobtrusively, and the soloist ‘drifts in’, playing something entirely different. The player gradually comes around to the main subject.

Communities are strange things.

With that out of the way, when you vote, please tell me if a certain piece is too easy or too hard.
I personally vote for the three sonatinas.

Votes: (voting is over)

Three Sonatinas: 1
Capriccio: 2
Violinata: 0

P.S. I can't link to Cato Cleis, because he barely exists on the internet. All of his 7 pieces were written in 2012. Sorry about this long post.

Composer of the week: Utsyo Chakraborty profile
Why they were chosen:
-They're only eighteen years old
-They know French and English, and live in Japan
-They have Awesome song titles

• Abstractium (I have yet to meet an electric pianist who can play one line of the second movement)
  

• Black cat or black dog, wich one is better?
  

• The terrible kid and the toys
  

• Stop Thief!
  

• Pranks and jokes
  

• The War of the Egyptians
  

-They have two piano concertos entirely for the left hand
-They have 9 symphonies
-And 28 other pieces
-This is as absurdly hard to play as it is absurd. (sadly, I could not find a recording of this… I wonder why!

1132262 wrote:

Angelstar3 wrote:

Username: Angelstar3
instrument: Violin
Skill level: I don't use Suzuki, but I am in the advanced orchestra in my music program!
Hardest piece: Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 by J.S. Bach

Accepted! (By the way: I don't really use suzuki either anymore.)

OK! Thanks!

Also, I vote for Capriccio No. 1 for 3 Violins, I think that one would be a good one to start with, but could you please check out the Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, it is a really fun piece!

Angelstar3 wrote:

Also, I vote for Capriccio No. 1 for 3 Violins, I think that one would be a good one to start with, but could you please check out the Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, it is a really fun piece!

Ok, I will add it to the list. I was looking for trios, but scince this has solo as well as first and second violin, I think it could work.
{EDIT}Sorry, I misread your vote the first time.

I wanna vote for Capriccio No. 1 but i'm stuck between that one and Violinata in E minor ;-;

lightspeedmind134 wrote:

I wanna vote for Capriccio No. 1 but i'm stuck between that one and Violinata in E minor ;-;

I have an idea; since the violinata is short, I think we cand do it as well as do that as well as the capriccio, which is winning majority. We might be able to do the Sonatinas in about a month. Work for everyone?

{UPDATE} We may have a viola player soon.

Here's another complicated post that needs to happen…

So, one of the consequences of having a orchestra running online is that it is hard to, say, synchronize the different players. A big videocall would probably not work (it would also break the guidelines.) I do, however, have another idea. Or two.

• We all choose on a YouTube/Vimeo video of it being played, then practice at that tempo, maybe even practice with the video, so that when we individually perform our parts, we are more or less in sync.
  

• The third violinist records themselves first, puts it in a project. Second violin records themselves playing, but with the third violin recording (from the project) playing softly in the background, as a guide. This sound is added to a remix of the first project, and both sounds start at the same time. First violin records themselves with the remix playing softly in the background, this sound is added to a remix of the remix, and we have three parts playing in sync.
  

As always, contact me if you have any other ideas.
EDIT:
If we are going to have a Scratch project to help with this, then we may as well add something that counts you in, a virtual conductor/metronome, a measure counter, etc. This is not necessary, however, it would be useful.

deleted for personal reasons

PokeNova wrote:

You obviously need a bass, and since there aren’t too many of us, I’m up for it.
Username: PokeNova
Instrument: Bass obvs
Skill level: Somewhere between beginner and intermediate
Other: I’m in my school district’s honors orchestra uwu
Hardest piece: idk?? Hardness is sorta hard to measure but I have done some complicated fast shifting in pieces

Hired!

Well… we have a problem. The order on the sonatinas is messed up. Like, big time messed up. I already found the order for the first violin, and I am trying to transfer the same order to second an third violin.

Now for some good news:
We have a bass!
Someone said they might be able to play viola for this.
If we do manage to record the Sonatinas, then we will officially be the first people make a full recording of it.
Same with the violinata.

And… the questions:
1. Does anybody know any good double-bass music?
2. Does anybody know a cellist?
3. Is anybody not able to record themselves?

Oh… just realized I messed up with the votes. Sorry! Capriccio it is.
*Sorry!*