Unless you're a fellow cellist or a very curious person, this is going to be a really boring blog post.  I'm writing it for anybody who's considering making the changes I made, because when I was doing research, I noticed that there wasn't much out there.  Now there's a little more.

I put my cello on a diet, and it lost about 158.3 grams.  (I say about because I forgot to weigh the kevlar tailcord before I put it on, so I'm using half of the nylon one, which seems about right.)  For reference, that's about as much as a normal-sized container of Chobani Greek Yogurt, 

It all started about a year ago when I changed my tailpiece (the thing at the bottom of the cello to which the strings attach) from a very pretty wooden one (called the stock tailpiece from here on) to a boring black "composite" (plastic) one made by Wittner because it was supposed to improve the sound.  Supposedly the composite material can conduct sound better, but mostly it's lighter (81.7g vs 149g), which means there's less mass hanging off the strings absorbing sound.  Whatever the reason, it did make an incredible difference in the sound, to the point that my downstairs neighbor asked if I got a new cello.  I was thrilled, because it sounded great and was pretty cheap.  (~$40)

Then a month or two ago I swapped my endpin (the thing that comes out of the bottom and touches the floor) from the stock 24" x 10mm 154g hollow steel to a 20" x 10mm 67g New Harmony carbon fiber pin.  The New Harmony has two advantages over the steel.  First, it's needle sharp, which means it will stick into the stage floor and won't slip out from under you while you're playing, and second it's less than half the weight of my old one.  (Again, less mass absorbing sound.)  My old pin had to be removed by a luthier, and I had forgotten to bring the new one when I dropped my cello off.  When I picked it up the next day (I had some other work done) I swapped the end pin out and played it.  Everyone in the room noticed a difference.  The luthier's words were 'It's really ringing now.'  My wife's were 'I didn't expect to be able to tell the difference, but I can'.  I was thrilled, because it sounded great, and it was pretty cheap.  (~$75)

Finally this morning I made the last change, which was to take the tailpiece off and replace the stock nylon tailcord (the black loop that attaches to the cello) with a kevlar Bois d'Harmonie tailcord.  I had read a lot of mixed reviews online about doing this.  Some people loved it.  Some people hated it.  According to the internet, it would make my cello sound better, make it sound worse, make it louder, make it out of tune, make wolf tones worse, make wolf tones better, make it sound harsh, thin, fuller or more resonant.  What I concluded from reading all the conflicting opinions was that it sounded like it would amp up your cello's natural sound.  If you had a thin sounding instrument, it would make it thinner to the point of sounding harsh and tinny.  If you had a boomy cello, it would push it over the edge and make it blatty and muddy.  But if you had an instrument somewhere in the middle, it would make it give it a boost and make it better.  The kevlar tailcord was only $10, so I decided to take the gamble and it a try.  

This change isn't so much about weight as it is about flexibility.  The kevlar string is a little bit lighter (roughly by half, mostly due to the brass nuts that are on the end of the nylon cord) but more than anything it's dramatically more flexible, which is supposed to allow your tailpiece to resonate more freely and (ideally) generate more sound.  I'm fairly handy, and the cord came with decent instructions, so I took my cello apart and did it myself.  It wasn't hard, but it was a little unnerving.  My tailpiece is 1mm off from where it was with the nylon cord, so I'm pretty happy with the job. 

But before I did this, I made recordings of my cello with different combinations of tailpieces and endpins so I could have something to somewhat objectively compare in the end.  My cello is a 1998 Wyss Montagnana copy from Switzerland.  I'd call it a high end student instrument.  I tried to play as loudly as I could each time, and I tried to do the same thing each time - open string double stops, a C major scale, followed by a C major chord.  First I'm posting comparisons of just that final chord.  Then I'll post the full recordings for the super curious.  I'd recommend you use decent headphones, because the differences are subtle through laptop speakers.  In real-life they're not so subtle.  Ignore the intonation issues.  I took the strings off 3 times in about an hour, what do you expect? 

The biggest difference is in the resonance and projection, with some difference in loudness, and a very noticeable difference in feel.  I had assumed that the changes were just making the instrument louder, so I was disappointed when I looked at the waveforms and saw that the factory stock setup was almost as loud as the kevlar carbon space-age setup.  It is a little louder now, but more than anything the sound is just bigger.  My cello rings longer and fuller now than it did before, and there's a depth to the sound that's lacking with the heavier components.  

My first impression when I started playing on the kevlar tailcord was that I could suddenly turn my cello up to 11.  I know where it used to top out, and now it can take a little more.  It's easier to play and more responsive, with a more open high register and a punchier low.  It did make the sound a bit harsher, but I'm not sure if it's because I messed with the strings or because of the kevlar cord.  It sounds like my strings haven't broken in yet, which tends to happen if you loosen them all the way for a while.  I'll update this after I've had some time to play on it and see what it does.  But in the meantime, I definitely think it was worth it.  

Libby's is a great place to play.  Hardwood floors and a 15' ceiling gives it great acoustics, and the baking and packed house gives it great atmosphere.  My friend Mike took 70 pictures of me that day, and I used the first one.  Look at me go, turning pages with my left hand!

One month from today (Feb. 28th) is the two year anniversary of when I decided to get "serious" about playing.  I launched this website, recorded some samples, took out ads on major wedding websites, and watched my calendar fill up.  But there was one key component missing.  I didn't have any recordings of me playing with anybody else.  At first it was because I didn't have any way of recording on location.  Once I got a digital recorder I had to wait for a duo wedding, which can be months apart.  Over the next ~8 months, I tried not once, not twice, but FOUR times to get a workable on-site recording.  The first time the batteries died.  The second time the background noise was so loud you couldn't hear us.  Once I thought it was recording but it wasn't (you have to hit the button twice) and the last time I left it in my car and didn't realize until it was too late.

Last saturday, I played a very snowy wedding at St. Mary's in Glens Falls with an incredible violinist, Jessica Belflower, who was gracious enough to let me record the whole thing.  AND.  I.  DID.  Because as they say, the 5th time's a charm.  It took almost 2 years, but the wait is finally over.  Duo samples are available Here. 

To celebrate, here's the full recording of us playing Ode to Joy during the postlude.  Enjoy!

I still don't really know what this means, but I've heard other people say it, so here goes, I tweet @TheAdkCellist.  Did I do that right?

From WeddingWire:

The WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards™ recognizes the top 5 percent of local Wedding Professionals from the WeddingWire Network throughout the United States and Canada that demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the organization, the WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards™ are awarded solely based on the reviews from over 200,000 newlyweds. Awards are determined by a combination of excellence in four factors: overall rating (quality), total number of reviews (quantity), review performance from 2013 (recency), and consistency of reviews from year to year (consistency).

From Me:

Back in September 2013 Nirisa asked me to do an arrangement of One Republic's 'Secrets' for her wedding.  I gave it a listen, decided it would work for unaccompanied cello and got to work.  I came up with an arrangement I was really happy with, but I never managed to get a decent recording before the wedding.  I e-mailed her a really rough demo to show her how it would sound, but I didn't think it was good enough to post on here.  Today after I worked on Jenna's arrangement, I decided to give 'Secrets' another go.  I'm still not 100% happy with it, but it's not that bad, so here it is.  Maybe I'll try again in another 3+ months.  :-)

It's not done yet, but here's a sneak peek.

We're spending Christmas in New Jersey with my parents for the first time in 6 years.  This wasn't supposed to be a working holiday, but they asked me to sit in with the band at the 8:00 Christmas Eve service, and I couldn't resist. I'm happiest when I'm contributing and helping in some way. My wife thinks I'm crazy, but I'd rather participate by making it happen than participate as a spectator in the congregation. I took these two pictures of my preferred view of Christmas Eve.  I guess it is a little unusual, but regardless of which side you're on, I hope you have a blessed, peaceful, and joyful Christmas. See you at First Night in Saranac Lake!

A lot has happened since the last update.  Here's the past month in a few sentences - I played a bunch of weddings, ran my first marathon (The Adirondack, around Schroon Lake), played a retro-themed gala thrown by the Ticonderoga Historical Society, finished building a brick oven in my backyard, and played at the annual Harriman Road Hootenanny, an interesting party full of interesting people that starts with a living room concert in a cabin in the woods (pictured above).  I played it solo last year, and this year was invited back and told to bring a violinist.  

My laptop is running out of battery, and I'm nowhere near my charger, so I'll stop talking, post some pictures, and invite you to come see me play an all-strings program this weekend with the Orchestra of Northern New York in Potsdam and Watertown NY, 10/26 & 27/2013.  ONNY.org for more info.  Ack, reserve battery power.  Here come the pics!

Meaghan, you made it down the aisle a lot faster than I expected, so I thought you both might want to hear the arrangement you requested in its entirety.  Congratulations again, and best of luck with your new lives together!